"Guard Tower--Castillo de San Marcos"

18x12

This is still one of my favorite places.  I never get tired of St. Augustine.  When my youngest son was about 3, he started to call this place the "mountain" because the fort sits up on a high enough hill that it's great fun for the kids to run (and roll) down.  He still asks me if we can go to "the mountain" pretty much every time we go to St. Augustine.

November in Spring Park

12x9

I had a fun day yesterday plein air painting with the newly formed First Coast Pastel Society.  The day started sunny and suddenly turned cloudy and rainy, but it was fun.  This day reiterated what I already knew to be true--plein air painting is hard!  Well, hard for me, anyway.  I tend to take a long time with each painting, focusing on details, and when I try to go fast I get frustrated and unhappy with the results.  This painting spent a very long time in the "ugly stage" and I almost abandoned it, but I'm glad I stuck with it.  Towards the end of the day it finally started to come together and look the way I wanted it to!

It was interesting to see every artist's unique style--not just in the finished paintings but in the whole process.  Some were able to complete beautiful paintings in a short amount of time--just getting it all "in there" with vibrant colors and gestural strokes of the pastels... and then there was me... but it really was fun and and I hope to participate in plein air groups more often.  And hey, completing a painting in one day is a huge accomplishment for me!