I've spent the past few evenings enjoying mountain biking on the new Salsa in light of the warm sunny weather and dry trails we had to start off the week, so didn't do any painting in the last two days.
But with the arrival of exceedingly heavy rain today which closed all the bike trails, I headed back to the studio tonight to continue with my series of palette knife acrylic paintings, creating another smallish work. Like the previous two, this one was created alla prima using only palette knives for paint application. I still need to come up with a name for this series, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
In addition to the series, just to mix things up a bit, I also decided to paint a tree that had caught my eye while we were biking on the greenway the other day. As an experiment, I did this one using a very limited watercolor palette and India ink on Bristol paper.
And in other news...with the heavy downpour of rain continuing tonight, we noticed a little bit of water dripping onto the coffee table - one of our skylights has apparently sprung a small leak. Thankfully, the leaking skylight is not in my studio, but our weekend plans are pretty obvious now as we have to get that problem addressed and taken care of immediately before it expands into a major - and expensive - repair. Hopefully the rain will end soon and we can get that fixed pronto.
I've had a chance to put a few more rides in on the new bike and I have to say, it's become quite clear to me that the Spearfish is most definitely a keeper. The more I ride it, the more I like it. A big part of that is likely because the two areas where the Spearfish really excels just happen to be the two areas which have always been my greatest weaknesses - climbing and cornering. But in addition, the fact that it is beautiful, fun and easy to ride in general don't hurt! Trail sections that used to be the ones I dreaded the most - uphill switchbacks - are now, dare I say it? Actually becoming Fun!
How fortuitous that as I'm bonding more and more with the Spearfish, a little surprise package from my wonderful husband arrived at the house this afternoon just in time for today's ride, containing a very special gift to personalize my bike:
In light of Spring's arrival, with all the new beginnings that symbolizes, I've decided to start a new series of paintings representing the beauty I see in nature. I'm doing these acrylics on canvas in a rather new style for me, using palette knives for paint application. So far, I've completed two smallish works, and they will be finished out in beautiful wooden frames Steve is handmaking.
As of yet, I haven 't decided what to call this new series of paintings, but hopefully as I get more done and the theme emerges more clearly, a series name will come to me - in the meantime, any suggestions?
Getting inspired by a conversation with an outstanding local artist, I've also started working on a big (for me) painting in the 4-foot long size realm. So far, I've just prepped the canvas with a mixture of Gesso, soft pastel dust and sand, and am waiting for that to dry so I can start adding color - hopefully next weekend.
On My Easel - Day One: Gesso and sand prep
Thanks for the inspiration and encouragement to take on this big project, Gayle!
On a related note, at the urging of my fellow artists, I've decided to, as Dreama puts it, put on my "big girl panties" and sign up to be part of the Wake Forest Guild of Artists Studio Tour this coming September. So I'm looking forward to a fun and busy summer, filled with painting, bicycling and spending time with friends and my little family. Hope your spring and summer are shaping up to be fabulous as well!
As a disclaimer, let me first say I'm a middle aged woman whose racing days are long over and I just mountain bike predominately for fun now. I also know very little about bicycle frame geometry or the math and technical specifics of suspension design or anything. So my "review" may not be worth much to a hardcore rider. But, as the old quote goes, "I know what I like". And the 2014 Salsa Spearfish? So far, I like - I REALLY like, and it's not just the svelte curves or even the smokingly awesome green anodized color, although those both earn huge bonus points with me for sure.
2014 Salsa Spearfish
But the Spearfish is more than just a pretty face. It's also, even on just the handful of our rides together at this point, proving to be quite the workhorse. And with a rider like me, that is really saying something! I tend to ride fairly "timid", so rely heavily on my bike to essentially be all things - quick yet confidence inspiring, stable without feeling sluggish at both high and low speeds, solid at both climbing and descending, nimble in the turns but not twitchy. It's a tall order, and I'm thrilled to say that so far the Spearfish has not let me down.
Can't. Stop. Smiling.
The initial very brief ride was mostly spent finding the bike's "center" as it has geometry that is apparently not like anything I've ever ridden before - from what I understand: a reasonably slack head angle, short head tube, short chainstays, and Dave Weagle Split Pivot™ rear suspension technology. Once I found the Spearfish's center though, wow. Switchback climbs that previously had been the bane of my rides were suddenly no issue. All I had to do was pedal and the bike just glided right up and around. Which brings me to cornering - another of my extreme weaknesses. I forgot more than once that this bike is a 29er (except for the ease with which it crosses logs and rock gardens) due to how easily it handles in the turns. Definitely no tractor-trailer steering here. But despite its quick responsiveness in the turns, the 'fish never felt twitchy or nervous, and I have not experienced any oversteering with it, even in very tight downhill corners.
I found this bike to be point-and-shoot-stable and solid whether descending or climbing, and the short travel (3 inches I believe) of the rear shock was surprisingly comfortable over roots, rocks and anything else the trail could throw at it.
Roots? What roots?
The Spearfish Rocks
Even in my less-than-fit current state, I had no difficulty with any climbs. All I had to do was turn the pedals over, and the bike scooted right up with less effort than I can recall on any bike in recent memory. Standing to climb induced no pedal bob that I could discern, and going from zero to "go", there was immediate response with no sluggish start like I expected on a 29er. On descents, the rear suspension was a dream, remaining active even when braking, with no brake jack at all.
Despite being outfitted very modestly with average midrange parts (I bought the frame only), my Spearfish comes in at a respectable 26 pounds, but somehow it rides much lighter than that, and forward motion feels almost effortless on it. Salsa is marketing the Spearfish as their ultra-endurance bike, and speaking as a former 24-hour solo racer myself, I truly believe they've nailed it. I know I could certainly be happy spending hours, if not days, in the saddle on this bike - yes, it rides and handles just that well.
I'll write more on my impressions of the Spearfish later as I get more miles in on it, but right now I think it's time to go for a ride...
Just like last week, again this weekend upon returning home from plein aire painting at Joyner Park, I found inspiration in some of our photos taken while there.
Reference Photo
So I pulled out the oil pastels and tried painting this scene. I used a turpenoid wash on the underpainting this time, which unfortunately wanted to buckle the Strathmore pastel paper a tad, but I just consider it all part of the experimenting and learning process.
My charming new friend, Anne, creating a beautiful oil painting
It was simply a perfect evening to be outdoors - the joy of spending
quality time with my sweetheart of a husband in stunning spring weather
in the park, visiting with a variety of friendly people interested in
talking about art, listening to talented musicians, and having the
opportunity to paint in the company of - and learn a great deal from - a delightful and
incredibly talented artist.
Up until this past week, I've tended to paint primarily from my imagination, so painting en plein aire (in the outdoors) is a whole new experience for me. I'm finding that I'm continuing to paint what I imagine rather than what I actually see, and I still tend to use the landscape before me only as a vague reference. But hopefully with time and more practice painting outside this summer, I'll get the hang of painting what is actually there and work on learning to let Mother Nature, rather than pure imagination, be my primary guide when working en plein aire.
