Workshop Lesson - Memory Painting

One of the painting exercises during the workshop was to do a memory painting. Marc took us to the beach at Petoskey State Park. The idea is to look at the scene for a short time (5 minutes) and then paint what you remember the next 10 minutes. We repeated that sequence for an hour. Then after a break, put that painting away and did a painting of the same scene for only an hour. The sun was hot!

"Hot Sand Dunes" , oil, 8x10

The memory painting is on the left. Amazing how they both pretty much look the same!

Marc Hanson's dune demo. His was not a memory painting, though he showed us how he massed in the big shapes with a variety of grayed greens. The light was flat by this time, not an ideal situation. Plus it was getting quite warm with little breeze. 

See our easels facing the lake! Someone driving by commented on how odd that we were painting the dunes while facing the wrong way!

Marc Hanson's painting of the dunes.

Painting From Studies III

Along the Bay, pastel, 18x24, $1500. framed

I just finished this pastel based upon the oil plein air study below.  I totally relied on the study for most of the painting. I had a few photos of the water, rocks and foreground that helped a little.
I like the vibrant color of this pastel and the loose freshness of the study. It really is hard to capture that same feeling when painting in the studio. That is why painting on location is so important to a landscape painter. To remember the feeling of the day, to simplify and edit, to record the colors and tones that natures gives us that create a natural harmony.

Bell's Bay, oil, 6x8, $300. framed

Plein air study on Bell's Bay, Charlevoix, MI.

Working From Studies II

Bell's Bay Sunset - Charlevoix, oil, 6x8, $300. framed
I painted this study while camping at Fisherman's Island State Park, near Charlevoix, MI,  last summer.
It is one of four plein air studies from the area.

Michigan Sunset, oil on linen, 24x30
I was inspired to paint this studio piece by combining the ideas from my study and a photograph of the beautiful sunset from that evening.

Painting in Leelanau Co.

Here is the rest of the story! When I returned home from the Glen Arbor trip, I felt a few of the paintings needed a little help. So after a few touch ups, they were photographed so I could add them to my web site and blog.

Michigan Beach (Port Oneida), oil, 6x8, $295. framed
The second painting on Saturday morning of the paint out. This one required more paint in the foreground , which I worked on in the studio.

Thoreson Farm, oil, 8x10, $500. framed
I painted this one on Friday evening during the "quick draw" event. We only had two hours to complete a painting and I felt like this one was finished by the ending time.

Leelanau Road, oil on panel, 6x6, $250. framed
Painted on Sunday, the day after the paint out. It was very windy and kind of chilly compared to the day before. 

Port Oneida Beach, oil, 9x12, $650. framed
The first painting of the day on Saturday....I found some shade.

Vineyard and Bay, oil, 9x12, $650. framed
Painted on Sunday, south of Suttons Bay, before we left for home.

The start of "Port Oneida Beach".

Painting in Glen Arbor

This weekend I participated in the Glen Arbor Art Association 2012 Paint Out. Sixty artists from Michigan participated in the event and spread out to paint around the Glen Arbor area. I accompanied  another artist, Holly Sturges, as we searched and painted at the perfect spots during the event on Saturday. One of the criteria for a good spot was shade. The day was very hot. I found morning shade at the beach (below) and did two paintings there. Then we went to the base of Sleeping Bear Dunes and painted under a shady tree (see "Dune View" below). The last place of the afternoon was a small shady spot along a not often traveled gravel road. I lost my shade and could really feel the heat but the view was so great that I persevered to finish "Kelderhouse Road". We had to turn in two framed paintings by 4:30pm for the evening reception. There patrons browsed the work by the many artists and quickly purchased their favorites!

Painting Saturday morning on a Port Onida Beach. The painting is in progress here.

Dune View, oil on linen panel, 9x12, SOLD
at the Glen Arbor Art  Asso.  reception on Saturday night.

Kelderhouse Road, oil, 6x8, SOLD
at the Glen Arbor Art Asso. Paint Out reception on Saturday night.

Painting a Leelanau scene on Sunday morning. It was very, very windy and the temperature had dropped considerably from yesterday.

Leelanau Farm, oil, 6x8, at Treeline gallery
This is the finished painting now at the gallery in Suttons Bay. I dropped it off wet and unframed. Call the gallery if interested in this little Leelanau painting.

New Work at North Seas

Croissants Today, pastel, 12x16, $900.

This blog will feature the new paintings that I delivered to North Seas Gallery last week. I hope you enjoy them and can visit the gallery in beautiful Charlevoix this summer!

A New Morning, pastel, 12x6, $395. SOLD

Bridge Street Bridge, pastel, 8x20, $800.SOLD

Pristine Morning, pastel, 9x12, $500.

Sailing Along, pastel, 12x6, $395.SOLD

Sailing Lake Charlevoix, pastel, $985. 

Shoreline Dusk, pastel, $395.SOLD

Charlevoix Sunset, oil, 16x20, $1600.SOLD

Dunes and Porter Creek

I am honored to have a painting accepted into the Muskegon Regional Exhibition for 2012.

The exhibit will run from May 31 - August 8, 2012 at the Muskegon Museum of Art in Muskegon, Michigan. 

Dunes and Porter Creek, oil on linen, 24x24, $2300.

"Dunes and Porter Creek" was inspired by my favorite beach in the Nordhouse Dunes area in the Manistee National Forest. Porter Creek is a small stream emptying into Lake Michigan. The dunes surrounding the creek and along the shoreline have changed dramatically over the many years that I have been camping there. A few years ago a fierce wind storm changed the dune landscape. Sadly many trees and branches littered the dunes. The worst part was the trash washed up onto the shore. Many kind folks spent their vacation hours cleaning up the beaches. To this day, trash continues to litter these pristine areas after storms and currents carry the trash to our beaches. I am hoping that in some small way, we can all do our part to eliminate littering and to be more conscience of keeping our earth beautiful for all future generations.

April Studio Work

Belted Galloway II, pastel, 6x6, $225. framed
I painted these two small paintings, to get a feeling for these Scottish cows that I saw in Maine. I may develop one of them into a larger studio painting.

Belted Galloway, pastel, 6x6, $225. framed

Dunes and Porter Creek, oil, 24x24, $2300. framed
I am going to enter this one in an upcoming juried competition.

Lilies in the Garden, oil, 36x24, $3250. gold frame
Now at Grand Gallery in Ada, MI. This painting is part of the group exhibit, "In Harmony". The artist reception is May 11, 2012, from 5:00-8:00pm.

Parrot Tulips, oil, 16x12, $995. gold frame
Also at Grand Gallery for the May Exhibit.

Woodland Trilliums, oil, 12x12, $950. framed
This piece and my group of work for Treeline Gallery, in Suttons Bay,  will be hung next week. The official opening is May 21, though the gallery will be open by appointment. See my web site "Gallery" page for more information on Treeline Gallery. Or click on the Gallery link from this blog!
The next post will highlight more new work for the Treeline Gallery.

Thank you for viewing my work!
Kathleen

Art Prize 2011

"Sands of Time", oil on canvas, 30x40

My Artprize painting for this year, "Sands of Time", inspired by the dunes along Lake Michigan. Overtime, the shifting sand moves into dunes and valleys caused by winds off of the lake. Visitors walking on the dunes also have an effect on the fragile dune ecosystem. Plants help hold the sand, so care must be taken to tread lightly.

See my painting at Huntington Bank at 50 Monroe, next door to the BOB. It is hanging on the main floor, to the left of the front entrance next to the elevators. Please remember to register and vote for your favorite art works. There are about 1500 works of art within the 3 mile boundry in downtown Grand Rapids.See www.artprize.com for more information on hours and registration spots.

Lakeshore Plein Air

Beach Day, oil on linen panel, 9x12

Evening in the Dunes, oil on linen panel, 9x12

Sunset Glow-Dunes, oil on gesso board, 12x9

Quiet Morning-Dunes, oil on linen panel, 12x16

Plein air paintings from my camping trip at Muskegon Lakeshore State Park this past week.
We had beautiful Michigan weather, good company among many friends and many hours of relaxing  beach time and good wine! What more can you ask for?