August 22, 2008

Gone Paintin'


As the title says - I'm gone painting. I'm headed to the north shore of Lake Superior in northern Minnesota for a plein air competition for the next week. This is one of my favorite areas in Minnesota. Grand Marais is a wonderful and quaint little harbor town on Lake Superior that offers good restaurants, art galleries, Sven and Ole's Pizza and beautiful trails and vistas abound. The plein air competition starts today and we have all week to paint the area and then hand in our top 3 framed and ready to hang next friday at noon. I have no idea what to expect except the opportunity to paint all week, enjoy the area and meet some other artists.
The painting showing above is from my first real outing in plein air. I participated in a workshop in Cody WY with absolutely no experience in plein air painting. It took me a few frustrating days to get acclimated to the process but about midweek I finally hit my stride - this is one of those strides. This is also the trip that was the defining factor in my serious pursuit of painting. This one isn't for sale as it is my reminder of that time.
So unless I happen to find a way to post up there - which I doubt, I will see you all when I get back in about nine days. Hope your next week will be as wonderful as mine!

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