Plein Air Convention Week in Monterey

"At the Wharf"

Oil on Linen Panel  6x8"
This painting is available HERE for $95 for the remainder of April

I arrived in Pacific Grove a couple of days ago and unpacked my gear because I'm gonna stay awhile.
I'm here for the Plein Air Convention, but I'm staying to paint and teach a workshop. I found the cutest little cottage here in Pacific Grove. The weather is beautiful after driving down from Truckee in the falling snow. Then a night at my daughters house in Sacramento, and the drive to PG.

I was a little tired if you know what I mean. But I got up early and got some things unpacked, showered and went for a nice little walk to the beach. Only three little blocks to the Ocean, right at the Lovers Point Park. What a great location! I'm scoping out places to set up and paint. The parking situation looks pretty good for those students who are coming to paint with me. We might have to move our cars every couple of hours or park on a side street. But that's not so bad. I need to make sure there are restrooms nearby too.

At the convention I will be going out to paint in three or four locations. They are taking us to Carmel Beach, Point Lobos, Asilomar State Beach and Fisherman's Wharf.

Tomorrow is the first day of the Convention and I've had a couple of days to get settled in. Today I went out and painted with the Plein Air Painters of Monterey. They hosted a paint out at the Wharf.
Before I met them this morning, I stopped west of Lover's Point.

"West of Lovers Point"

Oil on Linen Panel   6x8"

This painting is available HERE for $95 in April

I had to get out there today and get my fingers dirty. I have not painted outdoors since last June in Southern France. As you may have guessed, I'm not really that much of a plein air painter. By that I mean I don't usually hold up out there for long before I start to loose energy and focus. So I paint in the studio for the most part. But that doesn't mean I don't believe plain air painting is essential. It is! 

I've been working very hard to get more healthy and take care of myself. So the rest is in God's hands. I do know this, if I can keep at it, I will. 

These two pieces are just to get me going and I'm hoping to get some more in this week out there, along with about 700 other painters that are here for the event. My plan is to paint small and keep it simple. My goal is to paint using the transparent color wash method to design in an abstract manner as I begin each painting. From there I want to lay in thick confident strokes of color using a large brush. I'm hoping to get more confident and more bold as I go. I feel better just getting started today. I  am pretty rusty so let's hope it gets better!

The week will be packed full, but I will try to keep you posted. But the weather looks good and I'm gonna get out there and paint!