Windy Stratocumulus Morning

by Phil Chadwick

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Dimensions

10.000 x 8.000 x 0.250 inches

Title

Windy Stratocumulus Morning

Artist

Phil Chadwick

Medium

Painting - Oil On Canvas

Description

I had some time to paint. A 3 by 4 foot canvas was on the Singleton Studio easel but it was far too wet to touch with the brush so I headed outside with my field easel.

It was a very windy morning and I had to bungy cord my field easel to a heavy turtle guard to prevent it from blowing over. The wind was gusting to about 25 knots. There was only a half-hour window of painting time before a rain squall would arrive. I used every minute of it. Weather is very much in control of the plein air experience. Being authentic and experiencing the elements someone finds their way into the brush strokes. There was no time to dwell on those rapid-fire decisions. Just paint.

According to the weather observation at Kingston Airport, the stratocumulus clouds were based between 2700 and 3 thousand feet above ground level. The convective tops of the stratocumulus were fron-lit by the rising sun on my back. Gravity waves punctuated the low clouds on the western horizon. The strong and turbulent winds were shaking the top of the nocturnal planetary boundary layer like a blanket on a clothes line. Gravity waves of altocumulus revealed that the wind veered significantly with height and told of warm air advection with the approaching weather system. The altocumulus was apparently near 66 hundred feet above ground level. It should be snowing in early January but a rain storm was on the way (as foretold and mentioned in afternoon in #2835 "Monday Afternoon January Shadows at Long Reach".)

The observations from the Kingston Airport are included below for those who might be interested. I much preferred the SA code when I was operational in the Atmospheric Environment Service. The hourly code, or SA, had been used in North America for over 50 years. The SA code was readable. The METAR was used for aviation weather in the rest of the world. Canada made a commitment to produce and distribute METAR reports internationally for 31 sites commencing July 31, 1993. Further to this, Canada, the United States, and Mexico have agreed to replace the SA with METAR for aviation within North America beginning in 1996.

METAR CYGK 101600Z 23020G27KT 15SM -SHRA FEW015 BKN030 BKN066 05/00 A2904 RMK CF1SC5AC2 CF TR CVCTV CLD EMBD SLP838=
METAR CYGK 101500Z 23019G31KT 15SM SCT025 BKN060 05/01 A2903 RMK SC3SC4 SLP835=
METAR CYGK 101400Z 22015G21KT 15SM BKN027 BKN052 05/02 A2901 RMK SC5SC1 SLP829=

The sky had clouded in before I was finished. The cloud was soon followed by the cold rain that I had anticipated. The line of showers on radar arrived at Singleton near 11:30 am. I was done. That is how fast the weather can change.

The rest of the day was overcast with showers. I resisted to urge to over-work the oils and to touch the canvas panel again. Any further brushwork does not make the art better and often, quite the opposite.

Back in the Singleton Studio with the rain pelting the windows, I only scratched my signature and dotted the "eye" with a red dot. I had been signing my name on my artwork in the wet paint in this manner for many years. A toothpick or a finishing nail are my preferred tools and one can only sign in the wet paint for a short time before the oils set up.

A pair of otters were feeding from the ice edge in front and were not alarmed by my presence. The bald eagles often swoop in and try to snatch bits of fish from the otters but typically must be satisfied with the scraps left on the ice edge. The otters can be messy eaters and that suits the eagle just fine. The smaller birds even continued to feed under the red cedar tree just behind me. We scatter seeds under that nature-friendly tree every morning. Whenever a hawk should appear, the dozens of birds feeding on the ground quickly vanish into the thick branches of the cedar.

My Brother Jim gave me minus 40 degree Celsius Socks for Christmas. He had given me equally warm rubber boots previously. As a result, my feet did not feel the cold standing in the snow. I should be a happy, plein air painter for many winters to come.

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January 18th, 2024

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