It's Like Seeing An Old Friend Again

Green County (WI) is where I was born and raised.  After more than 30 years living in the Milwaukee area, our family decided to move back to the Driftless Region of Wisconsin.  Even though I have traveled back and forth countless times over these 30 years, it's as if I'm seeing an old friend again.  Now is my time to explore and rediscover the land that is home.

During this year of COVID, everything was like a giant snowglobe, shaken up weekly, sometimes daily.  Our world has changed forever.  Some businesses thrive, while others struggle.  Families are heartbroken as we are apart from loved ones.  We all hope and pray the snowglobe will be upright and unshaken as we move into 2021!

Like many artists, nothing about the year is normal.  Events are cancelled.  I had one gallery close its doors.  On the bright side, the organizers of the Covered Bridge Art Studio Tour in the Cedarburg area went ahead with a safe, socially distanced tour and it was a huge success for all who participated.  I'm grateful for everyone who stopped in to see me one last time in my garage gallery in Mequon. 

I was able to venture out plein air painting and did a few demos over the summer at the Cedarburg Art Museum.  Now I'm creating a new body of work for the 2021 Gallery and Exhibit season.  Keep watching for details of a studio tour in the Driftless Area scheduled for early June....come see my new studio!

A painting session before the firm lock down in March.  

The farm cat was anxious to help me mix paint.

Demo at Cedarburg Art Museum, summer 2020

Plein air painting near Blanchardville, WI

Painting sunflowers near Lake Country 

Plein Air in New Glarus, WI

"Light as a Feather" Oil 16 x 8"

 

The Search for Color in January

This January has been quite gray here in Wisconsin.  So I've found it important to find areas where I can introduce a touch of warmth into the gray palette before my easel.  One of my favorite spots to paint locally is in Richfield. 

This beautiful historic mill is a bold red and perfect for these overcast days.

While painting this, a sweet smiley face kept staring at me...see it?

Sometimes we stop at the local pub to warm up and have a little Brandy Old Fashioned and Cheese Balls appetizer.  Hey, it's what Wisconsin winter plein air painters do.  By the way Bilda's Friess Lake Pub serves an awesome BOF.

Yummy at Bildas.

Another gray day painting underway.  Met a wonderful farm couple who shared their history on this beautiful farm near Fredonia.  

Finishing up.  And low and behold, there was a corner bar just down the road, so we stopped in for a BOF.  Then decided to paint one more small study in their backyard.  

Can you tell we also try to have fun while painting???

My search for color led me to a local farm to paint the sheep.  Their warm fur against the cool snow was a fun challenge.  This will certainly become a larger studio painting.  My models left for a while, but then re assumed their pose in perfect position for a few hours.  What fun it was to observe them!

Hints of warmth with the manure spreader and sheep and hay.  

It was a wonderful January.