Welcome, my friends, to July’s journey of Plein Air 365™,

What a hot summer it has been. With record-breaking temperatures already, it makes me feel lucky to live in an area that is a little cooler than the city. This month I tried to take advantage of this as much as I could. It doesn’t hurt to have a very nice creek and lake near by, even though at times it was almost dry. For the past week though, it has been running quite well, since we have been having some rain. Even with the low water at times, it was easy to find a cool shady spot to paint from, unless it’s the weekend, then all the great and easy-to-get-to spots are filled with people from the city trying to stay cool as well.

One of the nice things about this time of the year is all the wildflowers starting to bloom. If the afternoon rains keep up, it should be a wonderful next month of mountainside wildflowers. With the warm summer nights, it gives me a chance to try my hand at a few more nocturnal scenes. I enjoy these types of scenes; they are like a present. Even though you have an idea of what it looks like, you never truly know until you get home and bring it inside to look at in the light. I have been happily surprised more than once at the color change from painting in the dark and seeing it in the light.

Well, that’s about it for July. I look forward to seeing what August will bring, but until then, please sit back and enjoy July’s journey.

Best Regards,

Ted Garcia

May love fill your heart and art fill your life.