En Plein Air: A Bend in Union Turnpike (Oil, 9 x 12)

Due to my sciatica, I am unable to walk far without feeling pain. It was kind of warming up in temperature this afternoon, in upper 40s. Therefore, I limped about 10 minutes and stopped at a curve of the Union Turnpike. The sketch took two hours. Even with my long johns on, I still felt numb in legs but not too bad.

En Plein Air: Deep in the Woods (9 x 12)

En Plein Air: Scientific Christian Church (Oil, 12 x 9)

It was the first time since my sciatica flared up to go out to paint this morning. I still felt numb and tingling in my left leg, all the way down to the toes, but I could not stay home anymore. So I simply walked across the street to the Forest Hills Gardens. It was the third time that I painted this church, which has been out of "business" for quite sometime and its property has been on the market ever since. Maybe the location is not right for this kind of church. I don't know.

Drawings

Walking across the street is the only distance I could handle, so this afternoon, I walked to the park playground to make some sketches.

Chess Players

Watching Kids Playing

Mothers

Mothers

Drawings at the Park

I simply could not sit home and do nothing, so I limped to the park and did some drawings this afternoon. The following are some of them.

Sick Leave

I got piriformis syndrome and my sciatica has flared up. I have to take a break.

20-Minute Oil Sketch: Between two Showers (9 x 12)

The day before, I went to the River Haven Farm. Right after I set up, it began to rain. When the sky cleared up, I finally got down to paint, but only for twenty minutes. It was really an interesting experience. Because as the second shower was moving in my direction, I first heard from behind the splashing noise the rain made on the Carloosahatchee River. I turned around and saw something I never witnessed before. The river surface was clearly divided into two parts. The farther side of the river was like boiling water full of bubbles while the water around me was still clam without even a ripple. I knew my time was up and lost no time packing things into the trunk of my car.

En Plein Air: Horse Fram by the Woods (Oil, 8 x 14)

En Plein Air: Polly Dorisa from Mississippi (Oil, 12 x 9)

I went to Fort Myers Beach this morning and meant to collect material for one of my formal studies, but didn't expect that it happened to be the last day of FMBAA's Paint the Beach activity. There were artists painting everywhere on the Time Square, young and old, male and female. I didn't want to confuse people and cause inconvenience, so I drove to Main Street and paint the shrimp boats from the ramp. The shrimp boat's name is Polly Dorisa.

The following are some of the artists working for the "Quick Draw" competition around the Time Square:

En Plein Air: Harns Marsh (Oil, 9 x 12)

I went to Harns Marsh to paint this morning with Lee Plein Air Group. It was a quick sketch which took an hour and a half.

Alla Prima Portrait: Greek Fisherman Larry (Oil, 18 x 14)

It was the first time Larry posed for us this morning at VAC Portrait Studio. He is a realtor by profession in Punta Gorda and a friend of our fellow artist Ralph who had invited him to pose for us. He was very thoughtful and prepared himself by wearing a Greek fisherman's cap.

Plein Air Oil Sketch: Three Geeks' Yard Sale (9 x 12)

I was driving on Joel Blvd. toward Highway 80 when I saw three young men unloading stuff from a truck and laid miscellaneous items on the spacious grassy road shoulder between Joel and Edward. I happened to be deciding what I was going to paint today. Upon seeing them, I told myself that I was going to do a sketch of their yard sale. By then, I had already passed them. So I drove to the next intersection and made a U-turn to their place on Edward.

Alla Prima Portrait: Beatrice (Oil, 18 x 15)

Beatrice is a Winkler Court Nursing Home resident and alzheimer patient. She sat in the TV room this morning quietly. At first she covered her mouth with her hand. I asked if she could take it off politely, but she didn't show any signs to acknowledge she heard me. Later, she put down her hand by herself.

En Plein Air: Hay Day ( Oil, 10 x 12)

It was my lucky day today. The climate seemed to have gone back a little and made you feel like summer was reluctant to bow out. I stopped by at a place on Highway 80 where I had recently painted a couple of times and decided not to paint it anymore when I thought of Meloy Hay Company. So I turned left onto Buckingham Rd.. When he saw me, Dave said he knew I was going to paint it because they had just finished their hay-making and the hay rolls were still in the field. I was excited to see hay rolls all over the place. I drove on the bumpy field and quickly chose my spot. The painting took a little than an hour. It was done mainly with palette knifes so it can be considered to be an impasto work.

Sunday Shell Project: Sea Horse