Plein Air Paint Out (PAPO) in Bellingham

Yesterday I joined a group of artists who were painting outside in Bellingham. We were part of the fourth annual Bellingham Plein Air Paint Out (PAPO) that took place Saturday and Sunday. I did a vertical painting of the tanks at the old Georgia Pacific site. When GP was operating these tanks were used in the processing of toilet tissue. The tall thin tank held chlorine. The large short tank held wood pulp. I've always loved how these tanks look and was delighted to discover a great view of them from the parking lot next to Dream on Futons and Blackburn Office Equipment on Chestnut Street. Both businesses were welcoming to the small group of us who hung out Saturday and painted this iconic scene. We had a beautiful day for painting outside and enjoyed painting together. There will be a show in November at the Blue Horse Gallery on Bay Street of the work of the over 50 artists who painted during PAPO.

Plein Air Painting at Woodstock Farm

Monday five of us went to Woodstock Farm to paint. I chose to bring my tiny pochade box and paint a 6" X 8" painting. I focused on one of the old gaslights near the large house that used to belong to the owners of the farm. During the heyday of the place the owners would have parties on the bluff where their guests could look at the view through the old madronas and watch the sunset. After the sun went down gaslights would light up to see everybody down the path and back to the house. My painting depicts one of the lights in a wooded grove near the house. It was a beautiful day to be outside painting.

Duma has pie on his side

Well actually it's "pi" not "pie." I noticed this the other day and pointed out his markings to Arvin who was delighted because he loves math and has even memorized pi to some huge number of digits. Duma seems oblivious to his amazing mathematical side. He continues to pursue his favorite things - eating, sleeping, and playing. As a result he has reached the amazing weight of 13.4 pounds at 11 months of age.

More from Menucha - Artists at Work

Chloe

Chloe is one of two Pixie Bobs owned by our friends Don and Tricia. She is very sweet and lovable and has great markings and extra toes on her paws. Here are a few photos I took of her and Tricia during my visit at their home in Salem, OR.

Sunflowers!

On the way to Menucha I stopped to visit with our friends Don and Tricia in Salem, OR. Don is a photographer who specializes in photographs of women. He had found a field of sunflowers and wanted to go there to photograph a young friend of the family named Nataly. I tagged along and concentrated on the field of flowers. We arrived very late in the day and stayed until sunset. It was sunny and hot and a great place to photograph the flowers. Here are a few of the photos I got.

More Burn Pile Art and Natural Abstracts

Me at Menucha

Just finished going through the photos I took at Menucha. I've posted them all on my Flickr site. Click on my Flickr link to see them. Here are some taken by other artists of me. The first is of my paintings on the walk about evening. The next two are from Thursday which is "hat night." With me is Kate, my new friend from Australia. She and I spent lots of time together during the week. So much fun.

Burn Pile Art

Near where we painted at Menucha there was a huge burn pile. It was full of brush, branches, yard clippings, pieces of wood, our paint rags, and many other things that would burn. One afternoon I took a closer look at it and knew I had to grab some photos of the amazing patterns and colors of the contents of the pile. These are a few of the photos I took.

Photos from Menucha

I've just begun to process all the pictures I took at Menucha last week. Here are a few of the more abstract ones I've come to so far. The first is the junk dump behind the kennel where we painted. Some of the found object sculptors came down and raided this heap of junk for their art. The second is Bill's set of brushes. The third his palette as he worked. The bottom is Karen's palette. I'll be posting more pictures including some of the people at Menucha as I continue to post process them. I'm putting them on Flickr in Art at Menucha.

Painting at Menucha

Took these photos with my iPhone. The top one came out on it's side. Can't figure out how to flip it. We've been really productive since we began painting on Monday. I've done 7 paintings already. Sandy's assignment to create quick gestural painting really energized me and set me free. I'm having a ball!





-- Post From My iPhone

Here's Don & Deuce

Deuce is 15. He sure doesn't look it. We've known Don & Tricia since before Deuce was born.





-- Post From My iPhone