Nebraska

I arrived in Falls City on a sleepy,  steamy Sunday afternoon.  I ate some ice cream and drove around the streets looking for something to make a picture of. A hundred or so years ago this little house was someone's prairie dream home. I loved the light and the two peaked gables...and even the satellite dish.

Between 1979 and 2000 I did 630 commissioned house portraits. Now I rarely choose to do a house (never on commission) but when I do, I still wonder and imagine the lives of the people who have lived in those houses, planted those lilacs and apple trees, raised their kids and come home after work.

I pack pre-cut sheets of sanded pastel papers when I travel by airplane. I am limited to a 9 x 12 format, which is really stretching my comfort zone. I usually work 11 x 14,  or larger,  in the field. My 9 x 12 Guerilla Box is self-contained and is carried on the plane as I do not like to have my finished pastels out of sight. I guess most of us travelers have arrived without our checked luggage. Clean clothes I can do without...not my art supplies. I put the tripod necessary to support the Guerilla Box in my checked bag, knowing that I can use the rental car trunk lid or picnic table if that goes missing. I pack a lightweight linen cover up smock and then by removing that, dusting off and scrubbing my hands I am ready for an art museum (not a white tablecloth restaurant).

Arkansas

A good night's sleep and a walk around the neighborhood of my motel in Rogers, Arkansas, I found my next subject....sometimes it pays to peer over hedges. I usually have to work a little harder than that to find a compelling scene, but I could not pass up this piece of shiny clean equipment...(is fire engine red emerging as a theme on this trip?) As far as equipment yard/garages go this one was well cared for. I am calling this machine a crane...more red sections were lying out of view...please inform me if that is not what it is. 

The temperature was pushing 90 at 9am so I drove to Bentonville...home of Walmart and Crystal Bridges; Museum of American Art. I spent the entire day inside soaking up the art. It was too hot to explore the lovely landscaped grounds and trails. The architecture alone is worth the trip...thanks to Moshe Safdie.  I loved the special exhibit Angels and Tomboys: Girlhood in 19th Century American Art organized by the Newark Museum. And women painters and sculptors were generally well represented in this museum's collection of American art...it's not often you get to see 2! Grace Hartigans  (anywhere, let alone the Ozarks). This was a breath of fresh air to an old feminist who has been counting heads for decades (gender and race) on the walls and pedestals of public art collections.Alice Walton has brought a beautiful art museum to middle America...and it's free. (special exhibitions entry is $5)

Missouri

In celebration of my wonderful new knee* I spent nine days covering 1400 miles of the midwestern United States. When I left home in New England with an airline ticket and a rental car reservation I knew there was a possibility of painting in seven states. I also knew everything would have to fall in place perfectly for that to happen. It was raining when I picked up my snazzy little screaming red Fiesta so Avis gave me a big umbrella to use and return with the car. That must have been the lucky charm. I never saw another drop of rain for nine days. I spent the afternoon at the St. Louis Art Museum and checked out downtown a bit for prospective painting sites.

When in doubt, do the waterfront; early morning found me trying to be inconspicuous in a sparsely populated derelict neighborhood on the banks of the Mississippi River.  But I loved the view of layers of urban architectural history including the famous Gateway Arch. It was good enough for Lewis & Clark to start their monumental voyage of discovery there, it was good enough for me to start my little sojourn as well. 

Reasonably happy with the morning's results I pulled my "stealth! brightest red on earth" Fiesta out of the bushes where I had attempted to hide her (and all my valuables) and I put in my longest day of driving to Rogers, Arkansas due south west.

 9 x 12  soft pastel on coated paper 

*I had a total right knee replacement on February 25th and wish I had done it way sooner. So if any of you are contemplating this surgery, I encourage you, "Do it". Once you've survived the first month of hell things start looking up and at my age the months do sort of fly by...before you know it you'll be doing stuff you haven't done lately. I must thank my All-Star Cast of supporters ( husband and family, surgeon, nurses, physical therapist, doctor of accupuncture and chinese medicine, massage therapist and my friends) for my complete and speedy recovery. YES! (oops, forgot all the rest of you taxpayers for medicare)....thank you...I mean to use it well.

How? What? Where? 2013?

What is in my mind when I choose what to paint in each state? I will say that my painting is like a well-thought out snap shot in that it is a particular day in a particular town on a particular corner at a specific hour. It is unlike a photograph in most other aspects.

Even my lightweight Guerrilla box full of pastels and the tripod that supports it is way larger and heavier than most commonly used cameras. It is a substantial investment in travel time as well as  having to carry the equipment through airports or down the beach or up several flights of stairs. And it is a commitment to spend an hour or four working on one small picture. 

I usually post one painting per state on this blog, but often I make more than one picture per state.

I am not interested in super-realism. I want to interpret the scene and make it my own as to color and "feel".

I love plein air painting for the same reason I love drawing...inspiration followed by time and attention devoted to close observation. Shapes and composition are important, but what my work is known for is the portrayal of light; that is what can turn your string of grimy tankers into a sparkling outdoor still life.

my car photo of leaving home in Vermont

California, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Michigan, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Alaska! Those await me. With luck and surgical team skill I will have a new right knee to complete my project on. I'll be back on the road this summer to visit some of the remaining USA.

Idaho

7am Sunday, Ashton; it was my own private Idaho for a couple of hours. The only person I saw was a tall dark cowboy tip-toeing out of his house so as not to alert the red heeler, who would later search up and down the street for her man, his truck and a trailer full of horses who left without her. She hopefully curled up on the corner to wait and eventually trotted off to wait his return in a more comfortable spot...disappointed but bearing no grudge.

I am in love with the west; even little dusty towns on the tracks whose main attraction is a big feed mill, black angus on scruffy pasture and fabulous light. 

9 x12. 

Wyoming

In Yellowstone National Park near Tower I pulled into a turnout and set up my easel. The elevation here was probably just below treeline and the high meadows are awash in wildflowers. Still looking over my shoulder for Grizzly. Next time I really will get a can of bear mace and instructions on how to use it, which I suspect have something to do with not blinding yourself in the presence of a huge charging bear. I took a few wrong turns on this trip, but nothing of that magnitude.

Don't tell me this isn't a great country. I showed the ranger my proof of citizenship, paid $10, and I can go to all National Parks for FREE for life! And my pass has a great picture of a blooming cactus on it. The photo does not accurately portray the extent of my delight at this gift. If you're over 62, get yours while you can.Only available in person at a US National Park.

Montana

I painted this last week just off the Beartooth Hwy. What a trip that was. SCENIC! and a little scary...the Montana part has guardrails and a 70mph speed limit although 20 is plenty fast on the many switchback turns. There is no naturally occurring pass through the Beartooth Mountains, so they put the road over the top. Spectacular. By the time I reached Cooke City my face was sore...from grinning at the landscape around every curve.

Notice my car door is open....just in case Grizzly should come out of the trees behind me, while I am totally absorbed in my painting. Apparently everyone should be carrying bear mace, especially oblivious artists.

This was just the beginning of a fabulous week out west in which I saw wolves, elk, pronghorn, mountain goats and bison in rutting season. The maneuvers and skirmishes of the two ton male bison are earnest and surprisingly graceful. Those guys know that dancing fast and light on your hoofs is useful for impressing girls. Loud snorting.......?well? who knows.

This is a 9 x 12 on a piece of recycled Wallis paper at around 8000ft. above sea level.