The next morning I went to a group painting location at the break of dawn. I had my first experience hiking a couple miles on a trail with all my painting equipment. 

I had prepared for hiking by cannibalizing an old backpack to put comfy straps on my french easel, and organizing my bag pretty well.

It was a beautiful, peaceful state park, and the birds were singing and the trail followed a small river. My painting didn’t get far enough to share, but the experience was great.

I packed up by 9:30 or 10 am, before any other artists even got there, and went to the afternoon group spot at Sugarloaf cove. A nice 1/2 mile hike down to a gorgeous scene, and I could imagine painting in this one place all week next year.

I felt like I’d turned a corner. I think some people will look at this painting and think it’s not much because it’s so loose and abstract and messy… But I love it because it has thick and thin paint, a variety of brush marks, and a nice color harmony…