Summer Flowers

This was painted because I had an incredibly deep response to this location. I'd been plein air painting all weekend and was hurrying home to my wife and I pulled over to call her and give her an eta but I was so struck by the beauty of these roadside wildflowers in the low sun I almost pulled out my paints again. I won't lie though - I was exhausted from all the paintings I'd done over the weekend and didn't think I'd have the concentration I needed to rise to the challenge. So I took some quick notes on color and mood, added a photo and headed home. I painted it in the studio the next day but set the clock for 1 hour to mimic the plein air experience as much as possible. It was a fun way to challenge myself but also keep the paint spontaneous. I can get too finicky in the studio so setting the clock motivates me to stay in the moment and focus only on what I think the painting needs to make me believe it.