Plein Air painting in the Pacific Northwest

Our annual family vacation to Washington State to visit family took place last June. We ordered 70 degree weather but got 100! Well, it wasn’t 100 the whole time, just for about 4 days (4 days too many). We’re from Arizona needing a break from the heat, right? Right! Last year we had typical June weather in Washington: mid-70’s and little bit rainy. This year was different but we still had fun! Luckily, it isn’t too far of a drive to cooler temps. Head towards the coast and cool off! My favorite little trip to go paint and escape the heat wave was to Vista Park at Skamokawa, just a 30 mile drive from our home base. The weather was as ordered in the mid-70’s and the wind picked up for a cool day. The second painting from Vista Park includes some sand that the wind managed to blow into my paints. A little extra texture never bothered me! Other painting trips were around the in-laws place in the lush Pacific Northwest forests. I enjoyed the droopy branches of the cedar trees and the play of light filtering through the dense forests. One last painting session was down at the Longview city park: Lake Sacajewea. I had envisioned painting some architectural or industrial elements during this trip so I was attracted to the bridge to the Japanese Gardens. Maybe I was channeling Monet in this one, maybe not? I was thinking of the lily pad paintings Monet did while working on it, so and little bit of Monet could have made it into that painting. Another painting trip was during one of the typical overcast, foggy mornings expected in June. I got a report that the hills were covered in fog from my Father-in-law, so I hurried down to the Columbia River to get a chance to paint some fog. I get excited over these little things because fog is different. We don’t get much fog in Arizona! I had a great time painting on this “working” vacation. Here is the collection of paintings created during this summer trip to the Pacific Northwest (click on images for a full view):