By Stefan Baumann, “Tides of Asilomar”
2nd Plein Air Convention & Expo 
Last week I attended the second Plein Air Convention in Monterey, California. I was surprised to meet so many Grand View viewers who were also attending the convention. The four day event was beyond my expectations, and every part including the speakers, the workshop subjects, the demos, and 
the plein air events were fantastically organized and offered new insights for the participants to think about. I have never been with so many extraordinary and well known painters from all over the country. It was exciting to have the opportunity to network and create marketing connections with other artists that are mutually supportive, offering the opportunity to promote and support the professionalism of Plein Air painting together.
Bravo! I will be buying my 2014 tickets early so that I am assured a spot in the convention next year, especially since it is rumored that they may have to limit the attendance next year because of all the artists that want to attend.
Painting a moving target 
Journal, April 11, 2013
The winds at Asilomar on the Monterey Peninsula looked like they where subsiding, allowing me a moment to escape the chaos of travel. I headed off to the beach to capture the late afternoon lighting effects dancing through the fog and clouds on the waves of the incoming tide. High tide waters were advancing on the shore, making my plein air sketch of this location a quick one.
With my paint box in hand, I worked my way down to the beach climbing over rocks to a location that I could see clearly from the dunes above the shore. On my way, I stepped around the edges of clear salt water pools containing starfish and sea urchins that displayed all the colors of my palette. 
Red and orange crabs darted in retreat to the deeper waters in reaction to my boots hitting the rough, craggy rocks that fortified their colorful domain. When I reached the beach, I quickly set up my easel and began to cover my canvas with paint, placing in the rocks, the water, and the values of light and shadows.
Painting a moving target like waves in the ocean isn’t easy but there is a rhythm to nature and also to waves, and this pattern of movement can be captured in a brief time as I have done in this painting.
Just as I laid in my final brushstrokes to capture the memories of a glorious afternoon on the Pacific coast, the rising tide covered the colorful rocky landscapes that I had been painting, and I knew it was time to pack up and return to civilization.
Announcing: “The Grand View, Observations of Art and Living” eBook has recently been re-edited and is available to download. The revised book is reformatted and has over 40 new paintings and chapters for your enjoyment. You can download this new edition for free…… yes for free! To have your own copy, go to www.thegrandview.org and click on free tips to find the offer for my free eBook.
I wish to express my heartfelt appreciation to Kris Baxter for her dedication and willingness to creatively edit and reformat this new edition of the Grand View eBook as well as gratefully thanking Gita Hazrati, Darla Freeman, and Hannah West for their generous help with formatting and uploading this project so that it is available for everyone to read.
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