More 'En Plein Air'

Well, my cunning plan to spend more time painting outside this year is going very well! I enjoyed another day's painting outside on Saturday on Lossiemouth Beach, a lovely beach around 20 minutes' drive along the coast from where I live. My dog, Zena, and I spent the whole day on the beach, walking, playing and painting (the last one was just me!). 
In the morning the wind was quite strong, and the weather cool and cloudy. Because of the wind, the weather seemed to change really quickly from bright sunshine to threatening clouds. So, rather than try to catch a moment in time, I simply painted my impression of the weather, trying to evoke the feeling of movement and the dancing shafts of light formed between clouds. Later in the afternoon, the wind dropped and the weather became warm and sunny. The sea seemed to warm in colour, together with the beach, so I painted the view from the top of the dunes, here shown at right. Again, this piece is impressionistic: I didn't want to capture and accurate view so much as the warm colours and the azure blue sea, with its breakers standing out brilliant white in the sunshine. What a great day out! I did two paintings, played with Zena, got sand in my shoes and sunburn - another great day at the office!

What it's all about!