I'm looking forward to my Art Exhibition at the Art Preserve Gallery in White Bear Lake, MN.

Opening Night is Thursday, January 19, 2012.  Come join us for a special evening of live music, refreshments, and of course, lots and lots of oil paintings! 

I will have about 25 new and recent works to share with you...many of them featuring traditional Midwestern scenes including beautiful old barns...I seem to be captivated by that theme.

I think you will notice the paintings have a stronger sense of light than ever before...and that the paint is applied more thickly than ever before as I paint with more and more confidence and passion!

Hope to see you there! 

Here's a painting that exploded onto my canvas as I was suffering through the last day of an Art Fair I was recently in.   As seems to be usual with me, everytime I do an Art Fair I remember how much I can't stand doing those things.  I get all tired, and grumpy, as any illusions I may have had of success are inevitably dashed by the fact that we really are in the midst of an economic disaster.

And then there is the public...people who I run out of patience with as they inquire, "You mean, you actually painted these?" and at the risk of offending them with some smart remark from me, such as "No, I got these at Walmart", I smile and politely explain that yes, these are my actual original oil paintings and the other items are reproductions of my paintings "in gift format".

So this day, I decided to just ignore the public, so as to preserve whatever remained of my self esteem and postive attitude.  I entered into my own private world, just me and my canvas...and it felt so good!  The time, rather than creeping by, vanished, as I lost myself in this place of unity with my soul...captured by my desire to portray, with exceeding passion, the beauty of this season and the intensity of it's color...for "white" is SO NOT WHITE...can you see that?!

This is where I am supposed to be, painting.  Not standing in some booth, exposing my soul to a world that seems to appreciate "Crafts" rather than original Fine Art. 

Once again, I remind myself that this must be the time to hone my skill...to grow and take risks...to paint with wild abandon as I continue to refine my voice as an artist.  I know that this is what I am called to do!... and I will keep doing it, one painting at a time.

Ok, so I know I haven't been blogging alot...but I HAVE BEEN PAINTING! 

Look at my studio...it is packed!  Lot's of paintings done, some waiting to be framed, and others in various stages of progress.  I like to have a few different pieces going at once so that nomatter what mood I am in I have something that will suite me at that moment.

Now if only the whole economy would turn around!...or is that too much to wish for all at once? 

Anyway, through this season of struggle, both financial and otherwise, painting has been a great source of comfort, hope, and joy for me personally.  I feel that as I grow as an artist... the more and more I paint from the depths of my soul, full of passion and thick juicy paint, rather than just relying on the information I am trying to capture. 

Blessings to you!

Here I am at beautiful Full Circle Retreat, near Viroqua, WI, giving the first demo of the workshop. 

The hardest part of painting here is trying to decide which wonderful view to capture...Should it be one of the charming old builings?...or maybe one of the many gardens?...or what about the cute yellow farm house with the red roof? 

Oh my goodness,... the bird houses, the colorful lawn furniture, the rusty blue bike, the laundry hanging out to dry, and all the quirky little surprises hidden here and there. It's just a lovely place to be.  And paint.  And relax.

You should check it out:  www.fullcircleretreat.com.   Kathleen will take very good care of you and make you feel very at home!

Here we are...concentrating so hard, looking for the big shapes...and trying to simplify, simplify, simplify! 

Pouring rain and really cold.  How wierd is that after all the sweating we have been doing?

Lunch of wine and cheese.... making a memory.

We piled all the easels into the van and headed out for a painting adventure!  This is at Full Circle Retreat near Viroqua, WI where I was teaching a 3 day plein air painting workshop and we were going to paint at  Vernon Vineyard...because it was going to rain and we knew there was shelter there if needed.  And let tell you, it was needed! It poured and poured and then it poured some more!

I'm so proud of my students, most of them painting on location for the first time...what tough women they were!  Truly baptism by fire,...er, I mean rain.  And when we weren't getting rained on we were swimming in heat and humidity.  Yet still, we perservered!   

And we ended up with some mighty fine paintings too!

This painting was done in Redwing, MN at Baypoint Park on a dreary day in July.  One of the boat owners asked me to paint these boats...his and his neighbors.  It is a nice combination of colors, shapes, and sizes...and part of a world I know nothing about!  I hope they like the painting!

One of the cool things about Plein Air Events is that it puts you in places you're not usually in...and takes you out of your comfort zone.  And when the weather is kinda yucky it pushes you even farther, as an artist. 

On this day in Redwing, MN, the sky was just blah, kinda drizzly, providing absolutely no dramatic light to capture.  And that is what artists do, don't you know, is paint the light.  A lot of people think that artists are painters of things, or places,... but what we actually are are painters of the way the light falls on those things or places.

And so, because of the lack of dramatic lighting to bring interest to this painting, I instead focused on composition to create visual interest in this painting.  I really think the railroad tracks provide a really awesome sense of perspective and drama in this painting and that sweet little spot of purple in the distance is a nice little reward for meandering through the painting.  Because the focal point of the train itself is so clearly defined, the other elements of the painting that are farther out and less important can merely be suggested and the viewer will be satisfied.  I think this makes more a much more interesting painting than if everything is equally rendered.

I spent the whole week in Redwing, MN, painting at their wonderful Plein Air Festival.  I just love that town!..., which is a good thing because almost the entire time we artists were there it was rainy and gloomy, not exactly the best scenario for creating beautiful paintings.  Anyway, one day I headed out in search of an amazing farm scene or something to paint...and what should I stumble upon but this barn!  It was perfect!!  I was thrilled to have found such a treasure.

I began to paint, my heart beating faster as I got caught up in the passion of the moment...I was completely and totally alone in the universe, just me and this lovely old delapidated barn...when gently, quietly at first, all of these cows came sauntering around the corner to visit me!  I thought my heart would burst with joy!  They were so beautiful and sweet and I could just tell they were happy to have me there in their world.  They stood very near to me, gently mooing...and keeping me company.  Each one was wearing a yellow name tag in it's ear, so I called them by name and I think they really liked that...Abby, Rita, Claire, Betsy, Lacey...and lots more.

And so I painted until it was time to quit, and then it dawned on me that I had absolutely no idea where I was, or how to get back to Redwing.  Relaying on my own sense of direction is usually not a very good idea, but what other choice did I have?  So, after a little adventure that involved relieving myself in the trees, (which is another story that I will spare you from!) I just started driving, assuming something would look familiar eventually...which was not the case!  Thankfully I found a farmer on his riding mower so I pulled over to ask, which was a very good thing because I was heading in completely the wrong direction and was now about 14 miles away from Redwing!  Not to worry though, what difference did it make?

Oh, the life of an artist...What a great blessing to be a painter!

It was a beautiful day in Zumbrota, on Saturday June 11, 2011, where a whole bunch of plein air artists gathered to paint together on location at Minnesota's only remaining Covered Bridge.  Marie and her hard-working gang at Crossings Gallery once again put together a fun and well-orchestrated event that began with the youth painting outdoors before us adults.  How awesome to see the next generation of outdoor painters getting the feel for it!

Then after we adults finished painting, there was wine and cheese, followed by an outdoor concert that was rockin' and awesome!  It was fun meeting the other artists, seeing familiar faces and new faces...and it was even more fun receiving an award!   Richard Abraham was the judge and I was honored with the 3rd Place Award!  So that was nice.  Of course I forgot to take a photo of my finished painting, but this photo gives you an idea...

I was trying to come at the bridge from a unique perspective, and go for the contrast of those white flowers against the red of the bridge.  Since we were painting from 4:30-6:30 pm there was good light and nice contrast to capture.  A lovely day.