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.