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Today's daily painting lured me to the rocks at Klondike Park in Augusta, Mo. from a photo I took there in 2015. It is a lovely place to paint and spend the day with a huge variety of subjects to paint in all directions. Looking forward to painting there again during the Augusta Plein Aire from April18-29, 2018. Drive out and visit me while I paint to my hearts content. Wecan share a bottle of wine and you can visit the wonderful shops and restaurants in the area while enjoying one of their many B&B's.

The Dailey painting for today was from a photo I took at Femme Osage Mo during the 2016 Plein Air event there in Augusta, Mo. I have only painted scenes with a building twice before but always loved this little church by the old cemetery there. I also loved the view I had captured with the little stream that runs through the town. I will be going to the Augusta Missouri plein air event again this year from April 18-April 29 with a sale on that final day.

Today the reflections across the cove included a hint of the townhouse on the lake. Our cove has become my haystacks and I try to paint it often under varying conditions . Today was a lovely surprise as the reflections incudied a hint of the life on the other side of our cove. The greens of the clapboard and the blues of the windows as seen throughout the ripples was amazing. Such a fun day on the lake on a cloudy day full of color.

So hubby got me lots of beautiful flowers for my birthday and they are just begging to be painted. Have always wanted to try and paint thes lovely little lilies. Painting this small always presents a challenge but it also helps keep me focused on what I'm painting. It is also a way to let collectors, old and new , buy a piece of original art. These little gems go great either framed or set in a little easel stand.

This painting was created during the Stems Plein Aire event in May 2017 at the Overland Park Arboretum. It is one of three created during this event that I submitted for judging for entry into their show. All three paintings were chosen for the show which runs thru July 30th. Part of the proceeds from the sales goes to support the arts in Overland Park, Ks. Price includes frame. This is another plein aire I revisited lately and made changes to and am happy with the results. It is amazing to me after painting everyday for two years how It has increased my vision and also my eye at critiquing my own paintings. I highly recommend daily painting to increase your eye and skill as an artist.

Day 29 found me back in among the wildflowers. I love the wildness and beauty of a wildflower garden. I especially love Queen Anne's lace. The supporting cast members were blue straw flowers and thistles. There were some very diminutive buttercups there too. Queen Anne's lace grows abundantly in our state and can be found along many roadside stands of wildflowers and old homesteads. They are such a delicate and intricate flower which is worth a closer look if you happen upon them. Butterflies , bees and other insects love them, how could they not? This is a painting I revisited after it hung in the studio for awhile. I like leaving them so I can see if they are truly done or can be improved on. This one definitely needed a revisit and I am much happier with the additions and deletions.

Today, I revisited a painting I had done several years ago . Sometimes when you work hard and develop new skills, it's fun to go back and see if you can enhance what you started. So that's what I did today. I added more contrast both in the trees and in the water and am much happier with the results. There is always a risk that the changes you make will not work but it is worth that risk if it works out. In this case , I feel it worked out great.

So the design came out way better than I antipated. I think partly due to my hubby always thinking out of the box when we do projects together. He added movable shelves with stops to keep them from falling out while I'm driving and put hooks on the fronts to aid in that also. He also added a little storage cabinet at the end near my porta potty for all things you need when that is in use-you, toilet paper, reading materials and chemicals. We also decided to make extensions to accommodate a full size blow up mattress for an extended weekend trip. I will be sharing more photos of how I'm going to load and use it soon. Still have a few more parts we are waiting on to finish and then it will be perfect. So stay tuned!

Sometimes you go out to do a plein aire and you need two days instead of one. On a lovely unseasonably warm day for winter, I went out with a friend to paint. We painted from my deck which faces our lake we live on. I was able to get down two small paintings before the dimming of the sun made it to cold to continue. After looking at this painting, I felt it needed more time and another plain aire adventure. So the next reasonably warm day with sun, I went out and captured additional information and am much happier with the results. Sometimes a location or view or painting deserves a second plein air trip to the same spot. I have done this when painting larger canvases in plein aire but never with a smaller one. Glad I did.

I needed a backpack that was all inclusive and, when loaded, one I could pickup. The Sienna backpack made for their line of plein aire equipment was just the ticket. While with my health issues, I can't carry this long distances, it fits perfectly on my new art trolley. So can't wait to take it out on its maiden voyage!

So this is both a landscape in plein aire and a daily painting. Our Plein Aire Warriors group met along the Little Blue Trace Trail which follows the Little Blue River for miles. It was a fabulous winter day with springlike temperatures and gorgeous blue skies. There was so much to paint it was hard to choose but in the end, the water called my soul. It was so calm just running along until it hit a group of rocks and small boulders and burst forth in luminous waves, ripples and little waterfalls. What a fantastic day with friends !