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| Fall Leaves, watercolour, watercolour pencil, white ink, 5.8" 7.5" |
Blog 45
I spent the week at the cottage. It was supposed to be my annual painting week with some of my Painting Buddies. However, this week didn’t go as planned.
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| Leaf Study, watercolour and watercolour pencil, 8.3" x 11.7" |
After a weekend with my husband and dog, my first friend had planned to arrive on Monday morning. However, on Sunday, she let me know that one of her family members had COVID and she wouldn’t come.
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| Marigold Bouquet, watercolour and watercolour pencil, 7.5" x 5.8" |
We were both disappointed. I had my acrylic paints with me and was eager to paint outside. Luckily, I also had my watercolour paints and several paintings from an outing to Petrie Island and our Zoom meetings with me. I made the best out of the situation: I went for long walks with Ingo and Shadow before finishing at least one painting a day.
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| Fall at Petrie Island, watercolour, 11.7" x 8.3" |
We were glad the deer hunting season had not started so we could enjoy relaxing walks through the fall forests and fields. Most of the trees had lost their foliage, but the rost brown leaves of the oak trees and the green moss still provided some colour.
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| Blowing in the Wind, watercolour and watercolour pencil, 7.5" x 5.8" |
During the night of Sunday to Monday, we had some light snow, which was almost gone again in the morning. However, two nights later, it snowed a couple of centimetres, so we awoke to a white landscape on Wednesday.
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| November Leaves, watercolour, 11.7" x 8.3" |
My Painting Buddies Sharon, Bill and Bob came after breakfast. We had so much to chat about. The wet snow and lack of sunshine did not inspire us to go outside. Instead, we arranged ourselves inside and painted the view of the river from the cozy warmth of the cottage.
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| Breezy Afternoon at the Beach, acrylic, 10" x 8" |
Bob stayed, and we finally painted en plein air on Thursday, the last day of our stay. At first, we had a great time. It was still cold, but we wore winter gear, and the sun came out and warmed us. However, grey clouds and fierce wind quickly moved in. After about two and a half hours, we returned to the house because we were freezing.
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| November Beach, acrylic, 10" x 8", unfinished |
More than 15 years ago, we would not have hesitated to paint outside in above-zero temperatures. I still remember a day when Janis and I went painting en plein air in – 20 degrees and heavy wind. In retrospect, I don’t know how we managed to do it. It was brutally cold, and we never repeated this experience. It was so frigid that our paint was stiff and our feet and hands frozen despite heating pads. We were determined to make the most of the painting day. We both had small kids, and a painting trip meant precious painting time we didn’t want to waste, but that day, it wasn’t fun.
Nowadays, we have other priorities. We still love to paint together but don’t feel we need to prove ourselves to the others. We respect each other, cherish our friendships and enjoy time together. Plus, after 20 degrees last week, our bodies need more time to adapt to the sudden change to snow and temperatures closer to freezing this week, especially with a lack of sun and heavy wind.
Looking back at the week, I am thankful for the time spent with my friends, enjoying ourselves and painting without pressure.
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