"Red Etty"

"Red Etty", 8" x 10", Acrylic on canvas, Available

G'day mates! Here's the first of three plein air paintings that I'll post from my trip to Australia. ('Plein air' simply means painted outside.) It's called "Red Etty" as it was painted on a gorgeous beach called Etty Bay on the Queensland coast.

My family and I stayed at Etty Bay for a few days to visit with our Australian friends, Susan and Grant. Susan was celebrating her 50th birthday. In fine style, as it turns out, with over 50 friends, all ages and from all walks of life, a live band, an outdoor dance floor, awesome Asian foods, lots of liquid refreshment, and to top it all off, a super-yummy chocolate cake.

In the US, many people who turn 50 just try to forget the whole thing and hope nobody notices. In Australia, they throw big parties for themselves. Woohoo! Looks like we have lots to learn from the Australians. Thanks for sharing your celebration with us, Susan and Grant!!

My other plein air paintings from Australia were also painted on a beach, but they are realistic (vs abstract, like this one). After painting many beach scenes - with sand (tan), the water (blue and green), sky (blue) and trees (green and yellow) - I was missing my red paints!

Sitting on the beach in the shade of some palm trees, while my children played in the waves, I squeezed out a big blob of red paint, and a little bit each of the other colors, took out an 8" x 10" canvas panel, and set to work. The result is "Red Etty". Although the painting looks nothing like Etty Bay, it will always bring back strong memories of our awesome time there.