It’s getting hot here in Texas but not too hot to stop us from going out and painting plein air. At least not yet. Myrrh and I headed west of Houston to Bellville a couple of days ago. We met in a Target parking lot at 2:30 in the afternoon and headed west down I-10. We wanted to try the afternoon and evening light this time, instead of painting in the early morning like we have been.
Driving into Bellville we spotted a beautiful church, so we set up on a side road off the highway. It was hot on that asphalt. But Myrrh and I both have cars with a hatchback so we set up our easels under the open hatchback. I got a partial study of the church, I may use it to:
1. paint the same church again using my study and a photo or,
2. work on my painting some more and call it complete or,
3. go back to the same spot and paint the church again or,
and this last one is what will most likely happen:
4. I’ll see beautiful new things that will capture my attention and I’ll never paint that church again. Guess I have a short attention span.
Here I am painting this little barn. We never remember to take pictures til we’re finished! And by now the sun is getting low in the sky and there isn’t any sun on the face of the barn anymore. We packed up and had about 30 or 40 minutes til it would be too dark to paint: we drove around for a few minutes trying to find another location to paint. Soon we only had 20 minutes til dark! Then we noticed the sun was about to dip behind a giant cloud on the horizon and we really didn’t have but 5 minutes left. So we jumped out of the car and took a few photos and then decided it was time for dinner.
We drove the 3 minutes back into Bellville, we had spotted two BBQ places earlier and had BBQ on our minds. Both places were closed, but then again it was after 8:00 p.m. and Bellville is a small town. We decided to get on the highway and head back towards I-10. Five minutes later we saw a sign “BBQ Ahead” and we found Battle Creek BBQ on FM 2429.
The ribs and brisket were delicious! We will definitely be back for more, and the manager, Gary Elliott, was nice enough to take our photo at the end of a hot, but fun, painting trip.
Then we drove the hour back to Houston and I cleaned all my brushes out on the driveway at 11:00 p.m. That’s a lot of brushes, about 30! But so much easier to do immediately. I slept well that night.
I love your plein air pieces and the stories that accompany them! I have to admit that I am a bit jealous of your adventures to paint. This old body doesn’t tolerate Texas heat! You find the best places to set up and when the air is cooler I’m just going to have to get outside. You are an inspiration!!