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.”