Plein Air Olney's Sandy Spring Museum Garden Paint-Out

Woodland Garden, oils on canvas panel, 11" x 14."

This past Saturday was Plein Air Olney's first paint-out of the season. The twenty participating artists were to choose locations from five beautiful gardens on the Sandy Spring Museum Garden Club Tour. Afterwards, we would have a wine and cheese reception with a display and sale of the paintings on the grounds of the Sandy Spring Museum.

After our panels were stamped at the check-in, I headed to the first garden off Mink Hollow Road, owned by the Gleysteens. Their large garden extends over a steep wooded hillside and is artistically landscaped with many shade-loving plants, stone walls and paths. The rear of the house with its two-story deck overlooks a wonderful pond with a small waterfall and a bronze heron sculpture. There wasn't much color in this garden other than greens: most of the azaleas had finished blooming, only the blossoms from a few rhododendrons shone here and there, but the cool shade was very appealing on a day that promised to get warmer.

I chose this view looking down the hill, focusing on a rose-pink rhododendron with the morning light filtering through the trees. Greens are always hard to deal with and the variety of hues was so great, it was a real struggle for me, but I think I managed to get the light and atmosphere of the place.

Shades of Purple, oils on canvas panel, 12" x 9."

In the afternoon, I drove back to Sandy Spring to pick up my box lunch and decided to stay on the museum grounds to paint their lovely wisteria twining on a trellis surrounded with irises. The shades of purple were too marvelous to pass up! By then it was getting hot, and trying to stay in the shade, I didn't quite get the composition I wanted. The horizontals of the trellis tend to interrupt the flow of the eye, and I wasn't able to put in the variety of colors I would have liked. This is a painting that one could revisit, perhaps from a different angle, or with different light.

The reception and wet painting sale were fun--all of us artists got to see what the others had painted and helpful comments were freely solicited and offered. There were some sales (though we all would have liked to see more buyers), and the sangria, wine and cheese were delicious!

Contact artist for prices at elemaza@verizon.net.