Working on a 6"x8" panel on a small pochade, mounted on a tripod. I never paint buildings, architecture is daunting.

Small Plein Air painting of the area across from the Maritime Museum in Manitowac WI.

Going in to the Miller Annual Juried Exhibition-2011

On Being Accepted and learning to paint the night

At the beginning of summer I entered a juried show at The Hardy art gallery in Ephraim WI and the painting did not make the cut. It was a big painting of my plymouth barred rocks and leghorns chickens in a cluster of chattering feeding. Now, several months later I entered 2 new paintings in the Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay WI, Annual juried fall show which includes artists from surrounding counties. Entrants are not aware of the identity of the jurors prior to entering the Miller exhibit but I found out later that one of the jurors at the Miller had also been a juror at the Hardy when I was rejected. I received notice late in August that both of my entries were accepted in the Miller show, leaving me a bit surprised. Once again this illustrates how subjective things can be when it comes to jurors' choices, one panel of experts will never see the same thing the same way twice anyway. Context is considered, what other work was I up against? How many entries were there? So many things influence the outcome when the words Juried Exhibition are applied to an exhibition of diverse media, ability and subject. Still I was happy to have another opportunity at a little exposure. Painting new things is a challenge and a reward, regardless of the outcome or if someone deems it important enough to make the cut. I was tackling an alla prima landscape, start to finish in two hours, and the other painting, also a landscape, was the opposite, a laborious execution of greens, and a silver loaf of bread in the middle, our Airstream trailer planted firmly in the Wisconsin landscape. My next challenge is interior depth, I am painting the space where I now sit, french doors and striped floors, and the painting is at a stand still for moment while I go take a night time class painting en plein air in the setting sun with Bonnie Paruch next week, turns out she was one of the jurors also.

Painting for the Public

The Door County Land Trust held their 25th anniversary picnic for about 500 people yesterday. They asked 8 artists to do plein air painting of the property while the members were able to saunter the paths and view the spectacular property, and have a great sit-down meal provided by a local restaurant; the day was stellar, with amazing cloud formations against a brilliant sky, the meadow lined with stone fence and the flora typical of Door County. The food was great, the music was lively, people were in good moods, and even though I was very apprehensive about my own performance, and the wind which eventually blew down the top part of my french easel, I approached the day as a fun opportunity to do something new and necessary for my own sense of purpose. I was included with the 8 artists and had spent the last several months building up a cloud of my own, being prone to withdraw from public eyes, I paint alone 99% of the time. This was something new for me, painting for the fundraising audience. Since I am somewhat challenged by the physical requirements, I take a chair, I don't venture too far into the bush, and I try to travel light. After talking with fellow artist and friend Bonnie Paruch, I opted to throw in a few more variations of green, packed my chair and hat and arrived at the site around 2p.m. Some artists had come earlier and had a nearly finished work when I was just starting at 2:15. This added to my angst. So I managed to get something done quickly, and guess what? I didn't hate it-- but if given opportunity to return to that lovely spot, I would no doubt work it differently the next time. I considered this opportunity a gift, the day was so gorgeous after all. But then, a volunteer came around with buckets, each artist was given a bucket in which the members could place their purchased raffle tickets, I had a new thing to think about, what if no one placed a ticket in my bucket. As it turned out I had more than a few tickets and the person who got the painting was outwardly gracious and happy to receive it.

The Land Trust folks work very hard, the members and volunteers deserve our encouragement and our participation. I owe them a thanks as well for getting me out there and providing me a chance to paint with 7 other artists who all did an amazing job. I won't forget the day.