ÿþ<html> <head> <title>mlcorreia.com -Gallery of Mary Lou Correia</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"><link rel="STYLESHEET" type="text/css" href="STYLE.CSS"> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFCC" text="#000000" leftmargin="0" topmargin="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" background="media/bg.gif" link="#666666" vlink="#666666" alink="#660066"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <tr> <td align="left" valign="middle"><img src="media/spacer.gif" width="10" height="5"><br> <table width="650" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"> <tr> <td width="130">&nbsp;</td> <td><img src="media/title.gif" width="261" height="21"></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <tr> <td align="center" valign="middle"><img src="media/spacer.gif" width="10" height="2"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="650"> <tr align="left" valign="top"> <td width="2" ><img src="media/spacer.gif" width="2" height="10"></td> <td width="5">&nbsp;</td> <td width="2"><img src="media/spacer.gif" width="2" height="10"></td> <td align="left" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <table width="650" border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="5" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top" width="123"><div align="left"> <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><a href="index.html">Home<br></a> <a href="about_marylou.html">About Me</a><br><br> <a href="gallery.html">Gallery</a><br> <a href="new_works.html">* New Works</a><br> <a href="pastels.html">* Pastels</a><br> <a href="winecountry.html">* Wine Country</a><br> <a href="landscapes.html">* Landscapes</a><br> <a href="cityscapes.html">* Cityscapes</a><br> <a href="seascapes.html">* Seascapes</a><br> <a href="people.html">* People</a><br> <a href="giclee.html">* Giclees</a><br><br> <a href="current_shows.html">Current Shows</a><br> <a href="galleries.html">Galleries</a><br> <a href="mailto:marylou@mlcorreia.com">Contact</a><br> <a href="links.html">Links </a></p> </div> </td> <td width="501" align="left" valign="top"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b><font color="#660066">California Plein Air Colorist</font></b><br> </font> <hr size="1" width="515"> <p><img src="media/MtDiabloBriones_homepage.jpg" width="500" height="329"><br> <i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#666666">Mt Diablo, Briones Crest Trail,24x36 featured painting in St. Mary s College Gallery Sacred Mountain Exhibition 2009</font></i></p> <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#666666">I have painted Mt. Diablo only once a year so that each time I find a fresh and unique approach, painting mostly on site from the northern view, which is most familiar to me. Painting in the open air in secluded places, I have seen the resident Golden Eagles soaring and been in the feeding path of coyotes, which barely notice me. A single plein air painter becomes an accepted part of the scenery.<br><br> My interest has always been to preserve the landscape and particularly the mountain that looms majestically over all of Contra Costa. It is challenging to find a view of the mountain with an inviting, uncluttered foreground.<br><br> My husband John hiked up the Briones Crest Trail early in January finding a spectacular pristine view. I returned to the Briones trail with him later that week packing my pastels, portable easel and digital camera. I sketched several views of the distant mountain in the late afternoon, attracted to the unusual lagoon to the left of the hiking paths cut into dry grasses. Mid-day, the distance and haze gave a ghostly effect, but as the afternoon wore on the crevices defined. It felt to me like an Edgar Payne painting. I built the shapes trying to maintain subtlety. The vast melodic rolling foreground; intersecting trails; sparse oak trees; jingling bells of the goats herding close by; and only a hint of suburbia s flickering lights continued to inspire me as the sun sunk.<br><br> I am fortunate living in California. I can paint the compelling landscape en plein air 12 months out of the year. I hope you find joy and discovery in my images. <br> </font></p><br> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td width="2"><img src="media/spacer.gif" width="2" height="10"></td> <td width="5">&nbsp;</td> </tr> </table> <br> <table width="650" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="130">&nbsp;</td> <td><img src="media/footer.gif" width="408" height="29" border="0" usemap="#Map"></td> </tr> </table> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <tr> <td align="center" valign="middle"><img src="media/spacer.gif" width="10" height="2"></td> </tr> </table> <map name="Map"> <area shape="rect" coords="161,0,418,13" href="mailto:marylou@mlcorreia.com"> </map> </body> </html>