Original art, art classes, plein air, Lake Saint Louis, MO

Trying to catch up on my blog while we are driving cross country. This little 6x8 oil painting was done plein air in below freezing temps during the swan migration at the west Alton MO Autobahn Center. Let me tell you, it was friggin cold. I have decided that it's gotta be above freezing until I get the right gear for this kind of painting. It is definitely an adjustment painting this landscape this time of year. I have however, learned to appreciate the beauty of it. It's nice to have seasons too. I get tired of everything being so green, then, the fall color hits and something new to paint. I have been working on loosening up and this one is another piece that got painted quicker, or I would have been frozen. It didn't help that I was fighting an infection and found out I was allergic to the antibiotic... but that is another story.

If you live out in the Midwest, a trip to this center where the Missouri, the Mississippi and the Illinois river come together as a major stopping point for migratory birds from all over the continent, it's something you should do. The swan migration was amazing. There were thousands of them, plus other species, walking on the ice and floating on what water was left. I posted some photos on my Facebook page, so go check them out to see them and other art, and adventures since my move to Missouri.
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Love the sheep. This was a little studio piece.. should have been blogging all along...
This piece was part of a 30 min painting challenge. As I post this, I am driving back to where this reference was shot, lancaster CA. The point to this piece was to paint something other than winter sticks and brown that is winter in MO.. Back peddling a bit, and the reason for the long break between blogs, a major move and life change, from CA where we started, to AZ in an RV, to Lake Saint Louis, MO, to a house. It's been crazy. It all started in August of 2016, when we decided to put our Palmdale house on the market. Two days later, thinking it would take months to sell, it sold. Well, two days plus 30, we were out of that house and wandering around in an RV, trying to figure out our life, and what's next. It's been an adjustment.. husband's second and final retirement... learning to be around each other 24/7... which is nice but we moved into a 32 ft box, wandering around, for 10 months, before escrow closed on our final destination in Missouri. We've been settling in ever since. I should have been blogging all along, as I painted plein air, everywhere we went, but, well, I was overwhelmed most of the time. Since being in MO, there has been some plein sure with MOPAPA, and most of the studio work has been more on it, than in it. Now here we are, yet again, wandering around to get out of the cold, and fetch the last of the items in CA and AZ. Watch for more posts about our journey. Read More