Magic Labyrinth & Asparagus

Two days ago I picked the year's first three asparagus stalks.  They were sweet and tender; we ate them with sloppy joes and tater tots. mmm.

And tonight we played Magic Labyrinth.

Early spring landscape along Floyds Fork

"Early Spring, Floyds Fork at Seatonville Road," 16 x 20 inches.  I finished this today at home after starting it last Friday on site.

I used a limited palette: burnt sienna, ivory black, burnt umber, Naples yellow, red iron oxide, ultramarine blue, titanium white.

I am very happy with the finished product, though this photo didn't pick up some of the subtlety in the tones.

earthtone palette

Did some plein air painting last Friday. I used a limited earthtone palette like last time, with a slight change, substituting ultramarine blue for cerulean blue, and adding red iron oxide. The other colors are ivory black, titanium white, Naples yellow, burnt sienna, and burnt umber.

I didn't finish the painting on site, so worked more at home. I still want to work more. It's not resolved yet. Pictures forthcoming.

Red iron oxide is a monster, by the way. It walks up and punches other paint in the face kyst for laughs.

m s softball

It was a cold, windy night, but a fun game to watch.

Dinner

The dinner I fixed tonight was more elaborate than any I had fixed in a while.  Orange garlic chicken in the crock pot; bangers and mash with onion gravy; and irish soda bread.  I managed to have it all ready at pretty much the same time, too.

It all came out pretty good.  The bangers and mash were a little bland, but salt helped.  A Guinness would have gone great with it all, but I didn't want to spend money on beer.

knife painting - Germantown shotgun houses

Sylvia Street, Germantown

This is an oil painting I started about five years ago, and only had it at the underpainting stage before I put it on a shelf in the garage and forgot about it.  I didn't much like how it was coming along.  Finally, a few weeks ago, I pulled it out and used a painting knife to complete it.  It's one of my only knife paintings, and I like the result.  It was, for me, pretty experimental, since I don't have much experience with painting knives.  It was certainly different than the detailed pen and ink work I usually work on, and I want to do more soon.