75.Original Plein Air Watercolor Painting, “Plein Air, Lakeside Middle School, Afternoon, 4.26-30.24”, watercolor, 30 x 42”, 2024

Location: Seattle, WA

Event: Lakeside Magazine

This painting was made over several days of work at the Lakeside School’s Middle School athletic field, watching PE class play softball and other games. I had many students and faculty come look over my shoulder as I worked - for me the highlight of the experience. This piece and the process of making it foreshadowed the work I’d do during Art Tour 2024, where I’d be constantly interacting with onlookers, painting their cities and people. This painting was either the last work or the second-to-last work I’d make plein air in Seattle before heading to Flagstaff Arizona for ArtX Flagstaff, the first event of Art Tour 2024. As a Lakeside alum (and Middle School alum!) myself, this piece was meaningful to make, getting to re-visit (literally) the very same field where I tried my hand at recess and PE games. In the figure in the center of the picture, although begun as an unposed portrait of a faculty member, there is something of myself, an adult looking at kids at play from a distance of space and time.