Lilties and Water

This time of year, my watercolors all seem to include glimpses of water. It’s a favorite place to be in the heat of summer! Whether I’m enjoying life at a lake or just filling birdbaths around our yard, it’s a joy to see the variety of wildlife who also benefit from the clear waters of this area – orioles coming in to feed babies at the grape jelly, wrens churring territorial warnings, loons calling from the lake and the errant doe who comes every night to drink all the water in our big birdbath! When painting water, I love the many effects possible with watercolors – yes, always preserving the white spaces of the paper, but then letting the colors blend to form lively currents or to reflect the deeper shades below the surface. 

I just delivered three of my Liltie Series watercolors to Arts in Hand Gallery in Spooner, WI: Sunset Shadows; Pure Bliss; and Forest Stream. I call these 4" x 6" "lilties" because that's the Irish word for brief tunes, and I think of these smaller paintings as brief "watercolor songs." 

Goats in the Studio!

There is something so endearing about baby goats – all that energy, carefree attitude and amazing antics – make them totally lovable! Every Spring I go through a desire to have goats, sheep and llamas roaming our property – and while Paul is perfectly willing to go out and pick up baby animals from nearby farms, he is also quick to remind me, “You know we have ½ an acre and it’s a long winter of chores!” And so I come to my senses and live vicariously through videos of farmyards in spring and painting them on my easel.

This week’s painting is Butterscotch, a 4” x 6” Liltie Series watercolor painting, featuring one of those rare resting moments for kid goats!

Moo-ving On

This seems to be the message of the week. Our son and his sweet family are on their way to their new home in Arizona. The move comes with a lot of angst – the rest of their families are here in Minnesota and Wisconsin – but they have considered this decision with so much thoughtfulness that it seems to be the perfect place for them right now. And it’s good to remember that life is dynamic and always changing. So with the confidence of a young family on the go, this move seems to offer them incredible possibilities.

And I’m feeling a bit of “moving on” today – not about physically moving, but about a renewed energy in my spirit. Since early Spring, it’s been a season of meeting deadlines and painting for several upcoming exhibits. Now, there is a natural pause in the schedule and a wonderful time to reflect and consider “what’s next?” We had such a grand time in the new space of Studio 210-Arts In Hand Gallery this past weekend for the Watercolors: East and West Exhibit. It is 22 steps from the sidewalk on Walnut Street to the bright, airy studio space – so we got our exercise toting art bins and supplies up and down those steps! My co-artist, Gail Threinen is a talented Chinese Brush Painter, and it became a weekend of learning (for me, too!) and a wonderful opportunity to visit with all who came to support the arts in Spooner! It is a joy to be part of a dedicated community of volunteers, management team and board members who are committed to making the Arts In Hand Gallery-Spooner a destination for art and creative learning.

This week’s painting,  Bessie, is a Liltie Series 4” x 6” watercolor painting featuring one of the wonderfully friendly cows roaming the Irish countryside. 

 

Home to Camp

This is the final week before a special exhibit this weekend, July 8-10, 2022, at the Studio 210-Arts In Hand Gallery in Spooner, WI. With the theme, "Watercolors: East and West" the show features the Gail Threinen (Chinese Brush Painting) and me (Landscape Watercolors), and the doors open on Friday from 4-7 p.m.; and continue through Saturday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Hope to see you up in Spooner this weekend! 

This week's painting, Home to Camp, an 8” x 11” watercolor on 300 lb. paper, captures an idyllic scene on a northern lake. Photo credit (with variations) and thank you to North Shore Photographer, Don Davison.

At the Lake

It’s our 9^th summer of living “on the lake” – actually we’re across the street from the lake and have always thought that was a blessing. We get a lovely view of the water with a space of the lakeshore for the pontoon, but also have space for my much-loved gardens and room for the two dogs and two cats to explore the woods around us. And it also offers a bit of barrier between us and the barrage of fireworks that typically assail lake communities this time of year. We did have a fabulous Saturday – wonderful weather and time on the boat – with three of our sweet families, sharing meals, catching up, enjoying the pontoon and very cold lake water, and saying goodbye. Our son and daughter-in-law and their two kidsies are relocating to their new home in Arizona and we’re going to miss them terribly. Because this was a four-day holiday, we then spent Sunday and Monday mostly sequestered in the house with the TV on and fans blowing to keep our two elderly dogs, Maddie and Kirby, from freaking out with the fireworks. I’m not against an organized fireworks display, but this year, there was four full days of chaotic noise. However, now it’s Wednesday, the birds have returned to the yard, and we’re enjoying the quiet rhythm of long summer days.

This week features a couple of paintings. I’m so happy that a favorite watercolor, Desert Glow, is moving to its new home in Arizona. It was a fun one to paint of two special grandchildren and their beloved dog, Mack, in a beautiful desert evening.

How far to Canada?

It seems a tumultuous and grievous time to be an American. Decisions about the quality of life for all individuals are being made on the national level that totally wound my spirit. I’m trying to quiet my inner rants and listen carefully for the voice of God in my life, but somedays, this is really difficult. It seems justified to just take things into my own hands … but what can I do to make a difference? And I realize, once more, that I have no ability to change anything but what I touch every day. My life and actions are humbled to this: being kind to my beloved, sitting on the floor to love up my dogs and cats, and doing my best to show love and take care of those around me. That’s my full-time job these days – along with my times to paint. There are days when I’m deep into a painting and I hear nothing around me – often to Paul’s dismay as he’s trying to tell me something important. And I surface again when the paper is saturated and the painting is done to greet his surprised expression of: “Didn’t you hear me at all?” The creative process is such an incredible mystery, and I feel tremendously blessed to have time to experience this journey!  

Watercolors: East and West

July 8-10, 2022

Studio 210-Arts In Hand Gallery, Spooner, WI

I’m preparing for this upcoming exhibit at the Arts In Hand Gallery in Spooner. It’s an exciting opportunity and I’ll be displaying my watercolors with Gail Threinen’s Chinese Brush paintings. And it marks a celebration of the brand new studio/workspace, Studio 210, on the 2^nd level of the gallery in downtown Spooner. Open: Friday, 4-7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Gail and I will be demonstrating our art throughout the weekend. Plan now to stop by!

This week’s paintings are two in the Liltie Series: Whispering Waves and Sunset Shadows are both 4” x 6” paintings on 300 lb. watercolor paper. 

By and Large

We’re enjoying such lovely weather this June. It’s been a busy time of digging up and planting gardens but this past week, we celebrated a grandson’s home run at his ballgame and enjoyed a couple of days celebrating a Shakespeare Festival at the end-of-the-school-year for three other grandsons! We feel so blessed to live fairly close to several of our families and can take in some of the kidsie’s activities. And we’re near to stop in and help my Mom, too.

After the cold nights of May, the gardens are growing like crazy! We had a lovely display of daffodils, crocuses and muscari in our front meadow area and now we’re on to the big purple alliums (such fun!) and the irises are about ready to bloom.  

This week’s painting, By and Large, refers to a sailing term – “by” means into the wind, while “large” means with the wind. “By and large” is used to indicate that the sailboat handles well, both by and large, in all possible situations. This 8” x 11” watercolor painting captures two By and Large sailing vessels ready to take on the challenge of the open sea.