"Autumn Colors" © #lpinemountainclub #landscapeoilpainting #laurawambsgans

Painting left handed has been quite a humbling experience.  Timing is the most dramatic difference.  Every move I make takes twice as long, from squeezing out additional paint to wiping out the brushes in between colors.  I feel like I am watching a hand that doesn't belong to me moving the brush on the canvas willing it to go in the right direction. Soon I will have my right hand back and will be back to my normal speed and rhythm but until that time I will go with the flow.

Oil on linen,  16" X 20"

"Golden Poplar Trees" ©

 Usually I would paint and post the plein air piece first but in this case the studio piece was painted and posted first (see the previous post).  I went back to Pine Mountain Club on Saturday to actually paint the Poplar Trees from life.  The golden leaves rained down with each gust of wind, people passed by with their dogs curious about the 5 ladies painting and we, the painters (Marian Fortunati, Sharon Weaver, Diane Nelson Gold and Nancy Angelini Crawford) were in heaven.  

12" X 12", oil on linen

"Autumn Poplar Trees" ©

Earlier this week I had a few days to explore Pine Mountain Club near Frazier Park, California.  The Cottonwood and Poplar trees are just ablaze with golden light, contrasted against the deep blue distant mountain ridge the word "glory" came to mind.  

Oil on canvas, 14" X 18"

Last weekend while I was exhibiting and selling paintings at the Craftsman Expo in Pasadena, my painting "Canyon Trail" won Best of Show at the Santa Clarita Artists Association, 2013 Art Classic XXIV.  Here are the judges comments:

*​​​​​​The Best of Show was awarded to the one painting that simply took our breaths away. It is a stunning landscape that excelled in all criteria. The color was impeccable, beautifully muted tones with lots of atmospheric perspective that led us round every bend, over the hills to the mountains beyond. The brush work was evident and it energized the painting. It felt as if the artist loved his/her subject and it showed.*
​ *Landscape breathes of the local back country's light, shapes and textures. There was a slight haze in the air as the light rose or sank in that canyon. Composition, foreground, mid-ground and background, shapes, colors, tones, textures all blended into one true experience of the power of nature. Not a Wagnerian nature of huge mountains and fluffy white clouds but the nature we visit to renew our spirits and come back from with our perceptions elevated.