During a visit to a friend of my wife’s at the historic Neoclassical home of Ogletree Estates in Cornelia, Georgia, my son Kevin and I set up for a plein air session while Debra enjoyed time with her friend. The summer day was hot, with the sun beating down intensely, so after about two hours we wrapped up our painting.
I chose the field behind the old house as my subject—a wide expanse filled with the invasive thistle, its purple blooms standing out vividly against the dry golden grasses. I had to choose my setup spot very carefully; thistle is a nasty plant with hairy stems and sharp, lobed leaves that can really sting if they brush against skin.
The field was bordered by mature oaks, with a small stand of three or four trees rising in the center. If it weren’t for the thistle making the ground so treacherous, I would have walked farther back to position myself closer to those central trees and turned 180 degrees to paint the historic house itself, using the thistle as a colorful foreground element.
Instead, I embraced the wild beauty right in front of me: the scattered purple thistle flowers dancing across the sunlit meadow, the deep green foliage of the surrounding oaks providing contrast, and the broad sky with its soft clouds adding movement and light. The result is this lively 16″ × 12″ acrylic on wood panel, started plein air and finalized in the studio—capturing the heat, the color, and the unexpected charm of a simple field.