Cassandra Barney

"I kind of want to steal that," I said to the lady standing next to me. She didn't know me and clutched her bag a little closer to her side. The thing is... I meant it. I wanted to take that painting and keep it. I don't remember ever in my life wanting to steal a painting before.
I'm not big on plein air paintings generally but I saw this one and thought...it's not just a landscape, that's an artwork. Sigh...

It was painted by Bruce Smith and I kind of want to steal him too. Bruce was my favorite teacher at BYU. I still recall things that he taught me; some about drawing and painting and some about what I have to offer. I would easily say that he was the biggest influence on me in my college years. He is retired now and doing more painting.

Em and I are both pretty glad that the festival is over. Jun 21 truly was the longest day of the year. It's good to be challenged and it's good to reconnect with artist friends. It's hard to paint under pressure, out in wild. Our mantra for the weekend was something Emily said, "paint smarter, not harder." Our goal was to try to incorporate what we actually do (figurative/narrative painting) with what we don't do (plein air painting).
Now I'm excited to get back to my studio with all of my stuff and my cushy swivel chair and do what I do.