Seasons of Martis Day 2
Today was the official start of the Seasons of Martis Plein Air event. The forecast was for snow overnight and throughout the day, so I wasn’t so excited about getting up early for the sunrise. Below is my car in the morning….
Around 9:00 the sun peeked out, so I thought…better go! I headed out and checked in for the show at Northstar Ski resort, and then made my way to the Martis Wildlife viewing area, which I had scouted out yesterday. It was cold and overcast, but not too bad. There were already a number of the plein air artists out painting. I set up and started painting. After about an hour, a new wave of snow came in and, it got bad enough, we just had to pack it in. I didn’t mind the cold or snow, but it was impossible to paint with all the melting precipitation all around, let alone see anything in the ‘white-out’.
Check out the snow on Richards jacket…what a die hard!!! Also notice you can’t see any mountains in the background…they were completely whited out.
We were close to Truckee, so I went in for some lunch. The Squeeze In Cafe was great…a wonderful omlette was so big, I brought half of it home. It was still snowing, sleeting and cloudy, so I retired back at the motel for some rest.
About mid afternoon, the sun poked back out, so I headed for the Truckee River to start another painting. I paint the Truckee often, and it sells well in the gallery, so why not capitalize on my strengths! I painted for a couple hours, and my back really started acting up so I got out a camping chair to sit on.
While I was painting, the owners of the property from across the “restricted bridge” dropped by. we briefly chatted and I learned they knew the owner of the gallery I show at in Tahoe City. Seasonally they post “Keep Off” and “Don’t Park” signs, but me and my Ford Explorer ignored it. The owners slowly drove around my easel in the road, checking their house, and went merrily on.
I had painted a number of paintings from this spot over the last couple years. In fact, my demo oil painting is from here. Finally, as some of you know I have been fighting back pain off and on for over 30 years. it got the best of me, and the sun was starting to fade behind a new wave of snow showers. Time to pack in and have a relaxing evening.
