Hallmark season and Jam!

Yup – we’ve fallen under the spell and into the annual tradition of tuning into the plethora of holiday movies on the, not one, but TWO, Hallmark Channels that we get at our house. The plots are fairly similar, but the characters and stories make each one a little different. Yesterday, after a rainy day of watching several in a row, my husband declared we should just put up the Christmas tree! Haha! No, I’m savoring these last days of a colorful Fall. I’ve cleaned up the gardens but left most of the perennial flowers still standing – they provide good food and shelter for birds and critters over the winter months.

This week’s painting takes me to one of our favorite places. With all the projects of the summer and busy family activities, we didn’t get up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan this year. We love driving through northcentral Wisconsin through the Porcupine Mountains and on up the Keeweenaw Peninsula to Copper Harbor. Along the way, we always stop at the sweet Jampot Shop near Eagle Harbor. Located on the shores of Lake Superior and operated by Byzantine monks of the St. John Order at the Poor Rock Abbey, the Jampot offers handmade jams, jellies and bakery items. If you’re fortunate, you’ll be greeted by Father Basil at the counter. He probably won’t have time to visit – there’s usually a line running right out the front door and down the steps! Supported soley by monies generated by the Jampot, this group of monks are also dedicated gardeners and cultivate wonderful rose gardens in the midst of this harsh northern climate. The Jampot,  9”x 11” watercolor painting, captures this wonderful little shop in a quiet moment on a lovely summer day.

October Color

It’s so nice to live in a place that has four seasons. Fall is surely a favorite – my husband Paul and I were married in a small church in the heart of the Upper St. Croix River valley in late September so it’s a special time of the year for us. And I love the changing colors in the woods, cooler temps (no humidity or bugs!) and that it’s time to bake apple pies! It’s a tradition at our house to bake apple pies and then deliver them to our grown kid’s homes. The fun begins with picking apples at the nearby orchard and at the small farm located along the road to our house. I love mixing varieties and most pies include apples with fabulous names such as Haralson, Haralred, Connell Red, Fireside, Regent, Sweet Tango, Honey Crisp and an unknown wonderfully crisp variety from our friend Earl’s trees. This year, the pie delivery task took us from Blake Lake to Stillwater to Apple Valley to Minnetonka and then into the heart of St. Paul where one of our families was attending a play. We left a warm pie on the front seat of their truck! I’m hoping you have special traditions at your house this time of year, too!

This week’s painting brings me back to sheep! Greener Pastures, a 9” x 12” watercolor painting, celebrates cooler temps and the wonderful free-grazing sheep of Ireland following their leader to greener grass. 

Birds on the Wing

It’s that time of year, and our feeder is already reflecting the loss of songbirds as they begin their migration south for the winter. The Baltimore Orioles and Hummingbirds were actively feeding just last week, but today the pots of grape jelly are only sought after by the loud-buzzing Orchard (Mason) bees. This year, the Bluebirds arrived right on schedule in mid-April – it’s always a thrill for me when they show up in the yard and decide to make our bluebird house their home. I’m out there daily with mealy worms to make sure they stay! But this year, they were forced to leave early because their house was destroyed in the storm. I’m hoping they found shelter in a safe place and were able to have another batch of fledglings before they headed south.

This week’s painting reflects one of my favorite moments every year. Bluebird Returns, 10” x 12” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, captures a bluebird resting in the wooded canopy of Spring.

Remembering Barns

In the July 19 storm of tornadoes and straight-line winds that hit our area, I rode out the storm in my car. It was 5:30 p.m. and I was on my way home from working that day at the art gallery. When I turned north off the main highway, it started to spatter rain, and as I came to a clearing in the woods, I could see the sky had changed dramatically. A black arch of clouds stretched across the northern sky and under this dark band, the sky was a weird teal color. It was too late to turn back and by the time I crossed the Apple River, the winds were whipping trees around and it was raining so hard that I could only see the center line of the road. I intended to pull into one of my favorite farms – they had a beautiful 3 -story barn and were in the process of remodeling their farm home. Unfortunately, it was raining so hard I couldn’t see their driveway, so I continued on for about 1/8 of a mile and pulled in behind another stopped vehicle. It was a surreal experience – sitting in my parked car, praying out loud, listening to the wind and watching the fury of the storm through the windshield wipers. Unbelievably, I sent a couple of texts to Paul and he, from the basement at home with our terrified critters, responded. I sat on that road for about 40 minutes while the storm raged. At one point the winds were so strong, I felt all four wheels of the car lift off the ground for a few seconds and then gently settle back down on the roadway. Thanks be to God! When the storm finally eased, I backed the car up to turn around in the farm driveway and saw a horrifying sight. The roof of the farmhouse was torn off and all that was left of the barn were remnants of the first-floor block foundation. One of the two concrete silos that stood next to the barn was also gone with concrete rubble strewn in a broad path all the way up to the road. It was a long journey home that evening. With downed powerlines and huge trees on the road, it took a tremendous effort by friends and neighbors with chainsaws and another three hours to go the last few miles to home. And it is with a grateful heart that I share this - knowing that, despite the overwhelming and widespread damage, no lives were lost and we were all brought through safely. 

We lost several classic and round barns in our area this summer due to storms. This week’s painting, Before the Storm, 9” x 12” on 300 lb. watercolor paper, offers a tribute to the loss of these wonderfully built barns. 

Let’s paint a barn!

You are invited to join me for a watercolor class at the Frederic Arts Center, Frederic, WI, on Saturday, October 19, from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. The class will be held  in the wonderfully restored one-room schoolhouse located near the lake in this beautiful town. With the arrival of Fall weather, I thought it would be perfect time to paint a barn! This week’s painting, Harvest Barn, 8" x 10" will be the template we use for the class. 

The class fee is $40 plus $10 for materials, and you can plan to bring your painting home ready to frame! For more information or to register for the class, see the Frederic Arts Center website. Hope you can join me for a day of celebrating fall and playing with color!  

International Dog Day!

There are so many celebratory days during the year, but a day dedicated to recognizing the value that dogs add to our lives just makes me happy! International Dog Day was August 26 this year, and the raising and keeping of dogs has been an important part of my life. Currently we share our home with Maddie, a 12-year-old, black Cocker Spaniel dog who has such a gentle spirit and is generous with us most of the time. She enjoys having her food in her bowl for breakfast and then another half portion at 5 p.m. Yes, it needs to be 5 p.m. – otherwise, she’s following us around the kitchen, making snuffle-y noises and generally being a pest. She hates thunderstorms and fireworks, and loves sleeping on the bed, taking car rides and rolling down the car windows by herself, going for walks and occasional “pup cup”treats at the local Dairy Queen.  

This week’s painting, Dog Day!, 9” x 12” watercolor painting, celebrates the joyous nature of dogs and captures a young woman walking her dog off leash across the subdued tapestry of an Irish landscape on an overcast day.

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.