Plein Air Trippin' and "Campground Roulette!"

Oh man, what a great adventure this has been for Doug!  Door County treated him very well.  They had some great food, great weather and Doug rubbed shoulders with some amazing artists!  With no mountains to block the morning sun, he would get up and get out at 6ish, come back and have a quick bite before heading out again to a specific location where art lovers and collectors could watch them paint!  Then out again in the evening.  It was killing me all week because the internet was soooo slow that he couldn't send the images!  Ugh . . . The wait was brutal!

So when he finally got some service, here's the beauties that came through!  I was in awe!

"Tug Boat"
11 x 14
SOLD

Next came this one . . . gorgeous.

"Veil"
9 x 21
SOLD

The one I posted last week of the boat dock also sold and then this was the quick paint on Saturday morning.  This was done in 90 minutes.

"Boat Dock" (I don't know the title--I made that up . . . clever, yes?)
8 x 10
SOLD

The Peninsula School of Art, who sponsors the event, did take some pictures of the artists painting so I did get to see him in action!  Thanks, Cathy Hoke and staff, for posting some awesome pics of the artists!

Our dear friend, Scott Shearer, also went up and hung out for a couple of days.  He lives in Milton, WI (Did I get that right, Scott?) and Doug was very excited to see him!!  They had a nice steak back at the trailer one evening and, if I heard Doug right, they talked a little religion!!  haha  A favorite topic around our house!!

The rest of the paintings from the event, well, they really blew my mind.  I mean, I know, this is all called "from my perspective" and I'm a little partial to this guy, but GOOD LORD (yes, I'm going to go ahead and throw in a little religion!) talk about incredible.  He would post them on facebook and the comments that came back were so . . . RIGHT ON!  The guy's got a few fans, and not just with the last name Braithwaite either!!  And then he smiles his "ah-shucks-guys-stop-it-already" smile and we all love him a little more!

Okay - here's what I mean:

"Orange Buoy"
(how DO you spell that?  I know that's wrong but I haven't got time to figure it out!  Someone correct me please!)
8 x 10

Next one . . .

"Tapestry"
8 x 10

I guess there's a pretty cool story behind these quilts or quilt blocks on the barns - it's a very old tradition!  Yeah, true story - look it up!!  http://barnquiltinfo.com/history.html

Last but not least, okay - I think this is the winner of my heart!!  Seriously - I'll stop talking it up - just tell me it's not spectacular!!

"Gill's Rock Geometry"
10 x 10

Yep - I can hear you all now.  It's killer!  Zoom in and look close - the poles under the dock . . . the reflection out of the water - the water itself!  Damn, Braithwaite.  Daaaaay-uummmm!!  These are still at Door County and will be up till about the 16th of August.  I've already had people ask for some small giclee prints of these - we're going to get some and frame them up.  Can't wait!!

The trip back has been exciting!!  Remember my stalker-app "Find My Friends?"  Yeah - well, it's seriously our best friend!!  I map out a route for the day, find and reserve him a place to stay, stalk him on FMF, and then call him just as he's just about there to direct him to the campground.  Seriously, what would he do without me??  haha

I've done pretty well with getting decent campgrounds, but dang, in some of these small places, there's slim pickins!!  First night he stayed just east of Minneapolis in Woodbury.  That was okay.  I think he was able to send a few paintings at that point - here's a few more he did - don't ask me where he painted them - "along the way" is my best guess!  haha

"Wild Flowers"
8 x 10

"Reverence"
10 x 8
I think he probably was thinking just how awesome his wife is as he named this little beauty . . . probably said a little prayer here too . . yeah pretty sure!  

"Last Stop in Wisconsin"
6 x 8

And, as my dear Grandma Griffin would say "fare-thee-well" to Wisconsin.

Back to the rest of the story . . . Wisconsin and Minneapolis campgrounds were A+.  Great job, hun. (I'm referring to me here . . .)  Then he had to drive through Fargo.  I didn't dare let him spend the night in Fargo.  Have you seen the movie??  Have you seen the short mini-series on TV?  Jeepers Creepers people!!  So yeah, we forged onward and got to Jamestown, North Dakota.  That was okay too!!  Okay batting a thousand.  From Fargo west, well, not so many towns to choose from.  So we ended up hitting Glendive, ND.  Eek.  The name should have clued me in.  But, yeah, it didn't.  Didn't fare so well there.   When I called the Green Valley campground, the little guy said "ah, hell, you don't need a reservation.  Just c'mon in and we'll hook ya up!"  Ahh, I'm thinking, this sounds nice n cozy!!    Well, cozy it was - the trailer next to Doug's was no more than 5 feet away and he played the radio all night long.  Doug texted me and said "this place sucks so bad!  There is actually a giant "swooshing" sound like a toilet flushing!"  Oops!  Soooo sorry luvvy!!  I finally found a site that had "reviews" of the campgrounds in the area.  Yeah, my bad.  That one got a 1 out of 10.

Anyway, the only good thing that came out of that state was this awesome painting!!  Doug can find something beautiful, anywhere he goes.  So "farewell" to North Dakota!  Beautiful - BUT didn't really dig the "swoosh!"

"Last Day in North Dakota"
6 x 8

He then headed west and made it over the border of Montana!  Yea!!  That feels more like "home!"  Only bad thing about Montana is that he got off the interstate and headed onto a two-lane highway through the middle of NO where!!  And with no cell phone service!  And very few towns!!  Like 2!!  So I can't find him on FMF, and I'm praying he got gas before he left . . . I followed him all morning on find my friends . . . drained my battery on my phone by 10:00 am refreshing to see if he would show up!!  Finally, a text I sent finally showed "delivered" and I found him in, what was showing as, "Grass Range!"  bahaha!!

One last painting, DAMN IT, you stopped in FARGO???  Defiant little $%*#!!  Well, he did make something pretty stinkin cool out of a damn sign!  Seriously?!!  Uh-Mazing!

"Roadside near Fargo, ND"
6 x 8

 See the distant barn?  Oh yeah, sweet!!  And the sign and the grass and shrubs match!  Nice color coordination, Fargo!

Well, my friends, Doug is heading up to Glacier National Park tomorrow and will be there for 2 or 3 days.  So excited to see what he paints for us there!  Talked to Anne Weiler-Brown this morning and she said to tell Doug "I'm so jealous of your painting venture and so inspired by all the work!"  Thanks Anne!  We need to take one of these road trips together - a whole bunch of us!!  Good time!  Oh the stories we could tell . . . and I would, of course, tell it from my perspective . . .

Good night all!

J

Wet Paint at the Dock

Short and sweet, but, wow!!  I was blown away at his first painting yesterday morning.  Just barely getting an image out of him!!  I have already placed an order for giclee prints of this one.  It's an 11x14.  Original won't last long in Door County, I'm certain.  Giclee print 11x14 on canvas or archival paper runs $115 if you're interested.  Original size.

Keep those juices flowin' hon!!

"Morning at the Bay"
11 x 14

They turn in 4 paintings at the end of the week to be judged.  He said he painted another boat but I haven't gotten an image out of him yet.  Busy??  WhatEV!!  

I'll keep ya posted!!  

Wowser - I'm still awestruck . . . that's just from my perspective . . . 

Small Painting of a Big Wisconsin Barn!

What a great little painting he knocked out this morning before heading to Door County!  A little 6x8 morning study of a Wisconsin Barn!  They don't have little barns in Wisconsin!!

"Small Painting of a Big Wisconsin Barn"
6 x 8
$300

He just had a short way to travel this morning and made it safe and sound to his destination where he'll hang out for the entire week.  He sent a rare "selfie" - looking a little "bad-ass" in my opinion or maybe just tired!  nah, let's go with bad-ass!!  haha

A Rare Selfie! 

The campground was spacious and he has everything set up and is ready to roll!  

So many great places to paint in Door County - in one direction, they have the water and piers all the way around the outside - Lake Michigan on one side to the east and Green Bay to the West.  Then inland, beautiful barns, green grass, then every now and again, you drive through these tall pine trees that make you think you're at the top of Boulder Mountain in Southern Utah!  Crazy and diverse landscape.  Can't wait to see where he goes in the morning.

Good luck, hun!!  Praying for good weather and great inspiration!!  

J'net

Wet Paint left it's mark in Door County!

There is no doubt Doug left his mark in Door County this year.  hundreds, probably thousands, of people were wowed by this "newby" to the area.  Amazed that he came clear from Utah to participate in this event, they were awestruck by this last quick-draw painting on the pier of a cold and windy morning.

It was probably 40 degrees and a pretty stiff breeze blowing.  I guess Doug was feeling right at home.  I had a chair set up but I stopped at a coffee shop up in town to get warm and wrap my hands around a warm cup of hot chocolate!!

The foghorn blew and they all started at 9:00 sharp.  I thought to myself, "no one is going to be walking out on this pier to watch these guys paint.  It's just too stinkin cold!!"  I was blown away at what Doug took on as subject matter and thought there would be no way he was going to finish this painting in two hours with all those boats.  I thought maybe he'd work on one boat.

The temps started to climb slightly by about 9:30 and I was actually thinking some of the clouds were starting to separate a little and maybe, just maybe, some sun was going to peek through them!!  I was hoping.  A few people started trickling out onto the pier and I walked around to see what other artists were painting.  The drawing was pretty much sketched in and yeah, there were going to be a few boats in this painting.  Good luck there, maestro!!

Indeed, the sun did peek through those clouds and the temps started rising.  Nice!!  But, for a rookie plein air painter, that's an incredible challenge!!  I'm thinking - hmmm, what's going to change on this painting now?  The sky is now a different color.  The water is now a different color.  And the boats are different.  In fact, one of the boats started up it's engine and scared the living daylights out of me!  I thought a few easels were going to fly into the water!  bwahaha!!

Well, Doug takes this stuff in stride and soon the people started swarming around him, ooing and awing as it started taking shape.  "Look at the detail!"  I would hear.  A dot here, a quick line there.  A boat pulled out quickly and I said "Quick Doug, get that boat!"  5 seconds later, I said "Ah, you missed it."  Everyone laughed.  I'm sure people were thinking I was just heckling this poor artist!!

I ended up handing out the rest of the cards that I brought.  I think I brought close to 200 business cards and at least 200 of the bigger cards that had a picture of either "Court of the Patriarchs" or "Calf Creek Corridor" on one side and all of the website/blog info on the other side.  I kept one last one so people could at least take a picture of the info on the one side!

At 90 minutes, people were stopping to ask about the board and how it was set inside the "cradle" that he mounts it in.  He seriously was just taking his time - stopping to show people how it worked and how the frame worked.  He actually had drawn a picture on his easel because so many people ask about it!  The final painting was the best of the entire week!  One guy said "That's by brown boat right there!  No one has ever painted my boat before!"  It was just a couple of paint strokes but it was definitely his brown boat.  So cool how so many boats were identified by so few strokes.  In the last 15 minutes, the sun was out the the sun was shimmering on the water.  He did a couple of big bold strokes through the water and the "baby blue" strokes through the sky changed.  It was seriously just magical how it transformed from this "dismal" morning to this bright shimmering day.

The foghorn sounded at 11 and everyone stopped.  Here's the final product:

"Dockside"
8 x 10

We had 30 minutes or so to get this baby into a frame and back to the tent where the 40+ paintings were waiting to be viewed by hundreds and hundreds of people to be auctioned off.  The tent was filled with anxious buyers.  The coordinators strategically chose a painting that showed a lot of interest from buyers and guess whose painting was auctioned first?  Braithwaites.  Lots and lots of bidding action on this!  They started all the bidding at $300 and this went for $1,200!  Wish I knew who ended up buying it.  I couldn't even get close to the tent it was so packed but whoever it was, congratulations!  It was the prize piece!  (Love the two people on the dock on the right side and the American flag on the left).

So all in all, an incredible week.  Doug definitely left his mark in Door County.  He didn't win best of show but hey, when you win it all the first year, what do you have to aspire for the next year, right?  I could not have been more proud of him.  It was so wonderful to meet so many incredible artists as well as some wonderful people who were gracious enough to buy the art there and encourage us to return again!  The staff at the Peninsula School of Art who put this all together were just amazing.  Probably the most well-run event we have ever participated in (and we have been in a lot of them!)  Huge Kudos to Cathy, Kay and the whole staff at the Peninsula School of Art.  What an incredible job you did.

We are now meandering our way back home.  Stopping off in Minneapolis - maybe for a day or two.  Doug is actually out taking some pictures or painting this morning, I'm not sure which.  As we were traveling across Wisconsin yesterday, I got his camera out and was taking pictures.  I'd see something I thought he'd like and he'd say "Oh you missed that - that was good light!"  I'd say "huh?  I thought THIS was good light."  He laughed and humored me.  I still don't get it.

I finally got some wifi here in my campsite and Max is curled up by the door waiting for Doug to get back!  I'm going to post this along with the painting below of the last painting he did on that last morning that I missed showing you!!  Another beautiful "backlit" painting that is so hard to capture and paint.  You painters out there appreciate how hard this is!

"Sunrise"
12 x 16

Thanks for your faithful following of our blog and our website.  All of his paintings are on the website now!  I love love love your feedback.  Send me an email if you'd like to be on my mailing list for workshops, updates to blogs, etc.!

all my best,

J'net

PS - Doug just returned!  OMG!!  The painting he did made me cry!  Seriously!!  I can't wait to post it!

Wet Paint, Barns & Rhubarb Jelly!

Day Two was incredible in Door County!!  The morning took Doug back to County Road EE again as there was just too much to take in for just one sitting!  He had a great size board which let him do a wide painting - an 8 x 16 I believe.

"Bus Stop"
8 x 16

The venue for this plein air event is so fun in the sense that you get to meet a lot of people!  They have two places each day where artists will be painting.  This way, the artists get to not only meet each other, but viewers and admirers also get to watch the artists paint.  How fun for them to get to see the process go from start to finish rather than just the final product.  

For lunch, we decided to venture out to try some local restaurants.  I had a white fish sandwich with some fresh local fish and it was UHHHH-mazing!!  I also went for the mighty splurge and treated myself to a leaded AND loaded Pepsi (caffeine AND sugar!)  haha I know, I'm pretty easy to please!  

We came back to home camp and chilled while the wind rocked the place (check the weather, it really was the wind - 20-30 mph I think!!)  Max refuses to come inside.  He sits sprawled out on the grass and watches people as they go by and watches the slightest movement.  He doesn't sleep for fear he will miss something!  

Doug ventured out around 2:30 for painting #2 for the day.  Moonlight Bay.  I worked some laundry and spent 48 minutes on the phone with Frontier Airlines to cancel my one-way flight (that I was supposed to be on today) but as you can see, I came early and was here for the WHOLE trip!  Lucky me - or even more lucky, lucky Doug!!  Oh yeah!!  And I keep reminding him just how damn lucky he is!  

"Moonlight Bay"
8 x 10

So this morning, we've been out already but with no wifi so I will post the two paintings from today in the morning!!  Prepare, again, to be wowed!  We are going tonight to a Sunset Paintout at Sisters Bay.  Should be some spectacular paintings to post tomorrow!

By the way, thanks to Scott Shearer (or his lovely wife) for the delicious rhubarb jelly that went absolutely perfect with my toast and peanut butter this morning.  What a treat!!  It won't last till I get home, I'm certain.  I bought a fresh loaf of bread last night and have a nice hiding place in the trailer!  

I love hearing from you!!  If you're new to reading the blog, please send me an email and I'll add you to our mailing list so you can be "in the know!"  

Thanks friends!  I've heard back from so many of you and I LOVE it!!  Talk soon!!

xoxo

J'net and Max-a-milllllion!!  I love him a millllion!!  and sometimes just a thousand . . . hahaha sorry Wesley, I couldn't resist but I knew you missed hearing me say that!!  haha  

Wet Paint in Door County!

The first day of painting was a great success!  Doug got up and outta here at 6 am and found a great barn on County Road EE!  I'm learning more "painter talk" as we talked about naming this painting "Back Light" but I think he's used that name a few too many times!  He could have painted in 4 different directions and had a killer painting!  I loved this view tho!

"Morning Highlights"
12 x 16

When he finished and got back to the trailer park, apparently he drove right by Max and I as we were right at the entrance at the picnic table!  I decided I should head back and he was already having lunch and was already to head to the Artist's paint out at Woodwalk Gallery!  So we jumped in the truck and headed up there.  What a beautiful gallery and grounds!  There were about 15 artists scattered all around the grounds with some stunning paintings.  Doug decided to paint the house.  Lots of people came to watch the artists paint and it was awesome to meet some more people.  Met a great couple from St. George, Utah!  Wahoo!  

People were intrigued, as they always are, at the way Doug takes a painting from the "purple hue" value study to the final product.  If you look closely, you can probably see some of that purple in the tree still showing through.  

"Woodwalk Gallery"
8 x 10

The weather held out while Doug finished this great painting and Max met some great four-legged AND two-legged friends!  Everyone here, it seems, are real animal lovers.  They all know how to approach a dog and wait for him to "warm up" to them before they pet him.  Max was in heaven with all the attention!!  We have found out something, however.  When he's on his leash, he doesn't like to go potty.  Shy?  Not enough privacy?  I don't know.  But as he walks by a tree or even a fire hydrant, he's like "oh yeah, let's mark this spot here" then he looks around and you're standing there and he gets gun shy!  I thought the dude was going to pop before he finally emptied his bladder!  

Got back to the home-sweet trailer and collapsed.  Doug was beat from 8 straight hours of painting in the sun.  I was beat because, well, I had been busy.  I mean, handing out business cards, keeping Max under control, well, it's just plain exhausting!  

Doug made some fajitas for dinner that were delish!!  Then we decided to go for a ride and check out the rest of Door County.  One minute, you look like you're deep in the forest with trees completely covering both sides of the road and you're going through a tunnel - then the next minute, you're on the pier and there are boats and docks and what appears to be an ocean that goes on forever!  We have Green Bay on the one side of Door County (that's the side we're on) and the other side is Lake Michigan.  Here's a few pictures we took along the way:

We pulled off and into this little "beach area" and walked down inside to the beach.  We were amazed to find the beach that we were walking on was ALL shells!!  Seriously!!  

Is that incredible or what??  Piles and piles of shells!  And as you get further out, they get finer and finer because they've been crushed up so much by being walked on!  Crazy!!

Where we're standing are pretty crushed up shells.  The little "mound" near the water is totally uncrushed sea shells that get washed up.  Anyway, gorgeous!!

The drive back took about 45 minutes to meander our way back.  A brilliant sunset over the water was breathtaking but no photo as I was driving!  You'll have to take my word for it!

Stay tuned for some killer paintings today!  Thanks for following!  

Talk tomorrow!!  

J'net and her sidekick, Max

Wet Paint on the Fox River!

The final day of the workshop couldn't have been better if we had custom ordered the weather!!  It was fabulous!  A cool breeze took us down to the Fox River Valley for Doug's demo starting at 8:00 am.  The Fox River is beautiful and home to this darling gaggle of geese (notice the two babies hitching a ride on Mama's back!)

Doug's demo was on the bank of the river looking up the river at a bridge that crossed at Main Street.  Max was thoroughly enjoying the smells of every kind and the people watching as well!  

"Fox River"
8 x 10

Here's the group L-R Doug, Scott Shearer, Ken Davy, his wife, Joanne Davy,
Jeff Kennedy, Karyl Shields and Joy Richmond. 

Doug, as usual, kept his hands very clean of all paint, chemicals, etc. while painting.  He's a neat painter, I'll tell you that!  

We took a quick lunch break and came back to the river and spread out a little.  Doug made his way around to everyone but we were wowed by the paintings that came out of that last session.  Very impressive!!  

I think everyone felt much more comfortable and, as Joy mentioned, she made some "breakthroughs" that helped get her to a new level in her painting.  Here's some of their paintings that came out of that session:

Joy's painting:

Jeff's painting:

Karyl's painting:  

Ken's painting:

Scott's painting:

It was a really great day and we were so proud of everyone's work!!  Mostly very grateful to have met new friends and share our love of art and painting!!

To add to our fun circle of friends, Doug being the outgoing soul that he is, went and introduced himself to our RV "neighbors" the night before and seriously, they were the cutest couple ever!  Gaby and Brian and their two cute "kids" (two black labradoodles!)  As Grandma Griffin would say "we visted and visted!"  The next day, they came and found where Doug was painting on the Fox River and watched him paint for a while!  Then, they were gracious enough to BBQ us some delicious steaks for our last night in Illinois and we just laughed and giggled into the night!!  Who'da thunk??  Well, we already know that some of our favorite people have been met under what seemed to be very random conditions but I was indeed grateful that Doug walked over to say hello.  What delightful people we have met thus far!!  Not sure what we've done to deserve such wonderful friends, but thanks to all of you who follow our blog, our painting "stuff" and allow us to call you our friends.  We love you!!  

We got up early Sunday morning at o-dark thirty and were here in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin by noonish! And oh my, Scott, you were right.  This is beautiful!!  We went to a fun "welcome" dinner last night and met some neat artists and sponsors and everyone was ready to hit the ground running this morning!!  Doug was out early and I'm here at the campground up near the pool where I can get wifi!! 

 

Max is like, what are you doing?  aren't you supposed to be working??  

Okay - Doug will be back soon and we're heading over to do another painting at a gallery - I like how I say "we" are going to do a painting!  haha it's such a tender thing how we share everything!  

Talk soon!!  Wow - two posts in one day!  This is record-breaking!!