"Nimble" at Sister Bay

This morning's quick paint was held at Sister Bay.  I was instantly grabbed by this wonderful, old sailboat - and I had to paint it.  The weather was absolutely perfect - warm, sunny with gentle breezes.  I love getting to paint these sailboats - especially since I never get to see them.   We don't see too many sailboats in Missouri!   Painting number 1304 in 1304 days!

Steps through the Garden

The focus of today's workshop was architecture in the garden - and what better scene than this Victorian house overlooking this beautifully tiered garden? The owners were so gracious, allowing us to set up on the lawn and paint all afternoon.  This was a very tranquil place to paint, with the sailboats gracing the harbor just behind us.  As we painted, neighbors would stop by, offering up their place for painting this year or next.  The one just to the south was also amazing, and the log cabin across from the confectionary will certainly be a "must paint"! This was truly a little slice of heaven in this girl's plein air adventures!   Painting number 1303 in 1303 days :)

Linen in the Line

The neighbor across the street from us at Kangaroo Lake  has the most amazing garden in front of her home.  After admiring them on my nightly runs,  I caught her outside to ask permission to paint them.   As I was talking to her, I caught sight of this lovely scene in her side yard!  I think her husband thought we were crazy, but they allowed us to spend the afternoon "painting their laundry!   Another painting adventure and the 1302 painting in 1302 days!

Docked at Sister Bay

Docked at Sister Bay
Oil on panel, 11x14

Sister Bay, and this harbor, was the scene for today's workshop.  Teddy and I each worked on separate boats, with separate focus, in front of the students.  They could look from one to the other, and watch our progress as we talked through our steps.  It was a quick paint, as the rain was threatening - and started before the last strokes were down.  It is a little like tag-teaming between us, as we paint.  So fun!  This painting makes the 1301st in 1301 days :)

Morning at Moonlight Bay

After watching the sunrise at Gordon Lodge, we headed over to Moonlight Bay for the morning workshop.  The temperature soon heated up, and the girls were dropping like flies!  As they headed back to the Red Shed, I finished my painting.  We were able to finish the class later, in the comfort of the shade!  This painting is the 1300th in 1300 days!! Wowza!

Leaning Maple

This is my first time up to Gill"s Rock in Door County, and what a treat!  We taught our plein air workshop just above Lake Michigan with the cool breezes keeping us cool.  What a gorgeous day and a talented group of students!  It is so fun to set their paintings come to life!   I almost forgot to pos this!  We'll be getting up at dawn to start it all again!   Painting number 1299 on 1299 days :)

Light on the Urn

After very little sleep last night, we arrived with our workshop students at our loft in Bailey's Harbor.  A little unpacking and introductions cleared the way for a quick nocturne paint.  Even with only 3 hours of sleep, the brushes and paint exhilarated me as I captured the illumination in the night landscape.  It has been a little while since my last nocturne - and boy do I love them!  Now - off to bed!    Painting number 1298 in 1298 days :)

Abundant Phlox

The light from the west is just too irresistible as it spreads across the lawn.   Grabbing my paints, I get this one down before that wonderful golden light fades behind the trees.  This has been a day full of family, friends, a wedding and a reception at the President's Hotel in Kansas City - how could life be any sweeter?  Painting number 1297 in 1297 days.....I think!

Phlox and Redbuds

Every morning as I head to the gym,  I see this amazing landscape and long to paint it.  I almost never have enough time for a painting before the gym, but today I did.  Once I start painting, it is SO easy to get lost in the process, and lose all track of time!   Especially alluring is the play between shadow and light, and I've used only a couple of brushes for the whole painting - except for a little finish work executed with my catalyst. This painting is the 1297th in 1297 days :)

Light on the Trees

Every day, as the sun pushes into the "golden hour", I am drawn to this place.  It is just to the northeast of the lawn between the pasture and the yard.   It used to be the old barn lot, when I was young.  I am mesmerized by the sunlight hitting the trees from the west, and I find myself painting it again.  I know I've done it before, but it's pull is strong, and I must submit!   This may be for me what the lily pads were for Monet.  One day, I may have a dozen paintings of this exact scene in all different seasons.  It is also alluring in the early morning, when the light cuts in from behind the trees, and there is a little clearing right in the middle,  where I could spend all day painting in the shade.  This painting makes 1296 in 1296 days :)

Waiting for Dinner

Michaela wanted a new cat, and so we went down to a friend's farm and brought this beauty home with us.  Her markings are unlike any other cat I've seen, and finally, I have time to paint her tonight!  I am using my new poly tips on this one,  but I'm reaching for my connoisseurs to blend.  I think the poly tips may be great work horses,  but for finishing, my old favs are easier to maneuver. The polys just seem to grip the paint a little tighter, and they aren't releasing with the same flow as my brushes. This is only my fourth painting to use them, so maybe this is still my learning curve.  After arriving home from dinner, I passed by this painting on the easel, and thought it was actually my cat!  Whoa, now that's crazy.   Painting number 1295 in 1295 days :)

Clouds over the Meadow

I love this time of year!  The heat of the day brings on the most beautiful and dramatic cloud formations in the afternoon!   I picked up a couple more of the Princeton poly tip brushes,  as well as my favorite Connoisseurs at Creative Coldsnow's yesterday.  One, an angled tip, and the other a smaller filbert.  When painting the clouds, it was hard to keep the clean filbert tip from leaving those perfect little marks. I found myself picking up a well used bright to soften the marks.  I wonder how these brushes will wear.  I really like the black heads and ferrules, they will not reflect the bright sun while painting outside,  and sometimes, that reflection can be blinding!  I am looking forward to some intensive "in the field" painting with them.  That is my true test for any brush that makes it into my paintbox.  Painting number 1294 in a 1294 days :)

A Father's Love

A Father's Love
graphite on bristol, 11x14
sold

This drawing has been a labor of love.  Tyler is our second child, our first son, and this little darling is the first Dickerson grandson.  Little Nolan has had a challenging start in this world, and I have drawn this from a photo taken in the NICU at Children's Mercy in Kansas City.  So many hours we spent here, with the turmoil of the unknown around us, and the very real joy of a new little life filling our hearts to the brim.  Life is sweet, and these special moments are to be cherished and clung to.  Every day is special, and each child is a gift.  I pray that we have a lifetime to shower little Nolan with love.  Drawing number 1292 in 1292 days.

Silver Moon over Pond

Silver Moon
Oil on illustration board, 6x8
purchase here

Nocturnes are so enchanting.  The very essence of capturing the palest light on a dark night whispers of mystery.  Most of my nocturne paints have been in town, where light is illuminated from buildings and street lights, and spread all about the landscape in a limited scope.  Painting the light of the moon is quite different.  Everything about it is different.  The light is cool, therefore the shadows are warm.  In this case, I started with a black surface.  I never do this with a street scene, because I want some color variation in the darks.  In this painting, I created that difference with paint, warming the dark hues as they neared the ground. The sky was the lightest plane in my landscape, and though reflected in the water, it was darker.  Some of those dark shadows lost their edges, especially in the trees which seemed engulfed with some of that moonlight.  I did have to use a headlamp to paint this, which I have never used before - mainly because I do not like the blue light they emit.  I simply had no other choice here.  When I think if the moon, and moonlight, I always think "lemon yellow".  This was not true when it stood before me, it was silvery (although I did tint my white with the palest bit of lemon yellow - because nothing in the landscape is really white).  This painting makes 1291 in 1291 days.

Fleeting Light

The sky is full of paintings tonight!  Every direction boasts of another fabulous sunset composition!   I am simply not fast enough to paint the three beauties before me!  So, I will have to paint the others from memory and my photos.  I can only hope to do the landscape justice.  I'm trying a couple of new brushes with this one.  They are the poly tipped filberts by Princeton, and they work like my bristle brushes, only they feel different as they apply the paint.  So far, so good.  I may need to use a lighter touch as the brush seems to push down on the surface a little harder.  I am having fun with these sunsets, this may just be a week of sunsets!   Painting number 1290 in 1290 days :)

Fleeting Light
Oil on panel, 7x5
purchase here

Sunset Glow

Some days, the setting sun is irresistible, and I must go get my paints!  Everything is so lush outside, with all the rain we've had this week!  What could possibly set off this landscape more than a glorious show in the sky?  With so many clouds, I started this one with my gray cloud colors first,  then moved to the violets overhead.  Next, came the lighter hues, followed be the brightest lights.   The landscape was last, since it was important for me to get the sky color in before it was gone!  This painting îs the 1289th in as many days :)

Sunset Glow
oil on panel, 7x5
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Garden Phlox Illusion

The first downpour was just starting when I arrived home from the gym.  I couldn't go inside,  the rain beckoned to me.  Sitting in a rocker on our covered front porch, I soaked in the atmosphere.  "Paint me, paint me...", came it's siren call.  I had chores to do, children to feed, a shower to take (for crying out loud!), and yet the brushes called.  I could not walk away.  I set up on the porch, sheltered from the rain, and worked while the grandsons ran in and out of the rain, splashing all the way.  Just a little slice of sanity in a crazy,  busy day.  Painting number 1288 in 1288 days.

Garden Phlox Illusion
Oil on panel, 6x6
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Glory in the Sky

Some days the clouds move so fast, I could paint several sky paintings - if only I could keep up!  By the time I finished this one facing south, a marvelous scene unfolded in the sky to the north!   But alas, the light was already fading, and I knew there would not be enough time to capture it.  This painting is number 1284 in 1284 days :)

Roses in Ink

After finishing a portrait of fatherhood, that I have been working on for days, I am trying my hand at vintage roses.  I love the wonderful, ageless quality of these blooms.  I have never tried them in pen and ink - or graphite - for that matter!  They are simple, and easy to round out their forms with a little shading.  I am really having fun with this media!  I never know when I might stumble on something magical!   Painting number 1283 in 1283 days.

Roses in Ink
Pen and ink on paper, 6x7
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Waiting

Tonight finds me drawing Carole Bowles in the vintage dress she wore for the civil war reenactment at our farm. I am really learning from each figure I draw.  The compositions come easier with each one, and the permanence of ink no longer scares me.   It is fun, and relaxing even.   Who knew?   Thanks to my friend Lyn Pharis, for inspiring me to take up pen and ink this January!   Painting number 1282 on 1282 days :)

Waiting
Pen and ink on paper, 6x7
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Butterfly in the Wildflowers

There is something very vintage about an ink drawing, and especially when rendering something as timeless as a butterfly and wildflowers.  This could have been drawn 100 years ago, or just today.  Thank goodness, a Hobby Lobby opened up nearby - I'll be able to pick up another superfine black Pitt pen.  It is my favorite, and something I can do while visiting with my parents.  Although,  the dogs are keeping me from getting things done.   They are carrying on like a couple of toddlers, fighting over toys and running amuck!  Painting number 1280 in 1280 days :)

Butterfly in the Wildflowers
Pen and ink on paper, 6x7
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Watering the Horse

I have lately been wanting to draw some horses and riders, using my reference photos from the reenactment we had out here a few years ago.  I am using my Pitt pens and sketching in the figures loosely.  Too scared to jump in with the ink directly, I did a light sketch with my mechanical pencil.  This allowed me to make sure my proportions were right between horse and rider.  It was fun to sketch them in ink, so fun that I did another one!  Drawing number 1279 in 1279 Days :)

Watering the Horses
pen and ink on paper, 6x7
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Looking Out

This little guy was one of our kittens that went to live at my daughter's house.  He is gorgeous - and a wonderful painting subject!!  With the family coming over shortly to celebrate the 4th of July,  I am painting small and fast,  using those impressionistic strokes.  I started by negatively painting his whole shape,  before adding the colors in his fur.  I used the edge of my catalyst for those bright highlights.  That tool does not fit in my new easel, so I bought another one to cut down.  I really miss it when I have to use my plain old palette knife!   This painting is 1278 in 1278 days. 

Looking Out
Oil on panel, 6x6
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Impressions of Charlie

Finally, a quiet day with family!   While everyone was sleeping, I took advantage of this surprise free time and picked up my brushes!  Oh - what sweet release to feel the painting roll off my brushes again!   My plate has been very full, and my mind pulled in every direction, that a little at therapy was sorely needed.  Our beloved Charlie is no longer with us,  so this painting is a special little memory of a sweet and loving soul.  Painting number ?  I really need to get all my posts logged.   With the scattered Internet, a few are still waiting to be uploaded.  Silly Internet.   Whatever happened to every person in America having high speed access?   Just another forgotten campaign promise,  I'm afraid.

Impressions of Charlie
Oil on panel, 6x6
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Swallowtail on the Allium

Things have been so hectic around here, I'm simply overwhelmed.  I have not even had time to try and remember all that needs to be done around.  I am dropping balls right and left, and still the demands increase.  I really need a few hours to myself to unwind and actually breathe.  Squeezing in a drawing amidst the squealing boys chasing the dogs and trying to clean up after them!  Chaos reigns at my house these days.......drawing number 1276.

Swallowtail on the Allium
Pen and ink on paper, 6x7
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