Wet Paint and the Runaway Cockatiel!

Home and totally on the mend!  Thank you, one and all, for your outpouring of well-wishes and concern!  Last day of antibiotics and I am back onto solid foods but drinking lots of water and taking all of your great advice on kidney wellness!!

Doug still has the plein air bug, however, and has been getting up at the crack of dawn to go paint!  (ahhhh, that phrase reminds me of my dad who used that often growing up as my mother's name was Dawn!  He was such a kidder!  "I wake up at the crack of Dawn EVERY morning" he would say!)  Monday morning he went out to Farr West and painted this beautiful little piece:

"Storage"
8 x 10

Ah - I can just smell that hay!  Heading out in that area, it reminded me of a story I forgot to tell you!  Doug has a cockatiel named Nigel who is a "studio bird" and keeps Doug company throughout the day.  He comes and hangs out while Doug paints and occasionally thinks it's fun to "fluff" his feathers in paint!  Anyway, a few weeks before we left for Door County, I got a frantic call from Doug one evening just before he was heading to come home.  Nigel had responded to Doug's whistle in the kitchen and had flown out to see him.  But instead of landing on Doug's finger, which he usually did, he flew right past him and through the next room, out the open door to the wood shop and out THAT open door to the wide open world!!  What???  Doug frantically followed him out and tried to "whistle" him down, but he circled him two or three times 100 feet in the air before he flew up over the trees and headed west.

We walked several blocks west and whistled everywhere (I'm sure everyone was thinking we were seriously crazy) but to no avail.  We had a few cockatiels whistle back at us in their own cages but no Nigel was to be found.  It was a sad day and we came home with our heads down and looked somber as we stared at Nigel's empty cage.  Doug was pretty distraught and Wesley put it on our local "KSL Classified Ads" that we had lost our bird with his picture but to no avail.

About a week later, on a Saturday morning, Doug and I had just gotten back from a Saturday morning errands run, Wesley came and said he had something to show us.  He brought us over to his car and opened the door.  I thought, "ahh, Wesley has gotten his Dad a new bird."  Sure enough, inside the door was a cage and inside the cage was a bird, and wow, this bird also had paint on his feathers!  Just.  Like. OH MY GOSH, YOU FOUND NIGEL!!

Someone had called Wesley and said "Wesley, we think we have found your bird.  He has paint on his feathers!"  He had been found in Hooper, a town about 5 miles west of Sunset, clear down by the Great Salt Lake!  Their kids thought he had marker on his tail feathers!  Wesley said, "nope, it's paint!"

Nigel - happy to be back!

We were so happy to have him back and he is getting his "whistle" back.  He does a "mocking" whistle  that sounds like "pretty bird" and also does the "WOOT WOOT" wolf whistle that he likes to whistle WITH you.  Doug has built him a perch near his easel and he also has a cool cage in Doug's painting area that has some awesome sticks and some "steps" that he uses for exercise!  haha  No more vacation time for you, big guy!!

So anyway, back to Doug's plein air bug.  He had it again this morning so here's what we got to enjoy today!!  Doug headed to Huntsville where he painted Fox Point.  Call me if you think either of these or both of these paintings would look fabulous on your wall as they're looking for a good home!!

"Fox Point"
8 x 10

Have a great evening!  Hey, we reached 50,000 hits on my blog!  Thank you thank you!!  You keep hitting, Doug will keep painting and I'll keep writing!  

Cheers!!  

J'net

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 and Humidity!

Will this paint ever dry in 87% humidity?  Holy humidity!  Who needs a shower, just walk outside, lather up, wait a few minutes (that's the rinse) and go back inside and dry off!  Crazy!!

If you've been following my posts on facebook, you see we are on our roadtrip and are now in the heart of the beautiful, but humid, midwest!  The truck and trailer and doing great and so are Doug and Max!  Cheyenne the first night (400+ miles), West Omaha the 2nd night (400+ miles) and last night, Galena, Illinois.  We are just a mile or so from the Mississippi River.  It is seriously gorgeous but the humidity is brutal.  We think 24% humidity in Yew-tah is rough!  bahaha!!

I'm ready to play, whenever you have
a minute.  Just waiting. . . still waiting . . . 

Each of the campgrounds we've stayed at have a doggie park so Max has loved going to play fetch!  Doug posted this picture on his FB a week or so ago but I'm going to repost it because it is Max to a T! He is ALWAYS eager, ready and available to play fetch.  He races like a mad-man to get the ball, brings it back, drops it at your feet.  If it rolls or isn't close enough, you say, "right here, Max, bring it right here," and he grabs it and brings it closer.  Then he sits down in this pose.  Backs up a bit.  Then if you wait to decide where you're going to throw it, he starts to shake and shiver with anticipation.  I'm so glad we decided to bring him.  He sits between us in the cab of the truck.  Occasionally, scoots over and puts his whiskery chin and paw on my lap.  Ah, a dogs life.  Doesn't get better than that!!

So as we were driving through Iowa and Illinois, we were amazed at the literally thousands of "barn paintings" at every turn.  Just incredible!!  So today was the first day we didn't have an 8 hour drive ahead of us so I am sitting comfortably in the trailer with some cool air while Doug is acclamating himself to the heat and is out doing a plein air study this morning.  I've had many of you ask about purchasing these plein air studies so I've talked Doug into letting me offer this little plein air study to my blog readers FIRST for the "wet paint plein air" price, which is straight off the easel, unframed and will be ready to ship within 3-4 days.  (We will give it time to dry so Doug can put a varnish over it).  Saw Wheat!!  (say it fast . . . )  Sooooo, first person to call, text or email me with dibs . . . I'll list those numbers and addresses below.

We went into a great little town last night - Galena.  I came to this town almost 30 years ago and I was always thinking "I want to come here for my honeymoon!"

Well, 27 years after the "first" honeymoon wasn't half bad!!  It is the cutest little town ever tho.  We walked all over and finally found a restaurant we wanted to try only to find out it is closed on Tuesdays!!  bahaha!!  Just our luck!!  I sent the picture of "Poopsies" to my kids last night.  Wesley said "I'm glad you didn't go there for dinner, I heard the reviews were kinda crappy!"

Below are a couple of paintings that are ready to head to a gallery soon.  First one is "Sculpting" and is heading to Terzian Gallery.  Hoping we can get it to Salt Lake City while we're gone so Amy and Karen can coordinate a pick up curbside on 2nd South and State!

"Sculpting"
18 x 24

This other one is for the Zion's Plein Air Invitational in November.  We are looking forward to going down to that the first week in November!  In the meantime, it will be sent down to Zion's to be in their museum in August, I believe.  It is for sale down there.  If you're down that way, stop through and look at the incredible work of the artists that will be participating in the plein air event in November.  It is growing each year.  Such a fun event.

"Zion's Arch"
18 x 24

The Art-Teest is back!!  Wahoo!  He went back over the Mississippi to Iowa - ahhh!!  Good choice, hun!!  It's incredible!  I'm waiting impatiently while he takes a picture.  Can you see my fingers tapping on the table.  I'm almost chilled in here with this AC going . . . oops, that's going to get me a dirty glare!  sucks being a plein air painter, doesn't it?  ouch, that's gonna hurt!  

K - going to post this beautiful little painting.

"Iowa Barn Painting"
8 x 10
For Sale - Blog Readers first dibs!!

K - we're heading to the Paul Wolff Campground to start scouting out for our workshop that starts tomorrow.  Talk soon!!

Hope to hear from you!!  If you can't get through on my cell, send me an email so I can check time stamps!

xoxo

J'net

801-668-3409

jgbraithwaite@hotmail.com

jgbraithwaite@me.com

or post a comment below - but just be FIRST!!