Thoughts of the River!

We’ve had record snowfall this February – the woods are beautiful outside my door, but I’m weary of moving snow off the driveway, sidewalk, decks and roof! And with the piles towering above my head, there’s no easy place to put the new stuff! In spite of this, there is a sort of survivor camaraderie among our neighbors and friends – they are willing to help, give advice, and remind each other that there’s only four weeks of this left! Ha – I remember last May when a late season snowstorm hit us!

Today I’m especially thankful for a warm house, healthy families, increasing daylight, and full birdfeeders! Indoors, I’m working on new techniques and having a wonderful time painting summer waterscapes. This week’s painting, Rounding the Bend, 11” x 15” watercolor painting, captures a canoeist coming around the bend of a river.

Rocky Point

I must be craving green, so this week’s painting reflects an absolutely summer scene. And with record snowfall and cold, it was the perfect week to stay indoors, set up my easel on the kitchen island, paint something warm, and enjoy a wonderful view from the dining room windows. The heavy snowfall matched with no wind created a magical setting in the woods around our house – the landscape and trees are beautifully softened in white. My friend, Pam, reminded me that this weekend is the annual Book Across the Bay event held in Ashland and Washburn, WI. For many years, a group of us dedicated girlfriends and one year, brave soul Paul even took up the challenge and participated in this adventure – cross-country skiing the 10-K race across the ice of the Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior in the dark! The race starts at 6 p.m. from Ashland and the up to 3,500 skiers, snowshoers and hikers follow a course lighted by ice lights and bonfires on the lake all the way to Washburn. If you’ve never tried this before – it’s well worth putting this on your bucket list!

This week's painting, Rocky Point, 9” x 12” on 300 lb. water paper, captures a summer scene at a secluded, northern lake.

Artists Receptions and Galway Bay

I’m feeling especially blessed this morning. Thank you to all the dear friends who braved extreme temps last night to be at the Artists Reception at the artZ Gallery in Amery. It was such a fun time of gathering with artists and art lovers in the community and being able to share about what inspires me in my paintings. And it was exciting to learn that there were art receptions in all THREE of the Amery galleries last night! That’s a pretty amazing accomplishment - especially for a small town!

My mom is a great supporter of my efforts and recently asked if I could paint a picture of the sun setting on Galway Bay. She remembered a song about it from her high school years. There are lots of pictures of sunsets on the bay, but I found one that focused on the reflected light of the sun going down on the picturesque buildings of the Claddagh community overlooking Galway Bay. This row of buildings is built on an ancient fishing village – one of the first settlements in Ireland. It’s also the home of the original Claddagh ring made by a jeweler in this village. This week’s painting, Sunset on Claddagh, 10” x 15” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, also features the Corrib River which runs through Galway town and into the sea.

Polar Vortex and Penny

We are officially experiencing a polar vortex – have we ever even heard this phrase before?! It’s an amazing phenomenon of plummeting temperatures and record lows. So far, it’s been in the minus 30 and 40 degree range with windchill adding another minus 20 degrees on to that! You know we are into something out of the ordinary when school administrators across the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin make a blanket decision on Monday morning to close all schools for the rest of the week! In the Land of Rare Snow Days, this is incredible. We are in a corporate freeze out – urged to keep our homes at about 60 degrees, dress in layers and make sure all family members and animals stay inside!

In spite of this, it looks like a balmy summer evening on my easel. Dear family members commissioned me to paint a picture of their much-loved horse named Penny. This week’s painting, Penny, is 8” x 12” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, and captures this beautiful horse walking across their prairie pasture.

Gentle Spirits

I found a photo of a dear grandson and thought it would be such fun to paint. His mom grew up on her family farm in western Minnesota, and our grandson, now 3, loves everything about this farm – being outdoors, riding in his grandpa’s tractor and combine, and going down to the pasture to visit with the beloved horses.

It was a process to paint this subject, though. To get the horses right, I used Paul Oman’s technique of drawing everything upside down. Turning the photo and the sketch book upside down literally confuses the brain and makes it much easier to just draw lines and shapes. In the end, it’s amazing how much the sketch looks like the actual photograph.

This week’s painting, Gentle Spirits, is an 8” x 9” watercolor. In a high compliment, our grandson's mom thought the painting perfectly captured the gentle spirit of her childhood horses.

September Swaths

I so enjoy the adventure of painting! For much of my art, I gain inspiration from a special scene or favorite photograph and the process, depending on the complexity of the picture, can be an interesting journey – selecting the photo, determining values (shadows and light), sketching the scene on paper, and then moving the brush from water to paint to paper. And while I start each painting enthusiastically, about halfway through the painting, I have a brief spasm of doubt – this is usually when I whine to Paul that it looks horrible, I’m on the verge of creating mud and this whole thing is not going to work! He listens to the rant, tells me to get back to work and as I relax, continue to move forward and “trust the brush,” suddenly the potential of the painting begins to emerge. It’s this wonderful element of discovery and surprise that makes painting so rewarding.

This week’s painting is a favorite of two rustic buildings, seemingly forgotten, except by the farmer swathing hay in the nearby field. “September Swaths” is a 6” x 12” painting on 300 lb. watercolor paper. See more on the website at www.wildriverarts.com.

Plan now to make a trip in February to the artZ Gallery in Amery, WI! I’ll be one of the feature artists for the month-long “Feb-Hue-Ary” exhibit. The gallery is open Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and the Artists Reception will be held on Friday, February 8, from 5-8 p.m. Join us for this evening of visiting with the artists and enjoying hors d’oeuvres.

Northern Light

It seems a good time to go back to the lighthouses. There is something so special about these structures. Yes, they are built for a specific utilitarian purpose – to warn ships, save lives and protect the cargo, and this purpose demands that they be constructed in some of the most inaccessible, rugged and desolate locations on earth. The stories of their construction are often legendary with suppliers and workers overcoming huge obstacles and literally risking life and limb to accomplish their tasks. While it is basically a structure to house a huge spiral stairway, lighthouses embody the best scientific technology and architectural advances of their time. And people travel from far and near just to take in one more look at their favorite lights. It is one of our all-time favorite roadtrip pastimes – finding a new-to-us, undiscovered light for our travel journal!

This week’s painting, Northern Light, 11” x 15” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, strives to capture the remote landscape of a working lighthouse - and one that is still living its purpose of providing safe passage for sea-going ships.