The Language of Artists

Today I was talking to a woman about painting. She is not an artist but she's always wanted to learn to paint. As we talked about colors and brushwork and different styles of expression, her eyes lit up and she grew animated. We were speaking the same language even though she had never painted! It occurred to me how important it is to spend time with people who speak your language. They Get it. Painting is such a solitary profession. Even though I'm surrounded by supportive family and friends, I usually see their eyes glaze over when I'm enthusing about some great art observation or discovery. They don't hear or see the same language.
It's interesting that the French Impressionists who were friends with each other in youth and even painted the same scenes side by side, worked in isolation as they got older. Monet even asked his dealer at one point to not reveal to Renoir where he was going on a painting trip so that he could work alone. Yet they still would get together in Paris from time to time to hang out and talk about art and artists. I suspect that they left these dinners renewed and re energized and ready to get back to work. 

April Rain in the Valley of the Oaks

Do you want to help keep this beautiful mission open? It will be closed unless funds can be raised to do an earthquake retro-fit. Purchase a print of this image and 20% will go towards the conservation project. Click here for information.  Click here to purchase a print. Thanks for helping!

From the Back Burner -Day 28 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

 I might need to change the title of this post since I'm not going to make it to 30 paintings. This painting actually took 3 days to complete. I felt like working on something a little bit larger so, this one is 14x18.
The place I painted is almost magical to me. It's of Mission San Antonio de Padua. We took a back road to reach it on a rainy April day. From highway one in Big Sur - my favorite place to be - my husband and I traveled up a road that led over the coastal mountain range. What an amazing drive! You climb ever higher on a narrow dirt road with no guardrails, until the ocean and the highway are small and far below. I envy that lucky person whose home we passed high in those hills nestled between mountain tops. As we reached the summit of the range, it began snowing.  It's hard to describe the sensation of standing mountain-top in snow and swirling clouds, watching as bits of jewel blue ocean appear and disappear in the mist. It's so quiet up there!

As soon as we crossed over the top, it was full spring time in the valley on the other side.Trees were in flower and everything was a soft green.The mission itself sits on such a pristine piece of land, that I could really feel the sense of walking the same ground and seeing the same mission and mountains as the people who lived and worked there long ago.

April Rain in the Valley of the Oaks - oil on canvas panel - 14x18
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From the Back Burner Day 22 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

My challenge painting today is again from the California Coast. Every time I visit, I take a drive on highway one through Big Sur. I like to leave early to make the most of the day outdoors. The road is very winding and hilly and around each bend is a vista more beautiful than the one before. In the morning a dense fog hangs over the coastline and roadway. Gradually the light becomes brighter and finally you're rewarded with a glimpse through the fog of an impossibly blue sea far below sparkling like crushed jewels. By noon the fog is gone and the views are a painter's paradise. I could spend years looking at the ocean from these mountainside perches and never grow tired of it.

Morning Fog - oil on linen panel - 9x12
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Do You Live in A Painter's Paradise?

Let me introduce myself. I am an artist living and working in Gulf Breeze, which is a small city next to Pensacola Florida. This is my new blog where I'll write about the things that I think would interest other artists and collectors about art life.

I paint every day.One of my favorite places to paint is the Gulf Islands National Seashore.This National Park with it's white sand beaches and emerald water,is only a 5 minute drive from my front door.



                                                                                    "Dunes at Fort Pickens" 
                                                                    (24x36)
                                                                               


Pensacola is a beautiful place to live and work. A painter never has to look far to find inspiration. From Gulf to bay to bayou, I welcome the challenge of painting water that looks different from minute to minute .




For a few short weeks during the last 2 years, I've lived in Templeton, California on a small peach orchard. It's a short and scenic ride from there to  coastal towns like Morro Bay, Cambria and San Simeon. San Simeon marks the southern edge of Big Sur, my favorite  painter's paradise.  I could happily live and paint for many years anywhere on the coast from Cambria to Carmel.  

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"Looking West" Julia Pfeiffer State Park  
(30x40)
                                                                                   











Where is your favorite painter's paradise?