Light makes all the difference

My husband and I are usually on different schedules – he’s a morning person and loves to get up early and charge into the activities of his day. On the other hand, I’m a night person; typically getting my “second wind” about 7 p.m. and then working on projects late into the night. However, this routine has changed dramatically with Daylight Savings Time. Now, most mornings, I’m up as soon as the first light comes in the window. And a few days ago, I was actually up in time to see the sunrise! This is astonishing – even to me – but it has everything to do with the light.

In a recent drawing class, the instructor said that we can’t have light without shadows. And it is in the creating of deeper shadows, that we become more aware of the light. Isn’t that amazing? This is especially true when working with watercolors where there is no pure white color. The white or light spaces in a watercolor painting are intentional and have to be well thought out ahead of time by the artist. I’ve thought about this statement so often, and in my art, I’m more conscious of the tremendous role shadows play in creating light as well as depth and balance.

This week, my painting is all about light. Celtic Sunset – 11”x15” Watercolor, portrays the sun setting on the Wild Atlantic Way, a rugged driving route along the west coast of Ireland.

 

 

Sheep on my easel!

Even though the weather doesn’t always cooperate, we are “officially” into the Summer season here – the dock is in! Dedicated fisherfolk are already cruising up and down the lake, but we tested the water temp on Saturday, and it’s still icy cold! We'll wait awhile before jumping in.

But it’s the perfect time for tree planting which is one of my all-time favorite activities. Our yard is surrounded by a wonderful deciduous forest of Maple, Oak, Ash, and Cherry trees, but we missed the color of evergreens and wanted more privacy. This past Monday morning, Gregg’s Tree Farm delivered ten 10’ Blue Spruce trees to our house. They are beautiful trees and from the amount of rocks the crew dug up in each of the plantings, we’re assured the trees should be happy here. It so reminded me of artist Bob Ross’ comment from his TV show: “Let’s just add some happy trees here!” In the process of this planting, Monday also happened to be the day that the Luck tree service arrived to clean up some dead trees, and the arborists worked through the afternoon to take out two trees. It was an eventful day, but what a transformation! We are so enjoying more light in the yard and the lovely green of the Spruce trees.

Recently, I took a “Learning to Draw” class led by artist Paul Oman. It was a wonderful experience and gave me tools for moving outside my comfort zone in drawing and made a tremendous difference in my willingness to paint new subjects.

My painting, Free Grazing – 9”x12” Watercolor, portrays sheep in a meadow along the coast of Ireland. A few years ago, Irish farmers were having a grazing dispute with the government, and as a collective and in a demand for justice, they had all simply opened their gates. At that time, we were traveling in the Connemara region. As we maneuvered the narrow roadways, we were always mindful of the roaming flocks of sheep, especially in the evenings as they would bed down on the warm asphalt of the roads. It was an amazing adventure and such a beautiful memory.

Free Grazing - 9"x12" Watercolor

Spring Projects

We are so enjoying the sights and sounds of Spring. Last week, we saw three pairs of Sandhill cranes – including one pair leisurely walking across the road in front of us! What a wonderful sight! And it was a thrill to welcome two bluebirds to the house in our front yard yesterday. In the midst of chaos in the world around us, I’m thankful for the incredible rituals of this season and the ability to see God’s hand in the rhythm of each day – the lengthening of the light, return of the songbirds, fresh smell of dirt, and new buds on trees. We are blessed!

I’ve been away from my art for a while – it’s been a busy time with family and spring projects! This time of year, I always start getting restless to be outdoors working on yard and garden projects. Since it still looks like the “thawing of permafrost” out our back door, it seemed to make sense to tackle a simple indoor project like putting glass into the fronts of a couple of kitchen cabinets. Unfortunately, plans don’t always go as expected, and the project somehow morphed into a full-scale painting of our kitchen cabinets! While the mess of living with all your kitchen contents piled up on tables, chairs and floor is unbelievable, the effort was totally worth it. And I really need to share the story of how we chose the color.

In May 2007, I traveled with my mom to Holland. It was my first trip out of the U.S., and we went to visit our dear family friends, Val and Alvin Jordan and their children in Nijmegen. My dad and Alvin were in business together for 25 years, but the connection for me with the family occurred in 1994 when their 14-year old daughter, Katy, came to live at our home for a few weeks that summer. Katy had been struggling with school and her friends, and the experience turned out to be life-changing, not only for Katy, but for all of us. This trip was a wonderful opportunity for me to visit with the family and reconnect with the “grown up” Katy and her fiancé, Maarten, in their new home. When we got there, Maarten was helping paint their kitchen cabinets a lovely shade of blue-gray-green. When I exclaimed about the beautiful color, he grabbed a sheet of paper and swiped a paintbrush across it. I’ve carried that “color swatch” with me ever since. In starting this project, I brought the swatch to our friend, Angi, who owns the fabulous hardware store in Balsam Lake, and she matched the color perfectly! Here’s a view of our new “Holland Green” kitchen.

 

 



This painting, Rocky Shore – 12”x18” Watercolor, was completed just before we launched the kitchen project!

 

 

Trip to the North Shore

Early in February, we traveled up to Grand Marais, MN, to attend a two-day art workshop at the Art Colony. It turned into an eventful trip with a heavy snowstorm starting in Two Harbors and continuing all the way into Grand Marais, but it was a beautiful drive with huge snowflakes covering the trees and woods along scenic Highway 61. It’s always an inspiring sight to come over the hill on the south end of Grand Marais and see the panoramic view out across the beautiful waters of Lake Superior. At the time, the lake was completely open with no trace of ice even along the shoreline!

And traveling with our dog, Maddie, is always an adventure; it can be a formidable challenge to find hotels that allow pets. We are thankful that on our trips to the North Shore, we’ve found two that provide pet-friendly accommodations – the Voyageur Motel at Two Harbors and the Aspen Inn in Grand Marais.

Day One of the art workshop focused on helping us move our art practice from a hobby level to a business perspective. Through discussion and hands-on exercises, the facilitator challenged us to begin the process of self assessment and setting achievable goals. This initial step involved defining our individual strengths and the barriers (we may perceive) to accomplishing our goals, determining a vision of what’s possible, and then developing tangible goals for achieving one’s dreams. Day Two focused on cataloging art, learning how to price your work, and creating a viable marketing plan.

This week, my painting is called Quiet Cove – 11”x17” Watercolor and reflects some of the incredible beauty and rugged landscape of the North Shore of Lake Superior.

 

 

 

Snow again!

You know it’s March because of the crazy weather! Yesterday was a “balmy” day, and we went for a long walk up to see if we could see the otters. In the past, we’ve seen up to three otters playing and swimming on Big Blake Lake, and it’s the time of year when they are usually out. We didn’t see otters, but the Trumpeter Swans on the creek were a wonderful sight. The ice is still covering the lake, but it has thinned to the point that the ice fisherguys have given up. Then last night, we had our first big thunderstorm of the season – with wild thunder and lightning and tornado sightings just across the border in Minnesota. And this morning, we woke up to the ground covered with snow again!

In spite of the weather, we have hope for Spring! One of my favorite subjects for painting is scenes from the Wild Atlantic Way region. Running along the western edge of Ireland – from Donegal in the North to Dingle Peninsula in the South – this area encompasses Connemara and some of the prettiest and most rugged landscapes we’ve ever seen. In the area around Roundstone, County Galway, they tell the story – God had created the rest of the world and as it was getting close to the 7^th day, he just decided to get rid of all the rest of His rocks all in one spot. It literally looks like it “rained” rocks, and the land is covered with randomly placed, huge boulders.

One of my recent paintings is of Coumeenoole Beach, Dingle, County Kerry, 9”x12” Watercolor. My husband, Paul, thinks it’s me and our wonderful cocker spaniel, Maddie, walking on the beach!

Waiting on Spring – Early March

It’s that in-between season – the snow may be gone, but it’s definitely not Spring yet! Our yard is still frozen, and most days, the sun tricks you into thinking it’s much warmer than it actually is. So this is the time of year when I take out all my gardening journals, re-read articles and soak up all the green on the pages! And it’s always fun for me to re-read my favorite all-time gardening author, Cassandra Danz, in her “Mrs. Greenthumbs” books. Although she’s gone, her humor, practical ideas and gardening tips are timeless.

But the signs of Spring are all around us! Behind our house is a wildlife refuge with a creek that stays open all year round. The past few weeks have been noticeably more noisy – especially about dusk each day as the flocks of Trumpeter Swans and Canadian Geese come in for the night. And a pair of Bald eagles are feeding their young in a nest at the top of a huge White Pine near the mouth of the creek.  We feel tremendously blessed to have all this activity so near our house!

It’s also Maple Syrup time! Due to unseasonably warm weather, syrup buckets are already hung on maple trees around our neighborhood. In larger tracts of land, long lines of plastic tubing run from tree to tree throughout the woods collecting the sap in huge vats to be processed into the yummy Maple Syrup.

And the longer days and increasing light help me feel more energy! “Poppies in the Field” – 11”x14” Watercolor is one of the latest pieces off my easel.  

 

 

A new journey – February 2017

After years of working in the communication field, I’m venturing into a new creative phase of my life. This blog is about these adventures – a place to record thoughts from our busy life in the woods of northwestern Wisconsin and to display my artwork.

This is the first time in my life that I’ve had the opportunity to pursue creating art on a full-time basis, and I’m so enjoying it. Working with watercolors continues to be a learning experience – it forces me to just put the color on the paper and not fuss with too many of the details. This is an effort for me as I’m typically a detail-oriented person, and it’s been an ongoing lesson of being able to recognize when, “it’s done.”

While I’ve painted in oil and acrylic earlier in my life, about three years ago, I took my first class in watercolor through the Art Colony in Grand Marais. Spencer Meagher was the artist instructor, and I had such a wonderful time learning to work in this medium. The theory is to load color on your brush and get it quickly on the paper. The fusing of colors and the way the colors interact is really exciting. I’m inspired by the landscapes around me – we live in an area of lakes and woods, so I enjoy painting scenes from here and along the shores of Lake Superior. Over the past few years, we’ve had opportunities to travel to visit friends in Holland and Ireland several times. The incredible scenery found in these regions continues to inspire my painting.

This painting, Birches in Snow, was painted in a wonderful workshop led by Paul Oman, watercolorist of Amery, WI.