"The Bloedel Mansion" plein air, oil, landscape painting by Robin Weiss.

"The Bloedel Mansion"  8x12 oil on panel  sold

 The Bloedel Reserve is a 150 acre forest garden on Bainbridge Island created by Prentice and Virginia Bloedel. The Bloedels' French Chateau-style home including many original furnishings, is preserved as a Visitor Center.
 I didn't take the time to look through the mansion. I'll do that the next time I visit .....and I will be back to paint this extraordinary property!

Jane Wallis and I set up for painting the Bloedel Mansion

Jane Wallis was my painting partner in this scene....It was good catching up with her!....Jane was my drawing instructor for one semester at Olympic College back in the 70's!

Check out Jane's work here

"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.

"Cloud Space" Seattle city, oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Cloud Space" 16x20 oil on canvas  SOLD

We can have pretty dramatic cloud patterns here in the Pacific Northwest.  I did my best to capture this scene from the ferry, with the new space age orange paint job on the Space Needle set off by the banks of clouds marching away in the distance.

"Sailing off Alki Point" marine landscape, oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Sailing off Alki Point"   8x12 oil on panel sold

Sometimes a painting will flow right off the brush onto the canvas..happened that way with this one.....all you can do is thank the Lord and try not to drop the panel face down on the floor when you take it off the easel....(which has happened to me more than once)....

This is a studio painting from a photo I shot the last time I was plein air painting in Alki.  If you are interested in viewing this work you can treat yourself to a day-cation on Alki beach,  have lunch at The Cactus and then go visit Diane at Alki Arts!!  She will be glad to show you around the gallery.....=]

"Dosewalips Day Park" day of plein air painting with Robin And Maury Weiss

"Dose Day Park"plein air landscape painting by Robin Weiss  8x12 oil on panel

Still way behind so I will post all the paintings I did with my son Maury, when we went painting together last week.  We headed for our favorite spot, The Dosewalips river, with innertubes , fishing poles and easels. On the way we stopped at Falls View Canyon to get the first painting of the day on the books...

Falls View Canyon 8x12 oil on panel

I had been painting down in Falls View Canyon before and was excited to take Maury there! You can see my studio painting from this spot in 2010,  here. 


On the left is my painting and on the right is Maury hiking into Fall s View. It is not a long hike but pretty steep getting in there.

Maury hiking into Falls View

Maury set up and slinging paint at Falls View

We set up right on the river with a beautiful view of the cascade. The morning light was casting great shadows on the water. 

Maurys painting of Falls View

After painting the Big Quil.,  we headed for the Dosewalips........It being a beautiful, sunny, summer day ....and a Saturday,.. the camp spot at the Dose was packed! We tried parking along the side of the road in the camping area and found a good spot to paint....but as we were unpacking our gear a Ranger asked us not to park there....Drat!!...We ended up in the day park area and set up to do a painting there ....Needless to say there would not be any tubeing or fishing this day.....which was okay....we really wanted to paint!

Robs set up at the day park

Maurys painting at the day park

Our last stop at the end of the day was at a little park along Linger Longer road in Quilcene. We had to paint fast to keep up with the quickly moving light at this time of day..and it was a challenge!

Maury painting at Linger Longer Rd.

Robs painting from Linger Longer Rd.  6x8 oil on panel

"U-Pick Raspberries" Suyematsu farm, plein air painting by Robin Weiss

"U-Pick Raspberries"  Suyematsu Farm   8x10 oil on panel

Upper nineties predicted for the next few days......okay I'm outta here!...Someplace near water will work for a few days of extended painting...

I'm still way behind in posting all the plein air work I have been doing ....but I ran into the lovely gal in this painting and her two children while working at the light house yesterday.....She asked me how the painting turned out from Suyematsu Farm....Here it is! 

I learned that Akio Suyematsu , who owned and operated this farm has died...There will be a memorial for him at the farm sometime this month.

Akio Suyematsu

Suyematsu farm has a rich history on Bainbridge Island, Washington state. you can learn more about it from this article.  Also the book Snow Falling on Cedars, which was made into a movie tells a lot about what happened to the Japanese farmers on Bainbridge during WWII..

Robin Weiss painting the raspberries at Suyematsu farm

I took the time to do one more small painting of the raspberries in honor of Akio...May he rest in peace...

"Point No Point Light House" plein air, light house painting by Robin Weiss

Point No Point Light House  8x10 oil on panel

  For this composition I got up close and personal with the light house. I tried to capture the warm reflected light in the shadows. You couldn't ask for a better location to spend a few days painting!!

"Point no Point Light House from the Wetland Trail" plein air , landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"Point no Point Light House from the Wetland Trail   8x10 oil on panel sold

The second painting on the cloudy day......It was nice not having to worry about the umbrella or finding shade to paint in....but the light house is lacking the nice cast shadows......Still a great day and a great place to paint!

"Wetland Trail" Point no point, plein air, landscape painting by Robin Weiss

"Wetland Trail" Point no Point, plein air,  8x8 oil on panel sold

Second day, first painting.  It was cloudy this day but still lots of color.  A large and exuberant group of Chinese exchange students came through and delayed painting for awhile as I had my picture taken many times and answered all the questions...They were very polite and it was fun sharing!....Maybe I will get a lot of Facebook posts in China!?

"Point No Point, Looking North" light house, landscape , oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Point No Point Looking North" 8x10 oil on panel   sold 

I'm still way behind posting my plein air work so I will not take too much time writing about these paintings.  I spent a few days out on Point no Point, a favorite spot for me and one many people from this area are familiar with. I have painted here a lot and still love it!.....This is the first of five plein air paintings coming up....=]

"Teanaway Ranch Creek" landscape, oil painting, by Robin Weiss

"Teanaway Ranch Creek" 8x10 oil on panel

I found a spot in the bed of a little creek meandering its way through the valley. It was a little cooler there.  I worked on laying down the shapes and color notes that I was seeing, using a thicker, richer mix of paint. 

This is the second of the three studies I completed that day. My plein air rig, made out of an old aluminum clip board is still holding up pretty good!  Don't know how I will act with a new Easy L!!  Maybe I will get one for Christmas...The idea for using an aluminum clip board came from Tom Browns tips on plein air painting.....I made several modifications to his design and will post more pictures in a future post

"Teanaway Valley Ranch" plein air, landscape, oil painting by Robin Weiss

"Teanaway Valley Ranch" 8x12 oil on panel

Skip to the first painting of the day.  After finding a good location we hopped over some barbed wire fencing and made our way down into this valley. The property was obviously a cattle ranch but there were not any no- trespassing signs posted so we decided to give it a go....nothing ventured, nothing gained!

cattle in the road

Our first clue of trouble should have been the cattle in the road on the way to our location.

Cattle drive

After hiking down into the valley and scouting a good location to set up we noticed a large herd of cattle heading right at us!.."I guess we will find out if it is okay to be down here now"...

"Hey Jim, that's not a cowboy!.....The nice cow GIRL waved good morning to us and thanked us for getting out of the way....(no problem!)....and then went on their way....."Guess it's okay to paint here!"

Jim, Betsy and Pam taking in the amazing view. The Teanaway Valley is full of these beautiful ranches and vistas.

Jim helps Betsy up the trail . She was having trouble with a bum knee and needed a little extra pull..