A frosty dip

A few weekends ago, we drove up to Plymouth to paint with my dear and talented friend Lori Beringer at a farm near her house.  The setting was perfect, but as usual, finding the perfect spot to set up took some time. 
The property included a beautiful, tiny meandering creek and I noticed my friends were on the other side of the creek.  Naturally, I thought I could just gracefully hop over to the other side.  I completely underestimated how wide the creek was under that ice cover and landed feet first in the icy water.  Being an avid winter plein air painter, this was going to happen sooner or later, right?  Getting out of the creek was a challenge with the big plein air backpack still straped to my body, but it sure made for great belly laughs.  Here I am back at Lori's to pick up some new socks and she had an extra pair of boots.  Then, it was back to the site to paint and explore. 

Water drenched socks and boots after falling in the creek while painting

One of the completed paintings of the day, without the CREEK

 

River Cottage

Last week, my friend Lynn and I ventured out on a very cold day before the second Polar Vortex whipped through Wisconsin.  Very grateful to have the sun shining on this sweet little river cottage that has such great personality.  If you search back on this blog, you will see another painting done here on an overcast day.  This is a location I could paint over and over again, in various light, times of year, you name it!  Lots of inspiration and the people who own it are just as lovely. 

River Cottage, 8x10, oil

 

The set up and the frigid day