Plein Air 2015 – Page 2 – Marianne Thompson

Plein Air Painting 2015

Summer, 2015

Summer, 2015
Oil on Canvasboard, 16 x 20 in

What I remember about this was that it was freezing and very windy outside, but I wanted to paint. I was seeing this scene with the woodstove in my mind’s eye as a very cold and clinical but luminous realism, like a Vermeer. What I was actually able to execute looked more like a Spongebob Van Gogh. I raged and hated it and myself for a while, and then after hiding it from myself for a month or so I decided I kind of like it. I mean, it’s rather cheerful and rollicking – as a partnership between Spongebob SquarePants and Vincent Van Gogh ought to be.

May 25th, 2015

Detail

May 25th, 2015
Lake of the Woods, ON
Boathouse, overcast day
Oil on Canvasboard, 12 x 16 in

I have been absent because I have been packing, and moving, and travelling. Last Friday I finally made it to the Island, and yesterday I finally got to start painting. Only, I found I had almost no white paint in my paint bag – which meant I had to paint very sparingly, carefully controlling the amount of white I use (and I use white in everything, basically.) Painting sparingly is not nearly as much fun as painting liberally – so tomorrow I’ll go to town and fetch the vast supply of spare paints in my car. From then on, I hope to be painting almost every day. I’m very happy to have finally landed, and here especially.

April 18th, 2015

April 18th, 2015
Cox Reservation, Essex Greenbelt, Essex MA
Oil on Canvasboard, 16 x 20 in

I was able to steal away from the tumult of my present life for a little oasis of painting. It was a beautiful day – especially when the sun was out and the wind was still – felt deliciously like spring. I focused on the buds and the promise of new beginnings.

Flood the Boat, Save the Dock

April 11th-12th, 2015
Lake of the Woods, Kenora Ontario
Oil on Canvasboard, 12 x 16 in
(sold)

Painting I guess is my bridge over troubled waters. I latched on to this image from last summer yesterday and today when I needed to paint. The view is of the boat dock at the island, while the floodwaters were rising steadily and I was doing all I could think of to keep the dock from potentially floating away. From what I understand, the island and the dock are still there.

Green Sky Moonlight

April 7th, 2015
Green Sky Moonlight
Oil on Canvasboard, 16 x 20 in
(sold)

On Sunday night I stood outside staring at the moon and trying to remove myself from the context of the evening darkness enough to objectively see the colours in the sky. When it’s night, there’s no way I know of to mix and match night colours – because you can’t see your palette, and if you use a flashlight, it will tint your palette yellow, orange, or purple depending on the type of light you use. So I guess you have to rely on memory. I was amazed the clouds in their centres looked ochre. This is how I remember it to look tonally. I had to throw in a lake and tree from my favorite place – also from memory.

March 30th-April 4th, 2015

March 30th-April 4th, 2015
Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30 in

The time I have taken to work on this was stolen from other duties and tasks, but I needed to paint. As usual when my mind is a mess of stress, worry and confusion, I gravitated towards a huge tangle of a project. It’s not deliberate, but apparently my subconscious thinks if it can work out a snarl of leaves and grasses on canvas, it can smooth the internal snarl as well. At this stage of the game I’m not too sure of much progress on either count. The young spring buds, all sticky wet with life and color, were all lit up in the last shafts of early evening sunlight. I’m happy with the colours, tone, and atmosphere in this painting. I like that, in spite of the messy tangle, there is an air of softness and hope.

A Resolution of Forces

March 1st-5th, 2015
Lake of the Woods, Ontario, Canada
Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30 in
(sold)

This has been a week of major upheval – and I spent it trying to work this painting out. Its from a photo of one of the countless staggeringly gorgeous sunsets I beheld at the lake this summer. I liked that the flat lake reflected the rosy sunset, but the waves were angles such as to reflect the blue dome of the sky. Blue and orange are complementary colours (opposites) so that creates a dynamic – as does the contrast between the clearer sky & sunset on the left and the storm clouds in tumultuous light on the right.

February 28th, 2015

February 28th, 2015
Cox Reservation, Essex Greenbelt, Essex MA
Oil on Canvasboard, 8 x 10 in
(sold)

Finally! I got to go painting outside again! It was a beautiful day and if it was cold I didn’t notice. I brought my dog with me for the first time (normally I leave him with my Uncle.) I wasn’t sure it would go too well, and I didn’t want him to freeze, so I only did a very tiny painting. I’ll get a picture of it alone tomorrow. You will notice a lot of pink in the painting that doesn’t seem to be in the picture. It’s an effect you get when the sun is too bright, everything begins to look sort of pink, or the light bouncing off white has a rosy blush. If you’ve been in snow on a sunny day you’ve probably noticed it. One more point for paintings over photos in communicating the experience of “being there.”

Loon At Sunset

Loon At Sunset
Lake of the Woods
Oil on Canvas, 18 x 24 in

I have to fix the spots on the Loon’s back, and probably will toy a little more with the water although I may not. This has been three days worth of frustration. I think I succeeded to some degree in what I was hoping to do (learn,) now I’m just sick of looking at it.

Sunset Thunderhead

Sunset Thunderhead
(Lake of the Woods, Ontario, Canada)
Oil on Canvas, 24 x 36 in

Again this week Plein Air is a bit of a misnomer, as it was painted in the warmth of a sunny living room while winter cavorted outdoors. I was thinking of the island, and storms I’ve known there. That’s snow on the right hand side – picture was taken outside.