Last summer, my friend Julia and I spent an afternoon
painting plein air in the warm sun,
under the shade of a maple grove.
Dressed in a pink Princess shirt, and bright matching skort,
she spoke from her perch in the big red wagon,
“I have never painted OUTSIDE before”, eyes shining, as we rolled into the forested park.
An adventurous 5 year old, she was keen to try.
Julia, 5.

After deciding on our posts and setting up, we dove right in.
Julia worked quickly on her playground composition.
She dipped her brush in a soft blush pigment she created herself, sweeping the paint lightly in arcs over the entire finished painting.
Seeing my fascinated wonder she said “It’s the wind”.
Of course it is, I thought.
It looked how wind would be.

Lake Island 6×8 Oil & Wax on canvas board

When Artists speak of elements needed to create a great landscape painting, they mention good design, composition, colour palette, & skill.
The piece needs to be infused, not just what we can see with our eyes,
but what we feel in our hearts; passion & joy,
and the spaces that surround us; energy, spirit.
Wind.

Sunset sky 8×10 Oil & Wax on Birch Board

I have always been drawn to the incredible beauty and dynamic that is nature.
It’s powerful drama, contrasts, and to find those in moments & spaces where you have to feel it first.
That’s the challenge, to seek out the energy, connect with it.
Discovering those glimpses of stunning beauty
not just in a brilliant shout of morning sun, but in the whispers,
a common wheat field, a frosty meadow, glinting in the light.
It’s in fleeting whispers where the painting heartbeat is born,
before the flash of drama and colour.
Of course, it helps if you can feel the wind.
~