The Wheat Harvest

All week as I have been driving to Cedarburg I have watched as the wheat ripened a crazy yellow-gold color. Quickly it is harvested. As Cedarburg is closer to Lake Michigan then we are the grain hadn't ripened there yet or I surely would have painted it!  So today when the weather is amazing (70's and light breeze, sunny) I just had to paint it!!! This field is not to far from my home. I decided to do a small 6x6 quick study first so as to work out color, value and composition. I give myself about 15 minutes for this. In the study I didn't like how the tree landed right in the middle so I decided to keep it off to the left some in the larger piece. I may go back again this evening when the light is low!

Wheat Harvest-Study 6x6 oil

Wheat Harvest
12x12 oil

Cedarburg 2012: An end and a Beginning!

Strawberry Red by Wendie Thompson
12x9 oil
Available

Today was pick up day for Cedarburg. Final pick up of unsold work...final chance for camaraderie between artist friends and for some saying goodbye to this small, compelling, historical town for quite some time! 

With the addition of "Strawberry Red" (My Paint the Festival piece) I completed 15 painting! Last night I slept 12 hours! I pushed myself...needing to find out if I had the stamina to do a long competition with that much painting and all the socializing as well. I'm good to go!! and while I didn't win any awards sometimes neither did some nationally known artists...so I was in some good company.

Just a note about the quality of this years art: STAGGERINGLY GOOD!! I am so excited to see the ante upped in Wisconsin. We are creating a history in plein air painting in Wisconsin that may have potential to benefit generations and that my friends is what it is really (for me) all about!

Jason Sacran Best of Show Award winner!

Last Two for Cedarburg: The Heat is On!!!

Have you ever noticed that competition brings out the best in some people and causes others difficulty? Or maybe it's more like this: Sometimes we all can rise to the challenge and sometimes it gets the better of us. I have been peeking at my friends art this week in Cedarburg and I got to tell you...most have risen!!! I am literally blown away by the pieces I have seen and that's just a handful.  Many artists paint a bunch of paintings and then (because we can only submit two for the main competition) they have to try and figure out which ones the judges will like. It's more or less a toss of the dice as judges are people with preferences too!


I painted two more yesterday after watching Micheal Latala's wonderful demo at lunch! By the way it has become unbearably hot here the last few days...90"s + humidity...dangerously hot! I got to go to a friends house to paint in the afternoon but got to take a most welcome dip in her pool first!! 

Susan's Tigers
10x8 oil

I went to cool down and get a bite to eat watching the sky the whole time...It looked like another promising sunset. My friend Judith Reidy joined me for some lively conversation. I love that part of the competition! Then I decided to head west where I knew I could get a good view of the sky:

Magic Trick
12x9 oil

Now comes the really hard part...picking only two out of 14 to enter. Any suggestions???

A Creek, a Sunset and a Nocturne: Cedarburg

Porch Light by Wendie Thompson
12x9 oil

OK...so I am having way too much fun in Cedarburg. In the last 5 days I have created 12 paintings! Today I am resting and catching up on my computer stuff so I can go again tonight or tomorrow! I am so excited about the painting above (Porch Light) as it is only the second nocturne (painted at night) that I have done and the first one is the only painting I have ever burned!! I went painting with my friends Anthony Sell and Jason Sacran yesterday. Thanks for the encouragement you two!! 

I slept in some yesterday as about this time in the competition my fibro begins to really catch up with me forcing rest. Then I took off for Cedarburg arriving around  3. I found Jason by Cedar Creek working on a drop dead gorgeous piece of the rocks and small falls. It has a really abstract quality about it. I set up and began to paint as he finished. We agreed to meet later and try to catch the elusive sunset.

 

The Rocks Cry Out by Wendie Thompson
12x12 oil

As the sun began to lower I drove out to Granville Road and found a beautiful opening in the fields and trees and plenty of sky view. I set up and began painting. I little later Jason joined me and we watched the sky do it's magic.

Light Show on Granville by Wendie Thompson
12x12 oil

Towards the end of this Anthony Sell showed up and we started talking nocturne. The night before those two have painted at night and I gotta tell you...contenders...both!!!! We were really blest with a soft breeze, low bugs and no lack of opportunity in downtown Cedarburg. I didn't have the "gear" so I set up close to a window with florescent lights which provided me with some light. Still I found my "color memory" kicking in. I always keep my pallete layout the same so I sort of knew where to lay my brush however until you get these pieces in the light you really don't know what you have! "Porch Light" is the result!

Here are some more of the pieces I've done this week:

Reaction to the Roses by Wendie Thompson
9x12 Quick Paint oil

At the edge of the Grain Field
by Wendie Thompson
12x16 oil

Sunset on my Mind by Wendie Thompson
10x8 oil

Corn Rows on Bridge Street by Wendie Thompson
20x10 oil

Hope to see you all at the reception, awards ceremony ans free party this Friday (22nd) from 5-8
ONLY 3 DAYS to BUY GREAT ART: Friday 12:30-8 Saturday 9-5 and Sunday 9-3

Cedarburg: Wow Scary Start!!!

Totally pumped about getting up early and heading off to the Port Washington day for the Cedarburg event I decided to load my car the night before. As I lifted my Art Cart to put it in something in my back well, snapped! OUCH! I really didn't know how bad I hurt it till the next morning when I could hardly move. Ice all night and a handful of Ibuprofen barely touched it. I considered not going but...no...that was not going to happen. I confess...I shed a few tears on the way. It hurt to breath and I was scared.

So I decided to paint small, unload my things one light armful at a time and paint only where I could be close to the car. Here is the result:

Fishing Buddies
6x6 oil

I did it but I was totaled. I went to lunch with some good friends. Then I took a nap in my car...do I just go home or try to paint another one? I decided to try to paint again. I had been itching to paint at the Port Washington Inn, a great B+B that I had stayed at before and I knew they had a great garden! I grabbed some more Ibuprofen and decided to try again. Here: is attempt #2:

Port Washington Inn: Roses
9x12 oil

I have to pick between the two for an entry for this portion of the competition. When I was done I high tailed it back home to an awaiting ice pack and some dinner. An easy, hopefully early night was on the menu!

I woke this morning feeling still a little twitchy but somewhat human again...I am SO thankful!!! I set off to Cedarburg again hoping for the best and trying not to put too much pressure on myself. I drove around some looking for the scene that screamed "paint me" to me. Then I decided to walk around this charming historic downtown area...talk to some friends...get some coffee. That's when I found the Schroeder House. Built in 1856 it is a real beauty. I set up and decided to do a small study first:

Schroeder House
8x10 oil

I struggled some with the architecture...not my strong suit. But I loved the baskets of begonias so I got out a larger panel and focused on those!

Swingers
16x20 oil

Again it wore me out. I had lunch, nap...and painted again...but I'm not ready to share that one with you yet...talk to you tomorrow!!

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

Painting Beloit and Evansville

117 Main
12x12 oil on panel
(Evansville WI)

So much painting this week!! On the 31st of May the Beloit Plein Air Competition began with work being turned in on Thursday June 7th. I painted 2 days as it is an hour and a half drive for me! This year we were allowed to paint on the whole Beloit College campus. What a beautiful place! I was drawn to the corner of the Campus called the "Poetry Garden" over and over again. Then one evening the dam on the Rock River grabbed my attention. Here are my results!

"Entrance to the Past"
20x16 oil on panel
(Beloit College, Beloit)

SOLD
"Silent Verse"
20x16 oil on panel
(Beloit College, Beloit)

"Taming the Wild"
12x9 oil on panel
(Beloit)

I painted a studio piece of my friend Carolyn walking through the Peonies in Green Lake:

"Carolyn in the Poenies"
20x10 oil on panel
(Studio) 

Then I spent a morning painting with my friend Marcia in her amazing flower garden:

"Marcia's Roses"
9x12 oil on panel
(Milwaukee)

And an afternoon painting with my friend Gail near my home in Ashppun: 

"Farm on Davidson
12x12 oil on panel
(Ashippun)

And finally I painted in the most delightful small town called Evansville WI... Magical!!! (See first photo...117 Main)

All works are available!!!!

Next up CEDARBURG!!!!