Indian Lake, redux

I started this one on October 23rd and returned on November 2nd. With a few adjustments in the studio I'm calling it done. I really like painting at Indian Lake. It's such a lovely, peaceful place.

Indian Lake

Pat already provided some photos from our outing yesterday but here's one more.  Indian Lake is like a old friend and as the sun went down she seemed quite content and peaceful.  Maybe there's another painting here yet.

Tom

Indian Lake October 23rd

Beautiful afternoon and evening at Indian Lake.  I think I counted 6 of us painting there.  Tom brought firewood and beverages and he and Jan and Rick and I really enjoyed the fire which was much appreciated on a very cool evening.  It may be our last outing for 2018 but we are hoping for a warm day in November for one more. 

Jan getting a great start

Rick, Jan and Tom

Pastel in sketchbook

Pastel on Strathmore Bristol paper 15 x 19

Salmo Pond October 4th

Finally got some sun yesterday so I went out to Salmo Pond in the afternoon.  Very nice out there except for some noisy earth moving equipment.  I am guessing they were repairing flood damage.  Hwy. 14 as far as Salmo Pond is fine but a little further beyond that is still closed.

Pastel on Diane Townsend paper

Pastel on handmade paper

Marshall Park Lakeview

A beautiful sunny morning and another painting of the boats moored off the shore.  This was challenging because the boats keep shifting direction with the changing wind.

Tom

Marshall Park - 9/12/18

"Orange Kayak"  9x12 watercolor on handmade paper

McCarthy Park

 

 

I've been so busy with things I haven't been going out on my own at all. I missed the Belleville outing so it's been awhile. It was a beautiful night as long as the bug spray lasts.

 

McCarthy Park Outing

Had another nice evening for painting except for a new batch of mosquitos that was really distracting.  My painting from yesterday needs some work (scraping out mosquito carcasses) but here's another recent painting that I call "Lake Monona Above Flood Stage".  And if I can get to it, I may try painting at Tenney Park just to see if any decent new scenes have been created by the expanded lake.

Tom

Mary Hubley Workshop

I was recently contacted by a painter from Florida named Mary Hubley who will be conducting a plein air workshop in this area in September.  Mary has some family in the area and occasionally visits and enjoys painting here.  She has some remaining openings in her workshop and so I'm posting her workshop notice in case any DCPAP members, or others are interested in attending.
 -  Tom Gilbert

Plein Air Workshop September 8 & 9

I'm pleased to announce a plein air workshop opportunity with artist Mary Hubley on September 8 and 9. Mary is a nationally-recognized oil painter and teacher. The workshop is focused on getting outside and painting light, shadow, value, and color in the natural landscape.

"We laugh a lot, learn, and have fun painting outside in the fresh air," says Mary. The workshop includes demos, one-on-one instruction, and gentle class critique. The workshop is for all levels and all mediums. New artists will learn the basics, while advanced students will have the chance to develop their skills. Artists loosen up, connect with their personal style, and get motivated. Participants will go home with finished plein air paintings and solid recommendations as to where to go next with their individual painting practice.

For more info, please see Mary's website at https://wwww.maryhubley.com/workshops-classes. Questions? Contact Mary directly at mary@maryhubley.com.

When: September 8-9, 2018, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Price: $100 per day. $200 for 2 days.

Where: Outside, in rural locations around Madison, Wisconsin. Exact locations to be determined.

Registration: Register and pay through paypal at maryhubley.com/workshops-classes or call Hubley Gallery at 904-429-9769.

Supplies: Students are responsible for bringing their own supplies and materials. See recommended supplies at www/maryhubley.com/plein-air-supplies.

Belleville Outing

Had a nice morning at Belleville Park last week.  After some major revisions this is the painting I ended up with. A bit of an experiment.

Tom Gilbert

Paint the Point 2018

Last week I participated in Mineral Point's plein air event, along with local artists Diane Washa, Jan Norsetter, and Jim Faecke.  It was an enjoyable few days of painting. Diane and Jan both won awards, and Jim should of (in my opinion). A lot of quality painters and work. The top prize went to a young painter from Illinois named Marc Anderson. He has displayed at the Madison Art Fair on the Square the last couple years.

The first morning there was a dense fog. I painted a scene that I called "Fog Lifting Over the Pasture". I didn't quite capture the effect of fog to the extent I would have liked, but, otherwise,  I'm very pleased with this painting. And same as last year, we had one evening with incredible beautiful clouds and sky that came out after a passing rain storm. I've attached a couple digital images to give you an idea of what it looked like. I was able to paint some of these clouds. Overall this is a great painting area that's worth a trip any time of the year.

Tom

Pontoon Boat Plein Air on Lake Waubesa

Last summer I discovered that I can plein air paint from my pontoon boat if it is not too windy and wavy. Here is one from Lake Waubesa.

Madison Lake Paintings

We had a nice evening at Pheasant Branch last Tuesday but my painting effort was disappointing. But then I was reading the State Journal this morning with their current articles that are featuring the Madison lakes.  So I'm thinking it would be apropos to post some of our paintings with Madison lake views. Here's one I painted a couple weeks ago at Warner Park beach that I'm actually happy with (see ... I don't complain about all my paintings).  Who else has a nice lake theme painting? Let's see them.

Tom

Pheasant Branch Evening - July 31st

Mixed Media - 10 x 14

Watercolor - 6 x 6

Very pleasant evening out at the prairie.  

Merrimac Ferry July 17th

Nice day for painting the ferry.  I was at the little park on the south side. 

Merrimac Ferry - mixed media

Cherokee Park

Lots of good paintings, helpful advice, and good food and company at Marla's made for an enjoyable painting day.  Thanks again Marla for hosting.  Here's my painting after I took some of the advice I received and tried to fix it up.  I had trouble getting the large tree on the right to look like it fit into the scene and this was best I could do.

Cherokee Park and Lake Redstone

I really appreciate the constructive advice the group offers. I threw some paint as this and now there are a couple spots I like. I am also posting the painting I came home with from Lake Redstone. Should I attempt to take it further or call it a good 4 hour painting?

Cherokee Marsh

Prairie in bloom, oil on linen panel, 14"x18"

Cherokee Park

I did a few touch ups on the two paintings from this morning when I got home.
Thanks to everyone for helpful comments.
Also, thanks to Tom for organizing and to Marla for hosting lunch!
Wendy

Darya Vassina's exhibit

I am having a small exhibit at St.Andrew's episcopal church in Regent street in Madison during July-August 2018. It's a mix of oil and pastel paintings, including landscapes and still lifes, mostly done in the last year.

Siraj Hull Art Display

A message from Siraj:

I’ve been working on collages using mostly teabags for a display that will go on starting Friday till early September at the Carbone Center. 

While living in Nuku’alofa, Tonga, I met a local artist from whom I took lessons on recycled Tapa cloth artwork. Using some of the same techniques I learned in Tonga, I’ve started experimenting on teabags. Here is one sample of that teabag collage artwork.  Please visit my display at the UW Carbone Center in Madison, Wisconsin from June 30 till September 26.

UW Union outing

So glad I found Tom last night, otherwise I would have left -- the crowds looked intimidating! :-) Got there after 7 pm and managed a very quick study standing next to Tom -- very sketchy!

UW Union Outing

I almost didn't get there. Street construction blocked my path to the Lake Street parking garage and I had to wander around in rush hour traffic to find another entrance to the garage. I almost left but did finally find it.  Darya also managed to get there but no other painters and I'm wondering if others also couldn't find any parking. I'll think twice before scheduling another outing there.  It was also more crowded than I expected for a Monday evening but I did manage to find a somewhat out of the way spot to paint.  Struggled with painting a complex crowd scene. I have to think more about how to do that.  After the sun went down I tried out my new easel light and did a quick painting of some boats and the last of the light.

Tom

Indian Lake 2017 & 2018

I painted the first one last year I think in June and the other on our recent outing to Indian Lake.  They are both on 140lb cold press painted with watercolor and soft pastel.  Thanks again to Pat and Charles for the refreshments!!

Indian Lake Nocturne

At our recent Indian Lake outing I did an underpainting for a nocturne before being driven out by mosquitos. I finally got around to finishing it from a combination of memory and invention (the moon never actually came out).  So here it is and don't tell me it looks like a sunset ;-)

Tom

Merrimac Ferry Outing

After all my fretting about the weather forecast a few of us did head out Friday morning and it was beautiful, at least for a while.  After a couple hours we lost the nice sky and it started raining about 11am.  But there was time to paint.  Since we haven't painted here before I'm attaching a few photos showing some views.  I tried to paint the ferry docking, as shown in the last photo, but struggled with getting the drawing of the ferry accurate.  Partly because you could only see the ferry docked for a few minutes at a time as it went back and forth across the river. Seems like there's always some strange challenge that comes up in plein air painting.

Tom Gilbert

Indian Lake 5-29-18

Such an awesome night. We were there until dark which let me get two paintings started.

Indian Lake County Park

Indian Lake County Park was surprisingly pleasant despite the thermometer reading! The shelter provided some shade and there was a bit of a breeze. It was nice to get out and paint. My second paining as the sun was getting lower was fun to do.
It was good to see folks out painting! Wendy

Indian Lake Outing

We painted yesterday evening at Indian Lake and it seemed like a mid-summer day already.  I did a twilight painting and then tried to do a nocturne.  I knew a full moon was about but it wasn't where I wanted it to be and was covered by clouds.  I started the nocturne anyway.  Intending to throw in an invented moon, but once it got darker and I turned my easel lights on, the mosquitos attacked me in swarms and I had to give it up.  But I'm still posting what I completed of the nocturne and hope to somehow complete it later.  The new shelter at Indian Lake is quite nice with good painting views, a firepit, and new rest rooms.  Might be a good spot for a plein air painters party at a later date.

Tom