White Oak, National Arboretum
White Oak, National Arboretum10×8″Oil on Panel(c) Kelly Medford, 2011I’ve been insanely inspired to paint fall and I hope it shows. This week I’ve made several trips to Washington D.C.’s National Arboretum and I just can’t seem to get enough. This white oak was such a majestic beauty standing on a hillside and had I had a larger canvas I would have painted the whole rainbow of these standing together along the woods edge.This day I was particularly lucky, as one of the few staff members and only arborist stopped to watch me paint. He was excited that someone had stopped to paint and was particularly proud because I happened to choose the area that he was responsible for and where he had spent the last year thinning out an exotic invasive Elm. As we talked he told me about the budget cuts at the arboretum allowing them to only maintain 8 full-time staff to keep the grounds, the grounds being approximately 450 acres! I thanked him for their work, they do an amazing job of keeping up the place, it is absolutely gorgeous with a huge variety of gardens, trails and spaces.I don’t think I’d ever even been here, or maybe when I was little, but have no recollection of it. As I was painting I saw something orange moving around and thought it was some fall oak leaves blowing around. But then I heard a noise. I stopped to look a little closer and sure enough there were 4 foxes running through the clearning and then they dissappeared into the woods. I was so awed that I just stood there, hoping they would come back so I could see them again, they were beautiful. I’d never seen a fox before, much less 4 running together. What a marvelous day.It’s days like these that I love my job, my exsistence and know I’m doing what I love, hoping to provide something in return for those who enjoy my work. I’m not sure how I got so lucky, but am I grateful. Having the opportunity to spend my days outside painting is a dream come true, I hope it lasts indefinitely!If you enjoy this painting, you can bid on it here at my Daily Paintworks auction site.