30 Day Challenge: Epilog

I sit today surrounded by the distinct smell of oil paint and 30 fresh new painting. I have most of them in frames which I did as a protective measure. For the most part I did not paint small. Five of them are 8x8 and the rest vary up to one 16x20 so storing wet painting with thick paint applied with palette knife was a bit of a challenge!

Starting next Tuesday you can find these paintings at Gallori in Oconomowoc WI:

And this piece has already found a great home!!

Getting ready for Cedarburg: What does it take??

Tomorrow the largest and to me the most exciting open plein air competition in Wisconsin begins and I am frantically getting ready to participate!!! Not only is there some big prize money on the line but there will be so many of my artists friends coming from all over the state and even the country! Oh JOY...Not only do I get to do what I love the most but I get to do it with some of the best folks on the planet and there is potential that I might knock off a "Good one" and win a prize!  I have learned that anything can happen when painting on location and so I have developed a sort of "boy scout" (be prepared) approach to my preparations.

"Rainy Day Blue" by Wendie Thompson
Last years First Place Winner: Rivers Edge
10x8 oil Available

OK...so I am a list maker and I started this list quite a while ago. I found that what works best for me is to start the plein air season by limiting my canvas sizes to a rectangle, a square and an oblong. That way I can purchase frames in different colors in those three sizes ahead of time (gold, silver and dark). Because once you are out in the field you need, especially in quick paint, to turn your work in framed...only you don't know what it will look like yet. I have seen great pieces of art go unnoticed because of poor framing.

Here is my list:

Easel

Palette

Brushes

Palette knives

Paint tubes (I hate to run out of a favorite color when painting so I bring extra)

Paper towels

Turp jar and extra Gamsol

Medium (I have been using Walnut oil)

Umbrella ( I have two: a Shade Buddy which sticks in the ground and one that attaches to my easel)

Canvas panels: For an 8 day paint event like Cedarburg I will bring about 30

Trash bags

Bug spray: I have been using those great Off clip ons!

Sunscreen

Hat!!

Fold-able raincoat

Two small tarps in case I need some extra rain protection

Clamps

Apron and a warmer paint shirt and I keep an old lightweight sweater in the bottom of my cart

Gallon size freezer zip lock bags...Every thing goes in these as organizers esp. liquids!!!

Frames as needed

Camera and batteries

Wet painting carriers

Water: I keep a case in the back of my car

Coffee: I love Starbucks Double shots!!!

My ARtComber cart...I love this thing!!

Lawn chair

I'm probably forgetting something but all of this goes in my car. Most of it fits in my ArtComber Cart that has great big wheels. One thing I can tell you...it goes in neat but somewhere between when I leave the house and when I get back it is all over the car! :) Heaven help me!

"Selfless Abandon" by Wendie Thompson
12x16 oil
2011 Cedarburg Entry

Buzzzy Bee....Me!

Oh wow....I haven't blogged (On my own blog that is ...:) for a while I see! Seems like since the first of the year I made a decision to pull back on marketing for a while and hole up so as to refine my skill. Will I ever paint a masterpiece in my lifetime??? I just keep on painting...learning from each canvas...each stroke of the brush and each push of the palette knife. I am in love with the process and that is good. I don't know if I will ever "arrive". That puts me in the ranks of some great artists who went to their graves driven still by the need to know more!! Ok...so here are a bunch of the things I have been working on. I have a lot of new work and I'm looking for a place to have my next show! Time to do some shameless self promotion!!! Let me know if your interested!!! PAINT ON!!! W

Many 6x6 oil stills of fruit $75 each unframed

Little Darlings in the Afternoon Sun
20x16 oil  $500 unframed 

1926 Kissel 9x12 oil
Gifted to the Wisconsin Automotive Museum

Gold Bug
12x9 oil $300 unframed

Gold Bug II
9x 12 oil Gifted to the Wisconsin Automotive Museum

Teapot and Tangerine
8x8 oil $ 200 unframed

Copper Cup
8x8 oil $200 unframed

White Roses
9x12 oil $300 unframed

Copper Kettle
9x12 oil $300 unframed

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!

Mid Summers Brush, Oconomowoc's Plein Air Competition 2010

"The Old Launch" 20x16 oil

Zion II 20x10 oil

Before the Rain 12x16 oil

Elm Grove, plein air and Business cards!

"Elm Grove Rush" 10x20 oil

Flooded Path 12x12 oil

I went twice this week to the beautiful community park in Elm Grove WI to paint. Saturday Morning I painted with Anthony Sell after it had flooded in the area for three days and the forecast was a morning full of the same. However, although the sky looked very threatening, not one drop fell and we painted till noon. The community has planted prairie flowers all around the area which were proliferating... black eyed susan, purple cone, queen Anne's lace and more. Aginst the dark sky it was incredible.

Then in sunny skies I went back again Monday Evening to paint with Judith Reidy....very different light and just as stunning...I can't seem to get enough.

It seems that I will never learn...I forgot my business cards and postcards again...I wonder how many patron opportunity's I have missed as a result of this when painting outdoors! People love to watch you paint and I have learned that they like to purchase from artist's they know...I must get better at this!!!!

Starting August 7th and ending on Aug 14th I will be participating in Mid Summers Brush, Oconomowoc's Plein Air Competition. Come out and watch as Artists paint and then bid on the work generated from Friday evening through Sat. afternoon. Followed by a street dance...it should be a world of fun!!

Today's plein air Painting!

Today's painting...."Old and New" 8x10 oil on panel

by Wendie Thompson (plein air) Available $75

Sheep and a tractor!

Tractor on Washington
8x10 Pastel




Shear Buddies
5x7 Pastel