ROAD TRIP!

There's nothing like a road trip.
Left last Monday for Richmond Virginia to stop in at Brazier's. The reason I had to stop there was to pick up my art. They're closing! Son of a.... My goal recently was to get three galleries and I did and now I am back to two. So much for goals. Anyway, was a great gallery to be in and I hope I can find another like it.
After picking up my art, drove on to Lewes Delaware for the Saturday night opening for new artists at The Peninsula Gallery, my new one. Between Brazier's and Peninsula I had four days to paint.
There are always tons of new things to paint when you are in a new area. You run around like a kid in a candy store the first day just trying to get your bearings. I had followed the snow storm of last week up the east coast so everything was covered in snow. Even the beaches! I had never seen that before. The weather also changed dramatically over four days. The first day I painted it was about 10 degrees and the last day I got sunburned in around 78 degrees.
Spent a half a day over in Easton Maryland gallery hopping. If you ever get to Easton the South Street Gallery has some wonderful work that is in the genre I prefer, the representational landscapes and plein air work. There was a guy named Tim Bell that had some stuff in there that was just incredible.
I also got to paint with another painter named Lisa Phillips. She is trying to get started as a plein air painter after years of painting murals. She accompanied me a couple of days and I got to do a demo! My first. If she stays with it there is no reason in the world she won't be a very competent plein air painter.
The landscapes there are beach scenes on one side with agriculture for miles in the interior. It's big flat farms that were covered up with geese. I spent most of my time in the Henlopen State Park and the Primehook Wildlife Refuge. Lots of wetlands at Primehook and beaches in Henlopen. About the second day the temps that morning were around 20 degrees. I painted along the Broadkill River which is actually in the tidal marsh. (See painting above) As I walked in the temp was low enough that the mud was nice and frozen and it was like zipping along on a sidewalk. While I painted apparently the temp crossed the freezing mark and what was this wonderful sidewalk become gumbo. Slickest thickest mud I have ever walked in. I had to get about 150 yds. back to the truck and it took forever.
Saturday night had the opening party at the gallery and met some fantastic artists and the gallery owner, Tony Boyd-Heron, and his wife. Right as I was leaving I found out that he retired from the British military after 26 yrs. in the service of HRH the Queen. Everybody's got a story.
After the Saturday night party at the gallery got up Sunday and made it back to Tennessee. Great trip with great people and great landscapes. Where to next?