On A Beach. Ona Beach.

  "The Bridge to Ona Beach"

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$250

click to buy

After the excellent time I had painting the coast back in July, I was determined to return before the end of summer. And I did, last week!

 

I started out at Ona Beach, a lovely spot just south of Newport, where Beaver Creek meets the sea. Colorful kayakers crossed through my painting several times during the morning, and a group of boisterous kids built a campfire nearby, sending smoke signals across my view. Also there were clouds. Moving clouds. But how could I complain? I was in one of my favorite places on earth, doing the thing I love to do more than anything else. It was bliss - and a great way to warm up for plenty more coastal action.

McKenzie Art Festival Paintout

 "Leaburg Dam"

16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas

 Sold

Well. This paintout was a blast. And it was three weeks ago. Bad blogger! Since then, I have been to the coast to paint (much more on that tomorrow), and to the Bay Area for a wedding. Also plenty of other stuff that I can't even remember right now because I'm busy planning my next adventure: the Hillsboro Plein Air Plus paintout, which is this weekend in Portland!

But back to three weeks ago...The McKenzie Art Festival paintout is a nice event, in conjunction with a sweet little arts festival with live music and a display of vintage RV's. I arrived early to get my canvases stamped, and headed out to find a good spot, finally settling on the Leaburg dam. A picturesque spot - but more importantly, a spot with parking, porta-potties, and SHADE!

 

 The day got sizzling hot, and I had to shed several layers before dropping my painting off to be juried. Here is my piece, below my friend (and figure-painting companion) Farley's entry:

With only seven artists in the contest, I still felt honored to take third place. Here I am in the winner's circle, with friends Farley (1st place), Patti (juror), and Brent Burkett (2nd).

I'm the one in red, in case you're new to the blog. :)

Plein Air on Green Island

 "Green Island"

12 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

Available here

On Saturday, I headed out to a spot called Green Island with the Plein Air Painters of Lane County. It was once farmland, surrounded during the rainy season by rivers that required the farmer to access his fields by ferry boat! Now it's being reforested with native trees. 

It was a peaceful spot, but hot and windy. Too bad I didn't capture my umbrella fails - they were numerous!

Here's my painting-in-progress:

And here's a shot of the finished piece.

Sunstroked

 "A Bend in the River"

10 x 8 inches, oil on canvas
Sold

I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to head out for some plein air yesterday. There's a spot called Willamette Greenway that's been very popular with the Plein Air Painters of Lane County lately, and I had yet to check it out. I almost ran off the road several times heading down there - admiring the gorgeous rolling farmland, and pastoral scenes of sheep grazing. Everything is starting to turn crispy brown as it always does during our rainless summers, but that just makes the clumps of dark green trees stand out even more dramatically.

By the time I reached my destination, it was sizzling hot. I had my sunscreen and my trusty granny hat, but wasn't willing to spend time scouting around for a shady spot. I wanted to get in, get it done, and get out - and that meant setting up right at the end of the path to the river. 

As a result, I spent a ton of time doing this:

And this:

My coquettish pose has a purpose here:  attempting to hide the hideous eruption of pimples on the other side of my face. Hormones + vanity + blogging = Sarah.