On Location in the Columbia Gorge

I've been on the road again, attending a plein air event in Hood River, Oregon. I was pleased to be juried in again this year for the Pacific Northwest Plein Air paint out and show. 

Some of us chipped in for a model this year at the garden location, which a fun challenge. I enjoyed painting the young lady who posed for us with her pink umbrella. (Photo at left, courtesy Dave Burback).

The Gorge is such an amazing and challenging place to paint. This is my third year to participate and I always enjoy the cameraderie with the other artists.

Since most of us work in solitude much of the time, it is nice to paint alongside each other at these events. I also really love seeing what everyone chooses to portray and the different approaches to a specific scene.

Here I am (left) with three of my paintings at the Opening last week. The top painting shows Mt. Hood but you can't see it in the photo, as the spotlight is very bright on it. (A better image is below.)

That painting in the black frame was painted at a very windy overlook of the Columbia River. At one point, I had gone to my car for something and my plein air pochade blew over. (There is a good reason that the area is one of the top spots in the world for wind surfing!) My set-up went sideways, and the painting fell butter side down on the grass. Thankfully, as the paint dried the next day I was able to remove the grass fragments.

(left) "Verdant Valley"
8"x12" Oil on hardboard 
©2013 Diana Moses Botkin 

Mt. Hood is one of my favorite scenes to portray. The spectacle of that graceful form rising from the landscape never ceases to inspire!