Azalea Bowl

I’ve been practicing my plein air technique in weekly outings with a friend from Auburn. We’ve been traveling to Callaway Gardens for the purpose of painting the azaleas during the Spring Festival. The beautiful colors lasted about three weeks; first at the Azalea Trail/Overlook, then at the Azalea Bowl.  I completed this 9 x 12 painting in two sessions, about six hours. The following week, all the azaleas were brown, which was quite a shock after brilliant color on the previous visits.

I chose a limited palette of permanent rose, scarlet lake, cobalt blue, prussian blue, new gamboge and aureolin. The highlights and other whites are the white of the paper, which I simply painted around.

I’ve started a second painting, this time in my studio. I’m working from a few photographs I took at the Sibley Horticultural Center last week. My subject is the swan sculpture in the reflection pool.

Azalea Trail at the Overlook

This date is easy to remember and I’ve chosen it to mark the beginning of my blogging adventure.

I’ve been painting the azaleas at Callaway Gardens’ for three weeks at the Azalea Bowl and the Azalea Trail at the Overlook. It has been a long time since I worked in plein air; I usually prefer the controlled environment of my studio, but I’ve enjoyed the challenge of dealing with wind, onlookers, shifting shadows and mosquitoes. The flowers were vibrant and lush this spring, but didn’t last long and I found myself propelled at break neck speed to capture the beauty before me.

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