Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Plein Air Landscapes

Morning Creek at Driver Property
© 2009 Nancy Laliberte
9"x12" acrylic on panel
This is a heavenly spot on the John Driver property just outside of Viroqua, WI. How fortunate to have this as a part of your yard! There is a fence (not painted) and cattle roam through this area. I loved the morning light on all of the greens!

My painter friend Becky paints beautiful paintings with a colorful, abstract style. The painting she is working on in the photo turned out beautifully--very Monet-like. Becky and I met in '07 at a Bob Burridge workshop at Dillman's in Wis. (See Bob's and Dillman's link at right.) She is a terrific painter and friend with a great sense of humor! Thanks Becky!

Paintin' chicks! While painting at the Driscoll farm property outside of Viroqua, the chickens roamed about, pecked at our easels and provided us with a lot of comedic relief.

The chickens loved Susan! One became so enamored with her painting, it jumped up onto her palette! We squealed! The chicken squawked! And the poor chicken ended up with ultramarine blue feet and a blue stripe down its breast. It gives a whole new meaning to chicken cordon "blue"! (sorry--that was just too good to pass up!)

Morning Stream off Maple Dale Road
© 2009 Nancy Laliberte
6" x 6" acrylic on panel
Another piece done off of Maple Dale Road. (See Monday's post.) This was a quick color study to work on trees, greens and water. I like the quick color studies as I paint more intuitively or with more of an emotional response to the subject and don't "over think" the whole process.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Color Notes

Stream near Maple Dale Road
© 2009 Nancy Laliberte
10" x 8" acrylic on panel

This was a fast painting from my DeWaard plein air workshop--fast because I was set up on the side of the road on a bridge and there were two dump trunks continuously driving back and forth past me and a couple other plein air painters also set up near the bridge. The noise and dust was annoying and Ken was ready for a heart attack worrying about our safety, so we all relocated elsewhere. Long story short, a reference of quick color notes for a future studio piece.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Shed in Morning Light

"Shed in Morning Light"
© 2009 Nancy Laliberte
6" x 8" acrylic on panel
This painting (study) is from the plein air workshop I took in June. I am not sure what the building was/is used for--not an outhouse as it was near a driveway and highway and right next to fuel barrels??? I loved the sun lit side of the building contrasting with the shadow side and the tree shadows by the window.



Friday, July 10, 2009

Peonies in Bloom

"Peonies in Bloom"
© 2009 Nancy Laliberte
8" x 10" acrylic on panel
This is the first time I have painted peonies. I love the flowers despite the ants that also seem to love them, too! The petals are silky soft like feathers. We had peonies in the yard growing up so I guess they remind me of my childhood or something. I want to paint them again...