Existing With Your Subject

Yesterday I painted at a spot near my home where I often walk. It is a simple place which became beautiful in my eyes only after walking there many times.  When I told my husband where I had been painting, his response was, "there's not much up there, is there?"

This is what I saw the first time I went to this place - the only thing
of interest to me was the crunch of gravel under my shoes.

If you walk there often, at different times of day, and take the time to experience this little stretch of gravel road between two sub-divisions it becomes an oasis in the middle of suburbia. Every time I walked there I would find something beautiful that I hadn't noticed before. There are soft breezes and a morning mist that softens the trees in the distance, creating the most beautiful atmosphere.

Notice how the trees become lighter and cooler (more blue) in the distance
and everything is softened by the morning mist.

The land is higher there, you can see the sky and some beautiful sunrises.

Today I read a blog post, The Power of Slow Art, in The Artists Life blog which put my feelings into words so well that I wanted to share it:

".... the act of slowly walking around in our subject and changing our point of view can do wonders. As we move, the brain adds in the new visual information and builds a more informed three-dimensional picture of our environment..."

 Here are a couple of very quick studies I did before the light changed into the harsh, bright summer daylight. Hopefully I will find the time to paint larger versions of these:

Trying to capture the sky and the bright green weeds along the foreground.

Gravel Road with shadows.