A couple days ago I set out on my first outing with my DIY plein air easel.  En plein air is a French expression which means “in the open air”, and refers to the act of painting outdoors on location.  I gotta say, you can't beat having your very own painting studio nestled in the sand dunes of the San Francisco beach on a nice sunny day!

I have a confession to make.... I love ice plant!  As someone who used to work in landscape restoration at a native plant nursery, loving an invasive species is a guilty pleasure that I don't like to admit.  My environmental conservationist side hates it, but my artist side just loves how it covers the sand dunes in rainbow hues as the sun shines through it's stressed out foliage. 

I've always wanted to paint ice plant, and I will probably continue to paint many variations of it's colorful and cascading forms across the California coastal landscape.  It's rich array of reds, orange and greens spread across the sand dunes and cliff sides has become a visual staple of the beautiful California coast.  However, because I have conservationist values, I plan on painting a series of other California native plant species to honor their important position in our native ecosystem.

This painting was created with gouache on 5x8" watercolor paper.  It's compact nature is great for documenting the little pockets of nature that inspire and make us feel connected to our home on this planet.  I like to think of these paintings as something in the middle between a sketch and a studio painting. 

The journey continues, onward and upward!

Over the past few weeks, I have been deep in projectlandia in preparation for a road trip to Utah to paint the beautiful scenery!  I hope this will be the first trial run of many more to come.  In keeping with this dream and vision, I have revitalized the DIY ethic I have and hold so dearly, but had tucked away in the corners for too long. 

 I am a novice builder, it's definitely not a skill I have much experience with.  I doubted that I could pull a project like this off, but since the better easels on the market run between $300 - $400, I thought I should at least give it a shot.  I struggled to understand basic components of how the easel design worked, and felt that my skill level couldn't match with the complexities of the design and build. 

Well, I decided to push through that fear and doubt, and consult the trusty YouTube to see what other artists and builders have designed.  Fortunately, many others have felt the same calling to build their own portable easels, and upload their designs to the internet.

I was able to borrow some tools to cut some thin scrap plywood I had laying around the house, and pretty much just used wooden dowels,  wood glue, and a T nut to put the whole thing together.  It was actually much easier then I thought it would be, and turned out to be very cheap and lightweight!  AND it was very empowering to confront a problem and learn some new skills. 

You can watch the video of my DIY easel here!  I hope you enjoy it and become inspired to confront your own fears and come up with creative solutions to tackle problems of your own <3