
I had this particular spot in mind for over a week and was very excited to paint here which I haven’t in years, the last time I did I painted it in pastel

So as I was saying I had this spot in mind to paint for a while I come around the corner on Hwy 49 and there is a man and a truck parked, what????? that is MY spot! so I pulled up rather fast, you should have seen the look on his face. I got out of the truck immediately asking “oh are you planning to fish here”? “yes”…..I then say “I plan to paint here”, I didn’t ask him, I told him! then he says….”I will stay out of your way”! Haha! like I was the one who showed up first….anyway…..he lasted only 10 minutes fishing and then moved on up the road. I love it.


I completed this one later in the studio, I lost quite a bit of definition on the right side but that’s alright, it is a warm-up.

I really hate that hump of rocks, I am going to work on softening edges and the horizon line.

I am thinking that I will work on now loosing up my water which actually means I need to soften up the edges of the water and rocks. I don’t like the cookie cutter look but I understand why I have been doing that because of the need to keep my lights but I know that I can have the happy marriage of saving my whites and loosen up with my edges. That is my challenge now.
I have been fortunate to continue painting as it is cooling down. Soon I might have to switch back to pastel work when my washes refuse to corporate in drying.
I stopped in Downieville to look at a new gallery in town Yuba Gallery and I ran into an old artist friend, Katie O’Hara Kelly who also taught art at the elementary school that my daughters had gone to. Her art is in the gallery and she is encouraging me to bring some artwork in to exhibit. The gallery is seasonal because the tourist trade drops during the winter, I am looking forward to next year to bring some of my paintings of the river and Sierra Buttes.
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