Plein Air, back in the 'Burbs

Morning, Curtis Arboretum, oil on panel, 9" x 12"

Now that I am back home from the Carlson Landscape Residency, I have to work a little bit harder to find a piece of the landscape that is open enough for the natural elements to catch and reflect the sunlight bouncing around. My home is in a suburb, and although we are far enough away from the city to have lots of trees and grass, it is well broken up by trees and pavement. Fortunately, I live near the Curtis Arboretum in Jenkintown, PA. This is an expansive, open piece of land with a pond, lots of trees, a small garden, and lots grass. Perfect, right?

So I packed up one morning to find the early morning light, the warm pinky-gold kind that comes not too long after sunrise. Well, it hadn't occurred to me that the Arboretum is in an area that is sort of shaped like a bowl, with most of the land inside the bowl. And the rim (and most of the sides) is lined with tall trees. Naturally, that early light takes a while to make it down to the grass. By then the sun is quite high in the sky, and the colors have faded somewhat.

So my early morning light painting became an early shadows painting. This is the exciting part of plein air work: every time I go out to paint with a predetermined idea of what I will make, I come back with a different painting. This time the surprise made me very happy.