There’s a type of crabgrass here that comes into its full glory in September: Fall Witch Grass (digitarja cognata, for you scientific types). What I love about it is that it turns a wonderful purple-pink. It’s all over the place and I wanted to use it in a painting with another fall favorite: goldenrod.
The only decent way to try to do it justice was to setup and paint on-site (en plein air). I have a variety of plein air easels, but none would hold a 30×24″ canvas. The studio easels would hold that size canvas, but they weigh a ton! What to do, what to do? I got out a super light-weight folding chair (bought about 2003), a couple shovels to keep the canvas steady and some twist-ties. Here’s a shot of the backside:
And here’s a view of the front. Palette rested on the seat, turps can on the ground — and my wonderful, loyal cat, Picasso, protected me from any attack mice in the vicinity.
And — I wore my “Insectshield” tick pants. Ya never know……
Margie Guyot Art 