Five Ontario Plein Air Society members met at the McMichael Gallery to paint on the grounds and visit the Mary Pratt exhibition. It was warm (-8 C) and sunny so with the great company it was a joy to be out painting.
I am still not able to tame the Phthalo blue. I am getting frustrated and am just about ready to give up and go back to my old palette. Phthalo blue is very intense and seems to take over everything. It is also very staining so my painting is blue, my brushes are permanently blue, my hands are blue, my moustache is blue and my hair has a slightly blue tinge to it. Brush soap won't touch it so it may all be permanent.
The gallery was the icing on the cake. Mary Pratts work is amazing. I have no desire to paint as realistically as her but her paintings glow with an dazzling brilliance. It must take many painstaking layers to get that effect. One room was closed because they were hanging a new selection of Tom Thomson paintings (mostly plein air boards). The staff doing the hanging let John Mullenger and I cross the barricade to get a closer look at the paintings and we were very grateful. I may just make another trip back for another look.
All in all it was a marvellous day.
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