Red Wing Plein Air - 2017

Tuesday, June 20th

Hello again, Red Wing!

After checking in at the Depot Gallery and getting a bunch of panels stamped for the event, I drove up to Memorial Park on Sorin's Bluff, which has a great view looking over the city, and is a perfect place for watching the sun set.

Painting a view like this is very different from what I usually paint, and trying to simplify all the shapes and colors of the houses and buildings and trees below was a big challenge for me. I liked the slanting shadows that could be seen across the street below, the bright greens of the trees and the clearing on the west end of Barn Bluff, and the long view over to Wisconsin in the distance.

June 20, 2017. Summer Begins in Red Wing - 12 x 9" oil on linen/hardboard

Wednesday, June 21st.

Hiking up to the top of Barn Bluff with an easel and bag full of gear on my back isn't exactly enjoyable, but once at the top it is so worth it. The Prairie Trail wends its way through blowing grasses and wildflowers to the eastern tip of the bluff, which overlooks the head of Lake Pepin.

I've painted here before, and this time I brought an 8 x 16 panel to paint, to capture more of the wide view. 

Half-way into blocking in color.

I really enjoyed working out in paint the shapes and patterns of the river here. A beautiful puzzle.

Worth the Hike - 8 x 16" oil on linen/hardboard. June 21, 2017

Notes for next time: Eat a bigger breakfast - cheddar crackers just don't cut it. Wear sunscreen - the wind may make using a hat or umbrella difficult.

Favorite overheard story while painting: "Grandma was smart to bring him up here! No wonder Grandpa fell in love with her!"

Dinner with some of my favorite painters, and then back out. I headed to Wacouta, where I also did some painting and exploring last year. Looks like the fields were planted with rye again - so pretty! And there was something very homey to me in the subtle, sweet fragrance of the field in the evening.

I walked down a little ways on Rattlesnake Bluff Trail to get closer to this corner with its contrast of shadow and light on the standing grain.

Around the Bend - 9 x 12" oil on linen/hardboard. June 21, 2017

 Thursday, June 22nd.
Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain.
A soggy, gray day. Artist Jim Turner suggested we go paint at Kelly's Taphouse, as we'd seen a good viewpoint from their patio the day before. They were so gracious and let us move tables and chairs and set up our easels to get almost out of the rain. It was so wet and humid that Jim's watercolors wouldn't dry! My oils worked out a bit better. The rain came and went and came again, but all the moisture in the air lent a nice depth to the scene of boat houses and Barn Bluff. Of course, I like my trees, and these two stood out so full and sharp in the wet weather.

100% Chance of Rain - 9 x 12" oil on linen/hardboard. June 22, 2017 sold

Late evening the clouds finally began to break, and I tried to capture a bit of that standing under Maiden Rock and looking out over Lake Pepin. When I was nearly finished, the sun broke through just before setting and the whole sky and river was aflame with pinks and orange and gorgeousness. I may have to attempt that scene in a studio painting in the future!

Departing Rain over Point-No-Point - 8 x 16" oil on linen/hardboard. June 22, 2017

Friday, June 23rd.
Headed out painting with Jim again, but I left him painting what would become an award winning piece, and backtracked to visit these cattle I'd seen on the way. This time of year is so green in Minnesota, but there are still a lot of variations and I want to be able to show the richness of the landscape without making it boring. There is always a lot to learn.
The clouds began moving in as the day progressed, and their shadows moved across the growing corn in the field beyond the pasture.

Noon at the Watering Hole - 10 x 8" oil on linen/hardboard. June 23, 2017

In the afternoon I ended up at Flower Valley Vineyard on Orchard Road. I'd driven past this barn before and knew I wanted to paint it. The dark clouds moving through set off its red sides nicely. It was built in 1872, and has beautiful stonework and narrow horizontal boards; barn swallows nest under its eaves.

The weather alternated between rain and sunshine, with occasional umbrella-flipping wind gusts.

One Hundred Forty-Five - 8 x 10" oil on linen/hardboard. June 23, 2017

Friday evening we all turned in three framed paintings to be hung for the show, and had a little gathering with the artists and arts association volunteers (and food!) which was really nice.

Saturday, June 24th.

Quick paint from 9 to 11 am! The sun came out just in time. The wind blew out of the north and it was surprisingly cold for a June day. Half-way through painting I ran back to my car to grab a sweater - it's hard to paint a straight line in the first place without adding shivering to the mix!

This spot is just across the street from the depot, and it always catches my eye. I liked how the morning light caught the wind-blown trees and grasses and made them stand out against the dark background of old brick.

Quick paint on my easel. A Little Wild Place - 8 x 10" oil on linen/hardboard.

This year's judge was Joshua Cunningham. I became acquainted with him and his work the first year that I was part of this event - in 2011 - and have been a fan ever since. He did a demo in the afternoon, through occasional spits of rain and amidst a mostly shivering crowd of onlookers, who sometimes left to go find jackets or coffee. It was great to watch his painting develop and have a chance to ask questions. 

My four paintings in the show.

I was surprised and so very grateful to receive Best of Show for my painting "Worth the Hike"!

I had a great time in Red Wing painting, and meeting and reconnecting with some wonderful people while there. Thank you to everyone who helped make it happen, and to those of you who stopped by the opening! The show will be up till July 30th, 2017. Stop in and see all the new work, and pick out your own favorites. :)

Suppertime

"Suppertime", 6 x 8" plein air, oil on linen/hardboard.

This afternoon, after so many gloomy days, the clouds at last broke and the sun peaked through, casting long shadows and illuminating the seeding dandelions and the fields, lush from all the rain. The cows grazed in the long grass.

I had a fine time, but the dogs were bored to sleep.

The chickens, after some suspicion, decided I wasn't a threat.

October's Bright Blue Weather

I know, I know, November is two-thirds over already. It's snowing outside at the moment. But here's a look back at October.

***

October 1st I met up with a great group of artists at Evansen Art Studio in Hastings, Minnesota to spend a day painting. In the evening the show was hung and there was a public reception. There were sure a lot of beautiful paintings and some of the them were featured in a silent auction at the Hastings Prescott Area Arts Council gala on November 4th.

Here are the two that I painted:

Another Season, 9 x 12" plein air oil on linen/hardboard. 

Fruit on the Vine, 12 x 9" plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

As the daylight hours became fewer, I didn't often get out to paint, or have long to work when I did. But I just love the light and color of this time of year, so it was good to get out and soak it in. This is a smaller painting, so I could try to capture those gorgeous lines and colors in a short time before sunset on October 17th.

Pastures in October, 6 x 8" plein air oil on linen/hardboard. 

October 22: Time to get out into the woods. These back-lit birch trees caught my eye, with the golden poplars in the background, and all the wild asters that had gone to seed lit up with the low sun.

Some cattle broke through a fence somewhere and came up behind me and stared. They weren't impressed.

Birch Grove - Late Afternoon, 9 x 12"plein air oil on linen/birch panel.

October 24: Another race against the sunset! I never tire of those curving fields with their varying colors and textures. Many of the trees in the woods had already lost their leaves, but the aspens and oaks still were a sight to behold with their vibrant yellows and rusty reds.

Late October Color, 9 x 12" plein air oil on linen/birch panel.

***

I've only been out once so far this month, on November 4th. I painted quickly, as the light and shadows changed as the sun sank down beyond the neighboring bluffs, and the girl tending the fire didn't hold still. But it was one of those clear-sky days, with the smell of fallen leaves, and perfect for a little campfire supper.

November Campfire, 9 x 12" plein air oil on linen/birch panel.

Red Wing Plein Air 2016

June 20-25 - time once again for the Red Wing plein air festival! This was my 6th year participating. Every year brings a chance to get to know the Red Wing area a little better. I found some new (to me) places this year, and revisited old ones.

 My first painting of the week was on a farm that I'd admired and painted from a short distance away a few years ago. This time I got a closer look, and painted from another angle. It's such a beautiful place. The bittersweet beauty of these lovely old structures, with some rust, chipping paint, and failing shingles juxtaposed against the blue sky and lush greens of a summer landscape. These buildings are old and run-down. But they're still standing.

Still Standing, 9 x 12" plein air oil on linen/hardboard. sold

Monday night was a picnic and paint event at the Harbor Bar in Hagar City, WI. I didn't do a painting there myself, but enjoyed some good food and watching other artists work. Afterwards I headed back out with my gear to try to capture the moonrise. The Full Strawberry Moon. I chose a spot facing a place called Rattlesnake Bluff and a field of tall standing grain. I am not at all an experienced painter of nocturnes! If the folks in that neighborhood looked out and saw someone with an easel under a streetlight, with a cellphone for extra light, flailing around trying to avoid biting insects... well, I know who it was.

Moon Rising over Rattlesnake Bluff, 9 x 12" plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

 Tuesday. Time for a hike. Before the week began I treated some of my clothing with permethrin, so I could go into fields and woods with a little less worry over insect bites - especially from ticks, which have been pretty bad this year. I gathered all my gear - easel, paints, umbrella, etc. and hiked up Mt. La Grange, a.k.a. Barn Bluff. It was a hot hike, but there was a good strong breeze at the top. I followed the Prairie Trail all the way to the east end of the bluff, and found a nice out-of-the-way spot to paint, with a view of the river.

 Here's where I was set up:

Here's what I painted:

Prairie Trail View, 11 x 14 plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

The evening found many of us up on the neighboring bluff-top (you can drive up this one) at Memorial Park, painting the sunset on the first day of Summer. What a gorgeous night to watch the sky.

Beginning of Summer, End of the Day, 8 x 10" plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

Wednesday - a day that alternated between flat, overcast skies and intense sunshine. I returned to Old Frontenac and took a walk around the neighborhood. Had to go back and visit the barn I painted last year. I found another artist working nearby, and decided to join her and paint a different view of the same place I admired so much last time. It has such a great old face, and I appreciate it all the more after struggling with the perspective of it and trying to get all the windows and doors to fit in their proper places. I'm also glad the owner hadn't gotten around to painting the old gate yet - the variations and the wood showing through gave me more color to work with. And the great old trees provided a fine backdrop.

J's Barn, 9 x 12" plein air oil on linen/hardboard. sold

 Thursday morning started out cloudy and rainy, and I was so tired that my plans of getting an early start to the day just didn't happen. I drove around for awhile, got lost, and eventually got a better feel for one area outside of town, but no painting happened. After the rain stopped, it was still a very cool day. Perfect for another hike. This time I went up the other side of Barn Bluff, following the Quarry Trail with its cliff rising up on one side and the steep hill dropping off on the other. A fallen tree caught my eye and I had a go at painting it. The mosquitoes, when I was still, sitting in one place, were terrible, and I'd forgotten my bug spray. An extra shirt wrapped around my head helped keep the humming hoards away, and I could enjoy myself. I love being in the woods. The backdrop of cliff, rock, and gravel is quite different than what I usually paint and was a good challenge, and I reveled in painting the moss that covered the root flare of the fallen tree.

Quarry Trail Afternoon, 11 x 14" plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

By the time I'd cleaned up and hiked back down the bluff, the day was far spent. I wanted to do one more painting, though, and headed back to the area I'd explored in the early part of the day. The sun was getting low - a beautiful light, but a fleeting one. I set up near a farm, hoping to paint the cows, but also eyeing up the steeple on the horizon. After I'd sketched in the latter, the obliging bovines slowly grazed their way right to where I wanted them and I painted them in too.

Grazing in the Thistles, 9 x 12" plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

Friday was the day to pick three paintings, frame, and deliver them to the gallery to be hung. A private reception was held Friday evening, and awards were announced. I was so happy to receive an Honorable Mention on my first painting, "Still Standing"!

 This year's judge was Kathie Wheeler. I was first introduced to her and her work the first year I did this event, and I've been a fan ever since. 

Saturday morning was the quick paint. I had picked the spot I planned to paint the night before, but the morning started out hot, with a promise of getting even hotter, and the spot I'd picked was in full sun. I changed course, and ended up painting something different than what I'd planned, and also sort of revisited something I'd painted last year. But I don't regret it. It's amazing, though, how quickly two hours go by when trying to paint a complicated mass of ropes and cables in changing light.

Ropes and Pulley, 8 x 10" plein air oil on linen/hardboard.

The show will be hung till late August, and can be seen at the Depot Gallery in Red Wing, Minnesota. Stop by and see the whole show!

September Days

This is a beautiful, colorful time of year. Yesterday I went out to paint, but first spent some time just wandering, and enjoying all the wildflowers - asters, goldenrod, Queen Anne's lace, black-eyed susans, and a few late-blooming bird's-foot-trefoil and clover blossoms. And watching the butterflies.

Then time to paint.

Sketched in...

The trees are only beginning to hint at the colors they will turn, but the sumac and grape leaves are showing bright hues of reds, oranges, and yellow-greens.

Color time!

Completed.

Roadside Glory, 9 x 12-inch plein air oil on linen/hardboard 

Today's painting:

The sky threatened rain, but it stayed to the west and we only got clouds and a little wind.

Very rough sketch- doesn't look like much at this stage!

The cows were busy munching, and working their way from one end of the pasture to the other and back again. I did a very quick sketch of their shapes before they moved on. By the time I was ready to work on them again, they were back to nearly the same spot.

Blocking in the greens and beginning to really notice all the subtleties of the field grass.

 

More color and texture in the grasses and trees:

 Finished up with the blue-gray clouds, and black and white cows.

Grazing the East Pasture, 11 x 14-inch plein air oil on linen/hardboard.