This photo was taken a few weeks ago when we were boiling down sap to make syrup. We got about 4 gallons of syrup this year - it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. It's a bit of work keeping the fire going. Our friend Scott Olson and his daughter Maddie came out to help on this day. Scott's Prius in the background has one of his inventions on top, a Row-Bike. Check out www.rowbike.com.
I thought I would show one of the main "tools" I have been using on this trip - something I think everyone should have, artist or not. (also would make a great gift) This small watercolor kit is just slightly larger than a cell phone and has it all - paints, mixing surfaces, water holder and brush, you just need to add paper. I also use two collapsable brushes for size variety. Very easy to throw in a fanny pack or purse, great when you want to hike a ways and get some studies done. I have been using a small 4x6 japanese accordian watercolor sketchbook which a friend gave me, I love that it's compact but has lots of pages.
Just wanted to share the view out my door. Went for a long hike the other day and above 8ooo ft there was snow! I have been doing a lot of sketching and taking photos; just started with the oils today. Anyone who is interested in the birdxbird show that I will be in, here is a link to an e-vite birdxbird.org/2009. I hope some of you can make it, it looks like a great event!
On the drive down my mind was zooming and I thought of so many things that I wanted to write about when I got down here... but now that I am here my thoughts have all paled in comparison to the still beauty of this place. Here are some photos:
I finally got a photo of the little screech owl that hangs out in our woods. I can see this hole in a big maple tree from the path where I walk, if I'm lucky the little bird is out sunning herself between 10 - 11 am. I first saw an owl in this hole in Fall 2005, and have seen one every year since. Not sure if its the same one, and not sure if they nest there.... every time I see it the day takes on an auspicious quality!
This week we finally finished up the last 12 acres of prairie planting! We now have 50 acres planted, it feels great to be done with the planting stage. Now it will be some management for a few years and then its on its own, with a burn sometime in the next 5 years. Today I went for a walk in our first snow and saw a Northern Shrike - they summer in Canada and come down here for the winter. I also saw "our" Screech owl up in her usual hole; she has been a winter regular since 2005. I am assuming its the same one, although I'm not sure. I have been trying to get a photo of her but so far no success. 
This is one of the paintings I did down in Frontanac last weekend. The colors were so muted with lots of neutrals, difficult for me. Here's a story I'm going to share because it may strike a chord in others. Like I said in a recent post, we have all these gourds and squash from the garden. I have brought a bunch into my studio and every day have been admiring them, arranging them, playing with light. But its been so nice out and I know my outdoor painting days are limited, so I have been forcing myself to leave the gourds and go out to paint - or try to. Needless to say it has not gone well, as my heart is back in the studio... After three days of failed attempts I let myself stay in the studio, happily painting gourds! 
Sunday in Frontenac painting outside in the snow; my painting weekend was one of those times where things feel difficult and stuck - the silver lining being that this is often when growth occurs, even though it may not be apparent at the time...
We didn't plant any gourds but we have them coming up all over by the garden and trellicing (I know its not a real word but I like it!) on the fence with the grapevine. I am leaving this week to go to Frontenac to paint again, I hope the weather stays mild. I won't be able to post for a week. 
This piece was in the show but I never had a chance to scan it. It was done at Frontenac State Park overlooking Lake Pepin. A reminder to anyone who is interested and lives in Minnesota; the Federal Duck Stamp Contest is being held this Friday, October 17 from 9 am - 3, and Saturday, October 18 from 10 am - 1 pm . All the entries can be viewed at the Bloomington Art Center. Its pretty interesting if you are interested in art and/or conservation, wildlife. More information is at duckstamps.fws.gov
Its that time of year when it is very easy to be overwhelmed by... not exactly sadness but a bittersweet feeling that comes with the wind and the crickets and the wafting leaves. Reading a book called Art and Fear, it has some great things to say about the creative process. Two quotes I like:
I was asked to participate in landscape show at the Accola Gallery, in Wisconsin, and this is one of the pieces I will be sending. (accolagallery.com) The show runs from October 7 through Thanksgiving. Jean Accola (owner) does beautiful watercolors and oils, and we share an interest in the prairie landscape of the midwest.
I painted this a few weeks ago and I think it will be the last really green painting of the year... one of our maple trees already has a lot of orange and the grasses are shades of gold and flax.
Some of you may already know this but my sister and I are planning a studio sale here at the farm on Sunday, October 12, from 1-5 pm. I will have paintings and ceramics on display for sale and my sister Mary (check out marylogue.com) will have her hooked rugs and silk scarves that she hand dyes with local botanicals. Everyone is welcome so feel free to pass on the information. This week Mary and I will be designing a mailer that will have more information, including directions, and I will post it here when it is done. I will be busy between now and the show with framing and getting this place in shape so I may not get a lot of painting done but I will try to keep posting once a week (on Mondays) so please check-in. I hope everyone is out enjoying the amazing Fall weather!
I have still been thinking about the hosta and painted this one a few weeks ago. Who knows exactly why some things pull at you?
This is another piece I did while visiting my sister in Wisconsin. Again I used a limited palette and this time instead of a palette knife I used one brush (I usually have a handful of brushes going!) for the whole piece.
Just returned from my Montana trip, I stayed at my cousin's place, www.LastChanceRanch.biz
We have been busy preparing the last 15 acres for prairie planting this November; maybe I will post before and after planting photos so you can get an idea of what it's like. During much of the process we were so frustrated and at times wondered if it was worth it... but now watching all the birds and bugs and other critters who will have an undisturbed pesticide-free home, we would go through it again. Chimney swifts and swallows are having a great time swooping over the grasses and catching grasshoppers. I will be in Montana this week so will not be able to post again until the last week of August.
I have been re-visiting a favorite book of mine, Zen in the Art of Archery. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Eastern philosophy or mind training. In the forward, D.T. Suzuki writes:
Here is another palette knife/limited palette painting of our prairie. I recently read this quote by painter George Inness which hit home to some of what I have been trying to get at:
These coneflowers are in a bed in our front yard, they are not native to our area. The past days have been some of the hottest and muggiest this summer, I try to get up and out early to paint and with the tall grasses get covered with dew. I have been reading Peter Matthiessen's book End of the Earth, Voyages to Antarctica. A funny feeling reading about frigid temperatures and Ice bergs and blue and white, while here it is green green green and hot and humid. 
Here is a recent photo of our prairie in bloom. The photo shows mostly Black-eyed Susans and Daisy Fleabane; there are other flowers blooming including vervain, bergamot, coneflowers, and blazing star. The grasses are up to my shoulders in many areas!
I went to my sister's place in Stockholm WI. for a few days last week. There is a new conservation area there that has been bought and restored by the Western Wisconsin Land Trust. It is called Pine Creek Natural Area and they have turned an old cow pasture with a down trodden eroded creek into a pristine trout stream with native prairie - its beautiful! This piece is a continuation of the palette knife and limited palette exploration; for this I added venetian red (along with white, black, and yellow ochre).
I have been working on some larger pieces and doing a bit of experimenting - that's why I haven't posted in a while. This piece came out of my landscape trials. I have been thinking about editing and simplifying, getting down to essentials. I decided to limit myself, and for this piece I took away all brushes and just used one palette knife. I also took away most of my paints and only used white, black, and yellow ochre. My thoughts were to not get caught up in details but to try to get at what is important about this view. It was freeing to not have so many options!
I have been painting the micro and the macro - flower studies and landscapes. Its such a different process that I find I am having difficulty making the switch, and have not been happy enough with many of my landscapes to post them. I have been thinking about landscapes and the fact that here are acres and miles of land that are being distilled into a few square inches of canvas... to try to get to the essentials without getting caught up in specifics.
I started this piece, got about one-third done, and it started pouring rain, hailing and storming... after an hour or so the rain stopped and the sun came out again. I went back out thinking my poor flowers would be all beaten down by the storm but they survived and I was able to finish my piece! These delicate beings are amazing.
The weather has been wild. When painting this piece I had to hold on to my easle with my left hand while I painted with my right because it was so windy; I almost quite a couple of times, it felt a little crazy being out there. Plus I had a stray Brittney Spaniel that had become my best friend and was at my feet the whole time. Finally the flowers are beginning to bloom in the prairie!
This is a painting of our prairie; the flowers are starting to bloom, and it's full of birds and bugs. It was one of those very heavy-atmosphere Minnesota summer days...
Usually I go for a long walk the night before or the morning of a painting day, and that's when I discover what I will be painting next. Its an emotional pull that I experience while seeing.
Here are two small field studies I did last week. In landscape painting it is very difficult to distill all you are seeing into a cohesive vision in a short period of time. You have to work fast because the light and weather change so quickly. Also, dealing with bugs, sun, wind, rain, schlepping stuff around.... it was a great time!
Here is a photo of Villa Maria in Old Frontenac where I was painting last week. It is a beautiful site with woods, prairie, and bluffs overlooking the Mississippi river - a perfect, secluded setting. If you haven't been there I highly recommend visiting. It used to be a girl's school and is now owned by the Catholic Church.
Its funny, I really haven't painted flowers much before this summer; now they seem to be really speaking to me.
Here is a picture of an afternoon prairie walk that our friend Carl Hoffman took. Two years ago this was a soybean field; in two or three weeks there will be flowers blooming and I will post another photo.
Every morning the vesper sparrow and the warbling vireo have a singing contest - the former being most tenacious, and the latter winning in enthusiasm! I couldn't wait any longer for the peonies to open so I painted the buds... Sunday I noticed the nasturtium were starting to bloom so I was again sitting on the ground painting. I prefer to paint standing up, your body doesn't get so sore and its easy to step back and squint for values, etc. But when I paint small flowers I like to get right into them.
This is what I have been spending a lot of my time on - and the prairie, which I will post photos of when we get some good bloom action. A strange garden year with the late Spring, everything is doing really well except the heat lovers - tomatoes, peppers, basil.
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