View from Red Bud Isle

View from Red Bud Isle, 8 x 10

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This was painted all on-site last Saturday morning at our Plein Air Austin paint-out at a beautiful municipal dog park on Red Bud Isle in the middle of upper Ladybird Lake. I've been across the bridge that passes the isle hundreds of times, but had never stopped. Downtown Austin is a little over a mile downstream around this bend. This was painted relatively quickly (for me), as we got a late start due to the line of cars waiting to get in. Including set-up and packing up afterward, it took a little over two hours.

Lamar Street Bridge

Lamar Street Bridge, 9 x 12

I painted this from a photo I took downtown on Ladybird Lake in January. I had hoped to paint outside today, but we got some much needed rain. So instead, I holed up with the paints inside.

Water Feature

Water Feature, 20 x 16

commission

This giant urn rests in a back yard outside Georgetown. Thankfully we've had more rain this year and flowers are popping up everywhere after a typically hot summer.

Capital Title

Capital Title Building, 10 x 8
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This is one of the more impressive older buildings in Georgetown. I'm not sure when it was built, but I'm guessing sometime around the 1920 or 30s. Today it is home to Capital Title.

Palace Theatre

Palace Theatre, 8 x 10

This is the Palace Theatre, just off the square in Georgetown, Texas. It's one of many nicely restored old buildings in the area.

Opening Reception

Gallery Reception, Davis Gallery

Saturday night was the opening reception for a spring art exhibition featuring the work of Laurel Daniel, Julie Davis and myself. As many of you know, it was actually Laurel's spring exhibition at the gallery of her Austin representative, Bill Davis. Laurel being Laurel, she invited Julie and me, two of her former students and permanently appreciative friends, to show our work alongside hers from now through May 7th. If you have the chance, we hope you'll drop by the Davis Gallery, located on 12th Street, a block east of Lamar Boulevard, to see the work on display. 

The photos above were taken a few minutes before the doors opened. I hope to have more to post soon of the large and enthusiastic crowd that attended. We each had our core group of supporters, but there is no doubt we all benefited greatly from Laurel's long coattails, and each of us made several sales. Thanks again to Laurel, and to Bill Davis, for a terrific evening.

Last Light

Last Light, 6x8

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The plan this day was to paint a beautiful Texas sunset over Lake Travis. We had a fabulous spot at the property of our wonderful and generous Plein Air Austin co-member, Lynn. Since I happened to arrive a few minutes late, however, and with every moment so precious, I decided to take the easy way out and paint the pretty, indirect light coming off the water facing north. 

It turned out to be no bargain. The subtle light and color shifts (which, like the actual sunset, were still constantly changing) were more than enough to demand all the focus I had. The exercise was valuable, however, and certainly one that bears repeating and continuing to learn to see and render such subtle, yet powerful differences.

In The Barn II

In The Barn II, 6x8

available

Saturday evening, after a couple hours of painting, Plein Air Austin had our end-of-year party at Westlake Beach and Marina.  The weather was perfect and lots of family and friends showed up for the catered picnic. The scene above is not actually of Westlake Beach, but of the adjacent marina, the name of which I didn't notice. I was attracted by the clear skies and the bright, late afternoon light on the boats.

Gruene River Grille

Gruene River Grille, 10x8

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Today's post is from last Saturday's PAA paintout in Gruene, Texas, just north of New Braunfels. Once again I had to finish the piece almost a week later. I was fighting a slight fever during the outing and, contrary to the plan, being outdoors only made things worse. Happily, unfettered access to plenty of Thanksgiving food the last few days has returned things to normal.

No Wake Zone

No Wake Zone, 8x6

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Westlake Beach on Lake Austin was the site for our last plein air class, which was a week ago tomorrow. I got the block-in done on site with fairly accurate color, but didn't get a chance to complete it until today. It's amazing how rusty one can get in a week.

Morning Gloria

Morning Gloria, 6x8

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This landscape was done in Laurel Daniel's plein air class two weeks ago. I'm just posting it now, because I have been busy preparing to move at the end of the month (still in Austin) and haven't had time to touch  up and post it until today. The class is focused on rendering water in its different environments. The weather shown here is typical of the last couple of weeks — beautifully sunny and cool with light breezes.