The weather was very temperamental. It left my house at 3:35 pm. The wind was extremely strong, and it was blowing directly towards me. I had a very hard time moving forward. Many times I had to get off my bike push my bike / transport unit.

Finally I arrived at the location. I set up my easel, palette, mixing mediums, and started painting. Twice the wind blew my canvas off the easel and onto the ground and split my mixing medium onto the side walk. I decided to give up on using the easel and lay the canvas on the transport unit. It was so windy that my canvas was flapping, bouncing like a trampoline. It made it very difficult to paint.

Every time that I paint outside there is always a problem, some sort of natural element to overcome. I kept painting for many hours. The wind calmed down, and I was not struggling so much.

close up of Laurier painting (left side)

On the left side of the canvas I really experimented with my brush work and abstraction. I wanted to push myself, to make the painting less but more… to try to develop the brush work language.

When I got home I had a shower, cleaned, and scrubbed. Then I down loaded my photos from the camera onto the computer. While viewing the paintings in Photoshop (image sideways) I noticed the sidewalk closet to the bottom of the canvas needed a small adjustment. So I put some socks on and pajamas on and went into the studio for ten minutes to work on the painting.

With a deep breathe I went back into the house, left my socks outside (not wishing to track wet paint into the house). Snuggled into bed… .4:02am.

Night Painting

There are certain advantages to painting at night:

- You are not rushed to complete. It does not matter if you finish at 1 am, 3 am, or 5 am. The landscape stays the same. It sits still like a still life, an orange an apple on a table.

- There is little no movement. Cars are parked, people for the most part are asleep, little to no movement.

- Very few people walking around. So you can really fall into the night. Fall into the creative energy.

- When people walk past they are really inspired to see you painting at night. So they take you more seriously and are much more encoraging.

- When painting in the day the sun casts shadows. The changes in the sky. Clouds are more apparent. You are rushed to complete your painting before the sun falls. The sky changes every minute. You are chasing clouds with your paint brush.

- At night there is no one around. So if nature calls and you have to urinate there is no one around. But during the day you have to find a wash room. Or select a location that is close to a place that has a toilet. It is a habit to always go to the washroom before I leave the studio.

- During the day there is more detail. Everything reveals itself. You and get lost / endless efforts to capture all that is infront of you. At night you can take liberities of interperation. Large black spaces.