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.