Painting en plein air may be one of my favorite activities. Add good friends to the experience, then, add fall colors, and tada! Bliss!

Mid-October, I took my Airstream, Eva, up to the Cascade Lakes for an annual girls trip paint out. Weather? Perfect. Friends? Wonderful. Wildlife? Yep. Colors? Off the chart. Sunny and warm most of the time! We painted twice each day, with much-needed rest in between.

It is hard to believe how tiring it can be to paint for 2 hours straight. Time flies, but by the end, the body aches and the back is stiff!

My goal was to paint at least one acrylic every day, sprinkled in with a few watercolor sketches. 

Here is my first painting of the 4 days. Morning sun hit in full power, warming us up on this little point of land next to the water. Otters came by early, curiously grunting (people are strange, they seemed to say). Herons squawked, and nuthatches beeped in the pines.

Definitely reacting to those deep autumn colors. LOVE.

We spent the time painting near each other, at times visiting, at times quiet and concentrating. All this gets into the painting somehow and creates dancing energy.

I enjoyed painting small sketches in watercolor, simple, quick captures of dark tree shapes only took a few minutes and are treasures of the time spent.

I can't explain the joy I feel when painting outdoors. The warmth, the birds, the breeze; each detail makes a difference in the final painting.

This was my most difficult painting session, trying to get the color of the water and the tree reflections accurate. Very challenging. In addition, weather was shifting, resulting in full sun one minute and cloud cover the next. Still, I'm happy with the effort and the outcome. Mostly, when I see this painting, I recall the peace I felt.

On the final painting day, we drove to Soda Creek and painted in the afternoon. Clouds created flat lighting, but subtle yellow neutrals ended up taking a good hour and a half to capture. Textures and soft variations in the meadow created my focus.

Every year, I look forward to this time with my friends. It glows with energy, love, art, and always infuses me with new excitement for studio pieces.

Thanks for reading my friends. Enjoy art and embrace peace and love when they come your way.