Sunday, May 17, 2009


"Plum Trees" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas board -- Margie Guyot

With the change of seasons, my neighbors and I are all in a flurry to do everything at once! Which is why I haven't done as much painting just lately. Suddenly there's an urgency to plant gardens, straighten up the yard, etc. And I finally received a long-awaited check from Ford that's enough to pay to get my art studio drywalled, a skylight installed and new lighting. My current "hot" task is to move everything out from the front half of the studio so the drywalling can begin.

I know: excuses, excuses! I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to get as much done as possible, enjoying life like there's no tomorrow. I really wanted to paint something yesterday. The lakeshore would have been gorgeous, but horribly cold and windy. The weather was very changeable: overcast, dark and rain-threatening one minute, clear blue skies the next. Relentless winds, too. I'd be hot one minute and freezing the next. Throw in some hot flashes & it was maddening.

The first trees to bloom on my property this year are the two plum trees. They've been covered in tiny white blooms (and bees) for the past couple days. I set up my easel out in the field and painted this view. Throughout much of this painting, I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. Painting orchards in bloom is tougher than I'd imagined.

Thank goodness my hat has a chin strap on it -- the wind was very gusty and my hat would have probably blown all the way to Charlevoix!




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