georgia

 Yesterday I went back to the farm that supports Farm Burger and Farm 255. I got to meet John and Holly Ivy, who own and live on the farm. They were super hospitable and I got to learn a lot about the place I've been painting lately.

The farm itself is Fowler Farms (become a fan of theirs on Facebook), and it has been in continuous operation since 1818. It was built by Holly's family from the beginning, and their children are the ninth generation to grow up there. The very spot I painted from last time is the highest point in Clarke County, Georgia. The settlers found the high ground and built  a full farming community in the early 1800's. You feel so much more in tune with a landscape when you learn about the rich history around it.

There were a few ominous looking clouds on the horizon. If you read my last blog post, you'll see why that concerned me. I didn't want to be three for three on having my painting session cut short. The rain moved around me though. It moved over and about, so I got in a good couple of hours. 

Due to the potential bad weather, I did stick close to the barns, and unfortunately the Fowler cows didn't oblige me. However, I did bring two models with me - our bluetick Illy and our new little terrier mutt Clyde! While I was painting, they were keeping cool in a shade by the fence. Toward the end, the clouds were much darker and I could tell Illy was paying them close attention. So I put them in at the end, and had the feeling of one of those old pastoral paintings that included dogs. 

It was a great day, and the dogs loved it (both playing at the farm and being immortalized in art). Many thanks to the Ivys for letting us hang out in their pasture again.

 I spent another day at the animal farm owned by Farm 255 and Farm Burger. Kate joined me and we spent several hours in a cow pasture in the hot Georgia sun. It was a breezy day, so it was nice most of the time. We both worked on some good farmer tans, too.

We started the day by driving to Athens and eating brunch at Farm 255. It was our first time there and we loved it. Kate had the rustic eggs with grits, and sausage. I had a braised beef, egg and cheese biscuit. The biscuit was one of the best I've ever had. It was served with pork braised greens. I'm not the biggest greens fan, but those were really good. Not sure if it was the pork flavoring or the fresh, local greens... 

So this scene is from the middle of the cow pasture. The cows did a very nice job moving around so I could choose from a lot of poses. The barns are the two main barns on this property, and the yellow emblem on the barn on the left is of the sun. I painted this on a 9x12 canvas panel so I could suggest a panorama.

 Kate and I have been really getting into the 'farm to table' craze, which focuses on locally grown food. Most of our favorite places in Atlanta use local meat and produce, with much of it raised naturally and organic.

Our new favorite is a place called Farm Burger in Decatur. They grow a lot of the food themselves, and all the beef is natural and grass fed. The burgers there are just amazing. I went Friday night and I am already anxious to go again.

I'm such a believer in the organic and local food movements (pause while John Kuehne makes a joke), that I decided to start a series I'm calling "Farm to Canvas". So today I set out to find and paint a scene at the source of Farm Burger's mana, Full Moon Farms. 

Full Moon Farms is near Athens, GA. I arrived at the address I found on the internet, only to find that you couldn't see any part of it from a public spot. Since today was Sunday, I knew that I wouldn't be able to get a tour, especially on short notice. So I used my iPhone to see if there were any other eco-friendly farms and found out that Full Moon had moved to two locations. I set out on the one location that I could find an address for, Flat Rock Farms.

Actually, I'm not sure if I found Flat Rock Farms. I was at the address I found, but didn't see any sign or other indication that I was at the right place. But nevertheless, I found a great scene to paint. I set up in the church parking lot of Johnson United Methodist Church. It was a very enjoyable day, and I even had a couple of nice folks stop by to see my work. One was another artist who asked me several questions about oil painting (and if you read this blog, please send an email or comment!). It helped my painting a lot explaining some of the aspects of plein air to her. As she drove off, I thought about how I needed to apply my own advice. 

So these cows may or may not be raised organically. I can vouch that they ate grass when I painted them.

Now that I know the area, I plan to see if I can get access to some of these places so that I know I'm painting an organic farm. I really would like to see the operation at Full Moon Farms. And I really want to visit Athens and trying their other restaurant, Farm 255. 

  Well, the Storm of the Century made its way down to Georgia yesterday. Things looked really awesome with all the snow. I felt like I was in New Hampshire instead of Atlanta. A lot of it has melted by now, but I was able to go out this afternoon and paint a quick sketch. It was good to work on the structure of trees, although I am eagerly awaiting the leaves to return this Spring. I did this painting at good ol' Freedom Park.

  I often feel like the days are too short. There is always so much that I want to do and time seems to fly by. However, today is a bit special, as we shifted our clocks to standard time last night. I have always found it a bit jarring, as you start to notice the autumn days getting slowly shorter, then one day - BAM! - sunset at 5:45. This time of year is very fleeting in many ways. The sunlight is at a premium, and mother nature teases us for a few weeks out of the year with the brilliant colors of the deciduous trees. This afternoon I went about 60 miles north of Atlanta to Dahlonega, GA and painted in the vineyards of the Montaluce Winery. A beautiful place they have with views of the very start of the Appalachian Mountains. It was a great drive and I'm always amazed at the variety of colors in the fall leaves. I picked this spot as I liked the very green tree on the right and the yellow-green vines set against the earthy tones of the surrounding forest. I especially enjoyed how the backlighting brought out those colors.

So about this sunlight thing. I'm actually not as down about it this year as I have been in the past. This summer I was introduced to nocturnal painting at the Marc Hanson workshop I took. However, I have only had a couple of chances to try my hand at it. Now with the time difference, I plan to scout out some good night time scenes in my area. We'll see what happens.

"Montaluce Vines"

oil on lead primed canvas

SOLD

I finished up the Paint Out Thursday and Friday with these two pieces. I chose the first one ("The River ") and the piece I did Wednesday ("Fishin'") to submit to the show. The reception is tonight at the CNREA Island Ford Headquarters from 7:30 to 9:30. There was a ton of artwork there this morning when I dropped my pieces off. It was a lot of fun to meet the other landscape painters and to see what they did.

Tommorrow starts the Great Chattahoochee Paint Out (http://visitroswellga.com/great-chattahoochee-river-paint-out.html). The registration was tonight, and there are over 75 artists that are planning to paint over the next 3 days. I'll be going to work early so that I can leave early and do a painting each evening. Each artist can submit 2 paintings to be displayed at the reception at the Island Ford HQ. I'm excited to have a piece displayed at a National Park facility.

I got married yesterday! And during the day beforehand, I got to hang out on the square in Madison, GA with Dorian and do a plein air piece. It was a lot of fun getting to paint with him again, and many of the guests of the wedding stopped by to hang out with us. The wedding turned out perfect and now I'm very happy to have Kate as my beautiful wife. The painting is of some storefronts on the town square. The warm light that hit the building really caught my eye.

One of the many fine things about the Chattahooche River is that you get to call it "The Hooch". You also can enjoy it within the Perimeter of Atlanta (I-285). Today was a great day to be out there. Kate and our bluetick Illy joined me for a fun day hanging on a little beach area in the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area. There were several families and dozens of dogs for Illy to meet and charm with her easy going hound dog personality. I was able to catch her in a typical pose of hers while wading around.

I was able to go out to the park and do a quick 5x7 oil sketch of a tree. I took my hound dog Illy with me, who did a nice job entertaining those that came by. It was a great exercise to focus on a tree study. Painting on the smaller canvas is quite challenging. To see some awesome paintings this size, check out Marc Hanson's blog http://marchanson.blogspot.com. He just completed a painting marathon that is very impressive. I'm going to take a workshop of his later this month, and I'm excited to get to learn from him.