Plein Air in Wisconsin! Summer 2015!

Oh the Redbuds by Wendie Thompson
12x16 oil
New Harmony Indiana

I am so excited! The Plein Air "season" has begun in earnest for Wisconsin! Although I paint outside all year in any weather not everyone does and so many of my artists friends will be out in the towns, fields and along the shores of this great State. You can follow all the action on the Wisconsin Plein Air Painters Asso site (http://wipapa.blogspot.com/). You can follow me right here and I promise to update you as often as I can!

It's Complicated by Wendie Thompson
12x16 oil
The Angel Museum, Beloit WI

The Poet's Throne by Wendie Thompson
12x16 oil
The Poet's Garden Beloit College

 The two paintings above are my submissions for the "Edge of the Rock" plein air competition in Beloit WI. The opening is this Friday at 5pm at the Hendricks Center on the Beloit College Campus. Come if you can!! (http://www.friendsofriverfront.com/plein-air/)

The largest event and the longest in the state starts next week Wednesday. 150 artists paint! SOOOO fun to connect with old friends and to see the amazing art produced! Plan on coming on Friday the 26th. Come at 10am if your wanting to nab your favorite! Come at 5pm for the party and awards!! (http://pleinaircedarburg.blogspot.com/)

Then at the Art*Bar in Riverwest WIPAPA has there annual Field to Finish show called We Came, We Saw, We Painted. Always interesting to see what we do in the studio with the small things we paint outdoors. (http://wipapa.blogspot.com/2015/05/please-join-us-we-came-we-saw-we.html)

I'll see you there...I'll be the one with a brush in my hand!! 

Wendie

New Harmony and the start of the Plein Air Season

Every year I look forward to what I call the "start" of the plein air season. For me it begins with a trip about 8 hours south from me in a beautiful little antique town called New Harmony Indiana (http://www.newharmony.org/) where I get an early peek at spring and where the Indiana Plein Air Painters Association holds a competition! There are a number of opportunities to enter starting with what is called the "Field to Finish" competition. Every year you can do a simple sketch during the competition with the thought in mind of using it as a resource for a completed studio painting. Then the next year you submit both pieces to the Hoosier Salon (http://www.hoosiersalon.org/newharmony.html)  . The opening of this body of work is the kick off for the event! They hung mine in the window this year!!!

So Gentle the Harvest
18x18 oil
$700
Available at the Hoosier Salon, New Harmony through May!

My husband grew up in this area and so it is never an art only trip. We stay with his mom and visit with the rest of his family and friends. This year when we arrived we all had some health issues to deal with. I had to go to Urgent Care as I woke with a screaming pain in my jaw and face. I was diagnosed with TMJ...an issue with the jaw joint and nerve. It defiantly put a damper on things and made it difficult to concentrate on painting.

Monday-Wednesday saw some great weather in the 70's and even 80's. Daffodil's and tulips up and forsythia were in bloom when we arrived. By the time we left the dogwood, lilac's and red bud were all out and the place was greening up fast!! I got to warm up the brushes a little on tuesday!

Forsythia
12x12 oil
sold

However all that great weather blew out of there on Thursday which is when the competition began. Had I known I would have brought my snow pants with me!!

2012 New Harmony: First Brush of Spring!!! (I got an award!!!)

Wow...I am soooo far behind on my own blog. Over the next week or so I will attempt to catch up!

In Mid-April for the 7th year I attended the Indiana Plein Air Painters Association's Spring event titled First Brush of Spring held in New Harmony Indiana. This year was an AMAZING experience!!!  As is our habit we arrived the Friday before to spend some family time with my husbands family who live in the area. We found my mother-in-law, who I love, doing quite poorly and I wondered if I would be able to participate in the event at all. It was a "one day at a time" proposition but as it turned out I was able to participate! I am thanking God for her recovery!

Almost a year ago I had signed up to take a four day workshop that I has wanted to take for years with master artist C.w.Mundy!! In my opinion you can learn painting via workshops with renowned artists who are graciously willing to share what they know. C.w. is an impressionist which probably fits my style more that anything else and so I was excited to learn from him.

C.w. Mundy

On the first day of the workshop we were indoors for a full, and I mean FULL, day of lecture where he walked us through his "7 Foundational Truths of Painting"...Drawing, Squinting, Design, Value, Color, Edges, and Paint Manipulation. I had light bulbs going off everywhere!

Day two-four we set up in the most beautiful place!! New Harmony has a peony farm...acres of peonies! With the early spring for the fist time when I was there they were blooming!!! Magic! C.w. did a small demo in the morning and then in the afternoon we painted. The assignment was to take a 20x16 surface and divide it into 4 8x10 sections. Then we had 15 minutes to do a value study in one of the sections of the same view that C.w. had just demoed. Then he critiqued each and every one of ours (I think over 20 of us). Then we did a second and again critique. In the morning we did two more so that we had four value studies one one surface.

Four 8x10 value studies by Wendie Thompson

We broke for lunch and when we came back we were to do a 16x20 painting of the same scene...we had one hour...timed...not kidding!! Then critiqued again each and every one! These were very valuable lessens for me!!

Beyond the Peonies 20x16 by Wendie Thompson

The forth day was Thursday which is when the competition began so I got up very early and got my canvases stamped and got out to the peony field and started painting. I had about an hour and a half before class began to paint.

Miss Jane's Peonies 12x9 by Wendie Thompson

When class began C.w did another demo. Because it was also a competition day we had the option to paint or listen/watch...he did not comment on our work this day at all! I watched and listened to him in his process as he thought through everything before he applied paint to his panel...amazing!

I was sitting with a bed of Iris' between him and I which were somewhat distracting in their sheer beauty...so at lunch I painted them:

From Glory to Glory 10x20 by Wendie Thompson

After lunch C.w. talked to us about  his personal story (He is a deeply Christian man who seeks the Lord's will in everything he does.) and then the business of art. I gained many helpful insights and was greatly encouraged in both my art and in my personal walk with God!

BONUS!!! I won an Artists Merit award for Miss Jane's Peonies!!!

Sorry this was so long but that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I'm sure it will take me most of the year to fully integrate everything I learned...let the journey begin!!!