A Plein-air Year

Personal goals are important to me and early in 2023 I had a big one… I have always been intimidated by the idea of painting on location, En plein air, also known as plein-air painting. It is the simple act of painting outdoors. I was afraid my paintings wouldn’t be “good enough”, and that I had to create something I was proud of right from the start. It took time for me to realize it didn’t matter what resulted on location and that anything I painted on site was just a sketch, a memory for when I had time back in the studio to explore in greater depth what it was that caught my attention in the first place.

Traveling to New Mexico was a huge artistic inspiration, I finally started to learn to not be intimidated by a sketch book! I hiked and was “in the moment” surrounded by nature … sketching with just a few pastels, watercolors, and a sharpie marker. I finally discovered the freedom to not overthink.

Visiting my children in San Diego a couple months later allowed for the opportunity to hike Torrey Pines. I had never been there before and viewing the mountainous hills and ocean made for incredible inspiration.

My sketches lead to the largest pastel painting I have done to date, 32″x45″.

Visiting Israel was a life changing experience. I had never been there before and we went from one end of the country to the other end with plenty of stops along the way. The summer heat made sketching a challenge and my sketch book only came out at cool-down times.

Rosh HaNikra is located on the border of Israel and Lebanon and is known for the grottos and caves but I was intrigued by the simple coastline along the Mediterranean.

Another favorite cool-down spot was the Tel Dan nature reserve. The Dan Stream rises in the Tel Dan nature reserve – the largest and most important of the sources of the Jordan River.

The highlight of 2023 was marrying my Beshert, wikipedia’s definition – Bashert or beshert; Yiddish: means “destiny”. We have been so blessed to have found each other.

I do not believe in New Year resolutions but I am always setting new goals for myself. I just haven’t figured out what the next one will be yet.

Happy New Year! Wishing all health, happiness, and Peace in the coming year.