Dahlonega

Unfortunately this year, I was not able to do anything special on Earth Day.  I had to fly to New York and back, and I am in fact writing this blog post from an airplane. So being on a computer, on a plane, and not actually touching the planet is making me feel less than earthy at the moment.

However, I knew this was coming, so last weekend I went camping with my buddy Joe. It was my first camping trip of the year and it was great to get outside and sleep under the stars. We went to Amicalola Falls State Park and I did this painting on Sunday morning from the bridge directly above the falls.

We didn't do any hiking, as we spent most of our time at the Bear in the Square bluegrass festival in nearby Dahlonega. Joe and I both are learning to play the banjo and we had a blast listening to the great bands and informal jams. We heard a lot of incredible music, notably Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper, Jessie McReynolds and the Virginia Boys, and the Dixie Bee-Liners. We got to meet Casey Henry, who we have seen on a series of instructional banjo called 'The Murphy Method' and is the Bee-Liner banjo player. We also got to meet Jessie Baker, who is the banjo player for Flamekeeper. Both were super nice, and it is very motivating to see and meet people so dedicated and proficient at their craft.

So basically, I had a whole weekend that was pretty much all outdoors or under a tent, painting the beginning of the blue ridge, listening to great music, and picking the banjo around a campfire with Joe. If that ain't down to earth, I don't know what is.

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  I often feel like the days are too short. There is always so much that I want to do and time seems to fly by. However, today is a bit special, as we shifted our clocks to standard time last night. I have always found it a bit jarring, as you start to notice the autumn days getting slowly shorter, then one day - BAM! - sunset at 5:45. This time of year is very fleeting in many ways. The sunlight is at a premium, and mother nature teases us for a few weeks out of the year with the brilliant colors of the deciduous trees. This afternoon I went about 60 miles north of Atlanta to Dahlonega, GA and painted in the vineyards of the Montaluce Winery. A beautiful place they have with views of the very start of the Appalachian Mountains. It was a great drive and I'm always amazed at the variety of colors in the fall leaves. I picked this spot as I liked the very green tree on the right and the yellow-green vines set against the earthy tones of the surrounding forest. I especially enjoyed how the backlighting brought out those colors.

So about this sunlight thing. I'm actually not as down about it this year as I have been in the past. This summer I was introduced to nocturnal painting at the Marc Hanson workshop I took. However, I have only had a couple of chances to try my hand at it. Now with the time difference, I plan to scout out some good night time scenes in my area. We'll see what happens.

"Montaluce Vines"

oil on lead primed canvas

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