Plein Air Still Life

I would like to be a better still life painter but find that I suffer from one major drawback in this area…I hate setting them up! I hate finding elements that I think will look nice: perhaps tell a story, getting everything arranged, getting the light just right, etc. It all feels phony and contrived. I much prefer to stumble on elements that are in their natural setting, that have a perfect light upon them and that do tell a story simply because they are where they are supposed to be and at the precise time when they are supposed to be there.

I wondered if the fact that I can’t really be bothered to take the time to compose and set up the elements to make a perfect still life suggested that I had a streak of laziness running through me. But I have decided that this cannot be the case as I am willing, instead, to wrap myself in every warm garment I can lay my hands on (including my father’s old sailing coat which is a USCG approved personal flotation device and, as such, is the most wonderfully insulated coat ever conceived!) and head out into cold temperatures and even colder wind chills in the hopes of stumbling upon my perfect plein air still life.

I think this is why I have been doing all the tree paintings of late. The primary reason is that I love trees, I love their character and the way light hits them and how they all have such stories to tell. I have also decided that I am tired of always looking off into the distance for a wide panoramic view when there might be something just as beautiful right at my feet.

I set out a bit late in the day this past Saturday to do some painting. As I drove to my location there was a nice warm sun throwing great light and shadow on the trees and the snow. However one glance at the sky was enough to tell me that the sun wouldn’t last long, that it was just a temporary break through some gathering clouds. I had to get off of the plowed road and hike through some knee deep snow to get to the location that I felt offered good prospects for a nice painting. I had just about finished setting up when I noticed this wonderful warm glow in the sky beyond my horizon trees and I worked very quickly to get that established before it disappeared. I only had about an hour on this small painting as when the light started to diminish so did the temperature!

Note that all of these small sketches are available for sale directly from me via this website. Simply click on the “Paintings and Prints” tab and then on “Available Paintings”. The price includes shipping costs.