"Etty Bay"

"Etty Bay", Acrylic on canvas panel, 8" x 10", Available

Hi again! Here's the realistic version of Etty Bay, painted in plein air (outside) while I was there in July. Click here for the abstract version, "Red Etty". The little boy playing in the creek is my older son Skyler. My husband, my two young sons, and I spent a few wonderful days at Etty Bay. The beach was lined with palm trees, and the shade of the trees made a perfect spot for observing and painting.

The Australians are a very friendly bunch, and many approached me to see what I was up to with my paints and canvas. It was a perfect opportunity to meet the locals. It was great fun to befriend a precocious 8-year old boy named Morgan who was VERY interested in painting, and gave me some amazingly insightful critiques. Many many thanks to Morgan and all of you who stopped by to say hello!

I love to paint in oils, but you may have noticed that my paintings from Australia were done with acrylics. Oils are my fave, but they dry so very slowly. Too slow for a family on the move in Australia. So I decided to give acrylics a try. I used very slow drying acrylics called Atelier Interactive Artists Acrylics; they behave closer to oils than any other acrylics I've used. I also mixed Atelier Thick Slow Medium with the paints, which increased the drying time even more. I was very pleased with the Atelier Interactive product. And, I'm glad to be back home and using my oils again!