The Wild Life

I have never thought of plein air painting as particularly dangerous. Unless, perhaps, you twist an ankle while hiking to a prime spot. Or get drenched on an "iffy" weather day and wind up with a cold.

But last week a friend and I were painting just off a major road and had chosen a lovely stone bridge that crosses a small stream. We were quite proud of our spot. It had good subject matter, shade, and room for parking on the verge. In fact the only thing lacking was a bathroom (plenty of woods around, though).

As I focussed on my canvas, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and looked up to see a black bear appear, sauntering off the bridge and heading my way! Not a baby bear, not a juvenile bear, but a big, full grown and very healthy looking adult black bear.

I said, in a low voice, "A bear…" and we started to back toward our cars. I reached into my bag to get my camera, but it was tangled up and wouldn't come out! The bear strolled forward a few steps, glanced our way, the turned (not speeding up or slowing down) and ambled into the woods on the other side of the road.

My camera finally came out of the bag and I turned and looked at Nancy. She had her phone out, ready to snap a pic, and said, "I didn't get one either. Nobody will believe us."

The rest of the day we painted while periodically looking over our shoulders!

Bear Bridge Off 611  9x12 oil on canvas

Plein Air with Friends

Nothing like getting outdoors with friends and doing what comes naturally - painting!

I roam around Bucks County at least two times a week, loaded up with painting gear, hunting for that perfect landscape. The fact is that a good artist can find a good painting no matter where they look, so spending time looking for the perfect composition is wasted time - time that could be spent painting.  One of the artist's jobs is to rearrange the elements of the scene to MAKE it a better composition.

Sometimes a good exercise is to close your eyes, turn around a few times then open them. Then, create your painting from whatever happens to be in front of you. Do it enough and it will get you out of the habit of seeking that ready-made landscape.

This week the Bucks County Plein Air Painters visited one of Bucks County's covered bridges. The Loux Bridge is unusual in that it is white rather than red as are most of the others. Constructed in 1874 of hemlock, it sits over Cabin Run Creek.

The weather was perfect! We parked ourselves on the side of the road and spent the morning painting. My friends worked in oil, but I decided to try a small watercolor. I was working on Arches 140 lb. paper and am fairly happy with the way it turned out.

"Loux Covered Bridge, Bucks County" 9x12 watercolor