Afternoon Gathering

The entire landscape that creates the environment for my "Women in White" was created entirely "en plein air"...that is ON LOCATION! Yes...and on my property! I drove my van half way down my dirt driveway, and balanced the 36x48 linen canvas on the tailgate of the van, and proceeded to do a "plein air"! NOTHING in nature can truly be captured from photographs, as well as "on the spot"!!
I had left the area for the women and the geese cleared, so that when I took the completed landscape back to the studio, I could then add the "finishing touches" of my Women in White, with their White Geese!!
The joy of losing the geese with the white of the one dress, allowing others to stand out, and with all of them bringing your eye to the tender moment of a mother and child, and a freshly picked basket of flowers!
It is important to capture the beauty that is around us, for we do not know, when we will lose that beauty! About 12 years after I created this, new neighbors moved in on the adjoining 10 acres, and cut down most of the trees in this painting! So, the trees are gone, and the child has grown up...yes, artists can be sort of "historians" in a sense...and with a sense of tender memories!!