The Pool, Central Park

I had today off from work, which was nice after the weekend.

I wanted to paint, but didn't have any definite plans, so I texted my friend Janette to see what she was up to and see if she wanted to paint.  She was up to nothing except painting, just like me, so we met in Central Park and painted the waterfall over by The Pool, W 103rd St-ish.

I painted in this very same spot back when I was a new plein air painter, in December 2009... it was good to be back!

8x10 oil, I took my new Rosemary brushes out to play!

They are AWESOME!

I started the painting out right with a size 12 flat!

When I got in the train to go meet my friend, I saw this sign, which I plan on ignoring completely.

I will never stop collecting paint!

A Box of Magic Wands!

Most of my favorite plein air oil brushes are dead.

All of my egg tempera brushes are dead.

I will only use Rosemary red dot synthetic rounds for egg tempera.

Nothing else holds up--- I have tried.

The store at the league carries a small selection of Rosemarys, but their stock is hit or miss.... and mostly miss.

I'll be going back to class in October, so I figured I'd order from Rosemary directly and just replenish everything. I'm also switching out my small brushes from Princetons to Rosemarys. I really go through them, and tiny Rosemary Ivories will definitely last longer.

I use the Ultimates and Ivories for oils.

My order was supposed to arrive Wednesday, but when I got home from camping, they were waiting for me!  In the box of magic wands was a handwritten note, a free brush, and brush cleaner!

What a nice homecoming, and such a lovely experience.

I haven't ordered from them in many years- because I could get them locally in-store.

I'm SO EXCITED and I cannot wait to paint again!

4 Camping Paintings!

Our annual volunteer appreciation trip was this weekend!

I was one of the organizers, so I went up on Thursday and came back today, Sunday.

It was a good stretch of time to be away. I had a great time but was ready to be home, and I missed my cats.

My hammock was amazingly comfy!

All paintings are 6x8 oil, and my brushes are dead!

My Belly River box also needs some maintenance.

It is such a good old friend, going strong now for 16 1/2 years!

A few assorted pics...

My hammock is so incredibly comfortable!

I dont know why hammock interior pics always come out red. 
My hammock is green, I guess the camera can't handle the bouncing light or something.

One Pink Flower

Today after work I went down to Jamaica Bay to find what I could find and paint it.

On the path by the water, I saw a beautiful array of wildflowers... and in the clearing among them was a single pink flower.

So, it got to be in a painting.

8x10 oil

The drawing.... just enough.

The bugs were EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE... it was so bad.

Despite being drenched in bug spray, I got a lot of bites.

They went for my face.

It's bad.  For the first time in 20 years or so, I have to take Claritin along with topical cortizone.

I am so allergic to mosquitoes and there is a huge welt on the side of my face! I have to leave on Thursday for camping so I sure hope it calms down by then!

Rockaway Sauce

I made sauce today with Palma's tomatoes, garlic, and basil.

It was the best thing ever.

A sauce like this needs to go with fresh handmade pasta, so I did that too.

Thunderstorm, Oil Paint, Garden Produce, Beach

After Palma's talking-to yesterday, I said I'm going back to Rockaway, are you around? She said yes come over, I'll show you spots and we'll drive around.

We drove around and I showed her where I was yesterday, which she knew about because she used to go there in high school.

We went back west to 116th area, and Palma showed me Tribute Park which has good sunset views.  I liked the clouds and did a painting.... which was completed VERY quickly and a little early due to a sudden and VERY intense thunderstorm!

I packed up FAST and we took shelter in Walgreens.

8x10 oil

Then the weather cleared up like nothing ever happened.

We stopped by Palma's place to see her cat and also because she has a ton of fresh produce from her garden.... and she gave me the most beautiful tomatoes, garlic, and basil!

I need to make sauce.... obviously.

Then we went to the beach and I made another painting while we had a lovely time together.

I got in trouble on Rockaway.

Janae and I headed out to paint today.

I wanted to find new spots on Rockaway, I need a place that has good sunset views.

(the beach faces away from the sunset)

So we went to Arverne, where i was last week, but we went north to the patch of wildlife reserve.

It was so hot.

I didn't really like the spot, it's not well-maintained and the kind of place you have to watch out for syringes.

Janae didn't paint much, and she decided to go to the store and get water, since it was so hot and we ran out. She met another woman named Janae and had a fun encounter!

8x10 oil

Probably don't go here.

I don't recommend it. You can get this same view in other places.

*********

I had to be at the boathouse for guests I invited from the hotline.

I was getting on the train when my phone rang.

It was my friend Palma, who grew up on Rockaway and still lives there.

I said Hi Palma! and she launched into NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!

I almost died laughing....... knew this meant I messed up on Rockaway (I didn't, not really)... so I said oh what did I do wrong?

Palma said don't go there alone. I said I wasn't alone, and also it was fine. (It really was fine.  I know to be careful of syringes, no shady people were around, and I felt ok.) Then I had to go because I was on the train.  But now Palma wants to show me better spots, and I'll take her up on it.

Plover Daycare

Janae came over tonight for an overnite plein air adventure!

I hosted this time, and we decided to go down to Rockaway for painting the beach and sunset views.

The baby plovers are out!

They are so ridiculously adorable!

The adult plovers really watch their little ones, in a very organized way.

It's awesome to see.

The male plovers stand sentry guard on the beach facing the water while the females watch the chicks run in and out of the water.

6x8 oil

Plovers everywhere!