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| Ponderosa Pine All Dressed for Dinner, oil, 8x10 |
It's been close to two months since my family and I got in the car, left Atlanta, GA, and drove across the country to live in Bend, OR. We arrived here on May 26, put our stuff in storage, and have lived in five different places here while we looked for a house and awaited our closing on the house we purchased. We finally move in this Monday!
We love it here, and it's been a fun adventure this past couple of months. But I've been without a studio this whole time. So...what a great excuse to paint more outside! Which is what I've done. It's been a great way to get to know my new landscape...the colors, textures, shapes, atmosphere, light, etc., and also keep me in "painting shape."
Since it's summer, there's of course a good bit of green around, but not like Georgia green (which I've always called "screamin' green"). The greens here are more subdued. Since this area is a high desert region, it's a nice mix of greenery along with more arid desert vegetation. So I'm still trying to wrap my head around how to interpret the color palette here in my own way.
Even when my studio is set up, I plan to continue heading out for frequent field studies. Repetition has always been the key for me with pushing my painting skills, so I'm hoping to paint multiple times in similar locations to continue to really understand how I want to interpret this area in my work.
The painting above was a quick study I did in the backyard of one of the rental homes we stayed in for a brief time. It was early evening, and I could hear neighbors all around me preparing their dinners, some grilling out, while yummy aromas wafted over to my easel.
The studies below were also done on location around Bend over the past few weeks:
The studies below were also done on location around Bend over the past few weeks:
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| View From Mountain High Loop, oil, 10x8 |
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| Mt. Bachelor From Skyliners Road, oil, 8x10 |
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| Ponderosa Morning Dance, oil, 8x10 |
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| Hidden Road Behind 15th Street, oil, 11x14 |
During this transition time, I've also headed out of town a couple of times to teach workshops. The most recent one in Maine. Since I came back from Maine with a nice big supply of photos, I was eager to paint some of them. Most are from inland areas, where I spent most of the time. I did get to the coast for a short time, but haven't been brave enough to tackle those scenes yet. I've been torn between painting my field studies here in Bend and painting some of the beautiful scenes from Maine while they were still fresh in my memory. Where there's a will, there's a way...
My family and I have been staying with my in-laws here in Bend. (They just moved here as well and moved into their new house a few weeks ago.) They have a nice big garage...and to my surprise, has excellent lighting! With the garage door open, and setting up my plein air gear and my iPad under a fluorescent light, it has served pretty well for a make-shift studio. I painted both of these 12x16 oils in the garage...
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| Fading Farmhouse, Freeport, Maine, oil, 12x16 |
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| Big Sky Over Highland Road, Freeport, Maine, oil, 12x16 |
But I'm sure ready to be in my new studio!
Upcoming Workshops:
For those of you here in Oregon, I'm excited to be teaching a Pastel & Oil studio workshop in Oregon City (Portland area):
Oregon City, OR - 3-day PASTEL/OIL workshop
Aug. 28, 29 & 30, 2015 (Fri/Sat/Sun); Meet & Greet on the evening of Thurs., Aug. 27
Carrie Moore Studios
21036 S. Leland Rd.
Oregon, City, OR 97045
$400.
Contact Carrie Moore, 503-866-5507, carriemoorestudios5@gmail.com
Additional upcoming workshops:
San Antonio, TX - 3-day PASTEL workshop
Oct. 17, 18 & 19, 2015 (Sat/Sun/Mon)
The Coppini Academy of Fine Arts
115 Melrose Place
San Antonio, TX 78212
$400/member; $450/nonmember
210-824-8502
Wethersfield, CT (Hartford area) - 3-day PASTEL/OIL workshop
Nov. 12, 13 & 14, 2015 (Thurs/Fri/Sat)
Wethersfield Academy for the Arts
431 Hartford Avenue
Wethersfield, CT 06109
$390/member; $420 nonmember
860-436-9857
See my website at www.barbarajaenicke.com for full 2015 & 2016 schedule.
