Respite

Sketch/watercolor of a small mill in Scotland no longer in use.

It is the middle of summer already.  Hot and humid in Iowa.  My garden has weeds that need to be plucked out and my flowers are looking a little thirsty.  I have a wren that is preparing her second nest of the season and is singing away.  Lightning bugs still illuminate the still nights but the locusts have started their rhythmic chant that foretells autumn even in the middle of July.
I have a couple friends that will be attending the MacNider Art Museum in Mason City, Iowa on Tuesday to view the current Area Show 46 and the artwork I had got selected for the exhibition.  I enjoy these art fieldtrips. Sometime they involve a sketching element.  We will see if we can fit one in on this trip.  If so, I will post the results.

New Materials

It’s always exciting to try new materials. Going to an art supply store is as exhilarating as going to an office supply store. I would choose those over any other shopping any day. So, I have picked up some Golden GAC 200 from Dick Blick and some gold leaf from Hobby Lobby and am going to try some application inspired by Nancy Reyner who I just finished taking a class from. 

Nancy is an exquisite painter, educator, author that is inspiring in trying new painting applications and in critically analyzing artwork to make better judgements on how to proceed. http://nancyreyner.com/. 

Winter's Refuse

"Winter's Refuse"  mixed media  22"x28"  

March has arrived in northern Iowa.  Birds are returning including flocks of robins and blackbirds.  The snow had melted considerably until today as it is currently being replenished with another Monday snowstorm.  That early melt of snow, the first couple melts anyway, leaves the ground covered with broken branches, trash in some cases, what I call winter's refuse.  It is wet, muddy, and messy.  The ground is still frozen so the water has nowhere to go but remain on the surface and form small ponds that the returning ducks enjoy in the farmer's fields.  The bird feeders are crazy busy with  competition from the new returnees from the warmer climates.

The painting, "Winter's Refuse" is an experimental painting done in acrylic and ripped masa paper on watercolor 140# Arches paper.  I wanted to play around with surface qualities and not get locked into realism.  The interconnectedness of things is my focus here; nature, the seasons, time, space.  My plan is no particular plan.  My plan is to just continue painting and see where that leads me.

Cairn in Ireland

Here is a completed watercolor painting I have been meaning to try for almost a year. I have painted one previously in acrylic from Grand Marais, Minnesota. This one I photographed in the west coast of Ireland. There is something about the organic quality of rocks, their sharp edges and unruly geometric shapes that interest me. I am so like the challenge of painting lights and darks. I will be painting more of these in the future 

Cuba's Muraleando, an Arts Center regenerating a community

 I had the opportunity to go to Cuba recently.  It was actually on a Caribbean Holland America trip with a two day layover in the Havana Harbor.  On our Taste of Cuba excursion we had an opportunity to visit an area of the city that had been repurposed from a very rundown space to an art center.  The center provides classes for creating art, music, dance and theatre for the region.  Many of the outdoor sculptures surrounding the center were constructed from recycled materials. 

Experiment in Wax

I spent a few hours with friends experimenting with oils and wax. The above are my two hastily composed artworks. There was much to play with and kept my brain busy problem solving. Encaustic and cold wax are on my list of things to look up and read about.

Thanksgiving at Pilot Knob State Park

Thanksgiving at Pilot Knob  watercolor on 140# paper

Thanksgiving has come and gone.  Currently the wind is howling outside as the temperature is dropping drastically and winter is assuming its presence with assertion.  But at the time I was hiking the trails on Thanksgiving afternoon at a nearby state park, it was warm and the colors were gold and brown.  I took a solo hike with my dog, Rondo.  It is a good one mile hike over hills and past lakes.  It was relatively quiet except for several white tailed deer and a few lone geese.