Blue Skies and Fourth of July

Sea Star at Short Sands Beach

Summer has finally arrived on the Oregon Coast. As it is rare to have several warm calm days in a row, whenever they arrive people from all walks of life drop what they are doing and head outside if at all possible. The tides and weather conditions aligned recently and instead of painting in the studio, I took my easel out to Short Sands Beach which is located in Oswald State Park, a short 10 minute drive up the road for us. I wanted to get an oil sketch of a waterfall that cascades down to the beach for an upcoming painting. Next to my favorite Hug Point, Short Sands is another wonderful place to paint.  Short Sands is where all the surfers and their dogs hang out.
The U.S celebrations for the Fourth of July came and went. We had a busy day of celebration duties and the small town parade.

Band cam

Here is a picture of the parade from the drum section where I was playing and marching. My mate is in the dark blue shirt on the right playing trumpet. The day ended with the usual spectacular fireworks show on the beach after dark, which around here this time of the year happens about 10:00 pm.
I have been working on my cello/trumpet duet painting as well. I have taken the grisaille as far as I can go and will now be starting in on color. I will have a painting in progress report for the next post. Progress may slow down a bit if the weather continues to be fine. I would like to get more plein air painting in to use as reference for future paintings. Now, I have to grab our instruments off the still life table so we can go to our weekly jam session!
-Renee