Just playing around today

Sennelier's watercolor on 140# Arches hot press cotton paper.

En Plein Air: 7/25/2014

It was just before the sun rose... it was dark with the hint of light beyond the mountains.  And then there was light.  Painted on-site as quickly as I could to capture the drama of a new day beginning.  Mt Adams in the distance, Columbia River in the foreground.  Click to see a larger image.

EN PLEIN AIR
From Wikipedia: En plein air (French pronunciation: ​[ɑ̃ plɛn ɛʁ]) is a French expression which means "in the open air" and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.

A Parody

If you are familiar with the Union Station in Portland, Oregon, the lettering style and the phrase will be familiar. I created this just for fun to commemorate someone's bucket list this year and my humorous observation of the adventure.

Watercolor and pen and ink underneath colored pencil on Arches hot press paper. 8" x 5". References: my pictures and dry sense of humor.

At our County Fair

My entries did very well at our county fair.  I took first place and was awarded Champion in the Watercolor, Colored Pencil and Mixed Media divisions.  Pleasant surprise - when I picked up my pieces from the fair, I found I had been awarded Best of Show.

 

Dating a Royal

Watercolor, pen and ink and colored pencil (predominant media) on Arches hot press cotton paper. — at Schreiner's Iris Gardens. 

 

 

I spent the day wandering around the flowers at Schreiner's Iris Gardens and I kept coming back to this Iris.  It is quite frankly breathtaking.  When I bought a bouquet to bring home at the end of the day, I was lucky enough to have one Dating a Royal included in the bunch and I enjoyed it for at least a week.  I don't consider myself a collector but I think I'm going to have to add this Iris to my garden. 

 

Type: Tall Bearded Iris
Style: Amoena
Height: 36"

Color: White and Purple
(description states royal blue violet as drawn)
 Originator: Schreiner
Year: 2014
Bloom Season: Mid to Late
Fragrant: No
Rebloom: No