Waist-High Grasses and Baytowne Village Fountain

Waist High Grasses

This week I've rediscovered John Singer Sargent. His exquisite use of color - bold and subtle - and those unapologetic brushstrokes. The work in both of these pieces shows influence from two of his pieces, Fishing for Oysters at Cancale 1878 and A Capriote 1878. I still don't feel I've come close to his ability to subtley move the eye across the canvas with the juxtaposing of warm and cool tones - those beautiful siennas and teals continue to daunt me....but I'm relentless. Today's work will probably continue in the same palette as last night's.
The first piece is what I did yesterday evening from a photo I took of Cricket some months ago at the bridge just down the street from our home. I remember how hurried we were that day, Arbor Day, to finish a clean up project. She stayed ahead of me and I could see all the evidence of her year's of ballet training in just simply how she walks and carries herself. She is so beautiful and confident - and so the woman in this painting walking on a rocky path through those same waist high grasses, keeping her balance and her confidence despite the hot Florida sun.

Baytowne Village Fountain

This second painting sold this past weekend in my first solo exhibition of my plein air work. I admit that this was not a plein air piece, but it was painted on Thursday of last week after Rachel's accident. I just couldn't leave the house that day but still needed to paint. I had visited this fountain the day before and taken its photo. What struck me about the location was the misty cool in that tiny area of Baytowne village (Sandestin FL) even though the heat that day had chased home most of the plein-air artist group who were meeting that day. Everytime I go out to Baytowne, I am always taken aback by the beauty of this little fountain way hidden in the backside of the village.