More plein air

This was a different subject from a day out at Iva's garden. Dave and Iva have a collection of statues and gargoyles that inhabit their garden. I thought this little fellow might be fun to paint because he has a mischievous expression...then it was too light behind him (in reality) so I had to darken down the trees to make the painting work. . He does look like a statue here however and I wonder if he should be "revisited" as a "live" imp? At the moment, he will be left as is- a painting that records a nice day out with friends.
     My paintings that Mila has - all large paintings, not like this little 10 x 8- are now on her online gallery - www.va-fair.com - so take a look

Plein air summer

While not a great summer because of forest fires, this summer has been great for  good-weather Tuesdays and Men in Hats have been busy painting in various locations around the Lower Mainland. A couple of weeks ago, we went to the north end of Trout Lake - aka John Hendry Park. I found a good spot under the shade of a big tree and elected to paint this scene. The strips of light and dark appealed to me - as did the green canopy. It is a small canvas -just 8 x 10- So I mostly finished it on the spot. Hopefully, it captures the mood and the freshness of the day. It is always a pleasure to be out with a bunch of other artists. We are also fortunate to have a great selection of places to paint. We will be painting through to mid-October and post the locations on the Men in Hats website so that other artists are welcome to join us. No instruction - just bring paints and a lunch.