A visit to Cedar Pocket

This last weekend I was fortunate enough to explore a new (for me) part of Queensland. About two hours north of Brisbane, inland from Noosa near Pomona is the picturesque Cedar Pocket. One of my Friday artists invited some of us to join her for the weekend. Their weekender home is an old Queenslander relocated from its original home in Mitchelton. These old houses are lifted intact off their stumps, loaded on to a low bed truck and moved to a new location.

A spacious deck has been added to the front and side of the house. The view from here is breathtaking - so beautiful that one doesn't need to move away - the inspiration you need is right there before your eyes.

I woke early on Saturday morning and was rewarded with a magnificent sunrise.

We decided to go down towards Cedar Pocket Dam which was visible from the deck to find somewhere to sketch. As we approached the dam we saw another Queenslander near the water. We crossed the bridge and from the other side we had a wonderful view of the dam and the lovely house nestled in the trees.

I had packed my Julian sketching easel which I have had for years but haven't used that much. Chief reason being that it's really heavy even without anything packed inside! I plan to do much more plein air painting so I'll have to find something more practical. This set up is fine if I paint right next to the car but that doesn't work more often than not.

If anyone has a good plein air set up to recommend I love you to let me know. 

I'd like the easel to be able to accommodate a reasonably sized canvas/panel with a tray to hold my bits and pieces. I think I would get frustrated after a while if I had to work on very small canvases.

Here's a progress shot with the beautiful view. 

Once back home I added some details to the veranda of the house and a few trees but the rest is pretty much as it was on the day. 

Cedar Pocket Queenslander oil on linen 16" x 20" © 2014 Carol Lee Beckx

Picking a winner!

I nominated a winner! I am absolutely delighted that my nomination for Getting out of the Studio Making a Mark Awards is the winner.

I nominated Haidee-Jo Summers artist -ma vie en Couleurs because I was so impressed with her plein air paintings in all kinds of weather. Her paintings are fresh, vibrant and of a very high standard. I first came across her work at the time of the Diamond Jubilee from a link on Making a Mark. She was one of a number of artists selected to paint the 60^th Jubilee River Pageant. She persevered when others were forced to abandon wet paintings.

Please go to the link here to read more about this award and do check Haidee-Jo’s blog posts about her very busy and successful painting year.

I have tremendous admiration for plein air painters. It’s something that was, unfortunately, not feasible in South Africa due to security concerns but certainly possible now that I am living in Australia. Reading Haidee-Jo’s posts has encouraged me to make the effort to get out of the studio with my easel and paints in 2013.

Congratulations Haidee-Jo on this well-deserved award!