"A Slice of Color" Skagit tulip field, plein air painting by Robin Weiss

"A Slice of Color"  9x14 oil on panel   $800

Never ending inspiration!!  Tulip season in Skagit county, Washington State!  Painted from the side of the road with my friend Mark Bistranin.  To see a whole bunch of my paintings from this location and other amazing places go to my Daily Paintworks Gallery page HERE

"Skagit Quick Sketch" Plein air, landscape painting by Robin Weiss

Skagit Quick Sketch"   12x9 oil on panel   $600

We set up on the side of the road by the tulip fields in Laconnor to paint the amazing colors of spring in Skagit Co. I knew which view I wanted to paint and quickly set up my easel after parking in a questionable turnout along the road. It gets pretty crazy during tulip season with many more visitors  than usual clogging the two lane roads , pulling off anywhere , taking pictures and filling all available parking. It was not very long before an officer on a motorcycle , no doubt getting overtime pay, pulled over and told us we could not park where we were and suggested another location across the road. I left my pochade box by the road, moved the van and then jogged back to continue painting. When I finally took a breath and looked around there were a lot of views to paint from right were I was!.....I turned about and laid in this composition in about twenty minuets .

I'll post the painting I started with next time!

Have fun out there and watch where you park! 

"Valley Farm" Plein air landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"Valley Farm"  6x8 oil on panel  Sold

As you are heading into LaConnor from Fir Valley Rd. there is a place to pull off and park. I never tire of the views from all directions in this little spot where their is plenty of room for a couple cars to park and paint.

I didn't have a lot of time so I pulled out a 6x8 panel and scraped up all the juicy paint on my palette for this little study of a distant farm. Using a fairly big brush and lots of paint I laid this composition out quickly and let it stand on it's own.

Thanks for stopping by IPA!  Have fun out there! 

"Blue Mountain" Skagit Valley, plein air painting by Robin Weiss

"Blue Mountain"  9x14 oil on panel     Sold  

At least once a year I try and visit my friend Mark Bistranin in Skagit County to paint for a few days. He co-owns and operates the Seaside Gallery in LaConnor.
 The Skagit valley once inhabited by the Salish Indians was a valley of small prairies that were burned in controlled fires to harvest bracken ferns and camas . After the development of the dike system the unmanageable wetland area became a fertile area for agriculture. These days it is still a vibrant farming community and a great place for us painters to find  stunning views of fields and farms surrounded by mountains whose mood and atmosphere are constantly changing.

"The life I love is making paintings with my friends"
Me and Mark painting in one of our favorite spots

This is an area on Fir Island that Mark and I go to paint a lot.  It is a wetland, salt marsh at the end of......well, I can't remember the name right now...it will come to me...But, it is the first road to the left as you pass Snow Goose Produce. Follow it past farms to the very end and there you are. It can be tricky to turn your car around down there but I have turned my van many times....just be careful you don't back into a irrigation ditch!!




I entered this painting in the "Little Gems", small works Show at the Scott Milo Gallery in Anacortes and it garnered a Best of Show Award!! How cool is that!  Thanks much to the good folks at Scott Milo Gallery and Judge of awards, Michele Usibeli!
You still have time to go see the show!  The closing reception is this Saturday the 30th at 3pm.

Best of Show Award at the Little Gems Show,
Scott Milo Gallery, Anacortes, WA

"Tall Quince" Still life painting by Robin Weiss

"Tall Quince"  12x6  oil on panel  Sold

I got a lot of mileage out of the Quince blossoms I plucked from the side of the road...and those lemon wedges!  You can see in this painting how they are starting to dry up and the rind is turning a dark burnt orange.

This is the last painting I will be posting in this series as I keep trying to catch up to real time and what I am working on now.  Maybe I can do it in the next few weeks because my painting time has been taken up working on a treehouse for the grand kids....Ha!

"Daffy Duck" Still life painting by Robin Weiss

"Daffy Duck" 12x10 oil on panel

I used a different fabric scrap for this painting. The idea was to compliment the yellow of the daffodils with the purple background of the fabric, again creating a dramatic contrast.

This was just a plain fun painting to do!  I see a lot that I would like to improve now that I see it again on line including softening some edges and improving the drafting but for now it will remain my statement of the spring daffodils of 2018.....

Hope you are enjoying summer as much as I am!!

"Red on Red" Still life painting by Robin Weiss

"Red on Red"  10x10 oil on panel    SOLD

My studio mate, Leigh , lent me a big pile of fabric scraps to use as still life props. I set this color composition up in the studio under natural light .  The idea was to get a dramatic contrast between the red backdrop and the stark white vase.  Think I should have worked on it a little longer and resolved a few things like the leaves and stem of the camellia blossom. I have a problem with overworking paintings so sometimes fall short of actually finishing them to the best advantage....It's tricky!

Blue Vase with Lemons" Still life , oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Blue Vase with Lemons"  10x10 oil on panel    $600

I used the Quince blossoms again and put them in a blue vase used in many paintings over the years. I focused mostly on the lemon wedges and getting the transparency and glow of light coming through the pulp. Also I like using a reflective base and the silver tray that came with the art deco tea set works really well.
I think that a better composition could have been achieved if I had used more blossoms and took a little more time arranging them as I did in an earlier post of "Quince with Lemons" ....Those lemon wedges lasted through four paintings!!

Thanks for visiting !!

"Camellias with Sugar Bowl" Still life, oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Camellias with Sugar Bowl"  12x9 oil    $600

I just really enjoy painting the reflections in silverware. I used the art deco sugar bowl again in this composition....The juicy red camillias were provided by a nice neighbor who was trimming her bushes away from the road just as I drove by....Score!!

I entered this one in the American Impressionists National Show...Hope I get in this time!!

"Quince with Lemons" Still life , oil painting by Robin Weiss

Quince with Lemons  9x12 oil on panel     Sold

Seems like my inspiration for paintings goes in cycles. In the spring when the flowering trees and spring bulbs start to open up I get really motivated to paint still life.  When I try them at other times it just doesn't work out. ...So, when the urge comes upon me, I set up and paint as many paintings as I can before it passes.  My next posts will be the series of paintings I completed in March/April 2018

Quince with Lemins, underpainting

My usual method is to set up a shadow box using natural light if possible.  Then arrange a composition. Here I am using sprigs of flowering quince, one of the earlier flowering shrubs and components of an art deco tea set found last year at a thrift shop in Laconnor. You can take a look at earlier blog posts about the tea set HERE
As I have described in other posts on my method, I start out composing and determining values in the underpainting using a color made by M Graham Paint Co. called Quinacridone Rust

"Summer in the City" Seattle city, oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Summer in the City"  14x9 oil on panel  $800
Available at:
The Michael Birawer Gallery
1003 1st Ave, Seattle WA 98104
206-624-7773

This was a fun demo painting I did from a photograph taken while I was having coffee at the Zeitgeist Coffee shop in Seattle.  M Graham Paint co. has been sponsoring me and sometimes will send me off to do a demo or promotion at one of their vendors. This time it was in Port Townsend at Quimper Mercantile, a cool store with all kinds of stuff including art supplies!

M Graham Co. even did a really cool video of me in the studio. You can see it HERE