Downtown Medford, Oregon

Well I have been very busy painting and working, I’m still finishing up the Smithfields series, I promise there will be some sort of splash involved.  I will invite you all to the opening, and then once the pieces are “unveiled” I will show them here.  In the mean time, I’ve just scanned some images of pieces I painted last summer.   As you know, lately I prefer to paint depressing semi-urban scenes, and because the traffic and pedestrians move too quickly, they can’t be included, so the pieces have this nice isolation with all the buildings and the sun, making it look like suddenly there are no people in the world.

Downtown Medford, Oregon

This painting available is for sale here.

The weather is now nice enough to head out doors, I’m looking forward to traveling to Klamath Falls, Oregon, a town a couple of hours drive over the mountains.  It’s high desert, lots of distance between trees, which I think makes for better paintings.  I just have to plan it.

I’ve been taking photography classes from Ezra Marcos as well.  I’m not trying to become a photographer, but I would like to have better photos for my Etsy shop and this blog.  Check out Ezra’s work, it’s fantastic, very fun.

From the PAPO Paint Out

I’ve been active in the Plein Air Painters of Oregon for a couple of years and they decided to do a Southern Oregon Trip, and being one of the only members living in Southern Oregon I was nominated to organize  the event.   Anyway, I set up painting in Hanley Farm, Central Point, downtown Jacksonville – a pretty corny old west themed little place with a pioneer cemetery, and then winery and finally paint out in and around Ashland, including Lithia Park and North Mountain Nature Park.

Anyway, the members are very lovely folks and I like meeting people who paint, but in the course of organizing this event, I have grown more and more aware of how I don’t like these kinds of events.  Mainly it’s because I hate painting at farms, wineries, wilderness areas.  They’re already beautiful – what do I have to add? I’m afraid this post is turning negative, but what is really important to me is that I’m actually finding a consistent theme that I like to paint – and am finding what about it turns me on.

You might think it would come naturally to an artist to know what they want to paint, but when you’re a student with an open mind you wind up absorbing a lot of stuff that helps, along with stuff that hinders.  When you’re a student in a classical tradition you don’t always get to choose your subject, you’re working a lot on technical issues and you can lose your way.  Eventually the creative liver has to send the good stuff to the blood stream the bad stuff to the colon.  So I’m at a point where I’m separating what I want from what I don’t want right now.

Anyway, let me show you what I painted during the PAPO paintout:

Hanley Farm's Garden

What I like about this piece is the pattern and the feeling of light.  I like that you lose the specific items too.  However, I don’t like the crop.  I may saw this strategically.  In fact, I’m pretty sure I will. Or maybe not.

Roxy Ann from Hanley Farm

Okay – I like how easily this one fell into place.  It was painting number two of the day and I usually find that the second painting of the day is easier, that I’m more in the flow, that colors are mixed on the palette and so it’s almost effortless.  I like painting things in the distance – when they’re in the distance they can be read better.

Jacksonville Pioneer Cemetary

For the afternoon we moved to Jacksonville Cemetary and it was brutally hot, dry and I was tired. There was so much to see, everywhere you turned were shadow and light, blocks of graves and dappled bits from the madrone trees.  I did this very quickly, getting pretty lazy by then and not really inspired by the setting.

Sign and Street

The next morning we painted in a winery, and I did a painting that is so awful I won’t show it, and by that time I was TRULY over all the places we were painting, so instead of heading to Lithia Park for the scheduled afternoon paint out I went to Phoenix, my beautiful town of suburban decay and started work in a spot that’s been calling my name – and lo an behold – I’m happy with the painting.

So, live and learn.

Nocturnal Plein Air Painting

I’ve been wanting to try this for ages and the planets aligned for Steven LaRose and I to go out landscape painting as night fell a couple of weeks ago.

Motel at Night, by Sarah F Burns

We started out in a median as night fell.  By the end I could only vaguely see value differences on my pallet and was almost flying blind, relying on my memory of where I had placed each color to choose what I wanted.  The car lights coming from both directions got very annoying so we looked for a new location.

Nocturne, by Sarah F Burns

We were drawn downtown, and finally wound up in the lit alcove of the Art Center, looking across the street to this deliciously lonely scene.  Life as usual is jam packed with mile-long to-do lists, so I’m not sure when I’ll have a chance to have this kind of adventure again, but believe me, I am counting the days.

Location, Location, Location Paint Out

I participated in my first Plein Air Painting Competition last weekend in Roseburg, Oregon for the Umpqua Valley Arts Association’s Location, Location, Location Paint Out.  I was surprised to find myself very, very nervous while painting.  I did not bring my camera – ?  – what’s wrong with me? – so I have no photos to show.  All three paintings I made for the competition are hanging in the show – two were given awards of distinction, which just meant they went into the good gallery where the prize winners were chosen from.  It was a cool experience, great to connect with painters from all over Oregon, they had a really nice dinner on the beautiful lawn of the Art Center with a great live band. The overwhelming feeling among the 72 artists involved was:  “Well Done Umpqua Valley Arts Association.”   The day after the competition there were three artist demos in a lovely park where the North and South Umpqua Rivers converge.  We watched the demos, painted and I had a great swim.  Here is my piece from the fun day paint out:

Oaks by the Umpqua by Sarah F Burns

Transmuted Lilies

I taught a small plein air workshop last week during which I did this demo of how to handle transmuted light – one of the delights of plein air painting, when light travels through a colorful leaf or petal making it glow like a stained glass window.

Transmuted Lilies by Sarah F Burns

Plein Air Oil Painting Workshop

I’m teaching a small plein air painting workshop June 21 and 28, from 3 – 6 pm.  To get your summer going.  Learn how to handle materials, choose a composition, understand atmospheric perspective, prismatic effects, color, value and drawing issues in changing light conditions.  It’s a lot for two little sessions, but it will give you food for thought and things to work on for a long time.  Cost is $60.  The location is a beautiful private home with great views, bathrooms, water and shade.

Email me if you’re interested – sarahfburns  @  gmail  .  com  .

Whaleshead, Brookings, Oregon by Sarah F Burns

Plein Air Painting in the Rogue Valley

Ilene Gienger Painting

We are having a gray wet spring this year.  I tried to take advantage of what was supposed to be a partly cloudy day and made plans with artist Ilene Gienger to go plein air painting a couple weeks ago.  The break in the clouds lasted about 15 minutes – so it goes.  At least it didn’t rain.  Ilene is primarily a pastel portrait and genre scene artist.  This was our first time out together, we made a good team.  I had already chosen a location.  If we work together again, the location will be her choice.

The scene I was painting

I had a commission to work on – of an unusual size – 5 inches x 22 inches.  My client and I had actually gone out driving around and found this amazing vacant field – unfenced – with 360 degrees of paintable landscape.  I settled on the factory – mill in the distance with a view of Wagner Butte, Mt Ashland, some good power lines.

Vanessa's Factory by Sarah F Burns

I was in the zone that day and I’m super happy with the piece.  – I was on pins and needles until the client saw the piece though – I never know what people will think.  So far I haven’t had anyone reject or act disappointed with a commissioned piece, but if a person does a lot of them eventually it will happen….?  Anyway, Yay – the client loves it and so the painting has found a happy home.

Detail One

Detail of a tiny little building on the left hand side.

Detail Two

Detail of some very fine and distant power lines and traffic lights.

Apple or Pear Blossoms

Pear or Apple Tree Blooming

This was the first plein air piece of the season for me, of a lone tree I drive by each day on my way home. I caught it in full bloom, within a week all the blossoms were gone and the leaves were out.  A good reminder to strike while the iron is hot.

Giveaway Time!!

Okay – Here goes my first giveaway at SarahFBurns.com!

Sign up to get my latest blog posts in your inbox – if you’re not getting them via email already and then tell me where you would hang a great piece of original art in the comment section of this post.  I will choose a winner at random on Friday April 1st!  The winner gets to choose ANY piece from the SALE section of my Etsy shop!!  At the time I am writing this there are 26 paintings, drawing and sketches and I’m adding more all the time.

I just added the following pieces today.

Yellow Flowers

North Phoenix Road