Winter Weary!

"Kennedy Center, Georgetown Waterfront" 8x10 oil on linen panel

      I have been feeling stale and I have been missing painting in the field. This winter has been a bitter one with one snow storm after another. If my hands didn't turn to boxing gloves in the cold I would have been out there in spite of it.  So when a paint out with the Washington Society of Landscape Painters was scheduled for February 23rd I wasn't thrilled about the prospect of painting in the cold. Still, I really wanted to get out there. We were all in for a very pleasant surprise!

       The morning was cloudy but very mild even at 8:30 in the morning. I thought I might find a comfortable nook along the C&O Canal but as I drove along the Potomac the low clouds and soft light on the river changed my mind.  I set up along the Georgetown waterfront and looked towards the Kennedy Center. Above is the result of that peaceful, mild morning. A little gift from Mother Nature reminding us of what is to come.

       I had parked my Jeep in front of Cafe La Ruche on 31st Street and planned to have lunch there after I had met with the group for our traditional critique. By the time I got back to the cafe the temperature was over 60 degrees, the sky clear blue and the sunlight warm and bright! La Ruche was packed, the side garden filled to capacity. It was the same story up and down the street. Without someone to wait with I decided to scratch lunch and instead I did a thumbnail sketch of the cafe, took a reference photo and headed home. Here is the painting I did later.

"Cafe La Ruche", 12x12 oil on panel