In the life of a Painter

Winter Dome    16x20"      oil/canvas board    

With freezing feet I did this painting a few winter's past from the Ahwahnee Hotel grounds while painting with a friend from Northern California.  I completed this piece entirely outdoors with a palette knife and oil paint.  At times I use a special painting wax to increase the volume of the paint, but this time, I left the wax at home and was rather pleased that I got such a thick paint application.  It takes a lot for paint to freeze, but I've painted outdoors before and it "almost" happened.  Up early in the morning with a friend at Tunnel View one winter morning, we set up our easels, but immediately a wind came, and chilled us to the bone.  We persisted, but eventually we look at eachother like, "are we really this crazy?"  We packed up and went off for coffee instead.  

I love painting in the winter in Yosemite Valley especially observing the deciduous trees like dogwood, maple, and alder after losing their leaves.  You see the guts of a tree in winter.  You observe its form along with the whole character of the tree.  With pines, which are more of a dark "mass," I mostly aim for an interpretation of a pine as in this painting shown here.  Some forms are left more simple, others more color and detail.  As I grow as a painter, I work for some very simple forms in the background, more complex closer to the viewer, and something in between.  I see my work becoming more abstract.

Last Christmas I was invited by Delaware North Co. in Yosemite to be a "visiting squire(ess)."  I sat on the stage with the main actors/singers and saw the Bracebridge Dinner from above.  It was really amazing for me and for my family as we stayed at The Ahwahnee Hotel, for the first time ever.  We were treated like true royalty.  My family and several friends were at a table near the stage and I could see them enjoying the performance.  I wore a beautiful gown of several layers of brocade, with a long veil that fell all the way to the floor.  It was so much fun!  I have worked the Bracebridge Dinner for many years, starting when my daughter was young, and I have come to really love the music the best.  One year I did the spotlight upstairs.  But the dinner, the staging, the costumes are all first rate if you are tempted to try it.  It snowed during last year's dinner on Christmas eve and my granddaughter and I rose early on Christmas morning (she in her pj's) to explore downstairs in the lobby of this Grand Old Hotel.  We had hot chocolate and watched snowflakes falling outside.  I will never forget that Christmas.  This year, it is different:  simple but good and very quiet.  Christmas to me is about a feeling - of goodwill and kindness to others and a desire to make a difference in the world.  I am grateful for friends, family, and the rich colors of my world.  

Blessings to you all,

Penny