San Clemente Plein Air Competition - Day 2

On Monday the 16th I headed down to the Ole Hanson Beach Club very near the train station in San Clemente. Here is a brief description of it from the city's website:

The Ole Hanson Beach Club is an historic two-story public facility and adjoining public pool originally constructed in 1928. The building and pool are in need of structural rehabilitation and repair. The City is planning to repair and rehabilitate the building and pool and optimize the floor plan to allow the addition of an elevator while maintaining and restoring historic architecture.

I found so much to paint there. I started painting at 8am and didn't leave until 4pm.
Here is the first one I did. 
Ellies Table, a little restaurant across the street from the Bath-house
9 x 12 inches, Oil on Linen Board
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My second effort was of this beautiful tree. I'm not sure what kind it is...maybe some kind of fig...It had a wonderful presence overlooking the sea, casting it's welcoming shadows.
"Playing in the Shadows"
9 x 12 inches, Oil on Linen Board

My late afternoon painting was of this beautiful tiled stairway.
The composition was inspired by one of my favorite artists: John Singer Sargent who did a similar painting of a stairway on the Isle of Capri.

"Ode to J.S. Sargent"
16 x 8 inches, Oil on Linen Board"

San Clemente Quick Draw

Greetings,
Yesterday began a week of Painting in San Clemente. This was from a Quick Draw, a timed painting event. For the next 4 or 5 days I'll be out painting different scenes in San Clemente...more to come...

Thanks for subscribing,
Judith

One Year Ago Today

Joel and I were very good tourists in Washington DC. I had purchased tickets ahead of time for a wonderful double-decker bus tour that you could jump on and off of depending on where you want to go. It was perfect!
So, our first day we hit all the main sites: The Lincoln Memorial, Capitol Building, and Jefferson Memorial. We both loved our visit and would go back in a heartbeat. The people were very friendly and helpful and the food was amazing! Plus, it was really easy getting around.

A Year Ago Today

This year I'm preparing for a week-long painting competition which starts this coming Saturday.
But last year, Joel and I had just arrived in Washington DC for a short stay before moving on to visit my Dad in North Carolina where we celebrated his 90th Birthday!

Here are two photos from our first day in DC...

A view from our plane as we approached Dulles Airport. I love taking photos from planes! These kinds of views remind me of childhood picture book illustrations of the checkerboard countryside of fairytales

This photo is of our first evening enjoying some good German Beer. I hadn't realized that I booked us into a German Style Hotel and Keller. What a pleasant surprise!

A Prodigal's Return

Greetings from the void! In April, as the one year date of my disappearance from the blog approached, I promised myself I would not let it pass without logging in and posting a comment on what I've been up to. And yet even that hallmark has passed and here I finally am facing this blank page trying to figure out what to say...

What began last April as a short break in order to paint and plan ahead for a mid-summer show because of an early summer vacation, turned into a late summer family emergency, then another early fall family emergency, which then morphed into a late autumn deadline, which grew into.....
You get the idea. Most recently it's been inertia. How does one start up a once comfortable and valued but long abandoned routine?

The answer is of course to just do it.
I've still been painting, still entering shows, and still trying to achieve something more.

Painting larger landscapes has taken up some of that time while the smaller still life work I began a few years ago has been put aside for now.

If you are still out there, I hope you will welcome this resumption of the blog as I welcome the chance to reach out once more.

I'll start off with what I've most recently worked on, and will throw in a bit of last year's work just to make sure all is covered.

Right now there are 2 exhibitions and 1 competition coming up in the next 2 months.

Here are three of the paintings I've submitted into the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association's "Best of Plein Air" Show...I'll know which one/s will be entered next week.

Trabuco Palm 8 x 10 inches

Rancho Night 9 x 12 inches

O'Neill Sycamores 11 x 14