Gloria J Zucaro's " Some Plein Air"

I have stepped back a little from my daily art and my blog because of shoulder and neck pain that gets worse when working at the computer.  I am now going for acupuncture in hopes of relief.  I had x-rays a couple of months ago and some physical therapy for arthritis in my neck.  The x-rays  also showed a complete loss of all cartilage in my shoulders. So anyway, that is why I have not posted in quite a while. But today I am sharing some of my thumbnails and Plein air paintings done the first week in June. 

On the first day of our Plein Air workshop, I was still doing thumbnails. We were at Ginger Blossoms in Richmond Illinois. There is a main house and a large barn filled with ceramic tiles, furniture, rugs, paintings, tableware, etc. a silo, open fields, and about 6 other little buildings filled with unusual items from Mexico. Around the grounds there are many sculptures.

The front porch of the house.

The side of the ramp going up to the barn, grasses and part of the silo.

A statue, just taking it easy!

A shed and corner of the barn.

Another small building with a latticework entry, and shadows from the trees.

Trees and the aluminum roof shining on a small shed.  Grapevines in front.

A facsimile of a Greek building.

The second day was at an old farmstead on Route 22 not far from the Mainstreet Art Centre.  The wonderful white farmhouse, several out buildings and the main barn, as well as grassy fields and charming fencerows. I did my thumbnail and then my first actual painting. I need to make my large barn darker for more punch. The day was cloudy, so the barn was dark at first, but then the sun would peek out and confusion ensued!

"Two Barns on Route 22"

I did two paintings that day, my second is below.

"The Tree in the Far Field"

The last day we painted along the Fox River in the North Barrington area off Robert's Rd.

I chose an area along the path where you can look through the trees draping down and see a distant shore.  It was sooooo cold.  Cloudy, some wind and a damp 55 degrees!  Only one painting that day. We had a critique first thing in the morning from Frankie Johnson, our fearless leader!  Then off to the latrines, and finally picking a spot to paint. Lunch and then an early stop at 3PM.

"Along the Fox"

Thanks for looking, next I will talk about the convention in Albuquerque, NM.

Gloria