Painting up a Storm

Last night I did a bit of a last minute art lesson with my favorite (and only) student, a young artist named M. I use the terms 'lesson' and 'student' rather loosely. Really, we do art together, with myself being the older and bossier artist: "Add more red. Try this brush..." ;)
It was a beautiful evening and the air was delicious, so we painted outside. This was M's first time painting en plein air, but she did a super job. We discovered that an old round-bale of hay makes an excellent perch: good view from the top, comfy seat, and the entire thing can be used as a brush holder.
The sky was just amazing, and a grassy field provided good contrast against its soft, rain-heavy look.
Unfortunately our time was cut short by storms moving in from the west. First we moved into the car, as the thunder and lightning moved closer, and then we finally had to stop all together as heavy rain was due to start. But oh it was beautiful! June 25, 2010 Plein Air, 6 x 6" oil on linen, Copyright 2010 Hannah C. Heyer

Art in the Park

I had a fantastic time in Lanesboro, MN last Sunday at the 30th annual Art in the Park. This was my second year at Art in the Park, and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to participate. Lanesboro is a beautiful little town with lots of character, in a particularly beautiful part of Minnesota. And the weather was an answered prayer. Gorgeous!
I was a lot more organized and prepared this year, though I still had plenty of last minute mistakes and hiccups (painting wire-hung upside-down, missing table cloth, forgotten food, last minute label-making, missing my exit, etc.). My sister Grace came with me and helped me so much over the weekend. I couldn't have done it without her! It was a lot of work-- which is perhaps why she's seemingly passed out behind the table in this shot...


So yes. It was a good time. There was some great music, though I was sort of between two types of music, which made for a strange combination at times. Also got to see the fabulous Morris dancers.
I really enjoyed just being able to put my work out there for people to see up close, and getting some good feedback as well. Thanks to everyone who stopped by my booth and helped make the day extra interesting and fun!

Old Government House

A few days ago we went and saw the Old Government House in Brisbane. It was a cool place, had interesting historical displays, and I think there was a lot to see. Upstairs was the William Robinson Gallery, which was pretty interesting. My favorite pieces were those inspired by the rain forests.

Silly as it sounds, one of the places I liked best in the house was the cellar. To me it had such a nice, homey feel (and smell) to it, and I liked the lighting and the curve of the ceiling and the texture of the walls. Here, in its first layer, is my painting of it.

Plein Air @ Noosa

oil on cotton canvas; copyright 2010 Hannah C. Heyer

Since my last post I've traveled from winter to summer, from snowy Minnesota to sunny Queensland, Australia. I'm here visiting some of my favorite people, and enjoying the sunshine too.
This is a plein air painting done near Noosa. I got to sit on the rocks and watch the waves and a few surfers who didn't seem too worried about crashing into the aforementioned rocks. It was so gorgeous.

A little sketch

Sometimes the hardest things to draw are the things I'm most used to seeing. I think sometimes I'm so used to seeing certain things or places, that I forget to actually look.

I'm working on sketching things more as I'm seeing them, or shortly thereafter when they're still fresh in my mind.
The following is a sketch of a narrow strip of land in the frozen Mississippi River.

snow

You would think that, having lived my whole life in Minnesota, painting snow would come easily.
It doesn't.
I spent all day Saturday trying my best with watercolour. I used Arches Bright White watercolour paper, since I wanted the highlights of the snow to be as white as I could get.


Today I tried again using oils. We've had a lot of fog the past few days, and in the mornings everything is covered in frost. It's breathtakingly beautiful. I started two small oil paintings based on the view I had of this out my window. It doesn't look like much yet, but this is the first coat of one of them.


~Hannah

Scribbles

December has been a very busy month. I haven't been able to do as much painting as I'd like.
Mostly I've scribbled.