Summer 2021

At the end of the 2021 school year, I was able to attend a two day plein air painting workshop through the  BCPS's Office of Visual Arts with other art teachers at Day's Cove.  The most exciting part was one of the choices was to go in a canoe to explore the wetlands!  I hadn't been in a canoe since high school.  It was very exciting and I was a little nervous!  We were given cool paint brushes with a receptacle for water attached so we could paint with the water from the river! Here is a painting of Day's Cove.

I had two canoe partners.  One was my friend Jim who I taught with for 7 years at Parkville High many moons ago and the other was another high school art teacher whose name I can't remember.  She had never been in a canoe before, so she rode in the middle.  Jim steered us along from the front and I was in the back.  A few minutes into the water and I dropped my oar while photographing the scenes with my phone!  Thank goodness another art teacher was nearby in her canoe and was able to grab the floating oar and get it back to me! We canoed around, exploring and painting, listening to the breeze through the grasses and the birds.  It was a beautiful day. Here is a painting of my view on our adventure.

One of the days of the workshop was remote.  I painted in my backyard.  I love that we have two mimosa trees!  If I was a bird, I'd live in the mimosa tree. Here is a painting of the mimosa tree in my front yard with a cardinal in it.

Later in the summer, I decided to paint the mimosa tree in our backyard and my son climbed up into the tree saying with glee, "Paint me!  Paint me in the tree!"  So of course I did paint him in the tree!  Later I gave him this painting framed for his room.