Mr. J At Work And Play

  Two big things happen in September this year....Johnny's birthday, which we just celebrated in style by having a delightful dinner at our local favorite Italian spot, La Balena......
  ...And our upcoming show "Fieldwork"(Sept 17!!), which we are busily preparing for.

  It made me think about doing this post...a post that is all about Mr. J, at work and play in Umbria.
  Hey, what better time? I tried to find some photos that have not already been featured either here, or on the gallery Facebook page, but it was hard. Luckily, there are a few scattered about here.

  These photos are a pretty good peek at the day to day work life we lead while we are over there. It's a great 'second life', whether we are out working on paintings, or sitting lakeside having a sip of wine.

  The days we go out and work are often long ones...March and April can be cold, wet and windy, so any day that looks like a sunny one is a day we rush out early to get as much painting in as possible....
(i keep saying 'we'...i just keep record of it all...mr.j does all the heavy lifting...)

Not actually Umbria, this is Pienza, in the neighboring region of Tuscany.
It was early on, and still very cool. The sun was nice.

Drawing closer to home, on a chilly day.

Clouds be damned, Johnny still needs to paint.

  Notice the big blue work coat? It's Johnny's 'go to' for painting. Not only does it keep him clean, it's a good layer of warmth over his regular coat. He buys these at the local 'feramenta', the hardware store.    

  He has bought several over the years, and they are great. One always stays in Umbria, with all his art supplies(grazie, Roy& Diane!), and there is usually one in the California studio, too.

Yes, it is honestly
'Fieldwork'!

Getting a late afternoon painting in, before an oncoming downpour.

Johnny likes to tuck into a shady spot...at least when the sun is warm.

Sometimes it's all sunshine.
Out in the fields, of course.

  I would say it's half and half....Half the time we are down some dirt road, in a field, and half the time he sets up on the side of the road near the car.

  As I have mentioned many times on my own blog, Live Pronto, while Mr. J is working, I'll take photos and make short videos of him, then I like to take off on a walk and explore. If it's really cold, I'll snuggle up in the car with my book.

  I enjoy this routine. I never get this kind of time here in California...always there is something needing to be done.

Johnny getting serious about it all.

  This year, spring 2016, Johnny painted over forty small plain-air works while we were in Umbria. 

  Here are several spots.....

Pescatore, a favorite spot for work and play.

Near the boat launch in Castiglione del Lago...

In a special friend's garden....

On the road between Panicale and Paciano...

Just outside the main gate of Paciano...

On the road to Missiano....

Near Villastrada....

The road to Sanfattuchio...

Near Lago Trasimeno....

Ummmm.....Oh! Below Valiano.
Dodging raindrops, if I remember ...

A very nice day, on the road to Paciano....

Above Varacca...

Near Moiano....

A favorite spot to paint-
Near Casalini.

Just outside of Panicale.

  We love our Panicale apartment, 'The Artisan's House', and at this point feel like we are arriving home when we do get there.

  The second bedroom slowly fills with paintings as the trip goes on.....

Paintings spread out on heavy duty plastic sheets, so they can slowly dry.
All are oil painted on Italian birch panels bought
in Florence and Rome.

  We line the paintings up on the stairs to take pictures of them all.

  There is a perfect window with a deep ledge to set the paintings flat on.. for photos in natural light.

We are ready for our close up, Miss Janelle.....

  With a couple of weeks left at the end of the long trip, the paintings are set aside to dry, and Johnny is done working. He's ready to get down to 'being on vacation'...

It's officially Vacation Time, Baby!

Morning walks!

Can't resist posting this one again-
Noooooo comment!

  By the time he's done working, the weather has gotten just warm enough to take nice walks here and there...

  We can go enjoy favorite pizza places....

  Lounge lakeside playing dominoes and sipping wine.....

 Take drives into the nearby countryside and get stuck in mud....

Oh, yes..we did.
But not on this day.

  Yep. It's a lot of work to get everything done before we go, keep the gallery running while we are gone(thanks Gerrica & Mary Liz), button down the house and get the sitters settled in(thanks, James & Anna)...and then it's Showtime!

  Which is happening in a week or so, so we are crazy getting it together......all this next week. Long days ahead....

  Then we work and work and work some more, so we can do it all over again.

  Sweet life, I must say. Love the work, love the downtime.

  Here's to an already successful show, and my hats off to the dude I'm hitched to...

  Ti amo, bambino....Ti amo.

A very Happy Artist, indeed.

  And you better believe the next trip is booked....

Work Continues: Umbria 2016

  Janelle writing today…

  Johnny and I have been out in the countryside most days the past week. We are taking advantage of the nice weather that has come this way.

  I enjoy watching the setting up, beginning sketch-in, and then I will wander away and come back to see what has developed.

I love this stage….loose!

  As the weeks have gone buy, Johnny is more than a little tired of me constantly shoving a camera into his 'space', but I feel it's an important part of my job here….documentation of the process.

Nearby Panicale.

The skyline of Panicale begins to form.

  I will always be close by, but do enjoy walking or sitting and reading while he paints. These are luxurious times for me, as I don't have this kind of downtime back home.

  For Johnny, the work comes first, and there is only a short time left before he needs to stop painting in oils, so these pieces will dry before we leave.

Work comes first.

Done.

  On this morning, he was able to stay in one place to paint two pieces. This is always good. 

  As much as we both enjoy cruising around the area, it's always nice to be close to home.

The usual set up, with a chair for me to read, and enjoy the view….

  Painting number two begins...

A favorite building nearby.

  With discarded cardboard boxes from Linda's market, Johnny constructs these 'holding' carriers for wet paintings. There are string dividers to keep the work from touching each other. The box itself is just small enough to squeeze the panels in, so they won't move around. Pretty cool.

  I am helping water a friend's garden nearby, so while I water and do some weeding, Johnny sets up to paint the beautiful views.

It's a very special place….

Wonderful colors….

  On another day, we set up on the road that we take for one of our morning walks. There are incredible views over the valley and lake, below...

We are high enough to be in the pines here.

  The locals are still burning the olive cuttings in the mornings, which adds a haze all around. Later in the afternoons, the air clears and the views are crisper…but the softness with the smoke is dreamy….

The classic view of Casiglione del Lago, a castle town
that juts out into the lake.

  Another spot, more work.

  This time near the neighboring village, Paciano.

Loose, loose, loose…
I am always amazed to watch the changes...

Soft colors.

  He just keeps adding layers and layers, but stays very loose.

Adding depth.

  While this painting took shape, I walked around Paciano to take lots of pictures of the beautiful wisteria for my blog, which I work on every few days.

  I was gone for quite awhile, came back, and found that this painting was gone. Completely wiped out.

  This happens, and it always upsets me, but when it isn't working for Johnny, it gets wiped.

  The panel was used again, for a painting that he is very happy with. The paint that is left on the panel, after it has been wiped out, just adds more interest to whatever gets painted on top.

  As Johnny often says:

 "There are no mistakes".