Some days the vision and the paints just don't come together. It's a great scene in my mind, in my eye, but I can't translate it to canvas. Artist-block!

I had been anxiously awaiting the jacaranda season where the roads upcountry on Haleakala are lined with purple blossoms. The vision was to capture a plein air moment in spring with the elusive purple color the key feature. I pulled up along side a few other painters from the Plein Air Painters of Maui along the mountain road and took a spot that looked into a ravine with picturesque rolling hills and Jacaranda. One painter was perched on her truck bed with easel set up high to look into the scene. A bright Jacaranda was next to her. (The street sign should have also had a picture of a painter on it- we were taking up some space!) My vantage point gave me this view below.

The sun was NOT cooperating, the colors were not popping and the drizzle was set to start any minute.

I completed a quick sketch to lay out the composition, choose my paints and started mixing the warm and cool versions of the main colors to give the scene depth. After a few hours the sun started to shine and more blue sky appeared so I had some hope of the color to come!. The painting day was coming to a close so I took the work to the studio to finish it and my trusted husband asked why I chose that scene to paint. It lacked any redeeming qualities I guess and I WAS struggling. So- off came the paint. I scraped the bottom two thirds off the canvas and made a pile of mud pie paint to use later.

The next day I decided to paint the scene the way my mind's eye saw it- in a glimmer of sun-fleeting fast. Sometimes you just have to scrape them and start again, and be brave enough to do it. Now its a keeper!

Beautiful Jacaranda flowers cover the #landscapes in #Hawaii. You can enjoy this painting and my other art of Hawaii on my website at: https://www.dianeappler.com/