Lilacs on a Windy Day, April 27, 2021

What a hot and windy day! In fact, the power went out in the house just as I was preparing to head out to paint. The power often goes out when there are strong winds. One of the perks of living in the middle of a forest! Trees and limbs are always falling on the power lines.

The electric company is usually pretty quick about repairing them and power is most often restored within a few hours. I must confess that I enjoy the absolute quiet of no electric din in the background. But, since I was going outside to paint anyway, I wasn't too worried about the power going out.

I didn't have to backpack far for this painting. In fact, it is the lilac bush in front of my studio. I planted it about twenty years ago and it has gotten humongous! Further down, I'll share a couple paintings I did back in 2010 and you can see how big the lilac bush has gotten since then. The lilacs tower over the studio building now whereas, in 2010, the bush was much smaller

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So, here's a detail of the painting:

042721 16x12 Lilacs on a Windy Day, April 27, 2021, plein air oil painting

And another detail. The paint is really thick on this painting.

042721 16x12 Lilacs on a Windy Day, April 27, 2021, plein air oil painting, Detail

Detail, Lilacs on a Windy Day, April 27, 2021, plein air oil painting, 042721 16x12.

Sometimes the lilac bush doesn't have many, if any blooms, depending upon a late freeze or if it needs trimming. This year, it was loaded!

And here is the final painting:

042721 16x12 Lilacs on a Windy Day, April 27, 2021, 16" x 12", plein air oil painting.

My field notes on the back read: "Hot, windy! Lilacs Blowing. In front of the studio. 84°, 12:30-3:00 p.m. Power went out just as I was heading out to paint. Still not back in when I went inside. Plein air oil painting."

Just for fun, I've included a couple paintings of the lilac bush that I did back in 2010. The first one was done on April 15 (tax day!) and the second one was done on April 18. The lilacs were peaking earlier back in 2010 than this year when I did the painting on April 27. Mid-April is typically the peak time but we had a lot of chilly weather this year, late into spring, that appears to have slowed the blooms.