So Sonoma!

I have recently returned from two weeks in California wine country--Sonoma, to be specific. My husband and I were lucky enough to be invited to house- and cat-sit for friends  who live there, while they were traveling abroad. Not a bad gig!

"Villa View"
8 x 16, Oil on Linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2019

Faithful readers know that one thing I am constantly seeking in my landscape painting is SIMPLIFICATION. And the landscape of the region around Sonoma provides ample opportunities for this quest. But what sounds "simple" isn't necessarily so! This approach involves looking for interesting shapes, and composing a painting whose shapes marry together in a wonderful harmony. 

"Near Kenwood"
8 x 16, Oil on Linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2019

It's hard enough to see good, strong shapes in a chaotic world. But it's an entirely more challenging endeavor to compose a painting in which the the shapes all work together in harmony. I want the big shapes to feel like arms wrapped around each other, or lines of a poem that rhyme.

"Sonoma Estate"
12 x 16, Oil on Linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2019

Shape on shape, color on color. I work to fine tune the color relationships, always mixing and re-mixing, until the colors are just so. Often I brush a color on the canvas, and realize that it is not right. Then it has to be scraped off, and the color tweaked on the palette, and then reapplied--until the color is in the right relationship to the surrounding colors. Sometimes this trial and error process happens several times in one passage of the painting. But by scraping down and applying the paint anew each time, I try to retain the freshness of the brushstroke.

"Keiser Ranch Road"
8 x 12, Oil on Linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2019

I'm illustrating this post with paintings from my trip. Most of them have just been uploaded to my website (lesleypowellart.com), so take a look there for more paintings from the trip, as well as more details and prices. Thanks!