Pewaukee Classic Boat Show and Plein Air Competition Day 1

I had a good painting day today... got these two done. It was hot, sticky and windy with some scary storms coming through about 5pm...I got out of there first! Tomorrow the Cris Craft Boats come about 40 of them...I can't wait!

                                   The Other Side of the Tracks 16x12 oil

Pewaukee Island 20x10 oil

All the Trees of the Field shall clap their Hands!

"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands." Isaiah 55:12

Trees Clapping II 12x12 oil

Trees Clapping I oil 12x16

Ok... so at about 5:15 this morning I opened one eye and saw such a beautiful misty morning I couldn't believe it! I rarely bolt out of bed but that is what I did indeed! The field across the street from my house was sure to be incredible as the sun came up and burned through the fog. I dressed quickly against the mosquitoes that I was sure would be breakfast hungry... grabbed my cart and raced across the street. The bottom picture is what it looked like when I first got there. The 3rd from the top what it looked like about 45 minutes later...what an incredible change! It was still so beautiful I decided to try for one more before full out sun. I dashed back to the house for my needed umbrella...set it up and worked on the second one...very different light! I am writing this at about 8:15 after I have made coffee , downloaded the photos and lit up the computer so you get some idea of how fast these went. I am content!

Wauwatosa: 2010

Monarch Trail 12x16 oil

Trailers and Tracks 20x10 oil

Little Red Store 16x12 oil

So I started painting about 9 am today. Beautiful day...not too hot, sunny and breezy. I painted till about 3pm and then had a great lunch with a good artist friend. I was tired but still wanted to paint so I drove out to an area I had spotted a few days before and set up. It was 7:30 before I looked at my watch again....I'm a little tired! (it was worth it!)

Cedarburg: 7 paintings, 4 Frame-able, only two for the competition!

What a wonderful week we have had in Cedarburg and it's not over yet. I have painted a lot and now I have to decide which two to submit....so here they are...what do you think??

"Refuge" Cedarburg "Quick Paint" 2010

"Refuge"

8x10 oil

Cedarburg Plein Air Competition: Quick Paint

2 1/2 hours from the time your canvas is stamped to turn it in framed and wired...no pressure or anything!

Today's Plein air Painting: Beloit WI

Today's Plein air painting: Rooted at the Rock 16x12 oil

It's hard to show the scale of this tree. It's roots were holding on to the edge of the Rock River like nothing I'd ever seen. I was told that people take a lot of wedding photos there. What a fun task to paint this old snarled tree!

Today's plein air Painting!

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

by Wendie Thompson (plein air) Available $75

I won an award!! Brush with the Wind" WIPAPA's first juried show!

"A Place in the Shade" 8x10 oil on panel

available $225

This piece took one of 3 first place awards at the Brush with the Wind show!! I feel so honored!!

I painted this at Old World Wisconsin http://oldworldwisconsin.wisconsinhistory.org/) which is an outdoor museum of sorts. It is a beautiful place where they have moved old barns from all over the state and created small ethnic villages denoting the varies ethnic groups who settled the state. The day I was there was a free day right after the kids got out of school...it was crowded! I had a hard time keeping the kids from putting their hands in my paints!! Just look at these munchkins!!

Check out this video! http://www.youtube.com/user/OldWorldWisconsin

A finished Tonal Portrait and a Memory painting!!

Top photo oil, bottom photo pastel
"Monches Farm, Spring" both 8x10

Last night I did a quick oil from complete memory. I had done a pastel plein air piece about two weeks ago but didn't have it with me so I just closed my eyes and remembered...how'd I do??



Last night I also put the finishing touches on the portrait of my son and Grandson.: "Father and Son" 16x20 oil. It was my first tonal painting so I learned bunches and while I loved the result I struggled some with the necessary patience...What do you think??

Notes "en plein air" on plein air!

Quick Sketch as the sun goes down of this wonderful old gnarled tree. I felt like I was in another world...peaceful, quiet, still. (The Spirit Tree, 14x11 pastel)



So I have had a little time to reflect on my plein air trip to New Harmony, Indiana. Yes I struggled with my new set up and new medium but I was still able to peek into the soul of an old tree...still my heart long enough to admire the simplicity of a single dogwood blossom, wonder at the history of a broken fence line and drink in the spring green in huge gulps. Oh, the joy in it all!!

New Harmony and plein air in Pastel!!

Solomon's Vine 12x16 Pastel

Fence Line 7x5 pastel Sold!!!

What an amazing trip and week...80's and sunny most of it and painting, friends, and competition...even a sale...I am content. I learned that I have a lot to learn! (Shocker!)

What is it? (Manna)

When the Israelites left Egypt to wander the wilderness while God made a nation out of them they were afraid and complained that they would die of starvation. So Moses talked to God about it and The Father did an amazing thing that fed them all the years they wondered in the dessert. He made Manna. It was such strange stuff that they named it "What is it?" (In Hebrew: Manna.) Each morning when they awoke it would be lying all over the ground. The rules were that they were only to gather enough to eat for one day with one exception...the day before the Sabbath they were to gather enough for 2 days. The leftovers ( with the exception of the 6th day!) would spoil and if they ate it and they would become very ill. Some died from this.

I have often wondered what this stuff looked like?...tasted and felt like. It was so important to them that they were to keep some in the Ark of the Covenant (or Promise) which eventually ended up in the Temple and Contained the Very Presence of God. (ARK: You know that thing Indiana Jones made famous again).

All of this is leading up to my point: A number of years ago I had a very significant trauma at the hands of someone I really trusted and it shook my life to the very core. Healing took a long time and here is the thing I learned that gave me my life back: Forgiveness is like manna...you must harvest it each day! On occasion it will last for 2 days but sure enough, if you eat it old, it will make you ill. I have pondered this for years now..it is like Jesus' love for us. It is such a foreign thing to us that we ask "What is it?" How could someone die (be murdered in the most brutal way imaginable and not be bitter about it?) for me when I am soooo unworthy? There is absolutely nothing else like it on the planet...but then that IS the point. God IS Love.