Night Falls at the Courthouse

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I love painting nocturnes so much - and love it even more when my paintings find a home!  Balmy, autumn nights are the absolute best for painting, so I set up on Main Street, even though my friends were too tired to join me.  Thankfully, the rain held off until I was finished with capturing the magic! Thanks to Farley Lewis, for the honorable mention and kind words!  Painting number 4671 in 4671 days. 

Night at Kactus Creek

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 It's always fun to explore a new place - especially with paint!  This Croquet Club is super cool! The bright greens illuminated at night, with a vintage home as a backdrop was all I needed to set up on the spot and start painting!  When painting a nocturne, I like to wait for the darkness before really laying paint.  So, I sketched out my scene with my brush, marking lights and darks as they developed. I wanted some of that last blue light in the sky before full darkness, and the water tower in shadow in the background, too.  A real sense of place can be established with just a few small details.  I'm so happy this painting was selected for the Purchase Award, too.  What an honor!  Painting number 4666 in 4666 days. 

Twilight Ice Cream Run

Each night as we returned from a show at the Hoover Auditorium, this scene would jump out at me - begging me to paint it!  After Mom and I enjoyed a cup and walked back to our hotel, it seemed too late to return.  I knew last night would be my final chance - so I ran back up there and painted it.  What I started in the twilight was full night when I finished.  Some paintings just need to be painted.  Painting number 4583 in 4583 days. I'm thankful this one went to a new home at today's Wet Paint Sale!  

Evening on Walnut

I didn't remember to take a photo of this until I got it framed in my trunk!  It was a lovely evening for Movie Night in Augusta, complete with wine and food trucks, as well as other vendors. Standing on the corner of Walnut and Ferry streets.  I wonder how the river front looked when the ferry arrived, before the wide Missouri shifted away from the town.  This historic street is magical at night, full of small town charm as many visit as I paint. Nocturnes are always fun - and a surprise when you see them in daylight!  Painting number in days and this one is now showing at Gallery Augusta. 

Parkville Aglow

 

Enamored with the night lights on Main Street the night before, I arrived early to try to capture the magic.  Lights adorn buildings, street lamps abs doorways, spilling or onto the street.  So, I painted all that light first, and then started in on the buildings and the dark passages.  I saved the night sky for last, when light was coming up at the horizon.  That transitional light is my very favorite in the field, and a joy to capture with paint.  I love painting on Main Street in Parkville, and I'm honored this painting won the Paint the Town Purchase Award tonight!  Painting number 5158 in 5158 days. 

Night Impressions in Fairfield

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I think this was the first building in town that I painted when I arrived in Fairfield years ago.  I stood in the shade of the giant maples on the courthouse lawn, and painted in this direction. The architecture is so unique, I've not seen anything like it in other Midwest towns.  So, after dinner at a friend's home, a few of us artists hit the streets to paint a nocturne in this lovely night. Rain is coming, so we all must paint while the weather is great!  I'm so happy this painting won the Purchase Award from Diane Robinson.  Painting number 5180 in 5180 days. 

Alley Magic

What an amazing evening it was to paint such a beautiful alley!  This magical little place is just outside of Jovalou on Main Street in Fairfield, Illinois.  I started this before the twilight sky turned black, and the play between the colors was magical!  Getting lost the moment, I got a little crazy with my color  - as is often the case with nocturne painting.  It seems I stray farther from reality and more toward painting what I feel.  It's all about expression - and SO MUCH FUN! Painting number 5174 in 5174 days.  

Night on 3rd and Main

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Another night, another nocturne! I was undecided about painting a fourth painting today, but with several of my friends going out after dinner, I just had to join in on the fun!  I love this corner of 3rd and Main, and have painted it several times through the years. This time, there was a brightly lit message board behind me, which cast it's various colors on my work. There's no telling what it looks like until i open my trunk in the morning! Not quite sure I'm finished, but the lightening and thunder told me I was! Painting number 5173 in 5173 days. 

Looking Down Main Street

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Sometimes, I've just got to paint a nocturne! I love painting my favorite inn at Sainte Genevieve.  Mom and I are enjoying an early Mother's Day weekend at the Main Street Inn, where the proprietor and conversation are always entertaining! Great breakfasts, shopping, dining, Chaumette Winery and a tour of the Jean Baptiste Valle House where the art of local colony artists of the 30s and 40s was displayed, suns up our brief and fun filled days.  Oh - and of course squeezed in those daily paintings!  Painting number 5038 in 5038 days. 

Night at Gallery Augusta

It was lovely to spend such a beautiful evening painting with artist friends in historic downtown Augusta, and this golden gallery was irresistible!  Using the light from a street lamp, I quickly marked out my masses with their local color.  I like to start nocturnes while there is still some blue in the sky, before it turns very dark.  This allows me to paint those hints of color that show in the shadows - while I can still see them.  As my friends painted, I finished this and another painting of the cottage across from this building, too.  It's rare to have such perfect weather, so I just had to take full advantage of it all.  Painting number 5037 in 5037 days. 

Gallery Augusta Lit

As the lights came up in Augusta, I was drawn to this scene. As I sketched it in paint, the lights popped on across the street.  After talking to the owners, I decided to lay this one aside to work on their sweet cottage. I finished before the other artists on the street, so I came back to this one.  That gorgeous gold is a super color on the gallery, and so very paintable at night!  Painting number 5028 in 5028 days.

Art and Eats on 1st St

 

Coming soon to the Artwork on Main Gallery in Owensville is this nocturne painted of the gallery and it's neighbor, 1st Street Eats. I stayed in those beautiful rooms above the shop a couple of times during the plein air event, and it was so convenient for a quick little nocturne.  This place is full of small town charm, and I'm looking forward to painting here again in October. Painting number 5020 in 5020 days. 

#artistlife #artworksonmain #galleryart #historicdistrict #sketchlife

Evening Daffodils

 

Some days I don't get a chance to paint until nightfall.  I love to have these beauties waiting for me just outside the door, when I do finally come to my easel.  This day has been full of activities, with kids and grandkids.  From tractor rides to cellar duties, too reorganizing a couple of rooms, I hardly know which way is up.  So a little art therapy is in order, and a fragrant foot and hand soak awaits as I finally close down this day. Painting number 4975 in 4975 days. 

Evening at Jovalou

 

What a great alley to paint for a nocturne, and the night was balmy and so very comfortable! Many is the time I shiver when painting at night, so I appreciate the gorgeous weather!  I only just saw these lights for the first time the day before, and popped in to see if they'd turn them on when i arrived.  It didn't take long to get the masses marked, and I started filling in the color.  As I worked I could see lightening rolling in from the west, so I worked quickly.  Painting outside nearly every day, I can tell when I need to kick it up a notch - or get wet! I finished and was back at my host home when the first raindrops began to fall.  It was pouring in no time, and I'm thankful I dodged the rain! Now that I've found this place, I can hardly wait to paint it again next year.  I'm happy this painting has a new home, and it is painting number 3917 in 3917 days.  ♥️🎨

Nighttime Hydrangea

 

I'm coming to my easel late tonight after a fun evening with friends - and I'm happy to paint these beauties from the front porch!  These Little Lime hydrangea have really grown into big, gorgeous bushes in the last few years and oh how I appreciate them!  All my life I wanted glorious hydrangea, and I finally have them. And, they are perfect for my pre-1845 farmhouse!  For those late nights when I need close subject matter - they can't be beat!  They are right off the front porch and illuminated by the Edison lights - couldn't be more convenient!  Painting number 3877 in 3877 days. 

Night at Crestview Dairy

What a gorgeous night for a nocturne paint!  After finishing a sunset painting on the street side of this property, the gentle glow from the barn light led me here.  It gets dark so late this time of year, that it seemed the light would never fade!  I tried a new nocturne light tonight, a Braun slim rechargeable, magnetic one, but I found it to be too bright.  It sheds a bluish light, so I'm guessing this painting has warmer tones that will be revealed in daylight.  I tried painting with very little light on my panel, so tomorrow morning will truly be a surprise when I open my trunk!  I was nearly the last artist on site, and I'm so glad I stayed to capture the night magic! This painting will be hanging at the Crestview Dairy in the wet paint sale until Saturday evening - of it doesn't sell before that! Painting number 3808 in 3808 days 

Evening Barn on the Water

This morning's 'nocturne surprise' was a good one!  One never knows what will come out of the trunk after painting in the dark!  I just couldn't resist those reflections on the water!  I had hardly set up on the back side of the pond when bugs invaded my space!  Gnats were everywhere to welcome me - so I grabbed my pochade quickly and jumped in my car.  I had to get out twice to get the gear I needed, each time letting in bugs.  With my pochade on my lap, I painted as fast as I could before my light was gone, using only one easel light on low.  With the scene so dark, I couldn't have the car on, and didn't want to draw even more bugs, lol. Another buggy plein air adventure, but I'd do it again for a scene like this!  Painting number 3790 in 3790 days. 

Nighttime Daffodils

 

These daffodils grow more beautiful every day - and I just HAD to get them painted!  The gardens are full of them - and I am hoping they will last long enough to get a few more paintings done.  Oil is a perfect medium for a nocturne, and the buttery texture is lovely for the petal work.  The small thumb box pochade is a favorite for quick paints - at only 7x5 inches.  I plan to travel with this box when I fly next, I think it will be a great packing size.  Painting number 3734 in 3734 days. 

Moon and Stars over Main Street Inn

I LOVE returning to this magical place to visit with friends and make new ones!  Sainte Genevieve is a special place in this world - and I'm thanking my lucky stars that I found it!  Most often, I paint en plein air, finding my perfect scenes and capturing them in oils. For this gorgeous scene, I actually captured the image while painting a different composition in oil, of the same nocturne.  Everything about your place screamed watercolor batik to me - clear skies, moon and stars, in hot wax bright vibrant color, and finally I had the time while painting other gallery pieces, to realize my vision in this special medium.  Its how it works with special places and scenes, and sometimes, I don't get the chance to paint that vision before it is gone.  I can see the painting so clearly in my mind, but sometimes life gets in the way, and all those other obligations call to me before I can bring the painting to fruition, and then it is gone, a lost opportunity forgotten until I revisit the place, and feel the urge anew.  This crazy artist life, how hard it is to describe to another.  I feel a painting, already a vision in my mind, waiting for the breath of life, and if I have the time I dive right in...... but then there are the times I just can't pick up the brushes yet..... Tonight I am thankful this one came to fruition, and I'm saying a little prayer for all those paintings yet to be! Painting number 3728 in 3728 days. 

Moon Over Ste Genevieve Catholic Church

 

I LOVE the unique charm each watercolor batik painting has, as it's unpredictable nature unfolds!  Tt is so well suited for a nocturne with the hot wax resists and strong floating color. This one focuses on the Catholic Church in Sainte Genevieve, with moon and stars rising to the occasion.  I continue to work on large pieces for my upcoming gallery show at the Silver Sycamore Gallery of Fine Art March 24. I will be teaching a two day workshop, and sharing my process for the Art Walk on that Friday night at 6:00.  Come join me to see all the new work and the process, too!  Painting number 3718 in 3718 days.