Flower Market

I have a confession to make.  This was actually the first painting of the year even though I choose to post it on day 2.  Since I hadn't painted in so long, I decided to watch a painting video to get rolling.  The video was by one of my favorite teachers, Ann Templeton.  I know her spirit was with me as I made this attempt.

Tamara's Cafe

This painting was started on the last day of the workshop in Apalachicola and finished today.  The scene is a little cafe that serves very good food.  I ate my lunch quickly and set up to paint.  The models were other students and our instructor who were eating outside.

There was an "issue" when I was painting on the sidewalk looking across the street at the cafe.  I was standing in the shade to keep the sun off my palette.  It was quite chilly.  I had on a vest and a jacket.  A man and his dog came along.  The man was on the phone and the dog came up to me for me to pet him.  He was a beautiful English Spaniel.  I gave him a few pats and continued painting.  The next thing I knew, the man started screaming at the dog.  He scared the daylights out of me!  When I turned around to see what in the heck he was screaming about, I saw a puddle by my left leg.  The dog had raised his leg and peed on me!  (I googled why a dog pees on people when I got home, apparently he liked that I gave him a pat and he was marking his territory!  I should be honored.)  Needless to say, I had a hard time settling back down and concentrating.  I kept an eye on every other dog that came by because I was afraid they would try to cover that scent!  So you can see why I had to finish the painting at home!