I Got Pthalo'd ... and Phew!

Holding on for dear life in the Chrysler Museum Memorial Garden. Crazy day!!!!

Pthalo blue, actually Pthalo any color, is the most infectious color ... that somehow, once out of the tube, gets on everything and won't come up. It reminds me of the Dr. Suess Cat in the Hat (or Cat in the Hat comes back) when pink invades everything ... thanks to Thing One and Thing Two.

I'm at Out & About Norfolk, a plein air event and painting competition, and things are not exactly going smoothly. Today it was mid-50 to low-60 degrees with 25 mph winds. Try painting outside in that! My easel held up fine, but I was partially frozen and slapped silly by the wind for five hours straight. It was tough to aim my brush as the painting wiggled.

I was painting at the Chrysler Museum's Memorial Garden. Randy had wrapped a towel around my shoulders and neck to keep me warmer. Therein lies the problem. The towel got loose and took a trip onto my palette... to pick up ... guess what? Pthalo blue. I didn't realize it.

Randy came out from the Museum cafe, inviting me to trade places with him for a few minutes so I could warm up. He'd ordered bruschetta and iced tea ... and I slipped in and took his spot. That's when I realized my hands were blue. My smock was blue. One whole half of me was blue. Surmising that I didn't belong in a very nice cafe in my current condition ... I left, snuck to the restroom, did what little I could to clean up ... and went back outside to paint.

My garden painting turned out pretty well, but I want to return to the spot again tomorrow and catch the morning light a bit better.

Painting at sunset at Waterside in Norfolk, VA

I took a big break ... a lunch and trip to Jerry's Artarama for some supplies ... before going out to the Waterside to paint the end of the day. There I painted "Eat at Joe's" that may or may not make it to primetime. It looks a bit crazed. Paintings reflect the painter.

I hope it's a bit easier tomorrow. I'm whupped.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Out & About Norfolk Plein Air Painting Event, October 20-22 

ON EXHIBIT

Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club’s 115th Annual Open Juried Exhibit

National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, NYC, October 4-28

The Art League's October All-Media Membership Exhibit,  105 N. Union St., Alexandria, VA. My charcoal drawing of "Oscar" was juried in and will be on view through November 7. "Cubanelle and Roses" is in the Bin Gallery.

American Artists Professional League 83rd Grand National,Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue, NYC, Nov. 1-11

To read more about the 100 Faces in 100 Days project on my web site (www.jillbanks.com), go to the 100 Faces Project Pages 1 and 2 where you can see all 100 of my volunteers. Click on the paintings, and go to my blog post for that person's sitting.


Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project Page 1 (faces 1-54): www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project.html
100 Faces in 100 Days Project Page 2 (faces 55-100): www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project_2.html
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