Thursday, July 24, 2025

Plein Air Tuesday - M's Secret Spot - 7/22/25 Day 2


 What you're looking at above is a "recycled photo".  Bet you're wondering what I mean by that.  How about I forgot to take a solo photo (as in location only and no artists) of the location we were at this morning.   The above was taken on 5/20/25 and that setup no longer exists and I think that tree trunk is gone too even though that much time hasn't gone by.

Ok, now fast forward to today.  It was a pretty morning and I got there early, but it didn't take long for Betty to pull in next to me.

Betty

Sophie followed soon after.  Look at that smile!  You think she's getting ready to do something she really enjoys?

Sophie

Mike then came along,  check out that cloud behind him --  looks ominous.

Mike (no mug)

Ed pulled in right behind him.

Ed behind the wheel, Mike between the cars

While they were busy driving in, I saw this person walking through the field toward the water.

Kirsten wallking in

That's right, it's Kirsten as she walks from home with all her gear, doesn't even pause to look around as we're all staring at her - the girl is on a mission!

And here we have arrived under the bridge for our shelter from the sun.

(L to R) Mike, Ed, Sophie

Interesting, the ones on the right have their right foot first and Mike on the left has his left foot first.  You have to admit though that Ed and Sophie look like they're in lock step.

Those 3 walked over to where they saw Kirsten sitting in her spot (told you she was on a mission  - it makes it look like she's been there for hours).

(L to R) Kirsten, Ed, Sophie, Betty

Shortly after that Dona wandered in.

Dona

Betty, Mike and Ed all decided on different locations for their spots.  And, it turns out that Pat also joined us, I missed getting her pic though.

Betty & Mike seated in their spots and hidden amongst the shrubs in the background is Pat

Pat in her spot

There was one more yet to arrive and that was Timestamp Nita.

Nita - Timestamp 8:21

Hey, less than a 1/2 hour late, not bad.  At least she always shows up smiling.  Look at the small amount of stuff she's carrying, yet she'll come up with a really great painting and do it in the least amount of time.

Nita quickly found a spot near the waters' edge just over from Ed's spot.

(L to R) Nita, Ed

I'll show you some others in their spots and then I'll tell you about something funny that happened.

Here's Sophie and Dona doing a little chatting - I'm going to guess, 2 oil painters discussing oil painting, but I could be wrong.

Sophie in her spot, Dona

While I showed you Mike's spot earlier, this is worth seeing again for a closer look at all the vegetation he's sitting in the middle of. 

Front, Mike - further back is Pat

Looks like they're painting in the jungle!  While I was walking back to my spot from taking their pics I saw this fellow.

Jim

So, that's Jim once again off hiking while Dona paints, he loves it that she's joined our group as he gets to go hiking/exploring wherever we go on Tuesdays'.

Ok, so the funny thing is, I'm standing there painting when I swear I hear a chicken.  Huh?  So I look up and see the cutest black chickens running past.


There's one over on the right too and you can see Mike on the left.  They're the type that have very fluffy looking legs, they really were very cute.   Not long after a woman came by with a little dog and happened to go walking off behind those shrubs where the chickens went.  The next thing you know you can hear loud squawking going on and then the chickens come walking out - never did see the dog again.  We'll just have to assume that the woman got the dog out of there.

But, the chicken's were a first for this area.  I'm sure whoever owns them was wondering where they got off to.

Here's another one of Dona chatting away, this time with Kirsten as she stopped by to visit.  You do have to wonder how she had time to paint though.

(L to R) Dona, Kirsten

As you can see, we did manage to stay in the shade, so the temps were very tolerable for all of us for the short time we were there.  But, before we knew it, it was time to wrap things up and build our gallery.



Quite the display, with one being a restart - but it's certainly off to a good one!

We did spend quite a bit of time chatting at the end, but since we all know the drill, it didn't take long to round us up so that we could all smile on 2.

Back Row - Kirsten, Dona, Ed, Betty, Nita, Mike, Sophie
Front Row - Pat, Me

Well, that's it for this location for a while.  But, I have no doubt we'll be back!

Cecilia