Monday, April 24, 2023

Spring Solo

 From March to mid-April I took over the walls of the Blue Heron Coffeehouse in Winona, Minnesota.

Hanging the exhibit. Whew! That was a lot of work!

The Blue Heron is a delightful place to visit - the menu is always changing with the seasons, always good, and I've long admired their commitment to sourcing ingredients from local small farmers, including my own family.
They have a beautiful space dedicated to showing art, and they put out a wonderful spread for the opening reception on March 3rd.

Dandelion Time; 16 x 20" oil on linen/birch. Sold


It was a pretty special night, filled with meaningful meetings and conversations, and the opportunity to share the work many months in the making.

A small collection of still life paintings.

I painted this piece, a small study of Virginia Springbeauty flowers, in May a few years ago. I love these little flowers, with their star-like blooms lifted skyward in the sunshine or closed and nodding downward when the light is dim.

Virginia Spring Beauty; 8 x 6" oil on linen/birch, painted from life. Sold

I was so pleased to meet the collector of this piece, and hear the story of how she had transplanted some of these very flowers to the place she now calls home.



The main wall of the Blue Heron exhibit space, showing larger studio works representing each season.


This piece was painted at Farmers Community Park near Winona over a couple of days in early spring, while the grass grew green, fish jumped, and leaves began to unfurl on the gooseberry brambles.


Spring Conversations; 11 x 14" plein air oil on linen/birch. Sold




Small plein air pieces, all between 7x10 - 10x10 inches, arranged from spring to winter.



A new studio piece, worked up from a plein air experience from this past winter.

Moonlight and Frost; 16 x 20" oil on linen/birch. Sold

A smaller study was painted from life, out on the edge of the orchard one frosty night in early January. Snow clung heavily to all the twigs and branches, and the light from the moon, rising ever higher in the sky behind me, cast soft shadows and illuminated the mess of footprints in the snow.






This piece was inspired by a night out painting in the fields a couple of winters ago.

Crossing Paths; 16 x 20 oil on linen/birch. Sold

The colors were unbelievable - the light from the setting sun caught the dry grasses, treetops, and tangled tracks that broke the surface of the snow. And in the east, the moonrise. I wanted to visit it again.


Many thanks to the Blue Heron, and to everyone who stopped by the night of the opening and throughout the exhibit!


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