A Mother's Love

During the Holiday Season, it's not uncommon to remember and cherish the memories of those longer with us.  I recently had a conversation with a fellow artist about losing a parent - who also guided and encouraged their artistic path.  The void of losing a parent seems amplified during this season and I want to take a few moments to remember my mother, Ursula, who taught me so much about art.

Looking back at my childhood, we lived in a simple farmhouse outside a very small community.  My mother immigrated here from Germany in her early 20s, married my father and they eventually settled here.

Our home farm

 

Little did I know it then, but my mother had some of her books shipped from Germany and decorated our farmhouse with pages from these publications.  Later, she purchased art prints of many great masters and soon the entire house was a mini museum.  We had prints of "Portrait of a Child" from Peter Paul Rubens.  See picture below.

About 1966?  My mother and grandmother and big brother. 

Rubens portrait to the right.

Van Gogh behind the Christmas Tree.

Some of her books from Germany she used for color plates and framed.

After a Scrabble game...Renior above the piano.

 

As the years went on, we had "The Milkmaid" print by Vermeer framed in our dining room, Renoir above the piano, Degas in the bathroom and Durer in my bedroom. 

 

As a child I had the opportunity to enjoy these prints all around our home and I had no idea the impact it would make in my life at the time.  As parents, our influence is great.  Expose your children to music and art, they need it now more than ever!  It is a great gift. 

 

In the past few weeks, I have started on new paintings - low and behold they are a mother/child theme!  It just dawned on me yesterday and this is why I'm taking the time to write.  God's whisper in my ear to paint what is in my heart.

Mother/child theme...works in progress in studio.

 

This is our family and our last group picture with our Mom before she passed away. 

In her Bible, she underlined a passage and wrote my name next to it.  It is now on my easel and a reminder for my daily living.  She knew my love of the sunsets. 

 

Psalms 19:  1-4...How clearly the sky reveals God's glory!  How plainly it shows what he has done!  Each day announces it to the following day; each night repeats it to the next.  No speech or words are used, no sound is heard; yet their message goes out to all the world and is heard to the ends of the earth.  God made a home in the sky for the sun.

 

Now I would be remiss if I didn't thank my Dad who has also made a big impact on my life by sharing his love of the land.  My heart sings when I can be out exploring, hiking and painting in that farm country and I'm forever grateful to being a simple farm kid. 

 

Thankful for the beauty you shared!

And as my mother so beautifully ended every correspondence....Love and Peace. 

 

 

 

Ever feel like the Michelin Man?

Layer upon layer.  It's true, a determined spirit is required for this winter plein air painting business.  I have a system for these winter months....my clothes are placed in a back hallway closet ready to go at all times so I'm not wasting time finding long underwear, turtlenecks, smartwool socks, etc.  Same clothes all the time....boring, but very functional. 
Once I'm out the door I can barely move and feel like the Michelin Man.  These essential layers of clothing are so important for winter plein air.  I'll gladly take the appearance of the Michelin Man for a few hours while painting the winter landscape. 

Work in Progress, 12 x 12, oil

The winter plein air glamour look (aka Michelin Man)

On this day, I somehow left the house without my big black jacket.  Good thing I always keep an extra jacket in my plein air mobile.

Hope you are enjoying the beauty of winter in Wisconsin. 

 

Brushes with Bovines

At the recent Cedarburg Plein Air event, I decided to go forward with my plan of painting what speaks to me....what inspires me. 
Naturally, that lead me to cows and chickens and other assorted furry animals.  While I have done many studio paintings of cows, my time spent plein air painting them has been limited.  Let's just say they don't sit still very often and tend to wander off into a pasture.  Well, often times that is what happened with this recent experience. 
Here is a documentation of some recent bovine plein air adventures.
These beautiful Charlais cattle are a real mystery to paint, because they often look like sheep in a finished painting.  Here in the US, we are not so accustomed to the all white animals.  Our eyes are used to Holsteins or Herefords dotting the countryside.  But I had to give it a try a few times!

 

For the Quick Paint portion of the competition, I also selected cows as my subject.  Well, just as I arrived, they were all going in the barn for morning milking.  I figured they would be out to pasture again, and I managed to get one cow painted in under the old tree before the 2.5 hour time limited was up.

"Solitude"  Quick paint Plein Air, 10 x 12

 

I asked the farmer, Mike, if it would be okay to return to his farm to paint in the afternoon and he agreed.  Couldn't think of a better way to spend an afternoon!  I hiked quite a ways up into the pasture, thinking I would paint this nice cluster of cows eating grass.  Ha!  They scattered after saying Hello so I decided to paint them randomly throughout the pasture. 

"Out to Pasture"  Plein air, 11 x 14

 

 

 

 I was also delighted to see a Bobolink along the fencerow.  Haven't seen this bird for ages, so it was another treat!

 

With a great day out in the pasture, I was ready to take a break and go into Cedarburg for one of the artists' gatherings.  Instead as I was passing one of the sheds, I noticed more curious cattle.  Yup, grabbed the backpack out of the car and captured the moment.  I'm so happy I went back for this one. 

"Peek A Boo" Plein Air, 8 x 10

 

A few days later, I returned to Mikes to paint just a few more, including "Mike's Vista" listed in the previous post.  So much can be learned painting cows from life that I will put to good use in the studio for future paintings. Met some wonderful people too which makes the experience even richer!

 

"A Day in the Shade", 8 x 10 Plein Air

 

 

 

 

Shades of Gray

On March 6th we set out to paint in overcast conditions.  I find the lack of sun much more challenging when it comes to painting the snow. 
The first stop was a beautiful church just north of Mequon.  I've always loved how there's a nice farm across the street.  A unique scene when you live so close to a big city. 

Getting started

"Lakefield Road" 10 x 12

 

Then we ventured off to the Cedarburg Quilt Museum.  I have always loved how the buildings are all tucked together, cozy and warm just like a quilt on a gray day.

 

"Cedarburg Quilt Museum"  12 x 12