| Still Water Reflections © Marian Fortunati 12" x 16" Oil on RayMar Linen Panel |
A few weeks back the weather was fabulous and my daughter was working from home rather than flying out somewhere, so I decided on a "two-fer". I would drive up the coast and paint near her home then meet up with her and her husband for dinner. Then Tyler and my husband decided to drive up later and join us all -- A "three-fer".
The Plan
My plan was to do three small paintings. I'd start out with a 6"x8", work up to an 8"x10" somewhere else and end up with a 9"x12". I had
 | |
| Trestles © Marian Fortunati 8"x6" Oil on RayMar Panel |
The Inspiration!
I ended up driving north of Santa Barbara to around UCSB where I had lived and studied for four years and earned my BA (in Zoology). My daughter and her husband also graduated from UCSB and it turns out that a surprising number of my friends and colleagues did too! Anyway using a map I had purchased, I explored the northern part of the campus where I never remember visiting as a student. It was the Devereux Slough area and I ended up in a place with a stunning view and found my inspiration. No small painting was worthy. I pulled out the largest plein air panel I had (12" x 16") and got to work.
 | |
| Ya gotta LOVE this sign!! |
No Bathrooms
Of course every silver lining has a cloud. I was happily working away near a sign that allowed parking ONLY for bird watchers and painters, (can you believe it?) when I realized that there were no facilities. Since there was a steady stream of hikers, I had to decide whether to carefully time my break or to get in the car and drive somewhere. I timed it ----- happily without incident. I just loved painting there in the shade of a eucalyptus. It was cool and beautiful. I was using a reddish-toned canvas panel and I was liking what was happening to the painting. It is always a rush when the muse is sitting there guiding you, isn't it?
Dinner ... and later .....a little award
I finished up the painting just in time to meet my husband and Tyler. Later we had a nice dinner out with my daughter and her husband and drove home contented from a wonderful day.
The next Tuesday I took my painting to our local club (The San Fernando Valley Art Club) meeting and won a second place award! I couldn't be happier!
**********************************************************************************************************************
I entered this painting in April's Fine Art Studio Bold Brush contest.
You can see it and the other entries and I'd love it if you'd "LIKE" it by clicking on the following link and clicking "like":
**********************
No comments:
Post a Comment