Happy Earth Day!

Summer

Happy Earth Day!

View from Nick's Cabin

Such a sweet little end of the marsh. This painting will be for sale at the Croton Artisans Holiday Show this weekend!

Swamp, Mecosta County

My family and I found a little dirt road we had never before explored, and lo and behold, it had a fantastic view of this gorgeous hidden swamp. So I went back on a hot summer day, parked myself at the edge of someone’s field, and had a lovely day of painting. This landscape will be at the Croton Artisans’ Holiday Show this weekend, where I’ll also be painting half-hour portraits. Come by to say hello, see some beautiful arts and crafts, and if your timing is right, snag some of Yoshimi’s amazing sushi. 

Landscapes at the Black Cow

Late Summer Evening, Michigan

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As the crow flies, this spot is just a couple miles west of home, on the way to Hilhof Dairy, the organic farm where we buy our milk. I love their milk; I love this land. I also love Brutus, the 150-pound Great Dane who lives at the farm. He’s young and a little playful; I try not to get him too worked up.

Evening, Late Summer

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2014 was a great year for hay in Michigan. Good for the farmers, and good for me. My dad took me to see this view, thinking I would like it. Yup!

Two Horses and a Donkey on a Rainy Day

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Well, I guess I don’t have much to add to the title. Just a little painting of farm animals eating in the drizzle.

I've updated my Upcoming Events links to the right. Hope you can come by to say hi and see what our many talented local artisans are up to.

Marsh on the Back Way to Big Rapids

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The countryside to the northeast of Big Rapids, Michigan, is just gorgeous. The road curves around the edge of the marsh here, and it’s a good spot to stop and admire the view. While painting today, I was listening to an interview with Ted Genoways about the environmental consequences of petroleum mining in the Canadian tar sands. Maybe it's because my head was already in the North with the painting, but I found it particularly compelling. And very scary. I highly recommend listening here, or reading his article in the December issue of Outside magazine.

Northern Swamp

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I always love passing by this little swamp on our hike through the woods out to Nordhouse Dunes. Actually, I usually miss the swamp on the way there, as we leave the trail just before it to go bashing through the woods in search of an elusive “more direct” trail, which sometimes exists and sometimes doesn’t. (Some of you will understand this only too well.) This painting is at the end of the day, on our way back, with the last of the sun coming through the trees and lighting up the grasses on the other side of the water.

Nordhouse Dunes No. 2

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This is one of my favorite places on earth. You have to hike a little bit to get here, but it’s so worth it. Friends and I once hiked in at sunset, nestled our sleeping bags into the warm, soft sand, and fell asleep as the stars came out. Let me tell you, in the wee morning hours, that sand is freezing cold and rock hard. (The stars are spectacular, though.)

Spring at the Tourne

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This is my second painting of the swamp at the Tourne. I hope to paint many more. It was a lovely spring day, and I went for a run in the surrounding woods and hills. Somehow, I got off on a side trail that skirted the very east edge of the swamp, which was interesting until it got too rocky and overgrown, and then it was annoying. I abandoned it, trusting that I’d find the main trail sooner or later, and I did, and all was well.

Black Rock Park No. 1

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I like this stretch of the Croton River, upstream from Quaker Bridge. It’s serene and unpopulated. The fall colors are muted, with the sycamores being the first to change.   

Lake Minnewaska

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This is not the painting I was supposed to do yesterday. The plan was to hike with my friend Peter up to one of his favorite views in Minnewaska State Park and paint there. Halfway into the hike, though, I fell and twisted my ankle pretty badly, and that was it for that hike. We limped back down to the lake, which is actually a gorgeous spot. Because of its accessibility, it’s a popular location, and over the course of the painting I encountered several nice dogs, lots of kids ignoring their parents’ exhortations not to get their pants wet, and one perceptive little 8-year-old (“It looks like what I see, but it’s a lot more colorful.”) I will definitely be back, hopefully soon. I just love the combination of rock cliffs, pitch pines, and water up there.

Here is a photo of Peter, helping to tote my gear. Behind him is another view of Lake Minnewaska.

Blue Mountain No. 2

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Another view of the lake in the Blue Mountain Preserve. A peaceful morning, punctuated by the occasional dog walker reasoning with her dog as if it were human. But most of the time it was just me and little scurrying woodland critters. I love this early stage of fall, when most of the trees are still green, with isolated spots of brightness.

Maine Woods

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This is the last painting that I did in Maine, and I think it’s my favorite. It was a sunny afternoon in a clearing, near a fox den, and the woods were just so complicated—dark in some parts, glowing in others. Unfortunately, shortly into the process the painting was Not Going Well, and I was getting grumpy. Plus I was tired, hot, and stinky. (Sorry, foxes.) Things continued this way for a while, when all of a sudden something clicked, and the painting came together, and the breeze blew, and all was right with the world. This doesn’t always happen when a painting is going badly, but when it does, it feels like magic. 

View from the Hill

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This is a quick sketch of the view that I woke up to every morning in Maine. I was enchanted with this view and spent several hours working on a larger painting of it, which ultimately, after a bit of cursing and a minor temper tantrum, had to be scrapped. I took a hike to the top of the farthest field that you can see here, got some perspective, and came back and did this little study. 

Morning in Maine

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As it turns out, I was trespassing when I painted this one. But no one was around, and even if they had been, it probably would have been ok. And this view was worth it—one of those vistas that make me laugh, they’re so beautiful. I was up in a high field, looking out over fall forests stretching to the White Mountains in the distance, heavy morning clouds scudding overhead, casting long, fast-moving shadows over everything. I suppose the speed at which the high clouds moved should have given me some warning, but down in the field all was calm and perfect. For a few hours. Then, in what seemed an instant, gale-force winds (OK, probably just 25 mph) were whooshing through the grass, and I was using my body weight to keep the easel steady while I hurried to finish the painting. A 12x24” board can catch a lot of wind. I finally figured I was done, waited for a pause between gusts, and hurried the painting to my car, praying the wind would hold off until it was safely deposited in the trunk. It did. Whew.

Louise's Field

I had a fantastic time in Maine. I’m incredibly grateful to my friend Sarah for offering her wonderful house on the hill, where I spent three days painting, exploring, and relaxing, with only the blue heron (and yes, a few mosquitoes) for company. I came down off the hill to paint this field at just the right time; the dairy farmer haying the field had just baled up the hay the day before, and they were scattered prettily about, with their morning shadows stretching across the grass. The sun moves across the sky pretty quickly up there this time of year, changing dramatically how the light hits the trees in the space of one painting. A good opportunity to practice picking a moment’s light and sticking to it.

Swamp at the Tourne

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I painted this last week in New Jersey. Yes, New Jersey! I’ve had my eye on this swamp for a few years now. It’s enormous. According to a woman who came hiking by, it used to be a woodland, and then beavers came along and dammed up the stream, eventually turning it into a wetland. I like it this way. So does the pileated woodpecker who was tearing chunks out of one of the dead trees.