Thursday, April 23, 2015

Plein Air Painting in the Mountains

"Sailor's Warning on a Foggy Morning"
14" x 20" Watercolor
$175
My models
 Plein Air painting can mean sitting out in all kinds of weather. Today we went to Cummins Iris Garden in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It was overcast at my house, predicted to be 75 degrees with sun later. I knew that the mountains would remain fogged in longer, so I was prepared. Some folks arrived and left when they realized we were not going to have Valley weather.

This garden is gorgeous, a loving project of Jim and Irene Cummins. We were there May 2013 on a hot day. You can see the post.  The setting is lovely, even on a foggy morning, so I found some Irises that I loved and painted them against the backdrop of the mountains. You can see that their name is "Sailor's Warning", I am guessing because they resemble a sunset often seen before a storm.

We gathered at one to have our picnic lunches and view the truly lovely paintings. We were entertained by wild turkeys who seem to think the garden is their home. The three males got all puffed up in fight mode, looking about three times their size with beautiful, blue, and white on their necks. They are much handsomer when they become protectors.

"Don't mess with us"


Some of the garden area
Some of the day's production

S


4 comments:

Autumn Leaves said...

Mary, your iris painting is just gorgeous! I love the colors in the petals themselves and love the name of this beauty. I want to thank you for your continued encouragement...quite honestly, I find it difficult to keep getting up each day. Your words from the heart mean so much and do help to soothe. Hugs and love to you...

Mary Paquet said...

Sherri, you are my buddy and I admire your perseverance. Better days are coming!

hmuxo said...

A beautiful plain aire painting Mary! I love the colors in these flowers! Nice work!

Mary Sheehan Winn said...

love your florals!

Yeah, look out for those turkeys!!