"Weeping Willow and Water" plein air, oil landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"Weeping Willow and Water" 8x10 oil on panel

 I enjoyed my first outing with the Plein Air Washington Artists last week.....What a fun and welcoming group of fellow painters!....We all went to Bainbridge Island's, Bloedell Reservation. The history of this amazing property is very interesting. It is definately a great place to paint!! 

The Bloedell "Meadow"

The first day was raining a light drizzle but it added to an interesting atmosphere that I tried to convey in the paintings.  I did three paintings the first day which will be posted soon.



Everyone was using umbrellas ....except me! I had to keep tilting the water out of my paint box...

willow set up

I did find a pretty dry spot under a huge fir tree to get this painting....I was enjoying it so much I didn't want the day to end!

The Duck Pond at Battle Point Park" plein air , oil , landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"The Duck Pond at Battle Point Park" 8x8 oil on panel

This Beautiful little pond is on Bainbridge Island.  Our stretch of good weather is hanging in there and I am getting out to paint as much as possible!....Hope you are too!...

Come and see this painting in person at Art in the Woods 2012  They will be updating the info soon ...I hope ...but you can get an idea about Art in the Woods HERE

"North Cascades from Grand Park" , oil landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"North Cascades" 8x10 oil on panel

From the photos I took on the trip.....I used my pallet knife quite a bit on this one.

Jean LaGassick is an artist I admire who does great mountain paintings. You can view her work here

"Mount Rainier from Grand Park" plein air,landscape, oil painting, by Robin Weiss

"Mount Rainier from Grand Park"  6x12 oil on panel  SOLD

 Lets continue this adventure......From our camp ground at Silver Springs we left in the morning to follow FSR 73 to the Elinor Lake trail head......after a detour all the way around the lake...looking for the trail to Grand Park( sheesh!)  we headed up to one of the most beautiful vistas I have seen in Washington...I'll let some of the pictures tell the story although the majesty of this place can only be felt fully by standing there yourself!

Mount Rainier in all her glory

 As we got higher the forest thinned out and we entered huge meadows filled with wild flowers and butterflies....with the mountain as the main attraction

set up to paint the mountain

I was anxious to get started and set up as soon as I found a good spot with the trail leading into the scene and some alpine firs framing the composition.

The perfect artists wife content to read or nap while I am painting

So glad I was able to take my wife Ann on this trip ...She loves to hike and is my biggest fan!! Never complaining when I pull off to get a painting.

Lake Elinore

Ann enjoying the fresh air and beauty of the mountain

"The White River" from Silver Springs, Mount Rainier National Park, plein air, oil landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"The White River"  8x10 oil on canvas sold

This is the weather us North Westers wait all year for!  Through the dreary spring rains that seem to last all the way through June most years ....then the cold summer....till finally ...we get to September and it turns glorious! Ann and I got away for a couple days to climb up to Grand Park which has spectacular views of MT. Rainier. We camped the first night at a little camp ground off highway 410 called Silver Springs.

Camp ground at silver Springs

We left the day after Labor Day weekend and the camp grounds were wide open.....had our pick of the place and found a good spot right on the river . I have turned the van that Anns folks gave us into the paint-camper mobile..and it works great!

The White River from Huckelberry Creek bridge

This is just the start of the great views we will see on our way up to Grand Park......stay tuned!...=]

"Dungeness Estuary" plein air , oil , landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"Dungeness Estuary" 8x12 oil on panel    sold

This was the last painting done on the trip. I don't feel like any masterpieces were achieved but that is not the purpose of plein air painting ....Of course it is great if you nail one, but my intention is to see and experience the location, do color studies, sketches and take reference photos for the winter months when I can't get out to these amazing areas. This winter I will have lots of material for the studio!

Knowles Studio in Winter

"The Hunt Club" plein air, oil , landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"The Hunt Club"  6x10 oil on panel

Set up for "Hunt Club"

The salt water marsh area next to the Three Crabs restaurant is managed by a group of environmentally minded water fowl hunters. This group owns the property surrounding the mouth of the Dungeness river. There is a full time care taker and the property is watched and maintained. I received permission  to paint on the property ( Thanks again Matt!) and set up to paint the club house across the marsh.


There was a huge stump standing up above the tall marsh grass. Taking a closer look I saw that the face of it was large enough to set my PA easel on!  ....So I set up to paint across the marsh from a higher vantage point...=]

The masses of water fowl, geese and ducks along with many other species of marsh birds give testament to how well this resource is looked after.

"Three Crabs Restaurant" plein air oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Three Crabs Restaurant" 6x10 oil on panel

Summer is here, although rapidly going by!......and I have been spending as much time as possible painting outside!.....and dreading all the time required to sit at the computer updating my blog!.....But I'm trying!!

I took an overnight trip back to the mouth of the Dungeness River, planning on camping again at the Three Crabs Restaurant. Some of you who are long time subscribers may remember my trip in 2010 when I was commissioned to do several paintings of Northwest rivers. When I arrived the cook informed me that the restaurant had been sold to the state and will become a park!  I decided to paint the place for posterity ...I will sure miss the Three Crabs! Hopefully the state will manage the property well......but they will not be able to serve up delicious crab cakes!

painting the Three Crabs

An interested customer took a picture. I gave him my card and he graciously sent me this image. It was pretty hot out there that day!

Sunrise on the Dungeness

 I spent the night in the parking lot and got up early to start the day of painting ....This was the glorious view that greeted me!

"Mystery Bay" oil , marinescape painting by Robin Weiss

"Mystery Bay"  20x16 oil on canvas

Coming back one evening from a church family campout on Marrowstone Island ,we were stopped in our tracks by the beautiful light after an unusual thunderstorm (for our area). This narrow strip of land connecting the Island to the Olympic Peninsula offers a great view of Mystery Bay and surrounding salt marsh.