Christmas and back to the river!

We are into that special time of the year – preparing our hearts to celebrate Christmas. And what fun we are having this year! In this last week before Christmas, we’ve already attended two pre-school concerts – the first with our four-year-old Brecken and his classmates (with over 100 little people on bleachers!) singing wonderful songs about “finding the baby Jesus” in Chanhassen; the second with our three-year-old Mia singing her heart out (and jumping up and down and waving wildly) at her program in New Hope! Tomorrow we’ll be at Rivertree School celebrating the Christmas story with three grandsons, Haddon, Schaeffer and Casper at their program. And on Sunday, we’ll be in Mendota Heights hearing the Christmas message again with the Kinsley clan of Kollette, Anabelle, Grace and Andrew. We feel tremendously blessed to be able to share these special times with family.

This week’s painting brings us back to the river and the sweet times of much warmer days. One Last Paddle, 10” x 13” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, reminds us of a crisp autumn day exploring the backcountry. 

Bluewater Paddle

On snowy days in December what’s better than thinking good thoughts about summer? And there’s almost nothing finer than spending a warm summer day exploring the back channels of a river from the vantage point of a canoe. This week’s painting, Bluewater Paddle, “10” x 10” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, captures the serenity of an afternoon paddle on a quiet back channel of the river.

On the Water

Sometimes it takes a while for me to move from liking a photographic image to transitioning it into the actual process and commitment of painting. Two years ago, we spent a wonderful couple of days exploring Victoria, British Columbia. The weather was perfect and the scenery spectacular. On the first day, we visited the Buchart Gardens, a 54-acre estate composed of 10 incredibly beautiful gardens; and the second day, we took a Pickle water taxi, the designated mode of transport across the Gorge Waterway, to the busy Victoria Harbor and the scenic floating villages. This is a photo that Paul took as we walked along the wide decks between the lovely shoppes and a neighborhood of floating houses.

This week’s painting, Harbor Life, 10” x 13” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, features a harbor waterway flanked on both sides by a fleet of brightly colored houseboats.

Snowy Days

Our Plan A was to host a large family gathering at our house this weekend. However, the weather has proved otherwise and now we are totally in Plan B.  Our son, Jack, flew in from Seattle for the Thanksgiving weekend, but so far he’s remain stormed in with his brother’s family in Farmington, MN. We are thankful that they are all safe, but we’re realizing now that we may miss his whole visit to Minnesota and Wisconsin! And our daughter and her family were planning to come to Big Blake Lake today, but the ongoing snowstorms have shut down roads and made travel in our area hazardous. We are missing them all but our plans now include days filled with shoveling snow, enjoying the fireplace, watching Hallmark movies, finishing our Christmas decorating, and painting snowy landscapes!

This week’s painting, Cedar Fence Farm, 9” x 11” on 300 watercolor paper, captures a classic farmstead on a snowy, winter  afternoon. 

North Shore Birch

One of my favorite sights is seeing beautiful Birch trees mingled with Pine trees in a wooded area. The light bark (I just learned about a year ago that for artists, Birch trees aren’t really white) stands in wonderful contrast to the deep green of surrounding Fir trees. We happen to have a couple of great Birch stands near our house and after the storm came through this summer, we realized it was the birch trees that survived. S0 to replace lost trees, we planted three more Birch trees in our yard before the end of the season.

This Fall, one of my favorite North Shore photographers, Jan Swart, took a series of Birch trees photos in the area around Finland, Minnesota, and she granted me permission to paint one of her pictures. This week’s painting, Birch Bark, 11” x 15” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, captures the light shining on a Birch tree on a blue-sky fall day in the Northwoods.

See more art on my website at www.wildriverarts.com

Watching Clouds

I’m registered to take a series of painting classes from Paul Oman, a nationally recognized artist, who lives near Amery, WI! The classes are scheduled for three Thursdays in January and February at artZ Gallery in Amery, and I’m so looking forward to learning and applying new techniques to my watercolor paintings. You can register on the Events page at artZ Gallery  or on Paul’s website at Paul Oman Fine Art 

One of Paul’s classes will be on painting dramatic, emotional skies, so I decided to begin practicing and focus on the elusive nature of clouds and skies. This week’s painting, Cloud Study No. 1, 9” x 9” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, features a common scene on the Irish countryside – a rain cloud forming over a rural cottage.

Seascape

One of my Mom’s favorite songs is “Galway Bay.” Made famous by the late crooner, Bing Crosby, and featured in one of my favorite movies, “The Quiet Man,” the first verse goes like this:

If you ever go across the sea to Ireland
Then maybe at the closing of your day
You will sit and watch the moonrise over Claddagh
And see the sun go down on Galway Bay.

This week’s painting celebrates the end of a beautiful day on the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Ireland. “Seascape,” an 11” x 15” watercolor painting, captures the setting sun on a rocky shoreline along Galway Bay.

Little Brown Church

A favorite memory growing up was hearing the story of my parent’s wedding. My mom, at almost 19, and Dad, barely 20, gathered on a blizzardy November day with their parents and two friends as witnesses at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. The only two photos I can recall of this occasion are a slightly grainy photo picturing the two of them standing side by side at the front of the church and the other showing them at a family reception at my grandparent’s farmhouse. Yet the bond held and before Dad died in 2014, they celebrated 62 years of marriage. The marriage survived and thrived in moves from the Iowa cornfields to army training at Camp Roberts, California, to the campus of Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, as students on the GI bill, to work and life in St. Paul, Stillwater and Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota.

This week’s painting is a tribute to my folks, Dale and Jan Stull, and their sweet Little Brown Church, 8” x 11” on 300 lb. watercolor paper. The church became well-known through the song “The Church in the Wildwood” written by Dr. William S. Pitts in 1857. Today this special place is still known as “the little brown church in the vale.”

Hallmark season and Jam!

Yup – we’ve fallen under the spell and into the annual tradition of tuning into the plethora of holiday movies on the, not one, but TWO, Hallmark Channels that we get at our house. The plots are fairly similar, but the characters and stories make each one a little different. Yesterday, after a rainy day of watching several in a row, my husband declared we should just put up the Christmas tree! Haha! No, I’m savoring these last days of a colorful Fall. I’ve cleaned up the gardens but left most of the perennial flowers still standing – they provide good food and shelter for birds and critters over the winter months.

This week’s painting takes me to one of our favorite places. With all the projects of the summer and busy family activities, we didn’t get up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan this year. We love driving through northcentral Wisconsin through the Porcupine Mountains and on up the Keeweenaw Peninsula to Copper Harbor. Along the way, we always stop at the sweet Jampot Shop near Eagle Harbor. Located on the shores of Lake Superior and operated by Byzantine monks of the St. John Order at the Poor Rock Abbey, the Jampot offers handmade jams, jellies and bakery items. If you’re fortunate, you’ll be greeted by Father Basil at the counter. He probably won’t have time to visit – there’s usually a line running right out the front door and down the steps! Supported soley by monies generated by the Jampot, this group of monks are also dedicated gardeners and cultivate wonderful rose gardens in the midst of this harsh northern climate. The Jampot,  9”x 11” watercolor painting, captures this wonderful little shop in a quiet moment on a lovely summer day.

October Color

It’s so nice to live in a place that has four seasons. Fall is surely a favorite – my husband Paul and I were married in a small church in the heart of the Upper St. Croix River valley in late September so it’s a special time of the year for us. And I love the changing colors in the woods, cooler temps (no humidity or bugs!) and that it’s time to bake apple pies! It’s a tradition at our house to bake apple pies and then deliver them to our grown kid’s homes. The fun begins with picking apples at the nearby orchard and at the small farm located along the road to our house. I love mixing varieties and most pies include apples with fabulous names such as Haralson, Haralred, Connell Red, Fireside, Regent, Sweet Tango, Honey Crisp and an unknown wonderfully crisp variety from our friend Earl’s trees. This year, the pie delivery task took us from Blake Lake to Stillwater to Apple Valley to Minnetonka and then into the heart of St. Paul where one of our families was attending a play. We left a warm pie on the front seat of their truck! I’m hoping you have special traditions at your house this time of year, too!

This week’s painting brings me back to sheep! Greener Pastures, a 9” x 12” watercolor painting, celebrates cooler temps and the wonderful free-grazing sheep of Ireland following their leader to greener grass. 

Birds on the Wing

It’s that time of year, and our feeder is already reflecting the loss of songbirds as they begin their migration south for the winter. The Baltimore Orioles and Hummingbirds were actively feeding just last week, but today the pots of grape jelly are only sought after by the loud-buzzing Orchard (Mason) bees. This year, the Bluebirds arrived right on schedule in mid-April – it’s always a thrill for me when they show up in the yard and decide to make our bluebird house their home. I’m out there daily with mealy worms to make sure they stay! But this year, they were forced to leave early because their house was destroyed in the storm. I’m hoping they found shelter in a safe place and were able to have another batch of fledglings before they headed south.

This week’s painting reflects one of my favorite moments every year. Bluebird Returns, 10” x 12” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, captures a bluebird resting in the wooded canopy of Spring.

Remembering Barns

In the July 19 storm of tornadoes and straight-line winds that hit our area, I rode out the storm in my car. It was 5:30 p.m. and I was on my way home from working that day at the art gallery. When I turned north off the main highway, it started to spatter rain, and as I came to a clearing in the woods, I could see the sky had changed dramatically. A black arch of clouds stretched across the northern sky and under this dark band, the sky was a weird teal color. It was too late to turn back and by the time I crossed the Apple River, the winds were whipping trees around and it was raining so hard that I could only see the center line of the road. I intended to pull into one of my favorite farms – they had a beautiful 3 -story barn and were in the process of remodeling their farm home. Unfortunately, it was raining so hard I couldn’t see their driveway, so I continued on for about 1/8 of a mile and pulled in behind another stopped vehicle. It was a surreal experience – sitting in my parked car, praying out loud, listening to the wind and watching the fury of the storm through the windshield wipers. Unbelievably, I sent a couple of texts to Paul and he, from the basement at home with our terrified critters, responded. I sat on that road for about 40 minutes while the storm raged. At one point the winds were so strong, I felt all four wheels of the car lift off the ground for a few seconds and then gently settle back down on the roadway. Thanks be to God! When the storm finally eased, I backed the car up to turn around in the farm driveway and saw a horrifying sight. The roof of the farmhouse was torn off and all that was left of the barn were remnants of the first-floor block foundation. One of the two concrete silos that stood next to the barn was also gone with concrete rubble strewn in a broad path all the way up to the road. It was a long journey home that evening. With downed powerlines and huge trees on the road, it took a tremendous effort by friends and neighbors with chainsaws and another three hours to go the last few miles to home. And it is with a grateful heart that I share this - knowing that, despite the overwhelming and widespread damage, no lives were lost and we were all brought through safely. 

We lost several classic and round barns in our area this summer due to storms. This week’s painting, Before the Storm, 9” x 12” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, offers a tribute to the loss of these wonderfully built barns. 

Let’s paint a barn!

You are invited to join me for a watercolor class at the Frederic Arts Center, Frederic, WI, on Saturday, October 19, from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. The class will be held  in the wonderfully restored one-room schoolhouse located near the lake in this beautiful town. With the arrival of Fall weather, I thought it would be perfect time to paint a barn! This week’s painting, Harvest Barn, 8" x 10" will be the template we use for the class. 

The class fee is $40 plus $10 for materials, and you can plan to bring your painting home ready to frame! For more information or to register for the class, see the Frederic Arts Center website. Hope you can join me for a day of celebrating fall and playing with color!  

International Dog Day!

There are so many celebratory days during the year, but a day dedicated to recognizing the value that dogs add to our lives just makes me happy! International Dog Day was August 26 this year, and the raising and keeping of dogs has been an important part of my life. Currently we share our home with Maddie, a 12-year-old, black Cocker Spaniel dog who has such a gentle spirit and is generous with us most of the time. She enjoys having her food in her bowl for breakfast and then another half portion at 5 p.m. Yes, it needs to be 5 p.m. – otherwise, she’s following us around the kitchen, making snuffle-y noises and generally being a pest. She hates thunderstorms and fireworks, and loves sleeping on the bed, taking car rides and rolling down the car windows by herself, going for walks and occasional “pup cup”treats at the local Dairy Queen.  

This week’s painting, Dog Day!, 9” x 12” watercolor painting, celebrates the joyous nature of dogs and captures a young woman walking her dog off leash across the subdued tapestry of an Irish landscape on an overcast day.

Starting Over

The carefree days of summer really ended for us on July 19. The storm that roared through our area that night left a path of devastation and the resulting clean-up process has consumed a lot of our days. Our entire place is under construction – from already moving the boat to repair/winter storage, repairing decks and submerged boat dock, repainting, roof and siding replacement and rebuilding the stonework and landscaping in the front yard. It’s been a month since I’ve ventured out the back gardens for a good weeding – simply because there was no place to even move rescued plants and it seemed overwhelming to try to rebuild the framework. But now the days are cooler – fall is here and I’m more energized to get busy. We are so grateful for good insurance coverage (and a terrific agent) and for the health and energy to start over!

And we are so thankful for supportive family and friends. When we were faced with no electricity – it was off for 8 days while crews struggled to repair the lines – wonderful friends offered the use of their son and his wife’s cabin. We are so glad we accepted their generous offer – the cabin became a special haven of peace and quiet after the noise of chain saws all day. This week’s painting, Welcoming Cottage, 9” x 12” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, features this special place surrounded by a lovely handmade picket fence.

Revisiting the Lake!

I’ve been asked to teach a watercolor class this fall at the Frederic Arts Center in Frederic, WI. The details are still working out, but it looks like Saturday, October 19, will work. It’s a wonderful space and I’m so looking forward to sharing this time with others who are interested in learning about watercolor painting. Watch for more details coming soon!

This week’s painting is one of my favorite scenes, but wanted to see if it might fit the format and timeframe of this class. R & R, 9” x 11” captures what this oft-used expression means to me!

Summer, Interrupted!

It’s been two weeks since I’ve painted. Two weeks ago, a derecho – a weather system boasting 80 mph straight-line winds mixed with tornados - went through our area. The system traveled across Central Minnesota and wrecked havoc all the way to Green Bay, Wisconsin. In our little lake community, power lines were scattered, boats were overturned and sunk on the lake, and we lost over 500 mature trees – with 12 of them falling on both sides of our house. Fortunately, except for minor damage to the house, vehicles and yard, we are all o.k. We were thankful Gov. Evers declared a state of emergency – electricity was out for 8 days in our area so the call alerted power and tree crews in the region who came with equipment to clean up the mess.

This week’s painting, Summer Fleet, 9” x 11” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, reflects wonderful days of summer on the water.

In Stillwater!

We spent the afternoon hanging art and creating a display space in the beautiful Stillwater Art Guild Gallery in Historic Downtown Stillwater. It is an honor to be one of the 22 new members in this creative gallery! If you’re in the area, plan to join us for the Opening Reception in the Gallery on Friday, August 9, 5-8 p.m. located on the north end of Main Street, Stillwater. 

Ewe Betcha!

A few years ago, we traveled with my mom to visit with our dear friends, the Jordan family, in Holland and then went on to spend four days in Ireland. It was a wonderful time of re-connecting with these friends who have become family to us and seeing amazing sights. It was especially fun to show her some of our favorite places along the western coast of Ireland.  However, after a day of seemingly endless stops to take “one more” photo of sheep, she asked: “Deb, how many sheep pictures do you need?” And my response was: “Can you ever have enough pictures of sheep?”

So here we are again! This week’s painting, Ewe Betcha, 9” x 13” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, bears a creative name by my husband, Paul, and features a favorite black-faced sheep on a rocky hillside in the Connemara region of Ireland.

Celebrating Songbirds!

This is our 5^th summer in our “lake” home and it has been a wonderful summer of watching birds, butterflies, and even Luna Moths flit around the yard! After a long winter of watching Monty Don’s BBC gardening shows, Paul and I dug up the back yard and created a perennial and vegetable garden. It’s been a labor of love – well, for one of us! Paul says he’s not a gardener, but he is a patient enabler of my gardening habit and a willing participant in planting trees, hauling in rocks (yes, we are crazy!) for garden edging, building “bug hotels” with the grandkids, and planting plants and trees to attract bees and butterflies. The result is that the garden is thriving in spite of frequent visits by two yearling deer, our birdhouses are full and the feeders are busy!

I’ve been having a good time painting some of these favorite visitors. The two-month long Natural Heritage Project: Migratory Birds exhibit closed today at the Watershed Café in Osceola, WI. And a very special thanks to the folks who purchased my painting that was displayed in this exhibit, Rose-breasted Grosbeak. It’s so nice to know it’s going to a good home.

This week’s painting, Flash of Color, 9” x 13” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, captures a male Cardinal pausing for a moment in a deep woods.  A beautiful photograph, taken by my friend Ruth Ronning, was my inspiration and this was such fun picture to paint! For more information or to purchase paintings, see www.wildriverarts.com

Light and Shadows II

Last night I attended a lecture/demo by Lynn Maderich at the Stillwater Art Guild Gallery. I'll be joining the Stillwater Gallery as a member in August 2019, and this was a great opportunity to meet members of the community and learn new techniques in art. Lynn is a graduate of the Atelier School of Art and an accomplished painter and teacher. She talked about the Atelier method of realism drawing and demonstrated her incredible talent in making her horses come alive through the effective use of shapes, edges and shadows in her paintings. The focus of all paintings is FINDING THE LIGHT and her demonstration on how to bring more light into our paintings was so insightful.

This week’s painting, Fox Light, 6” x 12” watercolor painting, explores that wonderful intense light that often occurs just before sunset – highlighting the contours of the landscape and casting dark shadows on the evening sky.

Sunsets and Irish potatoes

Summer is here, the pontoon is on the lake, and gardens are finally beginning to flourish! Even though I lived on a potato-growing farm for many years, I've never known how to grow potatoes in a family garden. For the first time this year, I have a garden big enough to grow potatoes! And after diligently reading the directions that came with the bag of Red Norland seed, we now have 75 plants growing in our backyard. It's such fun and made more special because 30+ years ago, I remember that we helped Dr. Robert Johanneson, noted Plant Pathology researcher at NDSU who developed the Red Norland potato. As we rented his family land, we tested them on his family potato fields near Edinburg, ND. So glad to see that they have continued as a favorite plant for growers!

And as a tribute to generations of potato growers, I’m back to painting Irish landscapes this week! Galway Bay, 9” x 13” watercolor, captures the reflections of beautiful sunset on a placid sea along the Wild Atlantic Way of Ireland.  

Play Ball!

With summer’s arrival, it’s time for packing our lawn chairs in the truck and heading out to watch grandchildren play ball! It’s such fun and the perfect way to spend a couple of hours outdoors. And we may be a bit biased, but we are totally amazed at how much they improve from season to season.

This week’s painting is a portrait study on the full-sheet paper. Put me in, coach!, 19” x 22” on 300 lb. Hot Press watercolor paper, celebrates the famous John Fogarty song recalling moments of anticipation waiting to get in the game and perhaps getting to play . . . Centerfield!

Faces & Figures Watercolor

Last week, I attended a Faces & Figures workshop in Springfield, Missouri. Led by Watercolor Artist Alicia Farris, the class was inspiring! Even though I brought the wrong size paper – I painted on full sheets while most of the rest of the class used quarter sheets – it was a liberating experience of playing with transparent colors and using BIG brushes! Working from a photograph, Alicia taught us a new technique involving laying on the paint in layers, primarily with cool colors in shadows and warmer colors in light. Here are the two paintings I finished during the class – both “Beachcombers” and “Nana” are 22” x 30” on 300 lb. Hot Press watercolor paper.

As I move forward in my painting, my goal is to enhance my style with these new skills and techniques. This week’s painting, “Mountain Meadow, 8” x 12” on 300 lb. Cold Press watercolor paper, features some of my favorite characters – two of those wildly independent Donegal ewes guarding their young.

Returning Home: Rural Landscapes

"Returning Home: Rural Landscapes" is a new art exhibit happening soon at the Farm Table Foundation Gallery in Amery, WI. This collaborative exhibit, featuring the impressionistic photography of Tin Cat Studio (just across Fox Creek from our house) and my watercolor paintings, will run from June 14 through August 6, 2019, and opens with the Artists’ Reception on Friday evening, June 14, from 5:30-8 p.m. Plan to stop in that evening if you’re in the area!

Through a focus on community, conservation, craft and culture, the Farm Table Foundation is dedicated to the mission of growing local food culture through education, research, and training. In choosing the title for this exhibit, all of us – Mike Schut, Senior Director of Programs and Community Partnerships at the Farm Table; Randy and Lisa Lee of Tin Cat Studio; and myself of Wild River Art – brainstormed together to define the blending of our artwork as an alignment with the mission of the Foundation. “Returning Home: Rural Landscapes” strives to evoke the emotions within each us for that special place we call home. While home is surely different for all of us, the term may strongly identify a specific place, or it may be a time of remembered beginnings, or it may simply recall a sense of refuge and a deep calming of spirit. It’s an honor for me to be part of this thoughtfully planned and inspirational exhibit.

This week’s painting, “Still Standing” 7” x 12” watercolor painting, celebrates the tremendous workmanship of the builders of these historic barns. Even in century-old and older barns, the integrity, framework and foundation of most of these structures are still strong and true. In driving across our beautiful rural spaces, I’m grateful for the many farm families who are taking the time and making the investment to preserve these iconic structures. See more paintings on my website at www.wildriverarts.com

Unpredictable May!

The last two weeks have been a roller coaster of weather changes! We spent four days in Colorado – attending a family graduation at the Colorado School of Mines in beautiful Golden, CO – and the weather shifted from 30 degrees on the day we arrived and an overnight snow of 8” on the mountaintop at Breckenridge to 80 degrees in Golden on the day we left! And this weekend, back home in Wisconsin, we moved from 80 degrees two days ago to rain, snow and freezing temps today. It’s a challenge to decide if we need the windows open or the heat turned on!

I’m looking forward to an upcoming exhibit! The Farm Table Foundation Gallery in Amery, WI, announces “Returning Home: Rural Landscapes” which will run from June 14 through August 6. The exhibit will feature my watercolor paintings and the artwork of Lisa and Randy Lee of Tin Cat Studio. An Artists Reception will be held at the Farm Table Gallery on Friday, June 14, from 6-8 p.m. See more at Farm Table Foundation.  

This week’s painting, Lone Sentinel, 8” x 13” watercolor painting, will be one of the paintings featured in this exhibit. The scene reflects a forgotten barn on rural hillside along the edge of a quiet stream.

Celebrating May and Art Tour!

It’s a rainy May Day, but after living through three major droughts in North Dakota, I've come to relish rainy days! And as I type this, I'm looking over our half-done garden project in the backyard. For the past week, we’ve been working on building a new garden - a place for me to transplant all the expanding perennial plants and grow tomatoes! Our soil has been classified as “dead” by area lawn pros, so over the past five years we've brought in lots and lots of dirt, manure and peat. It seems to be an annual challenge, but signs of earthworms and thriving plants give me hope! So even in this half-finished stage with the fruit trees mulched, my Dad’s garden bench in place under the big apple tree and of course, waiting on more dirt, it looks lovely. 

And Paul learned early in our relationship that it’s a dangerous thing to leave me - especially this time of year - unsupervised in garden centers! 😊 Our living room has five large windows on the east side, and over the past week or two, I’ve been accumulating plants. Four favorite roses, Larkspur, 2 new Clematis (pronounced clem'-a-tis in Downton Abbey land!) and Blue Queen Meadow Sage sit in pots ready to go out as soon as the weather warms up. 

And it’s a busy time of painting! The Earth Arts Spring Tour is May 3-5 at the Lamar Community Center in St. Croix, Falls. So in addition to the “greenhouse” plants in the living room, there are bins of paintings and booth set-up stuff lined up and ready to go! Download the Art Tour Brochure and Map here. 

This week’s painting, Sit a Spell! 11” x 15” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, seems to invite the visitor to have a seat, relax and take in the beauty of a light-filled day.

Spring, really?

If you never lived in the North Country, you can’t really appreciate how we celebrate warm Spring days. Only by living here can you understand how fragile and fleeting are the days of sunshine, warm breezes and the promise of new life. This week, we had three wonderful 55- to 75-degree days – and with Paul’s willing spirit and muscle, we raced outside each day to begin work on a new garden space. But now it’s the weekend and the forecast is for a high of 32 degrees with possible snow accumulation! It’s enough to trigger sinus infections in the strongest of souls! In spite of temperamental weather, though, I continue to gather new plants (there are four roses growing in pots in front of the living room windows) and faithfully bring in at night and set out in the morning the many pots of violets and pansies from the outside decks.

This week’s painting is an ode to summer! Beyond the Dock, 9” x 13” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, reminds us of peaceful, warm days and taking in the beauty just beyond the edge of the dock.

Shadows and Light

It’s that strange time of the year – between winter and false spring and winter and real spring! Last week, our yard was drying up nicely and we even celebrated by setting up the picnic table and chairs on the deck! This week, we are back in the crush of winter with 8 inches of snow/snirt (really dirty looking snow) and cold temperature again. The birds have been in “feeding frenzy” mode at the feeders for the past few days and even the recently arrived Robins are resorting to eating sunflower seeds in lieu of worms!

It seemed a good time for a study in light and shadows. This week’s painting, Evening Shadows, 8” x 12” watercolor, captures the silhouette of a sailboat moored off the shore of a darkening landscape.

Celebrating the river!

I haven’t painted for a couple of weeks, so it’s fun to get back to the easel. The first version of this seemed to be too "bright," so I added more shading to enhance the depth of colors. This new version of the painting, River Watch, 11” x 15” watercolor, seems to better capture the late afternoon light on the river. 

Spring on its way!

After the long slog of winter, we are so enjoying a spring thaw. Right now, it is mud, mud, mud, but we are grateful that the flooding in our area has so far been minimal. Our hearts go out to the people, cities and farms across Nebraska and the Central Midwest as they continue to battle the rising waters. The best signal of spring is that the birds are returning! Instead of the quiet woods of winter, we are now met with riotous noise outside our door. The Trumpeter Swans are loudly claiming their nesting spots, and yesterday, with blue skies and perfect temps, we heard the first of the Sandhill Cranes returning from their migration. It was such a joy to see a huge Sandhill circling over the house and getting the lay of the land along the Fox Creek waterway behind our house.  

This week’s painting “Copper Harbor Light,” 9” x 12” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, reflects one of our favorite spots. This picturesque historic lighthouse, located on the very tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula in Upper Michigan, was first lit in 1866.

Natural Heritage Project

I’ve been accepted as an artist in the 2019 Natural Heritage: Migratory Bird Project! The Watershed Café of Osceola, WI, will host this exhibit during the months of April through June 2019, and I’ve chosen to focus my painting and research on the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The project involves submission of a painting and a 500-word narrative about the importance of this specific migratory bird within our river valley environment. Each Spring, it's thrill to welcome this beautifully marked bird to our feeders, but through this artistic challenge, I'm looking forward to learning much more about the habits, migratory patterns and habitats of Grosbeaks. 

This week’s painting, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, is 9” x 13” on 3oo lb. watercolor paper and captures this splendid bird resting on a hollow tree in a deep woods.

Checkerboard sighting: Red-Headed Woodpecker

Special thanks to a dear friend, Lee Ann Overman, who gave me the “heads up” notice about the upcoming deadline for the Natural Heritage Project. This Project is focused on showcasing art that reflects the significance of migratory birds along the St. Croix River Valley. Five years ago, my husband, Paul, and I moved to a lake community near Balsam Lake, WI, to renovate a neglected cabin. With our house nestled in a mature maple forest, we were elated one day to discover a surprise visitor at our birdfeeder. When I called my mom to tell her the news, her response was: “I thought the Red-Headed Woodpecker was extinct!” We’re so thankful it’s not and over the subsequent summers, we’ve hosted both parents and fledglings of this beautiful bird family at our feeders. This week’s painting, Red Headed, 9” x 13” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, captures the endangered Red-Headed Woodpecker with its distinctive, checkerboard markings. 

Capturing Waves!

With the coming of March, I’m beginning to feel recharged. The days are longer and the first of the gardening catalogs arrived so that surely means that Spring is on the way! Paul is already weary of hearing my ideas for digging up new garden spaces when the snow melts!

He and “The Boys” – our grown sons/son-in-law, Keith, Jack, Luke and grandson, Andrew – returned last week from a fabulous time (did I capitalize that?) in Alaska! It was truly the trip of a lifetime for all of them – snow-covered mountains against a backdrop of blue skies, abundant wildlife within camera range, riding the Alaska train, snowboarding at Alyeska, seeing Denali on a clear day, and all the wonderful activities that surround the wild and wooly annual Fur Rendezvous in Anchorage. And after four snowstorms swept through Minnesota and Wisconsin while they were gone, the women in our family were ready for them to come back and share in the shoveling!

This week, I’m working to capture the elusive attributes of waves! Titled, Rocks and Waves, this week’s painting is 8” x 13” and seeks to capture waves rolling into the shoreline and splashing on a rock wall out to a lighthouse. 

Thoughts of the River!

We’ve had record snowfall this February – the woods are beautiful outside my door, but I’m weary of moving snow off the driveway, sidewalk, decks and roof! And with the piles towering above my head, there’s no easy place to put the new stuff! In spite of this, there is a sort of survivor camaraderie among our neighbors and friends – they are willing to help, give advice, and remind each other that there’s only four weeks of this left! Ha – I remember last May when a late season snowstorm hit us!

Today I’m especially thankful for a warm house, healthy families, increasing daylight, and full birdfeeders! Indoors, I’m working on new techniques and having a wonderful time painting summer waterscapes. This week’s painting, Rounding the Bend, 11” x 15” watercolor painting, captures a canoeist coming around the bend of a river.

Rocky Point

I must be craving green, so this week’s painting reflects an absolutely summer scene. And with record snowfall and cold, it was the perfect week to stay indoors, set up my easel on the kitchen island, paint something warm, and enjoy a wonderful view from the dining room windows. The heavy snowfall matched with no wind created a magical setting in the woods around our house – the landscape and trees are beautifully softened in white. My friend, Pam, reminded me that this weekend is the annual Book Across the Bay event held in Ashland and Washburn, WI. For many years, a group of us dedicated girlfriends and one year, brave soul Paul even took up the challenge and participated in this adventure – cross-country skiing the 10-K race across the ice of the Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior in the dark! The race starts at 6 p.m. from Ashland and the up to 3,500 skiers, snowshoers and hikers follow a course lighted by ice lights and bonfires on the lake all the way to Washburn. If you’ve never tried this before – it’s well worth putting this on your bucket list!

This week's painting, Rocky Point, 9” x 12” on 300 lb. water paper, captures a summer scene at a secluded, northern lake.

Artists Receptions and Galway Bay

I’m feeling especially blessed this morning. Thank you to all the dear friends who braved extreme temps last night to be at the Artists Reception at the artZ Gallery in Amery. It was such a fun time of gathering with artists and art lovers in the community and being able to share about what inspires me in my paintings. And it was exciting to learn that there were art receptions in all THREE of the Amery galleries last night! That’s a pretty amazing accomplishment - especially for a small town!

My mom is a great supporter of my efforts and recently asked if I could paint a picture of the sun setting on Galway Bay. She remembered a song about it from her high school years. There are lots of pictures of sunsets on the bay, but I found one that focused on the reflected light of the sun going down on the picturesque buildings of the Claddagh community overlooking Galway Bay. This row of buildings is built on an ancient fishing village – one of the first settlements in Ireland. It’s also the home of the original Claddagh ring made by a jeweler in this village. This week’s painting, Sunset on Claddagh, 10” x 15” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, also features the Corrib River which runs through Galway town and into the sea.

Polar Vortex and Penny

We are officially experiencing a polar vortex – have we ever even heard this phrase before?! It’s an amazing phenomenon of plummeting temperatures and record lows. So far, it’s been in the minus 30 and 40 degree range with windchill adding another minus 20 degrees on to that! You know we are into something out of the ordinary when school administrators across the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin make a blanket decision on Monday morning to close all schools for the rest of the week! In the Land of Rare Snow Days, this is incredible. We are in a corporate freeze out – urged to keep our homes at about 60 degrees, dress in layers and make sure all family members and animals stay inside!

In spite of this, it looks like a balmy summer evening on my easel. Dear family members commissioned me to paint a picture of their much-loved horse named Penny. This week’s painting, Penny, is 8” x 12” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, and captures this beautiful horse walking across their prairie pasture.

Gentle Spirits

I found a photo of a dear grandson and thought it would be such fun to paint. His mom grew up on her family farm in western Minnesota, and our grandson, now 3, loves everything about this farm – being outdoors, riding in his grandpa’s tractor and combine, and going down to the pasture to visit with the beloved horses.

It was a process to paint this subject, though. To get the horses right, I used Paul Oman’s technique of drawing everything upside down. Turning the photo and the sketch book upside down literally confuses the brain and makes it much easier to just draw lines and shapes. In the end, it’s amazing how much the sketch looks like the actual photograph.

This week’s painting, Gentle Spirits, is an 8” x 9” watercolor. In a high compliment, our grandson's mom thought the painting perfectly captured the gentle spirit of her childhood horses.

September Swaths

I so enjoy the adventure of painting! For much of my art, I gain inspiration from a special scene or favorite photograph and the process, depending on the complexity of the picture, can be an interesting journey – selecting the photo, determining values (shadows and light), sketching the scene on paper, and then moving the brush from water to paint to paper. And while I start each painting enthusiastically, about halfway through the painting, I have a brief spasm of doubt – this is usually when I whine to Paul that it looks horrible, I’m on the verge of creating mud and this whole thing is not going to work! He listens to the rant, tells me to get back to work and as I relax, continue to move forward and “trust the brush,” suddenly the potential of the painting begins to emerge. It’s this wonderful element of discovery and surprise that makes painting so rewarding.

This week’s painting is a favorite of two rustic buildings, seemingly forgotten, except by the farmer swathing hay in the nearby field. “September Swaths” is a 6” x 12” painting on 300 lb. watercolor paper. See more on the website at www.wildriverarts.com.

Plan now to make a trip in February to the artZ Gallery in Amery, WI! I’ll be one of the feature artists for the month-long “Feb-Hue-Ary” exhibit. The gallery is open Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and the Artists Reception will be held on Friday, February 8, from 5-8 p.m. Join us for this evening of visiting with the artists and enjoying hors d’oeuvres.

Northern Light

It seems a good time to go back to the lighthouses. There is something so special about these structures. Yes, they are built for a specific utilitarian purpose – to warn ships, save lives and protect the cargo, and this purpose demands that they be constructed in some of the most inaccessible, rugged and desolate locations on earth. The stories of their construction are often legendary with suppliers and workers overcoming huge obstacles and literally risking life and limb to accomplish their tasks. While it is basically a structure to house a huge spiral stairway, lighthouses embody the best scientific technology and architectural advances of their time. And people travel from far and near just to take in one more look at their favorite lights. It is one of our all-time favorite roadtrip pastimes – finding a new-to-us, undiscovered light for our travel journal!

This week’s painting, Northern Light, 11” x 15” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, strives to capture the remote landscape of a working lighthouse - and one that is still living its purpose of providing safe passage for sea-going ships.