Painting en plein air at the Nim's Mansion in Bee Tree Park Oakville, MO

SUMMARY OF PLACE:: It was mid-morning, and a snowstorm was bearing down on the landscape before me. The photo of the scene does not nearly describe the vigor of the falling precipitation. The snow was entirely unexpected, but was quite welcomed by my fellow painters and me. My vantage point was looking northeast, slightly south and west of the large mansion inside the park. The "Nims Mansion" is uninhabited presently, but was originally the estate of a wealthy riverboat captain. The home sits at the top edge of the river bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. The wind was blowing strong. To keep the snow from spoiling my watercolor painting, I clung to the side of the tree opposite the wind. The temperature was less than ideal for watercolor painting as each new watercolor passage froze on my palette.
INSPIRATION:: What first caught my attention was the abundance of warm color in the scene, even though I was standing in a cold (temperature) snowstorm. The sky was a warm gray-brown, and therefore so was the landscape. Likewise, the stonework of the large mansion in view brought abundant warm color. Additionally, the value contrast of the white snow backdropped by the dark-stoned mansion was interesting.