Furrowed Fields

"Furrowed Fields" 8x8 oil on board, ©Laura Gable

This was painted on location looking down the Webber Canyon on a hazy winter day before the fields filled in with lush green. On a clear day you can see both Mt Adams, and Mt Ranier.

We've had haze this summer from the wildfires. With the exception of the lack of green, the scene is quite similar.

Rattlesnake Mountain at Golden Hour (sold)

"Rattlesnake Mountain at Golden Hour" 8x8 oil on board, © Laura Gable, SOLD

As the Autumn day was fading towards evening these lovely peach tones appeared on the horizon and flooded the land with it's luminescence. I was privy to be there painting this scene, and added the golden tones before they faded away. The air was brisk with a slight chill - perfect and lovely Autumn weather. A fabulous afternoon spent painting with a dear friend, was a welcome reprieve from a taxing day.

Pleased to have sold this painting while it was on display at the Anelare Winery in Benton City. A beautiful place to sip wine and enjoy artwork. Visit when you can.

Clouds Overhead (sold)

"Clouds Overhead" 8x8 oil on board, ©Laura Gable SOLD

I've been doing quite a bit of plein air painting this year. I set out around late December in 2014 resolving to complete at least 2-3 paintings a week. I didn't go so far as to require one per day, because I know what that does to me and my creative psyche. So during the cooler, less colorful months, it was interesting to see what colors I could see in these sueded hillsides and the surrounding toned trees and brush. This was painted from an overlook near the Columbia River where the Yakima River merges into this expansive waterway. The largest mountains in our area are treeless. An odd claim to fame, but even Wikipedia acknowledges that fact regarding this Rattlesnake Mountain.

Rattlesnake Mountain (Native American name Lalíik meaning "land above the water") is a 3,527 ft (1,060 m) windswept treeless sub-alpine ridge overlooking the Hanford nuclear site. Parts of the western slope are privately owned ranchland, while the eastern slope is under the federal protection of the Arid Lands Ecology Reserve, a unit of the Hanford Reach National Monument, managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Rattlesnake Mountain is often described as the tallest treeless mountain in the world, but this claim appears to be without foundation.^[2] The highest winds recorded on Rattlesnake were around 150 mph (241 kilometers per hour).[3]

Just yesterday winds up on Rattlesnake were clocked over 100 mph. Glad I wasn't up there with an easel. ;-)

Picking Lavender

A recent outing to the nearby lavender fields garnered a fairly good plein air painting and a stress free, enjoyable day spent painting with a dear friend. While there I observed the many visitors floating through the fields, their legs and feet obscured by these fluffy topped plants. Some with parasols, some in floppy hats, most in light floaty clothing perfect for a very warm day. All were carrying the flat woven baskets provided to pick their own fragrant bundles to take home. The scene has an air of romance to it, intensified by the Parisian music playing in the nearby barn which we caught strains of from time to time. This small group of 3 caught my eye, especially the little boy so exuberant in his black felt fedora. As my niece would say, he was quite "fedorable" ;-) I enjoyed painting this the next day while in the coolness of my studio.

If interested, you may purchase this painting here: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/laura-gable/picking-lavender/245237

"Picking Lavender" 8x8 oil on card, ©Laura Gable

Summer's Flower (sold)

"Summer's Flower" 8x8 oil on board (with an underpainting in acrylic), ©Laura Gable

If this painting has a similar feel to the last one, then you have a good eye. It was painted in acrylics (see previous post) and had such a dismal dull finish that I decided to brighten it up with a gloss varnish. But later decided that since the birch panel it was painted on was so porous, that the varnish would likely disappear into the surface and I'd be back where I started with a very dull lifeless painting.

So I gave it a coating of clear gesso and then went about to "touch up" the surface with oil paints to give it a bit more luminosity. After about an hour of this fiddling about, I discovered that very little of the original painting was left. Oh well, sometimes fiddling has good results. I'm much happier with this and it has a deeper color range than the previous piece. Edges ended being a bit more crisp than I'd intended but I'm calling it finished.

Hope you enjoy this depiction of my favorite summer flower.

This painting was just sold at auction at the dailypaintworks.com website. Here's the LINK!

Late Bloom and Harvest (SOLD)

"Late Bloom and Harvest" 8x8 oil on board, ©Laura Gable

It certainly feels like the unofficial start of summer. June 1st always does that to me. So why am I posting pumpkins and late harvest roses? Well this is a painting on my shelf here that's in need of some love. SO... I thought I would share it so that "you" could send it some love. It's got some little issues all it's own, but then that's what makes it unique. 

What I do like about it ... is the way the periwinkle reflection on the cup shimmers, the reddish shadows cast on the punkin grab at my heart and attention, and the limey greens on the cup's brighter side have a luminous, playful feel to them. Don't we all feel better about ourselves if we focus on the positive aspects rather than what is "wrong" with us (and our work ;-). Afterall, we are only human and so fraught with shortcomings.

For today I also thought I'd share a lovely quote that so speaks to my heart. While cleaning out cupboards in my art room, I found this lovely quote I had scrawled on a torn piece of paper. I love revisiting it. Hope you enjoy.

"To love a person is to learn the song that is in their heart ~ 

and to sing it to them when they have forgotten." 

-Thomas Chandler