Respite

At the close of January I left winter for summer, traveling from southeast Minnesota to southeast Queensland, Australia. I spent the next two months there, living with my sister's family, sweltering in the heat and humidity, resting, reading, letting my big sister take care of me, spending time with my growing niece and nephews, getting better acquainted with the place they call home, and, of course, painting.

People:

 I wanted to take this opportunity to work on drawing and painting figures and portraits, especially my niece and nephews.

5 x 7" oil on linen/hardboard. February 1, 2018

 Tired from travel, and settling in, I did a quick study of my niece, who was reading a Calvin & Hobbes book.

 This pencil sketch is the closest I got to getting a likeness of my elusive eldest nephew. Someday I'll get to paint him. :)

7 x 5" oil on linen/hardboard. February 5, 2018

 My niece and I did a lot of drawing and painting together. Here I painted her profile while she worked on an excellent little painting of her dog.

 An allergy discovered: A quick little sketch done for my nephew, who gave us a scare and was spending half the night at the hospital under observation after reacting to eating a prawn.

10 x 8" oil on linen/hardboard. February 12, 2018

A better day, attempting a painting of my youngest nephew. Nothing like being asked to sit still to remind a person of how much he likes to move and all the things he'd like to be doing. (But he kind of tried!)

10 x 8" oil on linen/hardboard.

 Painted over a couple of days, another portrait of my (very patient!) niece reading. Sometimes she read aloud to me, which was just lovely.

Asleep on the train after a long, eventful day. Graphite.

Still life:

 Studies of local flora.

9 x 12" oil on gessoed hardboard. February 3, 2018

 Lilly Pilly. This was painted on a rainy day; a sprig plucked from a shrub by the house with its glossy green leaves and bright pink berries.

10 x 8" oil on linen/hardboard. February 19, 2018

 Though not native, frangipani or plumeria are a common sight, and their fragrance often fills the humid evening air.

10 x 8" oil on linen/hardboard. February 21, 2018

 Eucalyptus leaves and gumnuts, picked up off the path of the neighborhood forest after a rainstorm.

10 x 8" oil on linen/hardboard. March 1, 2018

 Gumnuts again. A different kind of eucalyptus tree with very different shaped leaves and fruit than the first one.

10 x 8" oil on linen/hardboard. March 5, 2018

 Banksia, in a Bundaberg lemonade bottle. I often saw this particular species - I think it's a swamp banksia - with its reddish-brown bottlebrush-like flower stalk and leathery leaves and I knew I wanted to try to paint it.

8 x 10" oil on linen/hardboard. March 9, 2018

 One more gumnut study, this time from a flowering gum tree. The fruit of this one were heavy and ridged, the flowers a lovely pink, slightly bedraggled after heavy rain, and the leaves long and narrow.

10 x 8" oil on linen/hardboard. March 13, 2018

Beach Hibiscus. These grow to be large trees, which my niece and nephews liked to climb. Its bright yellow blossoms only last a day, then fade and fall. Handed to me after a conversation while I was painting one windy day by the bay, I took this flower back to the house with me and painted it that night before it wilted.

Forest:

8 x 6" plein air oil on linen/birch. February 4, 2018

This was the first plein air painting of my visit. My niece and I trekked down to an area in the neighborhood forest and painted in the evening. The trunk of a strangler fig along a small stream. The light didn't last long, however, the mosquitoes began to hum, and the crows in the treetops sounded as though they were laughing at us.

8 x 6" plein air oil on linen/birch. February 6, 2018

 Painted in Point Halloran Conservation Area: a study of midday greens and blues.

6 x 8" plein air oil on linen/birch. March 8, 2018

On Mount Tamborine, downstream from Curtis Falls, upstream from where a colony of fruit bats was hanging out. The light grew dim early down amongst the trees, and a little rain fell in this little bit of rainforest while I painted.

By the bay:

 Tides, mud and sand, wind and rain and sunshine.

7 x 5" plein air oil on linen/birch. February 10, 2018

 Raby Bay. I was all set up to paint when I discovered my brushes were not in with my gear - not one! This little painting of the water was done mostly with pieces of dried leaves off a nearby plant. A rough little color study.

6 x 12" plein air oil on linen/hardboard. February 16, 2018

 Point Halloran, painting while watching the tide go out. In the hot and humid weather it made such a difference to get down to the shore and feel the wind off the water.

9 x 12" plein air oil on linen/hardboard. February 25, 2018

 HMQS Gayundah. Appropriately, perhaps, my time painting this old gunboat "said to be named after an Aboriginal word for lightning" was interrupted by a sudden crack of thunder and lightning as a storm broke overhead. I was happy to get a chance to go back and finish it later in the afternoon as the tide came in.

9 x 12" plein air oil on linen/birch. February 27, 2018

 Wellington Point. Low tide and cloudy skies, looking out towards King Island.

Two 5 x 7" plein air oil paintings on linen/hardboard. February 27, 2018

 Later, as the skies cleared and the wind picked up and blew hard, I walked around the point and painted this one (two) of the red rocks and mangrove tree, as the tide began to come back in. The sunshine brought out such color on the ground and water.

16 x 8" plein air oil on linen/hardboard. February 28, 2018

 Victoria Point. A beautiful old gumtree by the footpath. The water was high, covering the trunks and roots of the mangroves, and the morning shadows dappled the ground.

6 x 12" plein air oil on linen/hardboard. March 2, 2018

 Also at Victoria Point, painting amongst the mangroves. An overcast sky made the colors of the landscape a bit more subdued.

5 x 7" plein air oil on linen/birch. March 4, 2018

 Raby Bay. A little sky and water study. A cloud overhead gave shade and a little rain, and cloud shadows moved across the bay.

6 x 8" plein air oil on linen/birch. March 7, 2018

 Victoria Point: Sky drama and mangroves at the bay. Glimpses of sunshine between rain showers.

Trying to take in and capture something of the colors and textures of sky and sea.

Listening to the wind, the little crabs crawling around the rocks, and the incoming tide.

5 x 7" plein air oil on linen/hardboard. March 13, 2018

 Thompson's Beach, Victoria Point. A little painting done in the wind and an occasional downpour. A beautiful old boat and the fantastic shapes of the mangroves.

9 x 12" plein air oil on linen/hardboard. March 16, 2018

Redland Bay. A quick study of the evening light at the bay; shadows falling across the mangroves and the sand and mud of low tide.

7 x 5" oil on linen/hardboard. March 2018 sold

Point Halloran Conservation Area. I really liked the feel of this place, tidal wetlands where salt and fresh water mix. There was a beautiful harmony in the colors of the wet landscape and sky and the delicate branches of the she-oaks. I would have liked to paint on location there, but the mosquitoes won the battle that day; I took a few photos and waded out. I began this little painting that night while the memory was fresh in my mind.

Mountains, skyscrapers, and ocean waves:

6 x 12" plein air oil on linen/hardboard. March 11, 2018

 Boonah, Queensland, along Mount French Road, looking across pastures towards Moogerah Peaks. The weather passing through alternatingly obscuring and revealing the mountains in the distance.

8 x 16" plein air oil on linen/hardboard. March 12, 2018 sold

 Peak Crossing, Queensland. Sunshine and mountains, and farmland that made me feel a little more at home.

6 x 12" plein air oil on linen/hardboard. March 17, 2018

 The Spit, Goldcoast. A quick study. The waves rolled in and washed around the legs of my easel and retreated again, pulling the sand back to the sea. I held on to make sure my easel didn't go out with the water. My little niece and nephew appointed themselves my protectors, digging trenches and lying on the sand to attempt to block the waves! Such good little buddies. :)

6 x 12" plein air oil on linen/hardboard. March 19, 2018

Mt. Coot-tha: We went up early to the lookout hoping to catch the sunrise over the city of Brisbane. Instead we looked out into fog. I painted this as the sun rose higher in the sky and the fog began to clear.

5 x 7" plein air oil on linen/hardboard. March 19, 2018

The morning sun grew hot and the fog lifted, bringing the city into view. 

6 x 12" plein air oil on linen/hardboard. March 24, 2018

Where the Noosa River meets the sea.

We spent the last weekend of my visit at the Sunshine Coast. I painted with my feet in the sand and the sound of the ocean in my ears.

8 x 10" plein air oil on linen/hardboard. March 24, 2018

 Sunshine Beach. Sand and sea and clouds at dusk.

6 x 8" plein air oil on linen/birch. March 25, 2018

My last painting in Australia: A little study of the water, watching the waves roll in and trying to take in all the color and form and movement. Beautiful day.

Evening on the Rooftop

Detroit, Michigan, four years after my first time there. It was a visit to see family, and it was so good to get a glimpse into their projects and lives. Though it wasn't a painting trip, I brought my gear along just in case, and got this one in on the top of the Jam Handy Building on the evening of August 25th.

Evening on the Rooftop, 11 x 14 inch plein air, oil on linen/hardboard.

Red Wing Plein Air 2015

It's that time of year again!
 Monday: I drove up to Red Wing through pouring rain. It was good to see some familiar faces as well as some new ones at the welcome breakfast, where we were given more information about the week ahead, a schedule, maps, etc. The rain stopped, but then came the wind, whipping the trees outside the depot. It did not look like a good day for painting!

Wind and Wires, 12 x 9 inch plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

 I was also running on very little sleep. Good thing Jim Turner, my painting companion for the day, has twice the energy and enthusiasm of most people and it's a little bit contagious. We drove out toward the country, turning down a long gravel drive that led to a farm. There were a couple of views that caught my interest, but I settled on this little red building that looked like it had seen many years go by. The day was looking sunny and bright at this point, and I commented on the nice breeze to keep the mosquitoes at bay. I had to eat my words when the clouds moved in again and I had to hang onto my easel in the gusts of wind.

South of the Tracks, 8 x 10 inch plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

Later in the day, I found Jim again, this time painting near the railroad - one of the industrial working scenes he captures so well in watercolor. I looked across the tracks and had a go at the patterns of sunshine and shadow. The many lines of the structures in this area of railroad and river work are very difficult for me when painting wet into wet oils. I keep trying to figure out the best way to do it, but it's a work in progress!

Down the Dock, 12 x 9 inch plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

In the evening we had a group event, open to the public, over on the Wisconsin side of the river at the Harbor Bar. Many of us painted until I, at least, was mighty close to being a starving artist, and then we got to enjoy sandwiches or burgers at the restaurant and watch the sunset. After walking around for a while, I sat right at the corner end of this dock. I liked the perspective of the lines of the boards, and that red boat was sure eye-catching. I wonder just how many of us painted it that night!



Tuesday morning I ended up out on winding country roads, exploring. I "wasted" a lot of time and most of the nice morning light! But I found some really cool places I wouldn't have otherwise seen, and saw turkey, deer, groundhogs, and one narrow gravel road that was literally covered in tiny butterflies. Amazing.
 In the afternoon I painting this downtown street. I painted this same street a few years ago, but it's such a pretty one, and I had a different perspective this time. I love the style of these old buildings. The many windows and architectural details on their faces are so challenging to portray or imply in wet paint. Trying to accomplish this, I also appreciate those details even more.

Downtown Tuesday, 9 x 12 inch plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

 In the evening I went back to one of the places I'd discovered on my morning drive: this farm on top of the hills. Reminds me of home, and just look at the shape of that hay field!
 I'm not always successful, but I do love to paint hay. I love the smell of it, and the subtle colors of the stubble between the rows of cut grass, alfalfa, clover. Part way through painting, I saw a tractor coming over the hill. The field I was next to, and almost in, was being raked! The farmer was so kind and I was able to stay put, finish painting, and have a more interesting foreground as the hay was turned up to dry.

The Intricate Land, 11 x 14 inch plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

Wednesday the location of the day was Old Frontenac. What a find. I'd read about it previously (though my memory of the history had faded) and it was lovely to walk around the quiet streets of the historic little town on the river and see some of its wonderful old buildings and beautiful gardens. This white barn caught my eye the first time I made the rounds exploring. Its face, the grapevines that covered the near fence, all the various greens surrounding it. I painted the shadows in while the sun was out, but it didn't stay out. It came and went, and I took my time with this painting, and enjoyed it thoroughly. Met a few of the residents, which was really lovely, and heard some more anecdotes about the place.

Quiet Day on Manypenny Ave, 9 x 12 inch plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

 After a pretty laid-back Wednesday, I was anxious to get out and get painting right away on Thursday. More exploring in Old Frontenac! I ended up down by the river, watching cloud shadows on the bluffs across the river, and their reflections in the water. This is a rather "quiet" painting, but it was nice to take in the scene of the sky and clouds, the currents in the river, the shadows cast by the tree I took shelter under, and a little sand castle left on the beach.

Mississippi Moment, 12 x 9 inch plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

Just after the first one, I turned my easel and painted another looking downriver. More shadows and reflections; the fish weren't biting, but it was a good day for dogs.

Old Man River, 9 x 12 inch plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

Late in the afternoon I went back to my new favorite farm fields to check on the hay. Nice plump round bales stood in the field that had been raked while I had painted previously. The clouds were building, and I painted until I saw rain moving in and heard thunder roll. The evening was spent framing.

Hill-Valley Hay, 14 x 11 inch plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

 Friday was the day to turn in 3 of the paintings done during the week. In the evening was the annual riverfront reception- a chance to be the first to see the show, and the price of the ticket could go toward the purchase of a painting. Good food, and nice to relax a little and visit with people there, including the wonderful volunteers who put it all together. It's really nice to catch up with some of the other artists and see what they found and painted during the week. This year's judge was the talented Mike Rada. First place went to Jim Turner, second to Lisa Stauffer, third to Laura Frykman, and Best Downtown to Ivan Zassavitski. I was very happy to receive an Honorable Mention for my Manypenny Ave painting!

My corner of the gallery on Friday night.

 I had set myself a goal to complete ten paintings this week. Not to focus on cranking out a certain number, but because getting a week away to paint is such a great opportunity and I wanted to take full advantage of that, and experience and learn what I could during a pretty intense time of observation and painting. Saturday morning's 2-hour "quick-paint" met my goal.

Arrived early to scope out my spot before the 9am start time.

Wet painting framed and on display outside the Depot.

Some of the other quick paints.

There were many beautiful paintings done in the two hours allotted for the quick paint. The public and artists voted for the best one - it was hard to choose! This year's winner was Dan Mondloch who had a great little painting of the boat houses.

Ropes and Pilings, 8 x 10 inch plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

This was my fifth year doing this event, and every year I discover new places and, I hope, grow as an artist.
 The show runs through the third week of August. If you're in the Red Wing area, check it out! Info at redwingartsassociation.org.