so i did go out to the creek yesterday. mikela helped me carry everything & then went for a walk up the trail. as i was setting up my easel......
stay tuned, gotta do my morning mediation now; i'll finish this story a bit later, and post yesterday's plein air painting.
12:05 pm as i was setting up my easel, a precarious process at best, i noticed the late afternoon sun was falling on the canvas. can't paint that way, so i attempted, with difficulty to turn it so that the canvas was shaded. at the last moment, the canvas slipped off the easel and landed face up in the creek. it began traveling rapidly downstream. i watched, in horror, amusement and awe, as the pure white 16x16" surface bobbed and wobbled it's way downstream, until it caught on on overhanging branch.
seeing my opportunity, i scrambled and reached for it with my right arm, where i have a bad shoulder and tendonitis in my forearm. i fished it out, stressing my bad right knee as well. it was soaked but intact, and i proceeded to wipe off the painting surface with some paper towels. i was amazed at myself when, moments later, i began the painting, shaken, but excited about this new spot i found. the resulting painting is below, and i'll post photos of the site later, when i'm done working for the day.....
the "talking rocks" i refer to are the sounds made by water rushing over rocks and branches, which, when you're there for an extended period, sound like human voices. occasionally, i turn my head, thinking someone is trying to get my attention...
every time i go out, it's an adventure, whether my canvas flies off the easel into the water, or i simply observe a red, an orange, a blue in the rocks i had never noticed. i get some sense of what cézanne must have experienced when painting mt saint victoire.
