Spring City 2013.2

6" x 8" Oil on Panel

This is part two of Spring City's 2013 plein air event. Part one can be found here. 

Friday I didn't feel like painting but went anyway. Once again the weather was unsettled, with sunshine taking turns with wind and rain. I settled on a simple subject and made a small painting. That painting is shown at the top of this post. Friday evening I attended the artist's reception where I visited with other painters and enjoyed the exhibit. The last three days had been rather tiring, so I stayed only an hour or so before heading up into the mountains to find a place to camp - and sleep. Someone was already in my earlier campsite so I headed up higher, up through a long series of switchbacks, and found an open meadow surrounded by aspen and evergreen. I had this spot all to myself! Arriving at the campsite after dark, I enjoyed a display of lightning in storms off to the north and a show of stars and the Milky Way overhead before thickening clouds ended the star show. A gentle rain passed by during the night.

10" x 8" Oil on Panel

When I awoke in the morning there was only an hour to get ready and get down to the "quick paint" event. Once again I didn't feel like painting but went anyway. The morning was overcast with occasional light drizzle. For some reason, instead of choosing to paint one of my usual subjects, I went all architectural and painted an old church. Not the best subject for me in a "quick paint", but I went for it anyway. That painting is shown in the second image in this post. After painting the church, I realized the composition was reminiscent of the only other plein air painting I've ever made of a church. 

Later in the day I walked into the exhibit and saw that a painting of mine had sold. That made me feel good enough to go down to a local German cafe and buy a couple bratwursts with sauerkraut and hot mustard - my only indulgence the whole trip.