Day Off For Painting

As I've probably mentioned in previous entries, my husband and I are buying our first house. The closing will likely be the last week of July, and I have been concentrating on packing up our belongings...which I'm finding to be quite a tedious task. I've been feeling very "blah" lately, and I realized that it might be because I am putting my creative pursuits on the back burner...since I need to be packing most of my supplies up. I shared this thought with my husband last night, and he "ordered" me to take a day off from packing...to get out of the house and go paint (since if I'm in the house, I am too tempted to work on things and stress out about packing and moving).
It was very refreshing to be able to do this. Sometimes I just need someone to tell me to take a break (and I'm glad my hubby is able to be that someone!). So here are the results of my "art outing" today...

I'm very impressed with myself for doing this painting of a Canadian goose from life (even though those darn geese kept moving!)

I went to Charlotte Beach on Lake Ontario. Unfortunately, the water is not very clean on this beach, especially when it's windy or has been storming (we've been gettting lots of rainstorms lately, and today was EXTREMELY windy). You know how when the waves break, they're supposed to be white?...well today they were GREEN! Toxic sludge-looking green! Eeeew! They had an announcement over loudspeakers that said the water was closed to swimming or even walking along the shoreline. I love swimming, but even I would not complain about not being allowed to swim in that!

I left the toxic sludge coloring out of my painting...

I ended up packing up after painting for a couple hours due to the high winds that were blowing sand into my eyes. I drove around for a bit, trying to find another peaceful spot near the water. I felt like a wandering gypsy today (especially with my sarong-skirt, indian print blanket, and turquoise headscarf that I was wearing to keep my hair out of my face).
I ended up taking the Ontario Parkway to Long Pond Road and stopped at a marina in Greece, where I did these...

A very Impressionistic looking tree...

Same tree, but with imaginary colors...

Playing with colors...

A simple still-life of my cigar box paintbox...