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

Solo Plein Air in Lewis Park 

I did some solo plein air work at Lewis Park in McFarland this past weekend.  Wendy

Bucky

 

For those that didn't know I got to paint a Bucky for the Buckys On Parade event. Now I'm doing a painting of my painting as a keepsake. It's in such a cool spot. :)

Salmo Pond Outing

Had a nice warm and sunny morning at Salmo Pond.  There were still bundles of dead branches and stuff along the shoreline from their cleaning up the area, but I tried to paint it abstractly so who knows what it is.  It's just a spring painting.

Tom

Edna Taylor Conservancy, May 8th

I got there a little after 6 pm so the light was starting to look good to me. Nice to be out with the group. Thanks, Tom, for getting us out there again!

Waning Light at Edna Taylor Conservancy, May 8th; 8x8", oil on board, by Jan Norsetter

Edna Taylor Park May 8

I enjoyed getting out to paint for a bit!  See you again soon I hope - Wendy

Edna Taylor Outing

Had a nice turn-out for the first outing and no rain.  The afternoon sun was a bit hazy at first but improved later on.  My field sketch needed additional work and this is what I ended up with.  Complete with red-wing blackbirds.

Tom

Edna Taylor Park May 8

It was a lovely day to paint with the DCPAP. I found this great old tree with lively colors surrounding it for painting. I think I'll do a bit more value work on this before I call it done. I do have a title for it.
Title: Spring Alive
Medium: Pastel
Size: 12" x 9"
Trisha Duren

Edna Taylor Park May 8

It was sure nice to get out and see all of you. We had such a nice night. My values were close is the best I can say for what I left with. A few hours help left me with this. Thanks for holding the pose Trisha.

Plein air painting workshop June 2 & 3 with Jon Wilde and Jan Norsetter at Belleville Community Park

http://lsrwa.org/get-involved/program-and-projects/adult-plein-air-workshop/
This is a fundraiser for the Lower Sugar River Watershed Association. We usually have good weather but, just in case, we reserve shelter #3 near the edge of the water, so we'll paint rain or shine. The park is bordered by the Sugar River,  Lake Belle View and the beautiful surroundings of marsh and trees. I hope you'll consider joining us!

First Plein Air Painting Outing fir 2018 - May 8th @ 3pm @ Edna Taylor Park

We will meet in the parking lot around 3pm for painting at the park.  This is the first time we have painted there.  See website for details about the park:  https://www.cityofmadison.com/parks/find-a-park/park.cfm?id=1159 

Please note there are no restrooms in the park but there are businesses nearby.  So far the weather looks good and in the 60's.

No Spring colors yet

Maybe I better get used to painting in the snow. Here is how my painting from February turned out.

More Snow?

In my last post I said spring is coming soon. You'd think I'd know better than that.  Here's another studio snow painting.  A scene from Cherokee Park that some of us have painted before.  Probably my best snow painting of the winter.  But still, I'm ready for a spring scene.

  

The Ponds at Holy Wisdom Monastery and Salmo Pond

With the warmer weather I was able to get out and paint a bit yesterday at the monastery and draw today at Salmo Pond.  Today I went to Crossroads Coffee House in Cross Plains and saw Jan Norsetter's group rosemaling show and I bought one of her door crowns.  It is just beautiful as is all her work.  Several pieces including a cello had already sold and the opening is tomorrow from 5 to 7pm.  Beautiful work by Jan and two other rosemalers.  I think she is so amazing that she gets so much plein air work done AND all the rosemaling, too.  Makes me feel so lazy!  Tom came out yesterday and painted, too and it was fun to be out there painting again.  There were Buffleheads on the pond and a pair of cranes came at sunset as I have seen them do several times this month.  Maybe they will nest there?

Fisherman at Salmo Pond

Add caption

Two small gouache studies at HWM pond

2018 Plein Air Events

I was recently notified that the City of Oshkosh will be having their first Plein Air painting event this year.  I decided it was about time I updated the entire list of 2018 events.  Scroll down on this page and check the right-hand column for the list.  A link to Oshkosh's information and other events can be found there.  If anyone knows of an event I've missed please let me know.

Tom Gilbert

Bucky On Parade

Hey all. I have pretty much finished up all the paintings from last year I want to save. Warm weather can't come soon enough. In January I submitted a few ideas to paint Bucky for the Bucky On Parade event uptown this summer. I was notified in February I got a sponsor and two weeks ago I got to pick up my Bucky statue . They tell me mine will be at Law Park for a few months. I pretty sure this preview is no spoiler. 85 were chosen I think and can't wait for the preview party to see them all together.This is all so cool. 2 years ago I was the only artist I knew.

 

The title is Strike Up The Band and it is going to be a one badger Shake The Lake celebration.

Mountains at Last!

I just returned from a trip to Arizona to visit my daughter.  After spending my entire plein air life in Wisconsin I finally got to paint some mountains.  This was started plein air in the Tonto National Forest, just east of Phoenix, but then I did work on it some more at home.  I also have lots of Grand Canyon photos but the views from there are so immense and overwhelming I'm not sure I'm up for  doing paintings from them.

I have a robin visiting my back yard the last couple days so Spring and painting outings must be coming.  Soon!

Tom

Lake Wingra at Vilas Park

                                                 Two small gouache studies painted in a warm car.  

February 14 & 16, 2018

Lee Valley Road; 11x14"; oil on board; Jan Norsetter

From a lovely February afternoon when the temps were just above freezing. I went back two days later to finish it even though it was windy and cold by then. Never a dull moment outdoors:-)

Sugar River at Paoli March 2nd

Warm enough to sit outside and draw this today.  Felt like Spring!!