"Bougainvillea across the Lake-plein air", 16x12, oil on masonite

"Bougainvillea across the Lake-plein air", 16x12, oil on masonite
(Note: Please click on the picture in order to see the impast0 better!)

It's been quite a while since I painted plein air. It's not that I haven't wanted to. I won't bore you with all the reasons why I haven't done it, but nevertheless, I haven't done it in a long time.

There are a lot of reasons why I don't paint for days on end. Sometimes it's because a nasty voice gets inside my head and tells me I'm not good enough to paint. Sometimes, it's because I become totally fascinated with the news and world events and spend hours online just reading the news. Sometimes, it's because I am exhausted for days after reading the news!

Painting plein air is very important, and I have gotten away from it in recent months due to my preoccupation with other things.

Yesterday, was just an overall good day. I had the opportunity to meet a truly delightful fellow painter, musician and dancer, who was also a physician before retiring and becoming an artist. Sound familiar? Lorraine was sweet enough to pick up my paintings at an exhibit while I was in Pennsylvania last week attending my mom's funeral. Check out Lorraine's paintings and blog here.

Afterwards, my dear friend Sally, another dynamic colorist and impressionist artist, treated me to lunch in downtown Sarasota, and afterwards we went and checked out the art of the old Russian impressionists at Lazarre Gallery, a new gallery in downtown Sarasota. You can check out Sally's blog here.

I came home totally inspired by the Russians, and immediately packed up my suitcase (literally) and headed up the street to my favorite pond. I stuck my cell phone in a belt I used to wear on Club Med vacations, put on my big straw hat and sunglasses, and lugged my French easel and suitcase filled with paint to a spot I'd been eyeing for quite a while. We live in a pretty neighborhood where there are lots of little lakes, and I knew from my walks that the bougainvillea on the other side of the lake lit up like a Christmas tree around 6 in the afternoon.



A guy who was running loops around the path stopped long enough to say, "You look like like you just got off a cruise ship!"

"I wish." I mumbled, as I set up my easel in the grass, eyes searching the territory for any random alligators on the prowl. (It's mating season now, and the gators do strange things when their hormones rage, so caution is a good thing in this area where 10-12 foot gators are common.)

I worked feverishly for an hour, trying to capture the light before it changed too much. There were purple notes in the overall temperature of the sky and so I incorporated them into both the light and shadow notes through the use of one of my favorite colors, permanent magenta.

In the end I was able to get the first and second notes in place before packing up my things and heading home. This morning I added a few much needed third notes into the trees and water in my indoor studio, mindful of the fact that I always go way too dark when I am painting indoors.

A camera can never do a scene justice. I am glad I did this painting outdoors yesterday, because it just reinforced to me the necessity of painting from life.

Please send me an email at maryannejacobsen@aol.com for availability and purchase information about this painting. To visit my official website and learn more about me and see more results of my daily dance with paint, please go here.

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