"Beyond the Hay Field"

Oil on linen on panel, 6.5 x 8.5 inches, $150

This hay field belongs to one of my painting students, Sarah and her nephew, Steve. Thanks to both of them for letting me paint there! I started out sitting in a little strip of shade that had formed beside a shed. I was hoping that, as the day unfolded, the sun would move in a direction that would widen that strip.

But, as you can see in the photo below, the sun didn't cooperate and I found myself repositioning the easel a few times as the strip of shade narrowed. Eventually there was nowhere left to go and my painting was at the mercy of direct sunlight. I see now why some plein air painters use an umbrella to shade their canvas!