Dazzling Display

It’s the last week in August which means the flowers in the gardens are giving their last hurrah. And the colors these days are spectacular! We are out in the yard most days filling feeders, pulling gigantic weeds (they must grow overnight!), and enjoying the fabulous displays of blooming flowers. One of my all-time favorites – and they just happen to thrive in our soil – are the Echinacea. This week’s painting is another Liltie Series, Dazzlers, 4x6 and captures three of these beauties blooming their hearts out!

Ode to Birch Trees!

There is something so amazing about birch trees. With their white bark, they are immediately recognizable in a panoramic forest view. And yet in reality, the bark is anything but white. The bark truly acts as a canvas and captures and reflects light from the objects around it – so it can shimmer with the shadow tones in a myriads of blues and greens or radiate the warm tones of pink, purple, orange or even red. Over the years in our Northwoods home and our ½ acre lot, we’ve planted probably more than our share of birches in addition to several Blue Spruce and White Pine. These are my favorite trees, and I love how the birches add an essential contrast to the dark blues and deep green of the pine trees.

This week’s painting includes the quintessential birches – Lake Morning, 4” x 6” captures the shoreline of a quiet lake in early morning light.

Let's Paint . . . Fall Colors!

You're invited to join me for a watercolor class, “Let’s Paint . . . Fall Colors” scheduled for Thursday afternoon, September 8, at Studio 210-Arts In Hand Gallery in Spooner, WI. The class will be held from 4-8 p.m. and the cost is $50 (I’ll provide all your supplies.) We’ll focus on painting some of my favorite things  - sky, rocks, water and birch trees! Along with the vibrant colors of this season! To register for this class, send an email to me at dstullkinsley@gmail.com. Hope to see you on the 8th!

Coming Soon: Fall!

You can feel it in the air – especially in the morning – and hear it in the myriad of chirping sounds coming from the woods. Fall is on its way, and this is such a pleasant time of the year. We are incredibly thankful that there have been abundant rains here this season and the flowers and garden are looking so good. Although there isn’t a whole lot of variety left in some of the gardens – all of the good “deer” delicacies are eaten down to the nub by our resident Dolly Deer and her team, but the autumn hardy ones – morning glories, rudbeckia, echinacea, cosmos, cardinal flowers and the hydrangeas are blooming like crazy.

This week’s painting reflects the changing season. Autumn Barn, 8” x 10” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, captures a remote barn surrounded by the wonderful colors of Fall.

Art on the Move

It’s always a such a gift to discover that others enjoy your artwork – whether just viewing it or actually carrying it out the door of a gallery. It’s been a busy month at the Plum Bottom Gallery locations in Door County, and I’m thankful for those who purchase art and support the efforts of the wonderful staff in these three galleries. This month, the following “Liltie Series” 4” x 6” watercolors moved to new homes: Northwood Sky, Fall Birches, Cave Point Cliff, Big Lake Sunrise, Moonrise. Thank you!

North to the Lake!

It’s been a lovely week for being outdoors! The weather has cooled off, and we are heading into my favorite time of the year. The heavy lifting work of Spring gardening is done and now we’re into a season of enjoying the headiness of blooming hydrangeas, beautiful roses on the deck, and drifts of rudbeckia and Echinacea all around the yard. Dolly Deer and her twin fawns come through the yard most days and have trimmed all non-essential plants in the gardens – including biting off all the gladioli blooms, mowing down the hostas, and basically eating anything that bears a garden tag! The meadow that has been growing all summer in the front yard will be ready to cut in September and then it’ll be time to plant bulbs for Spring. Even though I complain about the heat of July, I truly love the rhythm of the four seasons.

I’m continuing to enjoy painting watercolor lighthouses, and this week's painting is a favorite. Although ever since I fell off the walkway in late October (several years ago) and landed on the icy rocks of Lake Superior, I have a love/hate relationship with the Artist’s Point Pier in Grand Marais! I’ll save that story for another time!  “Grand Marais Light” is a unique shape at 7” x 15” but it seems to work well for this landscape - capturing the morning light on the structure as well as the contrasting deep shades of the surrounding woods. 

Summer Treasures

Every summer, one of these special days is designated for going to our favorite beach at a nearby lake. It’s a lovely lake – although this year even in the August heat, it was a bit chilly – and the town takes special pride in keeping the beach and picnic area clean and beautiful. With groomed sand and a long, shallow beach area, it’s the perfect place for littles to splash in the water and for older ones who have swimming skills to face the challenge going out to the diving raft.

This week’s painting reflects a wonderful memory for me. Summer Treasures, 8” x 11” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, captures two of our grandchildren soaking up the sun and enjoying this special day at the beach! See more at my website: wildriverarts.com 

Carry on . . .

I have a collection of photos I’ve gathered over the years and it has been a joy to paint so many of them over the years. This week’s watercolor is from a photo that has traveled with me for a long time – yet even after deciding that it was time to paint it, it took a while to envision how it might turn out. It’s different from some of my other traditional landscapes in that the colors were so specific and intense. So the painting challenge became a wonderful lesson in mixing paints, both in the tray and on the paper.

This week’s painting, Wooden Boat, 9” x 12” on 300 lb. watercolor paper reflects a classic boat soaking up the last rays of the day.