Howard Rees Workshop in Bodega Bay

In September I joined Howard Rees in Bodega Bay, California to participate in another of his painting workshops.  Howard is a professional artist currently living in Jackson, a gold country town in Northern California.  Howard gave me my first real exposure to oil painting in 2004, and since that time I've taken about 5 workshops from him.  I always enjoy the experience immensely; his gentle approach is good for the beginning painter's psyche...and he can paint too! 

On this trip, we spent four days painting in Bodega Bay and surrrounding areas.  The location is fairly remote with lots of opportunities for painting.  I did this plein air landscape at the edge of a cliff above Schoolhouse Beach just outside of Bodega Bay.  I had been to this same location about two years previously on another of Howard's workshops, and the weather had been cold, gray and windy, but this time it was spectacular.  This painting is oil on canvas 16 x 20 and was done entirely on location. 

Here's the painting done the first time I visited Schoolhouse beach.  (Also as a student in a Howard Rees workshop.)  As you can see, it wasn't quite as nice a day as my most recent visit!  For this painting, I hiked down to the beach proper.  My location for the painting done more recently was on the cliff directly above the artists huddled out of the wind in the background!  It was very cold, and much of the time, I was holding my easel upright with one hand and painting with the other!  Ahhh.....the joy of plein air painting. 

10 x 20 oil on canvas panel.