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