The Courtyard Gallery hosted the Enderby Arts Festival yesterday. I borrowed a canopy tent and couple of tables and set up shop with cards and paintings for sale. I had only done that a couple of times a few years ago so had to figure it all out again. The challenge was painting a plein air (outdoors) still life with 2 wonderful artists; Dawn Scott and Marg Froess, both gallery artists. The three of us had never done this before. The first one was at 9:30 with a still life of flowers from Dawn's garden and we painted for about half an hour without worrying about finishing it. The second was at 11:30 and we painted a still life of small beach toys for about half an hour. Yesterday was really hot so I quit before I was done. I also had a canopy and tables that I attended to as well; during and in between. Marg and Dawn had so many people visit and chat with them, it was difficult to get the painting in!

​We each painted different sizes and Marg even painted the second one on a black canvas. I painted both of mine on a 20" x 16" canvas in oil. Marg and Dawn painted in acrylic and struggled more than I did with the paint drying so quickly in the heat. One of the interesting aspects for passerby's is that although we were painting the same thing, we had different views and interests as well as styles. Can you guess which ones belong to each artist?

@courtyardgallery  @enderbydistrictartscouncil #enderbyartsfestival #pleinairpainting #paintingdemo

I will have a couple of tables with paintings and art cards for sale tomorrow. For extra fun, artists Dawn Scott, Marg Froess and myself will be doing a still life demo at 9:30a.m. and 11:30a.m. just outside the Courtyard Gallery. It will be fun to see the same still life set up painted in our own individual ways. It is not a contest or race but more to show the variety of colours, views, set ups and painting styles. The paintings will probably not be finished in the time given, hence it being a demo. Please come and join us to cheer us on. This is something new for all 3 of us. There will also be other artists painting en plein air at various locations. The street in front of the gallery will be closed to traffic making it a fun, friendly and safe family activity.  

I bought this online class at the end of 2021 (Merry Christmas to me!) and really enjoyed following along. I think I was not only drawn to the scene but also to the beautiful colours. Painting along with the few colours I had brought on a holiday was both challenging and fun. I love the thick texture in the front poppies that really made them "pop". I have so many photos of roadside poppies in England and Spain that I will have to paint a series. Oh my, my list just keeps getting longer!

I happily participated in the #OpusPleinAirChallenge this year. It was fun as you could participate in events, with friends or alone as long as you were enjoying yourself with art supplies outdoors. These are photos of some of my adventures.

Below left - Gardom Lake, B.C.(painted on a dock), The next three are drawn in one continuous line each while travelling in the passenger seat. The bottom two are sketch book pages painted under a canopy while camping in the rain.