Day 24, Leaving Willamette Valley Oregon BECKY JOY

© 2013 Becky Joy   Willamette Valley Farm   oil on panel  6 inches x 6 inches   $125.

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OK, I'm falling down on the blogging job, not the painting job. The blogging is much harder!

I'm on the road again. I was busy yesterday working on and finishing my ebook. I now have a pdf ebook, How to Create Beautiful Paintings Using Foundational Concepts. I went through the formatting for Amazon and have wasted some time there uploading it 3 times. I've read the directions, but I'm still having trouble with images....later.

I had an eventful day yesterday or maybe it was Friday. I found out that my painting, Strength and Serenity was accepted to the American Impressionist Society Show. I painted this painting while I was in Yosemite. Nothing like working on a deadline, 2 days to spare! I knew when I left that I didn't have anything to enter and was kind of sweating it. Made it, Yay! Below is the painting Strength and Serenity.

I painted another painting here in Eastern Oregon where I am now, but it was too dark to photograph. So, it will probably be two images tomorrow.

© 2013 Becky Joy  Strength and Serenity   oil   11 inches x 14 inches

Time to log off and get to bed. Talk to you all tomorrow.

Becky Joy

Day 21, Project 125 Stoller Winery Willamette Valley Oregon plein air painting BECKY JOY

© 2013 Becky Joy      Stoller Winery Vineyards     oil on panel     6 inches x 6 inches     $125.

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Hi everyone and Happy Fourth tomorrow!

This morning I met up with four artist friends at Stoller Winery in Dundee (the heart of wine country in Oregon) to paint at these vineyards. I was first to arrive, then came Brenda Boylan, a fabulous pastel artist who is making a name for herself and Michael Orwick, who is a funny guy and wonderful painter of atmosphere and sunsets. Later Romona Youngquist and Don Bishop. All of them I have painted with before in various places. The four of them will soon be having a show together at Elements Gallery in Newburg.

We laughed, talked, gave art therapy and of course, were served some wine. And, oh yes, we painted too. I started the day with my little painting. I was starting get too caught up in it with all those lines, taking too much time. Then, toward the end, I finally grabbed a larger brush and went for it with a few larger strokes.

Below are some photos of the day. The first is a cute one of Brenda on the hillside painting. Next, Don and Mike talking art, maybe.

               

Then there is the photo of Romona and us girls laughing under the tree about a typo using spell check on the phone. That can get you into trouble.

                    

Before the laughing scene I painted my second painting of an oak tree.

© 2013 Becky Joy   Willamette Valley Oak Tree   oil on linen panel   10 inches x 8 inches

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Now, a little lesson in pronunciation here. For those that have never been to Oregon or Willamette Valley. They are pronounced Or-ee-gone and Will-aa (like bat) met. Now put it all together, Willamette Valley, Oregon. That's right, you got it right now! That's something all Oregonians talk about, everyone else pronounces it wrong!

Well, tomorrow is Fourth of July, have fun.

Becky Joy

Day 19, Project 125 Gaston, Oregon Farm House plein air oil painting BECKY JOY

© 2013 Becky Joy   Day 19, Gaston, Oregon Farm House    oil on panel     6 inches x 6 inches     $125.

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Hi everyone, Another great day here in Oregon. I didn't post yesterday, although I did paint in the morning. It was a busy day! This painting was painted along a small quiet gravel country road near Gaston, Oregon in the Willamette Valley. Another place not too far from my parents and sister.

This house was abandoned and it was obvious that no one had lived there for quite some time. In fact, a neighbor who watches the property, came out to check on me, what was I doing there in front of the house. It turned out just fine and she went back into her house up the hill. I love some of the big old farm trees. This one was a maple tree. It towered over the house and such bulk to it.

After painting, I came back home and my sister picked me up just before noon with her 3 Chinese daughters. The oldest was celebrating her 18th birthday. She picked the activities and off we went to Portland. We spent the day there going through a few meager shops in Chinatown in Portland, which is pretty small. A lot of restaurants, but not many shops. After that we went to Voodoo Donuts, interesting shop and a waiting line, but overkill on the sugar. Below is the lineup for the shop. We also went down to Portland State, where she will be going to school in the fall and met my older niece who works there. After starbucks and time to kill before dinner, we walked up to Powell Books. Powell's has always been a stop of mine when I come up. It is the largest bookstore in the US. It's at least 5 stories high and takes up a city block. Over the years different stores were added to it, so it is a maze and each subject has it's own room. Guess where I went! Yes, the art room. I didn't have enough time to really look at a lot and sadly, left with nothing but memories.

At dinner time we met up with my older niece again and went to a Chinese Hot Pot Restaurant. It was a small little restaurant, but the interesting part of this is that the place looked really familiar. The longer I sat there the more I realized I've been here. I asked the owner how old the building was. It was built in the late 60's. That was when the waterfront area was starting to be developed and rebuilt. I realized that this was the same building and space that I worked at for my first job out of beauty school (I was a hairdresser for 19 years). When I walked outside to the parking lot and surveyed the scene, yep, it was the same place. A few changes in 40 years, including apartment buildings in the back of the commercial space, but it was all there. Strange coincidence. Now that brought back memories.

I was too tired and hot to post when I got home, so a day late on that end.

Talk to you later,

Becky