About 5 miles out you come to the continental divide. Here in Silver City we are on the Atlantic side and water from here makes its way to the Rio Grande. At Cliff we were on the Pacific side. The Gila goes into the Salt River and south of Phoenix to the Colorado.
The sky was sunny and the views are great. This is about 10 miles out of Cliff.
I set up under some elm trees. My knee was doing OK, but I put my pastels on the tailgate and sat there to paint. Robert Genn said in one of his newsletters the other day, that you paint better when comfortable. :)
This was the view so I just started painting.
I did a watercolor under painting. I remembered a brush. :) I put blue on the sky so I wouldn't have to spend time on the sky to fill in holes in the pastel and finish that part quickly.
I filled in the sky and worked on the far hills and trees. I wanted to show the mountains, even though the trees covered them from my particular seat. I wanted the red fence to be there also. It was hidden by the close trees.
This is the end, I wish I had not put the big foreground trees in after I looked it over when we got back to the house. I may change that. If I do, I will post the change.
Artist hint: Before I go to do plein air with pastels, I put the pastel card or paper on foam core with tape. I make a folder with another piece of foam core and tape one side if the two together. I clip it closed. To paint, I just fold back the top piece of foam core, and paint. When finished, I just fold it closed and clip it. It keeps the pastel from smudging and is easy to transport. I can stick it in my bag ... or hand it to someone that buys it while I'm painting. :) I picked up this hint from Steve Napper at a demo at the Austin Pastel Society. In this case, you can see I had to clip the foam core folder to a piece of masonite to fit on the easel. You can easily store paintings this way. You can put more than one in a folder with a piece of glassine between each of them.
The easel cast a shadow so I took another photo inside this morning.
Pastel Plein AirCottonwoods along the Gila
9 x 12 inches, on Colourfix Pastelcard, white
9 x 12 inches, on Colourfix Pastelcard, white
Gene rode his bike. He rode about 35 miles. He got to my stopping spot just as I put the pastels away. Great timing. I worked on the painting for about 1 1/2 hours. On the way back we detoured by the Tyrone mines, the sky was beautiful and a grader was at work on the skyline.
We also saw a couple of young mule deer bucks.
As we came back into Silver City, the clouds were building and the rain was starting.
All in all a good day. We ate at a new Chinese restaurant, the China Gate. They had wine and a good menu. They were helpful with my gluten free eating and the food was great. (I forgot to add my fortune. It fits right in with my normal style of procrastinating. "Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired." That is my habit for sure!)
When we got back to the house I guess my knee was feeling so good I forgot to take care and when I stepped from the pickup to the curb I really pulled the same spot again. Luckily we had stopped for some Traumeel cream. We have had very good results with this medicine. I put that on and ice and went to bed early. I had an uncomfortable night, but today it is on the mend again and Gene got me a cane to keep the weight off when I walk. See how it goes by tomorrow. No golf for awhile. :(
2 comments:
Nice picture. Is that a Toyota pickup? We have a Toyota Tacoma with a camper shell somewhat like yours. It's weird that I too am having knee problems. I see the doctor next week hopefully.
I'm glad you have such fun when you are out. Gene with his bike and you with your painting.
Jeanne, The pickup is a Ford. We do have fun. We golf together and then I paint and Gene rides his bike. Works out well.
My knee problem is not serious and I should be golfing in a few days, I hope. I know you have had difficulties. Wishing you the best.
Jo
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