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Article: Sometimes the World Acknowledges your Work...Door County Pulse!

Thank you Door County Pulse and Randy Rasmussen! Q &A – Questions and Artists – Wendie Thompson

By Randy Rasmussen

	"Selfless Abandon" by Wendie Thompson

October 28, 2011

The Peninsula Pulse has teamed up with the Door County Art League (DCAL) to reprint portions of interviews conducted by Randy Rasmussen with various artists. To sign up for DCAL’s monthly newsletter or for more information visitwww.doorcountyartleague.org.

Wendie Thompson is president of the Wisconsin Plein Air Painters Association, the largest group dedicated to supporting plein ar painting in Wisconsin. Thompson is an avid and accomplished plein air painter and this year painted in and photographed the Peninsula School of Art’s Plein Air Festival.

Randy Rasmussen (RR): What motivated you to begin painting?

Wendie Thompson (WT): My husband, Brent who is an accomplished painter himself has encouraged me and the thought that I may just be able to leave something of value on this planet when I am gone (a sense of purpose).

RR: What is your background in art?

WT: No formal art education but I have been exposed to art of all kinds as a professional custom picture framer since high school. I have always had a wild creative side, and when I learned to paint I studied everything I could find and still am.

Painting by Wendie Thompson

RR: Who was influential in your development?

WT: First is my Creator who is my constant motivator. Then my instructor of many years, Lorin Willey, my husband Brent, Ken Auster, Tom Nachreiner and Dreama Tolle Perry together with her partner Leslie Byrd Saeta have all influenced me

RR: When did you become interested in plein air?

WT: Soon after I began to paint with Lorin Willey (2003?) he insisted that we get outdoors to paint. My first outing was at Lapham Peak State Park in the springtime. I recall it being very buggy as I set up along a path…quiet set in and as I painted a deer crossed no more than 10 feet from me…stopped and sized me up for a few seconds and bounded off. I was hooked immediately!

RR: How has your painting changed over the last 10 years?

WT: My first goal with each new canvas is to learn something. I try to paint everyday, as this is when I learn the most and because of this I think my work has taken on a more painterly look, perhaps has become fresher, less rendering…more painting.

RR: Do you enjoy being the president of the Wisconsin Plein Air Painters Association?

	Wendie Thompson paints in Beloit.

WT: Yes! I have heard that getting artists to move together in one direction can be like “herding butterflies.” But I am thrilled with where this genre has come in the last few years in Wisconsin.

RR: What is the most important thing you have learned as a painter in the last 10 years?

WT: I think the most important thing I have learned is to focus on learning instead of making a perfect painting. I think this one thing has freed me and given me a sense of adventure and joy when staring down a new canvas. I have seen many promising students of art quit because of perfectionism.

RR: How would you describe your work?

WT: Impressionistic…I love it most when pieces of color come together on a canvas to create form and evoke feelings of joy, peace or serenity.

RR: Do you have a favorite event to paint in?

WT: I love any event where the art is honored as well as the artists. Artists have a tendency to seclude themselves away for big chunks of time. Plein air competitions give great opportunity to make friends, help each other grow and push you to become better.

RR: What do you see as the future of plein air in the Midwest?

WT: There is a renaissance occurring in plein air all around the country. Collectors are catching on to the beauty, immediacy and freshness of a plein air work. In the way the California and Indiana artists have created a history in this kind of work, artists from novices to experts are documenting the changing surface of the Midwest from cityscape to waterscape and from the rural landscape to a back yard garden. It makes me tingle with excitement just to think about it!

Since retiring from his career in chiropractic medicine, Randy Rasmussen has pursued his art with unmitigated passion. He conducts interviews for the Door County Art League, paints three times a week, almost entirely plein air, and is a charter member of the Peninsula Plein Air Painters. His work can be seen at www.doorcountyartsgallery.com.

http://www.ppulse.com/Articles-Art-Features-c-2011-10-26-99499.114136-Q-andA-Questions-and-Artists-Wendie-Thompson.html

sCary aRT Show 2011: My submissions!

Garlic 12x12 oil

Silver Buletts 16x8

Pie Face 18x18 oil

This is the third annual sCary aRT sHOw at the Raven Gallery in Pewaukee. Join my for a costume Halloween party and Artists reception on October 29th 6-9pm!

Sun Buckets and the Value of Critique

Sun Buckets

12x12 oil (Plein Air)

So Saturday I met with some of my group, the Wisconsin Plein Air Painters Association, to paint at the Southshore Park Farmers Market which is right on Lake Michigan. While the East cost was hunkering down for hurricane Irene here in the Mid-west we have been enjoying the stalled high that the hurricane provided. It was a stunningly beautiful day in the mid 70's and breezy. 

As I walked the area which was streaming with people and vendors all I could think was "simplify, simplify, simplify! But I kept returning to this flower lady and her buckets of sunflowers with the morning light causing them to glow. I started to paint fast! In 2 hours all those flowers were gone...sold! Then I turned my effort to work on the tent which rapidly became muddy. If I brightened it to show the sun on it it pulled my eye away from the focal point. But when I cooled it down it seemed dead. I was frustrated. 

After we painted we met as is our habit, to critique each others work. When it came time for mine we talked about the tent and one of my friends suggested that I change the color of the tent to blue. I liked that idea and it took me all of ten minutes to change it. You can see the painting before the change in the photo below.

Lesson: At some point in the painting process I need to be more concerned about making a painting then just copying what I see in front of me...:)

Door County 2011: Dockside Quick Paint and A Picket Fence

Bee Balm and Honeysuckle
8x10 oil
$250

Picket Fence
8x8 oil
$200

Happy Dance! "Rainy Day Blue" gets the Blue Ribbon!!

"Rainy Day Blue"

10x8 oil

I feel so honored to have won 1st place in the Riveredge Portion of the Cedarburg Plein Air Competition 2011. This was a new one day paint out at the beautiful Riveredge Nature Center in Saukville, WI. Even though it rained all day there I was able to find some shelter under a deck to paint this view of one of their classroom buildings. I was taken by all the blue in the atmosphere with the rain as it did some really interesting things to the light. Thanks to the Riveredge staff for opening up their place to all of the artists and for the great lunch!! (http://riveredge.us/)

Cedarburg 2011, Painting in the Rain and some Tough Choices

"Selfless Abandon"
12x16 oil

"Morning Meditation"
12x16 oil

The 11th annual Cedarburg Plein Air Competition was held this past 8 days and I need to tell you it is at the top of my fun list every summer. With over 150 artists attending this open competition there is always plenty of  great social time as well as some serious painting. Normally I would paint 8-10 pieces and then pick my best two for entry in the competition. However this year I had a family wedding to attend which required missing 3 days right out of the middle! (all worth it mind you.)

The event kicked off with something new this year...one day of painting at a beautiful nature reserve (Riveredge in Saukville). It was a very rainy day and I had to leave at 1pm. I found a great spot under a deck to paint. I always keep some small plastic tarps in my paint bag so I laid it out on the deck above held down with some well placed rocks and voila...dry space! There will be separate awards for this portion of the event . The staff there was extremely warm and fed us all a wonderful lunch. All the pieces need to be 8x10. Here is my piece:

Rainy Day Blue
8x10 oil

The second day (Thursday) was the start of the 7 day painting window and looked to be the best weather for me anyway and as I had to leave on my trip Friday I was anxious to at least get a few good starts. My friend Judith Reidy and I spent much of the day together. In the morning we painted in Horn Park, a delightful place along the river that I had painted in before. "Morning Meditation" (above) is what became of my effort and I have submitted it as one of my 2 competition pieces.

Untitled
20x10 oil

We found a beautiful farm to paint in the afternoon. I was tired and don't feel quite resolved with this painting but the weather has not been the same since and so it will have to wait to be finished for another day.Then it was off to southern Indiana on Friday for the wedding and back on Sunday. I missed the quick paint which is one of my favorite things to do...poor me...:) This coming Saturday there is one more chance for an award as we have from 8-2pm to "Paint the Festival". With an expected 50,000 people in attendance painting Cedarburg's Strawberry Festival will bring it's own challenges. At least ideal weather is in the forecast! Also all the works will be sold by silent auction (ends promptly at 4pm) at the Cedarburg Cultural Community Center this coming Saturday...you should come!

On Monday I was very tired and achy from the trip (fibro is not my friend), it was raining and looked like it might do that for the rest of the week and I admit I had to wrestle with myself to get down to it. I made a decision to paint in solitude as I knew I would be distracted by a friend. So I drove around Cedarburg looking for the next inspiration. It came in the form of a bunch of Dahlias at the Steins garden tent on Western.  I was able to back my car up to them and open the hatch to sit. That and both my umbrellas kept me somewhat dry and a little uncomfortable. But the Dahlias spoke to me...there they were, outrageous in their bounty and beauty...rain spilling off their petals...some heads bowed. They cared not who saw their performance...their effort of extravagant praise. They gave all in utter abandon...I watched, cut to the quick with the lesson I was seeing unfold before me. My response is the painting at the top of this post and my second entry, entitled "Selfless Abandon"...I hope I've done them some small justice.