I learned my color palette from a lineage of artists that traces its roots to Claude Monet. 

It was a thrill to see his actual palette on display at the Musee Monet Marmottan in Paris. (I found out photos were not permitted AFTER I took this one. Luckily my camera was not confiscated, and none of the museum attendants caught me photographing ALL the paintings downstairs.)

I could see the familiar hues of yellow, red and blue --  though their names have changed over time. But what thrilled me was the mixtures they created.  And what surprised me was the paint mixtures on the ages old palette seemed so untouched, uncleaned, and yet so fresh!

When I finish painting at the end of a day, I scrape my palette and save the pure colors and then I scrape up all the bits of color with a palette knife into new mixtures and save them for another day. Though I don't have anything particular in mind for them, I am always amazed at how the same limited number of colors I use can make so many different shades.

In today's batch alone, I came up with 7 different greens! When artists use the same consistent color paints, the finished painting has a color harmony. 

So when people say to me, "I love your color!" it's because it all comes from the same colors.

I wonder if Monet kept his palette scrapings?

A group of painter friends and I went out this week on a rare hot summer day in Mill Valley to paint in the cool, shady Old Mill Park, locally called "Dark Park." 

WOW what a challenge. I brought my painting home and put it on a shelf to dry. Later that evening, I caught a glimpse and was shocked at how awful it looked. So I took out a palette knife and scraped every bit of paint off, leaving just a ghost of the composition. 

The next day, my friend and houseguest Jessica came to town from Montana and was anxious to stretch her car-weary legs on a hike. She started off in the park, and I went back to my same painting location with my easel to try, try again. The shadows of the redwoods and the dappled summer light filtering through on the creek bed were so beautiful. What you don't see in this painting is the steady parade of beautiful toddlers wading in the cool water...that's another challenge for another day!