Easter at Buena Vista Park
Monday, March 24, 2008 at 12:01AM 
5 x 7 inches
oil on panel
I had a wonderful Easter morning painting these trees on the hilltop park of Buena Vista. There's a narrow sidewalk wrapping around the curved border of the park with a view of the city beyond and trees reaching out from the park overhead. If you look closely you can see the faint view of St Ignatius in the background.
I realized today painting for me comes down to just two things: Paint what I love to see, and look closely. Love and Look, essentially. When I am distracted by all the voices of my teachers in my head, when I am trying (and failing) to emulate painters I admire, when I am trying to paint like someone else instead of like myself, the painting fails (and I have no fun). But when I relax and just enjoy what I am looking at, the painting flows easily.
I have painted outdoors most days of the last two weeks. I wake up in the morning thinking about paint before I open my eyes. And when I do open my eyes, the first thing I do is look at the window to see the quality of the light. And then I jump out of bed and rush through my morning routine to get outside as soon as possible, while the shadows are still long and interesting.
Reader Comments (2)
Sadie this painting at Buena Vista Park is so beautiful I love the colors that you've chosen. Congragulations.
Linda Dulaney~Founder
Bay Area Classical Artist Atelier
www.BACAA.org
I love what you're doing (and how much you're enjoying it)!