Highway 11, another roadside attraction

The painting on my easel is currently a local landmark located just beyond Lake Bowen Spartanburg, SC I painted a small "thumbnail" version of this a few yars ago and now I'm tackling this 24" x 36".

My overhead bank of natural lights create a faux skylight so I wear the visor to block out the glare. A painting this size so of "takes me in" and I feel like I'm right on the side of the road on Highway 11. This is beautiful country! In high school we'd cruise out 11 and feel like we were in another world.

When I moved back to Spartanburg after being away for 30 years I was shocked to discover the Boiling Springs area (just down the street from this gas station) had turned into a megatropolis! Gone are the farms and acres and acres of peach fields. I was completely disoriented.

Part of my goal for 2011 is to get out and create plein air paintings to bring back to my studio to paint larger paintings of the many "roadside attractions" that are in danger of disappearing.

Happy drawing & painting!

Isabel

Village Tower

OK, finally here is the finished oil painting. The size is 30"h x 15"w and is oil on canvas.

I had a studio near the Old Village in Mt. Pleasant for a couple of years and I saw this great old water tower everyday. I've been wanting to paint it for awhile. One day as I was walking in the Old Village back toward my studio I looked up and saw this perfect composition. Boom! Like a hit on the head.

This painting isn't the typical "pretty" painting. What is attractive to me is the design. Underneath my paintings my goal is to have a good design, if it happens to be a beautiful thing, like a tree in bloom with a lovely bird feeder, that's icing on the cake.

Those types of paintings might not be the most "salable", but I have to paint something I believe in.

I entered this painting into the Oil Painters of America 2009 Eastern Regional Juried Exhibition Of Traditional Oils. I'll keep my finders crossed as this is a highly competitive exhibition.

Happy drawing & painting!