Schumacher Exhibition Awards

In November 08, I won two second place awards in the Ohio Plein Air Society (OPAS) Juried at the Schumacher Gallery of Capital University in Columbus. The 6" x 8" oil painting above is titled "8 AM, Lakeside" and was painted during the July OPAS paintout. I was mezmerized by the sun shining on the distant water. The color in this photo doesn't do it justice, it's too brown, but try as I could, I couldn't get it right.

At the end of about an hour, the light had changed dramatically. I was pretty much finished, but would have put on a few more strokes. However . . .

suddenly I saw some folks pushing off from the shore in a sunfish boat with a great striped sail. My love of pattern and color kicked in and I couldn't get the first painting off of my easel quick enough. I grabbed it off the easel and tossed it on the grassy lawn. Frantically I fixed a new panel on the easel and jumped into this second 6" x 8" painting. 20 minutes later, someone yelled that an ominous storm was moving in across Lake Erie behind us. We could feel the wind at our backs, but we didn't stop to look back. We kept on painting, with the feeling that the storm would give us some warning. We would have time to pack up and get out, even if a little wet.

Once again Mother Nature had her way, she opened up the sky pelting us with a driving rain. The easel filled up with water, but the important thing was to protect the painting. Jack Liberman had a tarp and ran over to offer us cover. We stood under the tarp for at least 20 minutes, dripping and laughing. It was an exhilirating experience!

I love these little paintings, they have lives of their own and I was pleased for them, that they received awards.