Plein Air Big Bend

Boquillas Canyon 11x14 oil on panel

First morning paint day, Boquillas is on the eastern border of Big Bend National Park, TX and Mexico. Across the river from where I am painting on a bluff is Mexico. There were guys on horseback freely crossing the low water river to sell their walking sticks and trinkets. Their shop was a big flat rock beside our parking lot or flat rocks along the trails up the mountain. Each "booth" had a plastic jug to put your money in if you wanted to make a purchase. They came over to check on their wares and seranade us. A few watched as we painted.

What a wonderful place, Big Bend National Park. The terrain is so different each road we take. This is the second time I've been with the Outdoor Painter's Society to paint there in February. Yes, it is pretty cool in the mornings when we get out to paint but really warms up during the day. We see some color and not all grey. Different times of the day the atmosphere shows the mountains as navy blue, purple to pale blue. Sometimes we see the green of trees. The cotton woods were light green, cedars dark blue/green. Cane and grasses along the Rio Grande are a golden. Cactus are green, grey, bronze, gold, maroon, hot pink...yes hot pink!! Fewer cactus. The 1" of rain last year hurt even the cactus. Lots of huge piles with no life to them. Sage a grey green and Yucca trees in places. An interesting tree with red bark that looks like it is spray painted red is the Medrone ?sp? tree. The mountain rock colors vary from white, beige, gold, grey, orange, red, purple and a green color. So, never at a loss to find something to paint.

Twenty six artist painted there. Most of us were Texas artists and one was from Kansas. Met some new friends and painted with some long time friends. A very congenial group. Lots of laughs. It is a long drive from the Houston area but we got up early and arrived late afternoon. Every night the group meet for dinner and social time. Groups of us early birds met for breakfast and decided which suggested place to paint that day. Some went on their own and some liked to paint together as a group. Lunch time found us having a picnic in the park and driving to our next afternoon destination.

The Window 8x10 oil on panel

I painted this view the last trip to the Bend so wanted a different look and painted bold colors for this painting. This was a very cold morning paint. Wind blowing hard most of the day. We painted in a tent camp area that was below a hill that blocked the cold wind. The sun warmed us up some but I started out trying to paint with gloves on. I found one of our artist friends painting in her car with beach towels covering the dash and her lap. She got a beautiful painting done. Brave, crazy people we artists are!! 

 I took over 1200 photo's. Same spots looked different each time you drove past. Sun light or shadow on the mountains really changed things. I'll sort thru, make a DVD, print some off for future studio paintings.

Burro Mesa 6x8 oil on panel

The photo is a little blurred...sorry

Burro Mesa was an afternoon paint on that very windy cold day. The temp had risen to long shirt sleeve time.  Still very windy. Couldn't use the umbrella on my tripod. I painted beside the SUV to block the wind. We waited on a bb sized hail or sleet to subside from a cloud over us. Sun was shining so it melted immediately. Instead of painting the mountain everyone usually paints, I decided to paint the view over to Santa Elena Canyon.

I painted 6 paintings on this trip and came home happy with the results. Jim Rogers made a utube presentation of our trip if you would like to see some of the photo's and painters having a good time.

Outdoor Painters Society paints Big Bend National Park

www.youtube.com

Thanks for taking a look!