State Fair time!

In this neck of the woods, a sure sign that summer is nearly over is the opening of the Minnesota State Fair. For many of us, this 10-day fair always marks the line between summer and fall. And believe it or not several dear children we know (our grandkids) are already back to school! The summer seems to have whooshed by. But I’m looking forward to my favorite time of the year – the days of cooler temps, low humidity and the beautiful changing of colors on the trees.

The big maple tree that we lost in a storm earlier this month will soon be replaced by a newer variety of maple – we picked up two Autumn Blaze maples at the local greenhouse but will wait for cooler temps before planting them in the front yard. 

This week’s painting reminds me of the coming of fall. Morning Mist, 7” x 9” painting on 300 lb. watercolor paper, captures a remote hideaway and the morning fog rising off the valley and lake.

Connemara Pony

The Connemara Pony is a native pony breed of Ireland's west coast – a land of endless rocks, moors and bogs. Over the centuries in this rugged environment, the Connemara pony has developed its prized qualities of sure-footedness, hardiness, agility and extraordinary jumping ability. An historic breed - ranging in colors from white through soft brown - the Connemara's exceptional characteristics also include calm temperament, staying power, and intelligence.

Paul captured this scene in the heart of the Connemara region - at sunset on Inishnee, an island off the coast of Roundstone, County Galway, Ireland. This week’s painting, Connemara Pony, 10” x 15” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, features one of these wonderful horses calmly posing in a hilly field right along the road. 

August Sky

My experience at the plein air event in Port Wing, earlier this month, was truly inspiring. Not only was it a great time of meeting a new group of talented artists, it really stretched my abilities – taught me the importance of packing well, using the proper tools to measure value and hue, putting the paint quickly on the paper, and knowing when to stop – preferably before the painting before you became a mess of gray!! This week’s painting, August Sky, is 8” x 10” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, was painted shortly after returning from the event and is one of the scenes taken by Paul of a storm coming across a field of newly baled hay. The contrast of the darkening skies with the yellow of the mustard and the deep greens of the woods made this a joy to paint.

Sorrel Horses

I’ve been wanting to try painting horses and especially liked the image of these two horses coming across a field. The image is from a photograph taken by Paul on one of our trips to Europe, and these two lovely horses seemed perfect for my first attempt. I’m attempting to paint in a more impressionistic (looser!) style, and this was a wonderful learning experience in creating light and shadows – not only in painting the background, but also in working to capture the delicacy of the horse’s frame balanced with their tremendously powerful muscle structure. This week’s painting, Sorrel Buddies, is 10” x 15” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, and reminds me of a sunny afternoon and the beautiful scenery in southern Belgium.

Yorkshire

One of my all-time favorite authors is James Herriot, DVM. In fact, I’ve got a collection of his hardcover books in my library and take the online versions with me on my Kindle! Through his books, he shared glimpses of his life as a country vet traipsing around the rolling hills and moors of Yorkshire County, England – from lambing times in freezing blizzards to walking his beloved dogs on warm, emerald-colored days. A masterful storyteller, he wove wonderful stories both of life with his family and of his many encounters with the people and their farm animals and pets.  It’s heartwarming reading!

This week’s painting, Heatherland, 10” x 15” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, reminds me of those wind-swept landscapes with sheep on the highlands and the heather in bloom.

2018 Port Wing Plein Air

We just returned late last night from the 9th Annual Port Wing Plein Air event. What an amazing four-day adventure! We drove up on Wednesday afternoon, took a 5-mile side trip to explore the incredible Oulu Glass Works at the Finnish village of Oulu, WI, and then checked into our itty-bitty cabin in the village campground. At 8 a.m. on Thursday morning, we met our artist friends, Doug Berg and Joyce Staley, and their friend, Kathy, at the orientation session – and we were off!! In addition to the 40 participating artists, this is truly a community-wide event. Several free-standing bright yellow easels with painting sets were located at key sites in the area and people of all ages were encouraged to just pick up a brush and paint! It started as a gray sky morning with a soft breeze, and I so enjoyed painting Fay Road Farm, 8” x 10” with the wonderful hay bales in the field. 

The sun came out in the afternoon, and I finished painting the White Birch Barn, 8”x 10” by about 6 p.m. on Thursday.  Paul is such a great partner in these endeavors – he runs back for forgotten items, patiently sits in his chair and reads, and monitors traffic while I’m painting – often perched on the side of a gravel road! That evening, we attended the Artists and Friends reception at the home of John Berton, event organizer.

It was a beautiful Friday morning, and I headed to the harbor to paint the Fish House-Marina, 8.5”x11” with the sounds of Lake Superior waves splashing behind us. It was a magical day and the time seemed to whoosh by. By the time I packed up my supplies at 5 p.m., the skies had turned gray and it was starting to drizzle. 

On Saturday, it was a rush to get the paintings framed and ready for judging in the early afternoon, followed by the Open House Art Show at the historic Town Hall. We missed the Sunday Art event because we got a call from neighbors that one of the beautiful big Red Maples in the front yard had fallen down in a storm on Saturday night. We headed home early to check on the damage, and amazingly, it had fallen in an open spot of the yard and not even damaged the nearby bluebird house. A hearty shout out of thanks to all who worked hard to make the Port Wing Plein Air a success! We are already planning to attend next year’s event.