War Eagle Paint-Out, another Learning Experience...

Last Wednesday I painted with the PAPO (Plein Air Painters of the Ozarks) at War Eagle Mill. It was a gorgeous day, a cool front had rolled in and the skies were a crisp cerulean blue. The sounds of the falls and waterwheel were refreshing on a mid-summer's day!

The photo above shows my viewpoint. This is the exact spot from where I viewed the mill some 10 years ago and vowed to some day capture it from that bank along War Eagle Creek. I just thought it would make a great spot to paint from, so it was a no-brainer for me upon my arrival to just go ahead and set up there.

As I began my climb over the fallen trunk of a huge tree that had succumbed either to the ice storm (most likely, as it looked recently fallen) or a flash flood, my eyes zoomed in on what I felt sure to be poison ivy creeping across the very spot I needed to cross over. Great. A fellow painter was saying to me as I spied it, "there's a trail that goes around if you don't want to climb over that big trunk." Well, I was anxious to get set up, as I was already running late in getting to the site, so I decided to take my chances. However, I made a point to take the short trail around the suspicious ivy when I returned to my car that day. Needless to say, now I know that I can positively I.D. poison ivy, as I've broken out precisely where it brushed against my hand and ankle. Anyway, back to the fun part...

The below photo shows what I decided to depict in my painting:

It was a beautiful scene I thought, but my painting was pathetic. I need so much practice when it comes to plein air painting (painting period actually). But hey, there are no failures, just learning experiences, right? That is what I tell myself every time I paint out, and believe me, I say it a lot. My perspective on the mill house was off (need to sketch buildings more), my colors were drab, or dead, as Joseph Zbukvic describes it. It was also too high key- not enough tonal range (although I ran out of time before putting in all my 'darks', and had planned to put those in at the studio). However, I made some copies of my photos and plan to do some studies, so when I return maybe these things will have been corrected in my mind and on paper to save time.

As I was painting, I couldn't get over how many people and tourists were arriving at War Eagle Mill on a Wednesday morning. I thought it would be pretty much just us, the painters, but people were coming by the carloads, along with a couple of bikers, just during the couple of hours I was there. It looked like families which included generations - grandparents, kids, and even great grandchildren. The poor guys running 'The Bean Palace' upstairs in the Mill were a bit overwhelmed during lunch. But things settled down after a few minutes and everyone got their plate. I ordered a chef salad and was pleased to see that it wasn't just 'iceberg lettuce' but instead select dark green leaf lettuces, which I enjoyed (picky about my salads!). I mentioned to a painter that I was surprised to see so many folks there during the middle of the week and he asked me if I had seen 'War Eagle, Arkansas' the movie. I said, "No," but after he described it to me, it seemed vaguely familiar. Another said, "That probably explains all the tourists." I hear the movie is getting good reviews.  War Eagle Mill is a beautiful place. If you're ever in the area, you really should check it out.

Even though my painting was not a 'keeper', I enjoyed every minute of it, and that's what it's all about for me, the learning experience and ultimately, the experience itself of painting outdoors. While painting, there's suddenly that realization that comes over me of being in the moment of painting outdoors. The same feeling that I have experienced all my life when in nature. Experiencing nature while painting adds a whole other dimension to painting for me. And even though it's often frustrating, I love the challenge watercolor offers in plein air and honestly, I do learn a lot with every painting, as I'm sure you do too. It's all part of the creative process, don't you think? It would be a huge mistake to think I didn't learn a thing from that experience, which is something I've heard people say before. Well, I'll bet if they really sat down and thought about it, they would find a number of things they DID learn from that experience!

I'm getting a small amount of clay and a new kiln shelf today from Flint Hills, so I really need to get back soon to working with my pottery. Oh, and photos to archive(so what else is new?). 'Til next time, keep on creating and remember, NO FAILURES, just learning experiences...

Preparing Test Tiles

Yesterday I finished glazing my cone 6 test tiles, using Ardvark's cone 5 'Bone' and Flint Hill's cone 6 'Buff' clays. I'm trying to find a liner glaze, as well as an outside glaze that will fit the Flint Hill cone 6 clay (because this clay is my preference). My goal is to make sure my utilitarian ware:

• does not craze or leach
  
• is microwavable

In other words, is truly functional according to Ron Roy, the guru of cone six glazes. I attended one of his workshops about 3 or 4 years ago, when he and John Hesselberth were promoting their book, Mastering Cone Six Glazes and teaching how to use the glaze calculation software, Insight by Digital Fire Corp. It was very 'insightful' (ha) and I learned a lot, but have recently had to go over my notes from that event to refresh my memory on what was covered. I'm afraid I'm not being very diligent in learning the Insite software either, just have too much I'm trying to get done for the time being. Oh well, that's yet another goal to set!

Here's a pic of my test tiles, ready for the kiln:

Now, I need to get some other bisqued pots glazed so I'll have enough pieces for a firing. Which shouldn't take many, as my kiln (electric) is pretty small. These are a few things that I need to hurry up and glaze:

So, guess I better get busy, but my immediate goal for today is to get lids thrown for two of my jars. Then I can concentrate on glazing.

Yesterday's Goal Reached (Somewhat)

Well, seems blogging is helping somewhat so far in goal-setting. I did finish trimming my jar yesterday and although I did not get around to painting, I did get a bisque fire done. I'm preparing to test some new cone 6 clay from Flint Hill Clay Works - located in Marion, KS. I really like the feel of this clay, feels just like their high-fire clay, not groggy or gritty at all. The only other cone 6 clay I've tried so far is Ardvark's cone 6 'Bone' - don't care for it - too sandy- literally cuts my hands after throwing awhile. Anyway, will post my test results of my cone 6 test tiles for the F.H. clay as soon as I do the glaze tests. So, if I can get myself away from this computer, maybe I'll get some work done.