Moving around

Sunny winter afternoon on Cherrywood
acrylic on canvas
8 x 8 inches
Barbara Muir © 2010

One of things I admire about plein air
painters is that they're gutsy. They get right
out there and paint in all weather. I am not
them. Sand at the ocean, grit in the city, wind,
dirt in my acrylics, rain, too much sun, not enough
...I haven't acquired the requisite coping skills.
But last summer I did porch air paintings out
on my front porch, and really enjoyed the results.
For the past couple of afternoons there has been
a glorious light. Robins and over observant artists
think it's the precursor-to-spring-type of light.
I haven't seen a Robin yet, and I'm grateful for
that because I love those birds and it is sub
zero weather.

But I have seen an artist getting all peculiar,
starting to sing with no provocation. So this
artist instead of sitting on the porch, now a wasteland
of icy concrete and bricks, decorated by permanently
on bad taste Christmas lights (the only lights
available two days before the event), sat inside.
I scoured the place for a perch, and decided on
my model's chair in the studio window.
So this is what I saw. You may recognize the
view done in a much more restrained manner a
while back. I might work on it a bit more, or
leave it as it is -- loose and happy.

I realized today that we don't have to go out
to get that plein air spirit, we just have to
be strategic, and careful and move around in
our own houses, (or other people's if they are
willing) to paint what we see. It wasn't comfortable
sitting on the arm of my chair in the window. But
was it meant to be?

Have a moving-around-for-a-view day.