A couple of posts ago I gave an update on our greenhouse. The next step is to get the wood milled for the walls, but there hasn’t been time for that yet. But in the meantime, I have this beautiful, flat, snow-free surface in full sun.

Yesterday the weather was so beautiful, 40 degrees, the sun was shining, and the sky was blue. I looked out at that platform and decided it would make a great place to sit and soak up my vitamin D, as well as get in a quick plein air painting.

I packed up my gear and headed out. My daughter and her husband had a similar idea and they had taken a picnic, blankets, and books out and were enjoying the beautiful day when I got out and set up.

Plein air painting usually means you paint on site, whatever it is that you see. But, because it’s is still winter here, it’s white, grey, and blue sky. I didn’t like the white and grey, so I used the form but had dreams of spring and green on my mind, so that’s what I ended up painting.

I have painted outdoors on quite a number of occasions, and the one problem I usually have is the paper dries so quickly it’s hard to lay down even washes. Yesterday I had the exact opposite problem. Because the air temperature was still fairly cool, the paper dried so slowly.

It was fine, it just meant I had to sit and absorb more sun, but I thought it was interesting how much the air temperature really made a difference. The finished painting is just a practice sketch, but I am so grateful I took the time to get out, paint, and enjoy the beautiful weather.