Sunstroked

 "A Bend in the River"

10 x 8 inches, oil on canvas
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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.

Out on the Town

 "The Tiffany Building, Eugene, Oregon"

10 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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So I signed up for my very first plein air paintout the other day. I think it's appropriate that it's the first for me, and the first for Eugene, too! I signed up for both categories: landscape and cityscape. Just leaving my options open - after all, I'm going to have an entire day to work! 

Since I definitely plan to win don't want to completely fall on my face next month, I figured it was time to get out there and start practicing my cityscapes. Luckily I got to tag along with Patti at the Park Blocks downtown for some "I-got-your-back-when-the-vagrants-harrass-you" style plein air. Actually, the only people who approached us were some city marketers hoping to photograph us for their Facebook page, and some small, curious children. 

Which was good, because I had to pump all my spare change into the parking meter. 15 minutes for a quarter, Eugene?! Ha.

 I think I might just love city-scape painting more than landscape. The light does such beautiful things to buildings, and the dappled tree-shadows make even the sidewalk interesting to paint.

My Blood is Delicious

 

"Fishing Devil's Lake"

10 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

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The Cascade Lakes Highway is pretty amazing. There are so many lakes scattered alongside it that Devil's lake isn't even listed on most of the online maps I found. La-dee-dah, it's only an enormous, bright-turquoise puddle compared to some of the more impressive watering holes. Scale gets so distorted in an enormous wilderness state.

This lake was plenty big enough to impress. Unfortunately, the fish weren't biting (or maybe it was the fact that the daddies brought their raucous 2-and-3-year-olds along), and the mosquitos most definitely were. Biting. Specifically, biting me.

You see, I have delicious blood. I've always been a magnet for biting insects, and have loved living in the Willamette Valley because mosquitos are almost unheard of here...but in the mountains, the mosquito reigns supreme.

I had on long sleeves, long pants, and two coatings of bug spray, and still left looking like the only child who missed her chicken pox vaccine. (Did you know children literally do not get chicken pox anymore? Blew my mind when I heard). 

I'll spare you pics of the carnage. Here are some pics of the beauty:

Once I'd escaped to the parking lot, I treated myself to a consolation beer. I figured I'd earned it, in blood.

I Get Funny Looks

 "In the Rhododendron Garden"

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas
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If you ever get a chance to visit Eugene, try to come in Spring. At least, try to come this spring - honestly, we usually have wall-to-wall rain until the 4th of July. Not this year! Most years, Mother's Day is Rhody day - the peak of bloom time. This year they are almost finished. I was happy to find these pink and red pals in all their glory, though. Do you ever think about how long plants like these live side by side, watching the seasons and decades come and go....?

Back to my tourism plug. If you come to Eugene, and if it's a glorious spring day, Hendricks Park is not-to-be-missed. Apparently there are hundreds of types of Rhododendrons, and you can see most of them there! (Travel Lane County, please send my check to: xxx0 xxx street, euge ---- oh just kidding.)

Here I attempt to show you the scene I was looking at, and how it eventually came to be a painting.

And here, I give you eye candy. Flowers are nice.

...And here, I demonstrate the best way to get funny looks from all passersby while plein air painting: not only wear a granny hat, but definitely, definitely smear red paint all over your face. Then act like it's completely normal.

Spooky Plein Air

"The Old White Church"

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$350

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The Walker Church is the destination for the Plein Air Painters of Lane County this week, and yesterday dawned so incredibly lovely and sunny that as soon as I opened my eyes I knew I would be driving the 20-odd miles south to check out this new spot. The church was about as deserted as you'd expect on a Wednesday morning, and also in the middle of nowhere - the closest neighbors being some cows, a shuttered trailer, a gravel pit, and a junkyard - always love seeing that sea of derelict cars, don't you?

There were Lilacs and Iris in profusion in the small cemetery adjacent to the church, and tombstones for everyone from pioneers to the recently dead jumbled together in no particular order....and as I hiked around through the long, blowing grass, a windchime that sent chills down my spine!

Soon after the chills, I heard Patti's car crunching up the dirt driveway, and soon we were exploring together, exclaiming over the lovely old houses and picking out our painting spots. By lunchtime, we were freezing (It was about 50 degrees out, even with all that glorious sun), and so we headed to the nearest town for some hot soup and coffee.

More Lilac paintings coming soon!

I Exercise In Spite of Myself

"View of the Flower Farm"

8 x 10 inches, oil on canvas

$250

click to buy

I should have gone running. I have 13.1 reasons to keep my legs in fighting form, at least through this weekend, but instead....

I set off this morning for Mt. Pisgah arboretum without much of a plan in mind - I was on my own, and not being too familiar with this particular park, I wandered around for a while looking for a good spot. In a lazy effort to avoid any actual hiking, I investigated a puddle-ey bridal path, saw some cows, then more cows, no views. Finally I decided to just grab my gear and start climbing. All of the trails in this park seem to head in one direction: up.

 I couldn't have gone more than 3/4 of a mile before I found a spot that felt right, and got started.

After a while, my easel almost fell over - the ground randomly attempted to swallow one of the legs(?). I caught it in time, but got white paint on some stuff. Returning minerals to the earth from whence they came. Titanium, you're welcome.

After that adrenaline rush, I took a break. These awesome pink shoes are a pair of last year's runners - all worn out for pounding the pavement, but super comfy for standing around, and the colors make me happy.

 By noon I was hot, hungry, and happy with my work. Going down was so much easier than going up!