I painted this on site this afternoon. It is oil on Gessobord and I used my Guerilla Paintbox. I set up at Lake Colby, Saranac Lake, New York, and sat on a big rock right up near the lake. There was long grass all around. I lost track of the time and my surroundings and almost dropped my brushes into the water once or twice. Balto was barking and making a big fuss soI had to take him out of the car, but he tends to wander and has no concept of road and cars. The rock I was perched on was high and it was near a road, so he sat in the long grass at my feet and I put his leash around my ankle. It reached, just barely. I need to hurry and get the scene down because Balto was being a pain, so I sort of rushed through this painting. The view is Lake Colby, with the blue sky and the fluffy clouds and the mountains reflected in the lake.

A very nice man stopped his truck and gave me some comments. At first I was hesitant because sometimes people don't give such helpful comments when I paint, and he had stopped his truck and all, I figured he was going to stay forever. He stayed just a moment, gave me an interesting handshake ( shook my forearm rather than my hand ) and called me "sister." He was a Native American and had a braided long ponytail. He is also an artist and told me it was nice to have someone paint the brothers and sisters ( the loons, the mountains ) and know that it is not just grass and mountains, but they have a life of their own. He also said that you can see the emotion in each painting, and that the same thing changes hour by hour minute by minute, and most people never see that. He was very inspiring, he wins the award for best artistic commentary EVER.

In other news, Balto's Native American name is going to be "Shenanigan." He barks now if I get out of the car and he doesn't, if there is vegetation, since he thinks I am picking blueberries and he is missing out. It is a real pain while plein air painting and he doesn't let up, he barks barks barks with glee and abandon.

This is 9" x 12", and painted again with a very limited palette.