I touched up this plein air piece I did in Charlotte, TN. today.  It's the lawn around the Court House Square.  It's an 9" x 12" done in oil.  
Below is the same church I've been working on, well working on the shadow problem.  I went in again today and darken the shadows one LAST time.  I had several comments from my post that said they liked the first one the best.  I liked it better too.  So I darken the shadows. The painting is about the shadows and not the church. I tried it both ways.  I'm calling it finished! 

A new home for "SISTERS".  A little bit of Tennessee is going to cross the ocean as a gift.  It's one of my favorite paintings.  It was painted on location in the Wears Valley area in Tennessee.  The trees stand side-by-side and their branches are intertwined, supportive and loving.  The painting is almost symbolic of the patron's relationship with their friend across the sea. I'm so proud the painting is going to travel so far. I hope when she looks at it, wonderful memories of her dear friends come to mind and lights up her heart.  

I shared the plein air church I finished up the other day.  Someone said that the painting was about the shadows, I said, "yes, it is".  They said it should be about the church building and not the shadows.  So, I softened the shadows.  Then (the second photo) I thought it wasn't enough about the shadows. So today, I went in again and applied a glaze over the shadows.  The shadows were what caught my eye, not the building.  Today, I had it on my easel and someone came in to the studio and said, that reminded them of the little churches in Cades Cove, this church was in Wears Valley close to Cades Cove.  So, I guess it is about the building and the setting.
​I had an excellent day today at the studio.  Four visitors, and two sells.  

The paintings I share the last time, the one I said I didn't like, it's in the trash can.  I tried to save the panel, but the paint was too thick in places to mess with. I just tossed it. I didn't like it when I painted it.  I painted it on location in the pouring rain. I had to find cover and I did.  I just painted what was in my view. So, it gone. I did decide on what I was going to paint next, a guy playing the fiddle....  

I spent the morning touching up paintings that weren't finished.  The first one isn't plein air, but painted from a model at Warehouse 521 in Nashville.  I wanted to lighten her eyes.  The next two are plein air paintings.  It either got to dark on me or it rained me out.  The church is in Townsend, TN and the last one is on the river in Clarksville, TN,.where it rained all day until I called it quits.  I'm not sure I like the last one, I may have to get it down again tomorrow and work on it. I didn't take a photo of the area, that wasn't a smart. I enjoyed my morning in the studio, I had to go to Nashville after lunch.  Tomorrow, I want to start a watercolor. I haven't done one for a while now.  

This week's goal was to get out unfinished plein air paintings and get them done, finished! Well, a few may end up in the trash but I did these two yesterday and today.  They are small, 8" x 8" and I'm happy with them.I have six to go and then I have one to finish that is a studio work.  These are all oils, I make such a mess with oils. I get it all over me, the table and the easel. I'm much neater when I use acrylic. I hope to get one finished tomorrow, and the rest just may have to wait until I get the oils out again.