Reviewing my progress

Untitled

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colorfix

by Miki Willa

Plein Air

I am currently doing a review of the work I have done over the past two years. I have kept all the paintings in transparent paper books, just waiting for this moment. My goal is to recycle the ones I really don't like, and my husband and friend agreed, put aside the ones I think I can fix, and catalogue the ones I will include in my sales web page. Since I have photos of them already, I am keeping a record of where they are, size, and price point. The upside of all this is that I can see progress in many of my skills and techniques.

The first paintings from my starting painting most days are pretty dreadful. Before that, I was very slow and methodical, working everything to death. Once I started working daily, or almost, I had to work much faster. This really helped me in the long run by getting me past the notion that I have to include every little detail. Now, I feel the freedom to paint what I feel - to get to the essence. The more recent paintings that I decided to recycle don't do that. It is good to see the steps in the journey in this way. I recommend it.

As I was going through the paintings, I realized that I did not post the one above. This was done in plein air in Maine. It is alla prima. I am not sure I like it very much, but I do remember sitting on the side of a trail overlooking this beautiful bay. The weather was balmy, and there were no mosquitoes. It was just about the only place in Maine where that could be said. I am looking forward to a week of painting on location in Arizona in a few weeks. Hopefully, my outdoor skills will improve.

Some Good News: My husband and I have a small show in a local spa, Third Heart Men's Spa. In July, I may have a one person show in Bremerton, Washington. I will let you know more about that as it gets closer. On the blog front, I have passed the 200 postings mark. I have made it well past the first year, and I feel very good about that.

From Bend, Oregon to Bismark, North Dakota

On the way out of Bend, we decided to stop again at Smith's Rocks. Both of us were determined that we could actually paint this place. We allowed ourselves time to do good sketches, one line and one value. We both would have stayed to paint, but we had to make it to Spokane, WA by dinner time. We both think we have good sketches and photos. I wrote extensive color and value notes on mine. Look for it when I get back to the studio.

After two nights with family in Spokane, we headed northeast for Glacier National Park. It was a long drive, so we decided to stay the night in West Glacier before we headed over Going to the Sun Highway to our campsite in St. Mary's campground. The motel I selected had fantastic views. Tom did a great painting there. The room was very clean, very small, and very basic. It was also really pricey. For the money, we could have stayed in West Glacier itself and had stuff to do.

The next morning, we headed over Logan Pass. There is construction on the steep west side, but we were lucky to have only a six or seven minute delay. Most of the delays are 30 minutes. We decided to push on to the campground and drive back to the meadows on the top another day. The picture at the top is of our campsite and Tom's painting from the day before that he wanted to work on a bit more.

We spent the next two days exploring the park and painting. The next three paintings are pleine air pieces we did. I have decided to post Tom's paintings from the trip also.

From St. Mary's Lake

12 x 18 soft pastels on Wallis

Tom Willa

View from St. Mary's Lake

12 x 18 soft pastels on Wallis
Miki Willa

Jackson Mountain

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix
Miki Willa

After we left the park, we headed east on Highway 2 through Montana to Glasgow, where we found another interesting motel. It was a very hot drive. This morning, we headed southeast to pick up interstate 94. We stopped at a very cool dinosaur museum, looked at the North Dakota Badlands in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and drove through the rain to Bismark. Tom picked this place to stay which has reliable internet access, plenty of room, a laundry (thank goodness), and very cool furniture. I am not sure how much painting will be done between now an Maine. The weather forecast is dismal so we may not be camping much until after the 16th. Hopefully, it will clear up by then. If we don't get paintings done, I will post some great photos from Glacier in the next few days.