Starting Over

The carefree days of summer really ended for us on July 19. The storm that roared through our area that night left a path of devastation and the resulting clean-up process has consumed a lot of our days. Our entire place is under construction – from already moving the boat to repair/winter storage, repairing decks and submerged boat dock, repainting, roof and siding replacement and rebuilding the stonework and landscaping in the front yard. It’s been a month since I’ve ventured out the back gardens for a good weeding – simply because there was no place to even move rescued plants and it seemed overwhelming to try to rebuild the framework. But now the days are cooler – fall is here and I’m more energized to get busy. We are so grateful for good insurance coverage (and a terrific agent) and for the health and energy to start over!

And we are so thankful for supportive family and friends. When we were faced with no electricity – it was off for 8 days while crews struggled to repair the lines – wonderful friends offered the use of their son and his wife’s cabin. We are so glad we accepted their generous offer – the cabin became a special haven of peace and quiet after the noise of chain saws all day. This week’s painting, Welcoming Cottage, 9” x 12” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, features this special place surrounded by a lovely handmade picket fence.

Revisiting the Lake!

I’ve been asked to teach a watercolor class this fall at the Frederic Arts Center in Frederic, WI. The details are still working out, but it looks like Saturday, October 19, will work. It’s a wonderful space and I’m so looking forward to sharing this time with others who are interested in learning about watercolor painting. Watch for more details coming soon!

This week’s painting is one of my favorite scenes, but wanted to see if it might fit the format and timeframe of this class. R & R, 9” x 11” captures what this oft-used expression means to me!

Summer, Interrupted!

It’s been two weeks since I’ve painted. Two weeks ago, a derecho – a weather system boasting 80 mph straight-line winds mixed with tornados - went through our area. The system traveled across Central Minnesota and wrecked havoc all the way to Green Bay, Wisconsin. In our little lake community, power lines were scattered, boats were overturned and sunk on the lake, and we lost over 500 mature trees – with 12 of them falling on both sides of our house. Fortunately, except for minor damage to the house, vehicles and yard, we are all o.k. We were thankful Gov. Evers declared a state of emergency – electricity was out for 8 days in our area so the call alerted power and tree crews in the region who came with equipment to clean up the mess.

This week’s painting, Summer Fleet, 9” x 11” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, reflects wonderful days of summer on the water.

In Stillwater!

We spent the afternoon hanging art and creating a display space in the beautiful Stillwater Art Guild Gallery in Historic Downtown Stillwater. It is an honor to be one of the 22 new members in this creative gallery! If you’re in the area, plan to join us for the Opening Reception in the Gallery on Friday, August 9, 5-8 p.m. located on the north end of Main Street, Stillwater. 

Ewe Betcha!

A few years ago, we traveled with my mom to visit with our dear friends, the Jordan family, in Holland and then went on to spend four days in Ireland. It was a wonderful time of re-connecting with these friends who have become family to us and seeing amazing sights. It was especially fun to show her some of our favorite places along the western coast of Ireland.  However, after a day of seemingly endless stops to take “one more” photo of sheep, she asked: “Deb, how many sheep pictures do you need?” And my response was: “Can you ever have enough pictures of sheep?”

So here we are again! This week’s painting, Ewe Betcha, 9” x 13” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, bears a creative name by my husband, Paul, and features a favorite black-faced sheep on a rocky hillside in the Connemara region of Ireland.

Celebrating Songbirds!

This is our 5^th summer in our “lake” home and it has been a wonderful summer of watching birds, butterflies, and even Luna Moths flit around the yard! After a long winter of watching Monty Don’s BBC gardening shows, Paul and I dug up the back yard and created a perennial and vegetable garden. It’s been a labor of love – well, for one of us! Paul says he’s not a gardener, but he is a patient enabler of my gardening habit and a willing participant in planting trees, hauling in rocks (yes, we are crazy!) for garden edging, building “bug hotels” with the grandkids, and planting plants and trees to attract bees and butterflies. The result is that the garden is thriving in spite of frequent visits by two yearling deer, our birdhouses are full and the feeders are busy!

I’ve been having a good time painting some of these favorite visitors. The two-month long Natural Heritage Project: Migratory Birds exhibit closed today at the Watershed Café in Osceola, WI. And a very special thanks to the folks who purchased my painting that was displayed in this exhibit, Rose-breasted Grosbeak. It’s so nice to know it’s going to a good home.

This week’s painting, Flash of Color, 9” x 13” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, captures a male Cardinal pausing for a moment in a deep woods.  A beautiful photograph, taken by my friend Ruth Ronning, was my inspiration and this was such fun picture to paint! For more information or to purchase paintings, see www.wildriverarts.com

Light and Shadows II

Last night I attended a lecture/demo by Lynn Maderich at the Stillwater Art Guild Gallery. I'll be joining the Stillwater Gallery as a member in August 2019, and this was a great opportunity to meet members of the community and learn new techniques in art. Lynn is a graduate of the Atelier School of Art and an accomplished painter and teacher. She talked about the Atelier method of realism drawing and demonstrated her incredible talent in making her horses come alive through the effective use of shapes, edges and shadows in her paintings. The focus of all paintings is FINDING THE LIGHT and her demonstration on how to bring more light into our paintings was so insightful.

This week’s painting, Fox Light, 6” x 12” watercolor painting, explores that wonderful intense light that often occurs just before sunset – highlighting the contours of the landscape and casting dark shadows on the evening sky.