April 24, 2014

I spent yesterday afternoon painting with my good friend, Ani Espriella, outside of Longmont.  It was a brisk one too, very snappy wind gusts with good sustained blasting going on all afternoon.  So we decided that if we were going to be able to paint, Ani was painting with pastels, we would have to set up so that we could use my van as a windbreak.  Setting out a bunch of pastels in high winds is a dicey situation.  It was a challenge, but we managed, using the comfort of the van with it's bulk blocking the gusts.

I wish I had a photo of Ani's wonderful pastel to post, maybe I'll get one to add later.

The new spring greens of the fields, the spattering of patches of low to the ground purple flowers, with a very light, warm, filtered blue sky, made it an attractive and inspiring subject to paint.

All afternoon there were birds of various sorts trying to make some headway against the strong spring winds.  Seeing this, I saw a story happening involving the very real struggle in life that all of Nature's critters face daily.  It reminded me of the struggles we all go through in life from time to time.  When you have a friend, as is the case with the life bound ravens in this painting, it makes moving forward against the tide, or the wind, a group effort.  Whether or not they are victorious in their struggle, they did it together.  Our struggles are always eased by being in the presence of our close friends.

'Against The Spring Wind Together' - oil - 9x12

(Painted on Centurion OPDlx linen panel that was toned with Ultramarine Blue and Raw Sienna ahead of time.  I've become fond of working on a neutral, close to mid value tone, that has been applied ahead of time, and allowed to dry.)