Pine Tree

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10x8", water mixable oil on linen mounted on gator foam, 12/9/15

"Give a tree its gesture... in a tree there is a spirit of life, a spirit of growth and a spirit of holding its head up." (The Art Spirit, Robert Henri). I love Robert Henri... a lot of his paintings are really great. I really like the laughing children he started doing later in his career--his quick, bold brush strokes really capture the feeling of the moment. Some of his stuff doesn't really do much for me. I recently saw one of his quickly rendered street scenes in the Portland art museum, and was like, hmmm... but really, I find that encouraging. Everyone has their failures and triumphs (not saying he would have considered it a failure--he was so instrumental in championing art as an individual mode of self expression and a way of living a life, so I appreciate his work anyway, even if I don't find some of it particularly beautiful). Anyway, his passion and enthusiasm for painting are contagious and soul-affirming. I love picking up The Art Spirit from time to time :)

It was unseasonably warm yesterday (55 degrees), so I had to get outside and paint. I left the kids with a babysitter, headed out to a nearby park, and from all the scenery decided to give this tree a try. Trees are pretty tricky for me. I have a tendency to want to focus on the smaller things (like individual branches) instead of the larger masses... it's so easy to get distracted... and then the light changed (like 7 times) in the course of the 1-hour painting. Plein air painting problems ;)

As usual, my vision exceeds my execution, which is always a little disappointing (you'd think I'd get used to it!). 

 I'm actually quite embarrassed to post this (because I also hated it the entire time I was trying to paint it and it quickly made its way to the garbage can), but for the purpose of showing progress (also, this was painted from a photograph, which always makes it harder for me):


This painting was done in February of this year, and it's really, really, really bad (ha). I know. But for contrast, and reminding myself that I am, relatively speaking, a beginner--and giving myself a little bit of a break now and then. From February, to now.

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