Salt Mine in Red, Orange, and Yellow - New Plein Air Painting

 

Salt Mine in Red, Orange, and Yellow
11 x 14 x 0.5 inches
Acrylic and Oil on Canvas

Passionate red, orange, and yellow warm up this canvas and set the dull desert landscape aglow.

Using my new process of painting a colorful abstract base coat, these colors are warm as opposed to the cool colors of the previous painting.

I was so excited and jazzed to get outside and paint, I forgot to pack my palette paper. So, for this painting, the paint was squeezed directly from the tube onto the canvas. I mixed it as I painted. The result is a higher saturated color.

The dark blue mountains add high contrast to the undulating sandy hills and mountains in front of it. The heat of red and orange seem to blaze through the neutral colors of the landscape. Yellow suggests sunny skies.

Let me know what you think of this painting in the comments below. Thank you for reading this far.

Me, Mary Rush, with my painting.

Salt Mine in Blue, Purple, and Green - New Painting

Salt Mine in Blue, Purple, and Green
11 x 14 x 0.5 inches
Acrylic and Oil on Canvas

Since last week's plein air painting in monochrome hues of silver, bronze, gold, and beige, it was time to add color.

I decided on a blue, purple, and green color scheme. The new process of painting an abstract painting as the base coat for my Plein air paintings is so exciting to me. It adds a spring in my step and I can't wait to begin the process.

This one took the shape of the landscape naturally without trying. When I had the painting in front of me on the land, the mountains seems to line up with what I had randomly painted abstractly. Woohoo! So much fun!

I grabbed the palette knife and mixed the paint to the sandy color of the desert floor. Slabs of the creamy beige appeared on top of the colorful abstract below it. I laid the paint down in the direction of the mountains. I let the color show through in strategic places to add surprise and wonder to the landscape scene. Two gold dots peek out boldly.

The salt mine is a wonderful place to paint. I could paint hundreds of paintings there and never tire of it. Remnants of the past salt mine stick out the ground as if they are part of the flora.

Let me know what you think in the comments. Thanks for reading this far.

Me, Mary Rush, with my painting - Salt Mine in Blue, Purple, and Green.

The Throne of God Painting - 11 x 14 - Mixed Media on Canvas

 

The Throne of God painting and me, Mary Rush.

The Throne of God

• Mixed media on Canvas
• 14 x 11 x 0.5 in
• Still wet, will be available in 2-6 months

Now that the weather is warming up, it’s time to hit the painting Plein air trail again. I’m changing up my process. I hope you like the new look of my landscapes.

 

A land formation at the salt mine conjures my imagination of being an enormously large chair where God sits. It is in a direct line with my driveway. So, I always feel like I live at God’s feet. He (yes, my God is he) sits on his throne and watches over me.

 

The photo on the left is a scanned version of the center of the painting. I stand next to the full painting in the photo to the right. The metallic gold and silver, white, and beige color scheme is subtle except for the high contrasting lines.

 

It’s always a thrill to hit the hiking trail with paints and an easel in tow. As much as I love painting abstract, I love being in nature too. The new process marries both the abstract and the landscape. I have the best of both worlds now. It feels great.