Western Lake Marsh

Western Lake Marsh, 6 x 8

For a while I'll be posting paintings done from photographs from our trip. All the previous FL ones were plein air, but there are a few scenes I wanted to paint but didn't have the time to get back to in person This is one such scene, and I hope maybe next time we're there I'll be able to go back and paint it from life. I just loved these marsh grasses--especially in large masses---they become a beautiful neutral carpet adjoining the water.

-julie davis

Boathouse in the Trees

Boathouse in the Trees, 8 x 10

sold

On Western Lake in Watercolor, there is a boathouse where the kids can rent cane poles to fish, or take a canoe or kayak out for an hour. I had a view of it from the pier near our home, and painted this early one morning.  Again, I've got to get a handle on my photography of these greens...bear with me!

-julie davis

Sunrise On Western Lake

Sunrise On Western Lake, 6 x 8

sold

Well those of you who were so impressed that I was painting and blogging on vacation spoke too soon! I've been unable to post for a while because the Internet connection went down in the home we were in for the week....now we're home and I can catch up! I did continue to paint despite the inability to post, so I was here in spirit.

I painted this one on Friday morning as the sun was peeking through the trees, before my family awoke (not hard with teens). I'd seen this group of five trees from our second floor porch, and they kept catching my eye until I painted them. These greens are a challenge to photograph--I have a bit too much reflection here, but you get the idea.

-julie davis

Western Lake Peninsula

Western Lake Peninsula, 8 x 10

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Another poor photo, but the painting I like. This is the inlet that welcomes everyone to Watercolor from the west. I liked theses five trees and the reeds and grasses that grow out with them. The ocean lies right behind the far trees and the dunes in the distance.

-julie davis

Quiet Lake

Quiet Lake, 6 x 8
sold

I haven't quite found the best spot for taking photos of my work while here, so this one is a bit shiny....northern edge of Western Lake across from our house. It's been completely calm in the mornings.

-julie davis

East Edge of the Lake

East Edge of the Lake, 6 x 8

sold

There is a beautiful lake in Watercolor, Florida, that I am lucky enough to be living on the edge of for the week. I painted this after I arrived the other afternoon and the sun was still hot, but heading down. I found a shaded fishing pier with wonderful painting opportunities in every direction. Lots of grass, trees, lily pads. Tomorrow's post will be a morning version of the same lake.

-julie davis

May Morning

May Morning, 6 x 6

sold

This is the last of my Granbury pieces.  Laurel and I found a shady spot under a tree next to a church parking lot that overlooked a field with a barn (enough prepositional phrases??).  It was Sunday morning, and we got there and finished painting before church started.  This little barn was is such a peaceful setting, with some sleepy cows that meandered over after breakfast (but too late for me).  

-julie davis

Afternoon Shade

Afternoon Shade, 8 x 10

This was one of the locations I enjoyed painting the most last weekend. It may have been the late afternoon that I loved, but I also loved these Black Angus. They were a part of a larger herd that kept wandering in and out of the shade of this lone oak tee in the midst of a large field. They all left once for dinner, but came right back after....very helpful to the three of us who were painting them!

-julie davis

Summer Oaks

Summer Oaks, 6 x 6

My early painting of some beautiful pine trees from Saturday never did get finished......the light changes so quickly at 7 & 8 am that I didn't keep up that morning, so I'll use it as a study later, but am posting one from later that day.  We had the hardest time finding a shady spot to paint for this one, and I didn't get very clever with the composition here (there were some highly mobile cows that wandered in and out of this painting, finally to be left out entirely).  I used a smaller board because of my morning experience of not finishing, thus the 6 x 6.  

-julie davis

A View of the Lake

A View of the Lake, 10 x 8

sold

I kidded with Laurel that we were like storm-chasers on our trip, but we were really more like sun-chasers. We'd jump in the car as the sun came up, paint, eat breakfast, find a new spot, paint again, eat lunch, jump back in the car for another unknown destination before the sun went down, crashing at night only to get up as the sun rose in the morning. Laurel spotted this little building peeking through the trees on an inlet of Lake Granbury for one last painting of our first day. We'd considered several other nearby spots, but she has a knack for sniffing out the sweetest one, and this one had everything we were looking for. We finished as the light changed, and headed back to dinner with the group.

-julie davis

Freshly Cut Hay

Freshly Cut Hay, 8 x 10

sold

I haven't posted in several days for lack of time, not lack of painting. I was fortunate enough to get to go to Granbury, Texas this weekend with Plein Air Austin for an entire weekend of painting -- I can't even quantify how fantastic an experience it was. I tagged along with Laurel Daniel, and we were up early and late painting as much as we could of the Granbury countryside. This was a spot on our way to Granbury between Briggs and Lampasas, where the hay was so freshly cut it caught our eyes immediately, and we had to pull over and paint. I'll post the other paintings I did in order over the next several days--a few I'm going to submit to a Plein Air Austin show this summer here in town.

-julie davis

Up the Creek

Up the Creek, 6 x 8

Yet another from my Bull Creek trip.  I took plenty of photos knowing I probably wouldn't get outside to paint again for a while.  Tomorrow is the last day of school; I can't tell you what a relief that will be, for all of us.  And this weekend, my generous husband is taking over all weekend so that I can go on Plein Air Austin's annual trip--a whole weekend of painting outside.

Thank you, Ben!

-julie davis

Trail Through the Canyon

Trail Through the Canyon, 6 x 8

I painted this over the weekend from a photo I'd taken while out with Laurel last week.  There are a number of places I could visit every day because they're so full of painting opportunities. Lost Creek is one of them.  

And as far as painting a single area multiple times goes, one of my favorite area artists, V....Vaughan, did just that with her "Last Year on the Farm" series.  You really should see the body of work.  Her family sold their farm near Austin in 2007, and anticipating the move from a place she loved so dearly, she committed to a painting a day (and sometimes more) of the land-- a labor of love.  Check it out if you have the time (click here to go to her blog).

-julie davis

Still Creek

Still Creek, 5 x 7

We're getting so close to the end of school--I told a friend I needed the three day weekend just to make it through the last four days of the schoolyear!  This Memorial Day seemed more of an opportunity to catch our collective breath in our family, as well as to reflect on all the sacrifices that have been and continue to be made for our freedoms.

I DID actually paint every day of the last weekend (except last Thursday), but I just couldn't bring myself to the computer.  I took a break to catch my breath.  Thanks to each one of you who has commented in the meantime--I passed along the Kreative Blogger Award and then went radio-silent.  I hope you know I'm still reading and smiling when I get your comments.  

I painted this today from a photo I took last week at Bull Creek here in Austin.  It's another view of the rock-bottomed creek--such a beautiful spot where people bring their dogs to play in the water.  

-julie davis

Upper Bull Creek

Upper Bull Creek, 6 x 8

Stressful as these late May days are with kids in school and the myriad of responsibilities flooding into daily life, today was a great day.  First, I was able to go out again and paint at Bull Creek here in Austin with my painting friends (makes any day fantastic), then I delivered several paintings I had sold to a dear friend, and of course the American Idol finale is tonight. Another very good friend is momentarily at my doorstep for a glass of wine, and last, I opened my blog to find Ann Rogers had awarded me a Kreative Blogger award today.  Thank you, Ann.  

One of the enormous benefits of being any kind of artist these days is the beautiful online community of peers and supporters that you get to be a part of when you blog.  Thank you to all of you who faithfully comment....I read every one and though I'm not always able to comment back, know I deeply appreciate every one--they are all boosters in my day.  As for the award, it entails linking back to the one who gave it, and listing seven things you love, and forwarding it on to seven bloggers you enjoy.  I've already exceeded my "short-and-to-the-point" personal rule, so here they are quickly: my husband, my daughters, my deep friendships, painting outside on a beautiful Austin day, my faith, my fabulous mom and siblings, and a great glass of red wine.  Some of my favorite artists to follow:

Laurel Daniel

Angella Elledge

Carolyn Finnell

Camille LaRue Olson

Kerri Settle

Jared Kelley

Barbara Muir

May you all have a great day!

-julie davis

Uninterrupted

Uninterrupted, 6 x 8

Being a West Texas girl originally, I fell in love long ago with the uninterrupted view.  Those of you who think areas outside of Lubbock are beautiful will understand!  Technically, this one IS interrupted, by the hills, something one definitely does not see in most of West Texas, but it appeals to me nonetheless.

-julie davis

Lost Creek Trail

Lost Creek Trail, 6 x 8

Today was a gorgeous Monday in Austin--a day when I feel lucky to live here (most days I do, actually). I ended up in a shady spot with my friend and mentor, Laurel Daniel, whose post today you should really see--she's an amazing painter, but an even more amazing person. (You'll also see where I edited some cliffs out in the interest of time). This is a spot near a lovely creek and really stunning cliffs that is very near my girls' school. What a good day.

-julie davis

Western Lake Inlet

Western Lake Inlet, 5 x 7

sold

One of my favorite spots.  A small lake near the coast of Florida with these beautiful trees that so gracefully line the water's edge.  As it rained most of this (extremely busy) weekend, I looked back at some old vacation photos for something to paint, and found this and another I'll post tomorrow.  Fortunately, we get to go back this summer, and this time I'll have my EasyL......

-julie davis

Old Barn

Old Barn, 6 x 8

sold

I love the way some of the old barns of Texas are tucked away into the surrounding foliage. There are so many that are out of use now, but their past is evident, and I find myself imagining what they were like in their prime and who used them.  This is one of many along the route between Austin and Houston.

-julie davis

View Through the Trees

View Through the Trees, 6 x 8

sold

I wasn't too happy with this one as I started...not enough sleep and not enough time to paint.  I wound up liking it for the composition, though I think some values could be more accurate. Not much time to write tonight....now I need to make up sleep from last night!

-julie davis

Llano River Oak

Llano River Oak, 6 x 8

This was a spot on another ranch my husband and I visited last year on the Llano River.  It was a beautiful stretch of the river; the LLano is as pretty as it gets in some spots.  

I'm going to try to keep up the daily blogs over the next two weeks, but as a mom of three in May (worse than December), I may have to take a day off more often than I'd like just to keep my sanity!  We'll see.  I did paint today....

-julie davis

Casual Observer

Casual Observer, 12 x 12

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The second, larger version of my earlier post....The Onlookers. What larger paintings lose in spontaneity, they gain in detail. I think I lost a bit of the looseness of the first one here, but that also can come from over-thinking as I'm trying to "reproduce," the earlier painting. I need to remember to put the first aside and make the larger one its own piece. I also lost a bit of the darkest darks on the underside of the tree that the first one had....but I enjoyed the detail I could produce in the tree and I love the subject, so I'm glad to have it larger!

-julie davis

Party of Five

Party of Five, 12 x 12

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This is one of the "larger" ones I did over the weekend. The greens around Austin this time of year are vibrant and everywhere; I was a little concerned about all the green this painting would have, but the slight gestures of blue in the field balanced it enough for me. I like the combination.

-julie davis

On the Move

On the Move, 6 x 8

We had a busy weekend, but it was wonderful.  I was able to paint every day, and even did two bigger paintings (for me, that's 12 x 12 these days).  I did this little one Friday before I dove into handling my oldest daughter's birthday party--not much sleep Friday night!  I deviated slightly from the tree them, just to play around with more cows and values.  I think I need to adjust the leader here--she looks as if she's attempting a leap....don't see too many cows doing that!

-julie davis

Sentry

Sentry, 6 x 8

sold

This giant was one at Emma Long Park in Austin where a small group of us (some of Laurel Daniel's former Spring plein air class) met to continue our Wednesday painting.  We missed having Laurel there, and attempted our own analysis of paintings we'd brought, but it wasn't the same.  I was surrounded by trees, though, and since I'm focused on those right now, that was good!  

-julie davis

Smart One

Smart One, 6 x 8

So black cows today....still working the trees, though.  Another photo taken on the way back from Houston, but I changed the grasses to the end-of -summer-in-Texas color.  My youngest daughter often helps me name my paintings, and she was in on this one--she said the cow in the shade was the "smart one."

-julie davis

Gray Barn

Gray Barn, 6 x 6

This little barn caught my eye on a recent drive to Houston; it was somewhere around Smithville (I should take better notes).  It's one of those old Texas barns you see on any given piece of property along the highway--a subject I love almost as much as cows.  I've always been overly sentimental for anything that reminds me of my home state....

-julie davis

The Onlookers

The Onlookers, 6 x 6

sold

Really happy with this one today. I have always loved paintings with cattle in them; maybe because I grew up in Abilene and various parts of West Texas where they are a consistent part of the landscape. So I was excited to get to do one myself, even if they are just brown and white strokes on an already small canvas. I used a photo I'd taken while visiting a ranch with my husband recently--the cattle were mildly curious about our presence....

-julie davis

More on the Tree Theme....

Growing Up Together, 12 x 12

This is a larger one I did this weekend from a smaller study.  Now that I'm working on trees I'm thoroughly enjoying their differences.  It's just reinforced the lesson that studying something truly helps you see it in a new way.

-julie davis

In It Together

In It Together, 6 x 6

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These live oaks struck me as supporting each other--they weren't leaning on as much as they were rooted so closely to one another, and had grown up together--through it all.  Clearly, I'm still on a tree spree....

-julie davis