Your Hands Are Cold

 

8x6in. oil on Ampersand Gessobord - sold

Elizabeth: I couldn't sleep.

Mr. Darcy: Nor I. My aunt...

Elizabeth: Yes, she was here.

Mr. Darcy: How can I make amends for such behavior?

Elizabeth: After what you have done for Lydia, and I suspect for Jane also, it is I who should be making amends.

Mr. Darcy: You must know. Surely you must know it was all for you. You are too generous to trifle with me. I believe you spoke with my aunt last night and it has taught me to hope as I had scarcely allowed myself before. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes have not changed but one word from you will silence me forever. If, however, your feelings have changed, I would have to tell you, you have bewitched me, body and soul and I love...I love...I love you.

Elizabeth: Well then. Your hands are cold.

Cornfield 2.0

 6x8in. oil on Ampersand Gessobord - click to purchase here

Another one of my October Plein Air Challenge paintings! I wanted to re-do my Cornfield painting to see my skill growth, and holy cow, I've grown so much! I love painting en plein air. I live near a cornfield so it's my most frequent source of practicing en plein air. This day was a little foggy and very overcast, and a little bit windy. Combatting the weather is always something to keep in mind while painting en plein air, but it wasn't too bad.

Cornfield, Winter

 

6x8in. oil on Ampersand Gessobord - NSF

Winter is a rather tough season for me. With the limited sun, the cold wind and the car scraping in the morning, it can seem like a lifetime to get through. However, with winter brings snow. Here in the Omaha greater area we don't tend to get a lot of snow during the winter season, but this year seems to be an outlier. We've already had a few blankets of snow which bring some very rare and beautiful landscapes. Readers will recognize this composition as the same as my other painting Cornfield. Seeing the snow on the cornfields was a very new sight for me. The serene landscape brings geese to the fields, pecking at any crops left over from harvest season. You can even occasionally see wild turkeys on the field. I love that the shadows from the trees still stretch across the fields even in very muted overcast light. I did have to fight with the temperature by switching my normal quick-drying medium with refined linseed oil. It was interesting, my quick-drying medium started freezing and gumming up with my paints.

Cornfield

6x8in. oil on Ampersand Gessobord - sold

This painting marks the beginning of my 2022 October Plein Air painting challenge! This month I plan on making four 6x8in. plein air paintings, starting with this one. I really liked the way the shadows stretched on the harvested cornfield from the rows of trees. I'm very lucky to live right across from a very interesting-looking cornfield. I just loved the way the rising sun cast the long shadows from the trees and how the hills influenced the crop lines.