greatlittleoilpaintings

2010-01-28T17:44:00.005-05:00

"Pussywillow" -- oil on canvas -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

A few days ago I saw a wild pussywillow growing in the cedar swamp, down the road about a mile. I nipped a few little branches and had them in a vase by the kitchen sink. This morning I looked at them & thought I should do a painting.

I love this old tablecloth! I left it all mussed-up, as it fell onto the table.

Both the little studio kitties slept most of the afternoon, listening to classical music on NPR radio. When I was about done, they perked up. Of course they had to jump onto the table, rip the pussywillows out of this vase and drink the water!

People might wonder why I did such a restricted-looking (colorwise) painting. Well, it's nice once in a while to leave the jarring colors sit for a day or so. Maybe I was influenced by the Sarah Brightman DVD I watched last night. And it was another dark, snowy day here in Michigan. No strong sunlight, so this painting reflects a more quiet look.

2010-01-28T06:13:00.004-05:00

"Two Cups of Tea" -- oil on stretched canvas -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

"Yellow Primrose" -- oil on stretched canvas -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

Winter has returned with a vengeance! It snowed ALL day yesterday. A perfect day for painting in the studio. I'd found this vintage, striped table runner at a resale shop in Charlevoix last week. Loved the "cottagey" colors! I'm sure there will be more paintings with this cloth.

I love painting cups with tea. It's fascinating -- the colors change so quickly as the tea brews. These teacups are ancient, with "China" stamped on the bottom. Thin as paper. With little hand-painted bluebirds and flowers. It's a miracle they survived my move up north.

Because it was so dark & dreary outside, I had to set up a studio light to get some sense of sunlight and shadow patterns. Still, it's not quite as good as real sunshine.

The primrose plant came from Glen's in Charlevoix. I'm going to try to keep it alive until spring, so I can plant it in my flower garden.

I found I had to pre-mix all the colors of the striped fabric in fairly large quantities before doing the actual painting. I enjoy loading on the paint to get a "thick & juicy" look. Not only is the scene interesting, but I also like people to notice the beauty of the actual paint, its wonderful "mooshiness" and color.

2010-01-18T13:28:00.007-05:00

"Frozen Lake -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 12x24" -- Margie Guyot

We finally had a balmy spell -- up above freezing -- and partly sunny, so I decided to take my gear down to the edge of Lake Michigan and do a painting. I love doing frozen lake paintings, even though I get pretty chilled doing so. I had on longjohns, smart wool socks, polartec pants & a heavyweight down coat. And gloves with the fingertips cutout, plus my trusty zebra hat. And special snowboots rated down to zero degrees. That wind coming off the ice can get pretty cold!

It was so cold my Soltek easel had one leg that was frozen shut. I couldn't expand it full length. Luckily, I was able to open it halfway, at least. That umbrella was balky to open, too. It's the best I've found, though. Bestbrella. I probably couldn't have painted this view without it, as the sun was shining through the back of the canvas.

This was painted at Banks Township Park, north of Eastport, on Old Dixie Highway. It's one of the few parks you can drive into in the winter. The county doesn't plow the parks. And I learned the hard way that cars can't drive through knee-deep snow!

This was pretty challenging to paint, but I loved the view. In the foreground is a small open pool. There are lots of small streams that drain into Lake Michigan and there was an open pool that looked interesting. The golden ochre color is from the color of the sand.

Notice the diagonal stripes? That's the way the waves had been running when they finally froze.

Out near the edge of the ice are a few pileups. Way across the bay is a view of part of the Leelanau Peninsula.

2010-01-18T08:40:00.003-05:00

"Red Cellophane" -- oil on canvas -- 24x24" -- Margie Guyot

Last Monday I was in Meijer's in Traverse City, looking for a pink flower to paint. None of their pink flowers looked very striking. And then I spied this red cellophane! Wow! My heart started beating faster (always a good sign!) and I knew this was what I had to paint. The red gerber daisies were actually rather dull and drab-looking, compared to the cellophane.

I've painted clear plastic before. That's relatively easy. But to do red? I found it impossible to mix reds and get them to look transparent. Everything looked way too dark and muddy. What I ended up going was painting the entire tablecloth, using Liquin in with the oil paints. Liquin helps oil paints dry a lot quicker.

Once the tablecloth was dry, I was able to do a thin wash of red with Liquin. I think it turned out pretty well.

One of the striking things about the red cellophane was the pink shadow it cast on the tablecloth. It took some figuring-out to do on this one.

That's another vintage tablecloth from my collection. They're all from garage sales I've visited over the years. Glad the mice haven't found them yet!

2010-01-10T17:11:00.002-05:00

"Purple Cabbage" -- oil on canvas -- 24x24" -- Margie Guyot

Cabbages are so weird-looking when you cut them open! Don't these halves look like something from the depths of the ocean? I forgot why I bought this little cabbage originally, but was looking around for something to paint. This tablecloth seemed to go perfectly with the cabbage halves, echoing the deep alizarin crimson tones. The blue swirly-glass bowls I've painted several times. Those swirls are tough! Even getting the color right is a challenge. In the past I've tried mixing viridian with a bit of blue. This time I relied on an old tube of manganese blue. So old, I had to hold a lighted match on the cap to warm up the hardened paint in order to unscrew it.

We finally had about 1 1/2 days of sun here, so I was furiously painting in the patterns of sunlight and shadow as quickly as possible.

Waste not, want not: I brought the cabbage into the house this afternoon and used in the "Russian Cabbage Borscht" recipe from the original Moosewood Cookbook.

2010-01-06T04:55:00.004-05:00

"White Violet" -- oil on canvas -- 24x24" -- Margie Guyot

After finishing 2 paintings of onions, I was THROUGH with painting onions! But what to paint? What to paint? I felt frazzled. Somebody once told me that when I don't have a painting to work on, sometimes I feel like a frantic, little bird. That may be true. I'd bought 4 amaryllis bulbs over the weekend and potted them, but they won't bloom for several weeks.

I rooted around in my garage sale, vintage tablecloth collection -- for which I'm glad the mice haven't discovered yet. Found this one, horribly wrinkled, but zowie -- inspiration struck! No, it wasn't inspiration to iron it. I laid it out on my table and it looked pretty enough to paint all by itself (almost). I dug around in my collection of silk flowers and found this white violet. Aha! At last, a subject to paint!

Up here along the NW coast of Michigan, winters are typically very dreary: overcast, with snow every day. Blue skies are a rarity. Alas, no strong sunlight and shadow patterns most of the time. Some painters prefer painting by north light; I'm the opposite. I love the strong sunlight and shadows. But as you can see, I had none in this painting. Only the softer, diffused light. But that's OK, too. It snowed all day, lightly. Lake-effect snow, they call it.

I always love a good challenge and this tablecloth certainly was a toughie. I quickly realized I'd have to draw in the whole pattern. Once that was figured out, I could add the pot of violets. Wasn't sure if I could pull it off. The little wrinkles were tedious, but what else was there to do? Clean house? Ugh. Would rather paint wrinkles. The final touches on the tablecloth were to add dashes of heavy impasto white paint.

I think I'll be using this tablecloth AGAIN....

2010-01-05T07:23:00.005-05:00

"Onions #2" -- oil on canvas -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

"Onions #1" -- oil on canvas -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

I did these 2 paintings over the weekend in my nice, warm studio as the wind howled and snow piled up outside. I love doing plein-air landscapes, but it's impossible in wind and snow.

Finishing the recent "Amaryllis" painting, I was hot to trot to do a larger, more complex painting with several amaryllis. I drove into Charlevoix, to K-Mart, where I got 4 red amaryllis bulbs for half-price. Potted them up and now it's a matter of having patience. I'm guessing they'll be blooming in 3 - 4 weeks. Meanwhile, what to paint? In desperation I grabbed these 4 onions and headed into the studio.

I'm a big fan of using vintage tablecloths, rescued from garage sales. This old tablecloth was made of heavy muslin, embroidered with blue wool. I set up things in front of the south-facing window, but it was still awfully dark. Sun in winter is a rare thing along the coastline. So I also put a studio light to the right. Which is why there is a hint of 2 sources of light. Maybe next time I'll put something to block the weaker light from the windows and just use the studio light.

I've got 2 little kitties about 3 months old that are very curious. They like being up on the table, batting around my onions and investigating my wet palette. When I leave the studio for the day, I always lock up my wet palette and set anything breakable out of their reach. Saturday I left for a few minutes to go make a cup of coffee. Both kitties were snoozing.

When I came back, the little female (Miss America -- named for her pretty face) had a yellow muzzle! She'd decided to do a little taste-test on the cadmium yellow medium. Yikes. It's very poisonous. I doubt she ingested much, but her little face had a light smear of yellow all over. I didn't know what to do. Wiping her down with turpentine didn't seem like a good idea. Maybe I could have dipped a rag in a solution of Murhpy's Oil Soap and wiped her face. I envisioned a grand struggle. In the end, I didn't do anything.

All night I would wake up, envisioning poor Miss America, dying. I was dreading going out to the studio for what I would find.

Amazingly, Miss America seems OK. None the worse for wear, I'm happy to report. Lesson learned: never trust a sleeping kitty -- lock up that palette!

2010-01-01T06:15:00.004-05:00

"Amaryllis" -- oil on canvas -- 24x12" -- Margie Guyot

A couple weeks ago I splurged on this amaryllis bulb. It'd been years since I'd gotten one, and I'd never tried the bi-color variety. Wow! I really love it! Because I'm not very familiar with amaryllis -- like, how long will it stay like this? -- I quickly painted this view to have for future reference, if nothing else. I'd love to use this flower in a larger still life.

Picasso, one of my little kitties, found it fascinating as well. He batted the leaves down with one swat of his little paw. Whenever I left the studio I had to set this poor plant up high on a shelf. Picasso and Miss America would have the entire plant in tatters, left to their own devices.

Amaryllis has such an odd shape to try to paint! I mean, it's basically very long and skinny. I happened to have this 24x12" canvas, thank goodness. But it was kind of a challenge to figure out how to make it an interesting painting, composition-wise. I look forward to painting this lovely plant again very soon, in a more complex setup. Love the bright red blooms!

2009-12-29T05:43:00.004-05:00

"White Poinsettia" -- oil on canvas -- 24x24" -- Margie Guyot

If I hadn't had a mole removed from my leg in October, this painting wouldn't have been done. I had been watching the scar for 2 months and thought it might not be healing right. Went in to get the doc to check it out last week, just to be on the safe side. Whew -- all is fine, she said. When I lived downstate, I'd usually treat myself after a doctor's (or dentist's) visit by going clothes-shopping. Up here, my need for clothes has changed. Dressing-up up here in the hinterlands, according to my realtor, means "putting on clean jeans and your newest boots".

Instead of hunting down a new frock, I went to the grocery store and bought a filet mignon and this pretty poinsettia. I'm one of the world's experts at killing poinsettias, however. I knew I'd have to use it in a painting -- and paint fast!

See the Christmas-patterned tablecloth? I quickly learned to regret having chosen it. It was quite the bitch to paint. I hope I gave the illusion of receding space, although I might be tinkering with it later.

I love gnomes and wanted to feature this guy. How he survived the move from Farmington Hills up to Eastport I think is some kind of miracle. That flower flute he's playing is quite fragile.

That poor poinsettia! Not only was it doomed in my care, but it also was beseiged by my 2 little kitties, who took great joy in battering it when they had the chance. I had to set the plant up on a high cabinet when I left the studio for the day.

Winter here along the NW coastline of Michigan is typically overcast, with lots of lake-effect snow. I think we had one sunny day while I painted this. I really prefer strong sunlight, as it gives good patterns of sun & shadow. Alas, it was lacking most of the time, so the lighting in this painting is softer, with less defined shadow patterns.

Yesterday morning I came into the studio and decided to add the plate of cookies. I had plenty of plates, but no cookies. Did I stop and mix up dough and bake cookies? Hecky, no! They're totally invented. Not on my diet, anyway.

Was glad to get this one finished, as my bi-color amaryllis just opened up. Stay tuned for an amaryllis painting.....

2009-12-24T18:10:00.005-05:00

"Gift Wrap" -- oil on canvas -- 30x40" -- Margie Guyot

About half the time I was painting this, I had to grab one of the kittens as it attempted to leap onto my wet palette. Kitty thought it was a game, to have me catch her as she leaped toward the wet paint.

I started this painting last Sunday while waiting for my neighbor to come over and help me build storage shelves in the back room of the studio. Instead of standing around, feeling frustrated while waiting for my helper, I decided to clear a space, set up another still life and paint.

As usual, it was cloudy most of the time, so I didn't get a lot of strong sunlight/shadow patterns. To liven things up a little, I put a string of colored lights running around in the composition. That roll of aluminum gift wrap was drawing a little too much attention. By draping 2 strands of lights across, it helped stop the viewer's eye from sliding off the left side. To get an effect of "glowing" light bulbs, I painted them pure white. Once dry, I put a thin glaze of pure color over them.

The toughest thing about this painting was the plastic bag full of bows. Ah, patience! One thing I figured out about how to get the bows to look shiny was to clean my brush with turpentine, then use it like an eraser to remove a thin band where I wanted the highlight to appear.

That bowl of truffles gradually got emptier & emptier as the week progressed. But the mini-cupcakes: they were horrible, from the grocery store bakery. Nasty things! I fed them to my chickens. They viewed the green frosting with suspicion.

No, maybe I was wrong about the bag of bows being the toughest thing to paint. Those vintage poinsettia glasses were no piece of cake, either! I think obelisks are rather difficult. But I loved those glasses & I was bound & determined to paint them.

And the shelves we were building? 95% done. Hallelujah! Going to use them for storing my canvases and frames.

2009-12-12T16:20:00.005-05:00

"Rex Beach Road - 12/12/09" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel -- Margie Guyot

At last - a sunny day! We'd had blizzards since Tuesday night. Something like 15" of snow on the ground. I hadn't driven anywhere since our band concert Tuesday night, so today everybody and his brother had errands to run. I finally got my Soltek into the Flex and drove up US-31 toward Charlevoix. I turned west onto Rex Beach Road and thought this view was pretty interesting. No mountains here; only rolling hills, trees and lake. I love the rare days we have sun here because that's when the blue shadows occur.

It was a rather balmy 28 degrees, but it was also very windy. I was so glad I'd put on my heavy-insulated snow pants and heavyweight down coat. Otherwise it'd have been miserable.

This road leads down to one of my favorite painting spots: Rex Beach, which is one of the Antrim Creek Natural Area parks. The parks aren't plowed here in winter, so I probably won't be able to get down to the lake to paint unless the snow melts. Somebody decided they should pay something like $35,000 to put up some "interpretive" displays. I think more people would have preferred doing without the interpretive displays -- and having at least one of the area parks plowed at least once a month here.

I look forward to doing more still lifes, but at the moment my studio is very cluttered. I moved a ton of things out of a side storage room and took several days to insulate that room. My neighbor Jerry has been helping me build storage shelves for my large canvases and frames. Once this project is over, I can put everything away -- and get back to painting still lifes. Itching with ideas!

2009-12-09T14:50:00.006-05:00

"Blizzard" -- plein air field study -- oil on birch panel -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

We're right in the middle of a major blizzard today that's said to last until tomorrow morning. Really pretty out. I was itching to paint something, so I set up my easel under the porch overhang and painted this view to the south. That's a big white pine and the spikey things to the right are the dead stalks of mullen. I liked how the snow makes the flower stalks bend. I've included some in the foreground in this painting.

It was surprising how much "putty" color and gray I needed to add to the white to make the snow colors.

Even though I was under the overhang, snow still got into my palette. It's next to impossible to paint when it's snowing. When it gets into your paint it just makes a big mess.

I suppose I should just go do housework this afternoon!

2009-11-29T18:16:00.002-05:00

"Fisherman's Island - November 28, 2009" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

It was cold. It was dark. It was windy. Sometimes it drizzled; sometimes it snowed. But my friend Janet had driven up from Dearborn and she wanted to go painting! Thank goodness for heavyweight goosedown coats!

She'd seen 2 paintings I'd done from this same spot earlier this fall. "Let's go there!" So we drove up to Charlevoix and headed off into Fisherman's Island State Park. It really was a dreary day, but it was far more enjoyable than staggering around in a shopping Mall.

I'd had a bout of insomnia the night before. Had gotten up and fixed a cup of Sleepytime Tea and pulled out Richard Schmid's book "Alla Prima: Everything I know about Painting". In it, he wrote that it's important to always paint the sky first, before the trees. I'd always wondered about that. This time I did paint the sky first and the trees second. Liked the way it turned out.

And it's always challenging to figure out how to handle the light-colored rocks in the foreground. It's not sand there but broken rocks.

I always love the look of Lake Michigan. The colors fascinate me. I love how the distant horizon looks so dark. Closer in, the water often takes a sage green or sometimes turquoise tone.

We were both pretty frozen by the time we finished our paintings. My friend apologized for dragging me out there. Ha! I told her I was glad she suggested it. Otherwise I'd have spent the time cleaning out the henhouse.

2009-11-16T14:36:00.007-05:00

"Gnome for the Holidays" -- oil on canvas -- 30x40" -- Margie Guyot

People always ask me what my inspiration for a painting was. In this case, it was the ancient accordion I happened to see high on a shelf in Petals, a flower shop in Charlevoix, MI. The woman told me she used to play accordion (me, too!) and she'd found this old instrument out in a Las Vegas pawnshop. Reminds me of "Accordion Crimes" by Annie Proulx -- one of my favorite novels, by the way.

I thought this was such a cool accordion. I dared to ask the woman if I might borrow it sometime to use in a still life painting. To my utter surprise, she said yes. She'd never seen me before, but was willing to let me whisk away her accordion! This would only happen in the rural Midwest! As a thank-you, I bought a bunch of lime green fuji mums, which I managed to incorporate into this painting.

My friend Ev had been suggesting to me that I should paint a musical instrument-themed still life. Now that I had the piece-de-resistance, I could build the rest of the setup. Ev loaned me the cornet, guitar and violin.

I had the gnomes. This big one in the center is from Meijer's garden department. Usually it's stationed right inside my front door, greeting all vistors in its namaste pose. The other gnome in the back I brought up from my old digs in Farmington Hills. How it survived the move without being broken, I consider a minor miracle.

Found those great, old vintage poinsettia glasses in Consign Design, in Charlevoix. I love old schlock like that! The poinsettia tablecloth was from my "early garage sale collection".

For reasons I can't really explain, I had to set everything atop a tropical print with turquoise and golden palm leaves. Maybe it's locked way into some subconscious fantasy about spending Christmas down on a desert island.

The cookies are entirely made up, from memory. The miserable grocery stores up here have the nastiest, most pathetic cookies you could imagine! I'm trying to cut the carbs, so I didn't want to bake any. Plus, I'm too impatient to stop & bake cookies when I'm inspired to start a new still life. But I do remember how Christmas cookies USED to look. They're sitting on a Depression glass plate I inherited from my mom.

Swirling around in the back are branches from one of the neighbor's bushes. They sure look like some kind of cranberry to me. By the time I finished this, they were dried-out mummies.

What was the hardest part about this painting? Painting the musical instruments! Unlike a squash or apple, they have to be ACCURATE. And those accordion keys -- oy vey! Early on, I'd painted in the accordion, then when I came into the studio the next day I saw it was all skewed. I'd stood close to the canvas, looking down on it. It looked OK at that angle, but from across the room, it was very much "off". As usual, I did LOTS of wipe-outs on this. But I'm pronouncing it done!

2009-10-27T06:42:00.007-04:00

"Happy Halloween" -- oil on stretched canvas -- 30x40" -- Margie Guyot

"Happy Halloween" (Detail)

As a kid growing up in Iowa, I always loved Halloween. My cousins and I would make up the most fantastic costumes and go trick-or-treating weeks in advance. There was no special designated night for trick-or-treating back then, so we'd make the most of it, turning it into 5 or 6 nights. We'd go to each other's neighborhoods and stay out for 3 - 4 hours at a time.

Halloween was NOT a good time to live in or near Detroit, however. For 30 years I lived on the outskirts of Detroit, where the holiday was marred with vandalism and arson. They didn't call it "Devil's Night" for nothing. Thank goodness I moved away.

I wanted to include the two classic Halloween candies: candy corn and those horrible peanut taffy confections that came wrapped in orange and black wax paper. Ugh! Even as a kid, I never cared for either. But they do say "Halloween", don't they? Found a package of each at the dollar store. I checked to see if they were made in China (no -- Indiana). My holy grail was "Almond Joy".

Probably the first thing I'd found that inspired me to do this piece were the clear plastic owl trays. They came from a Charlevoix consignment shop. The clear glass-covered pumpkin dish also came from a resale shop in Ellsworth. As with most of my still lifes, everything either comes from a resale shop or garage sale. I love it: shopping roulette! I love the concept of trusting in the Universe to steer one towards things they need.

Don't you just love the warty pumpkin? Actually, I've been told it's really a squash. Today I'm going to bake it and maybe make a pie.

I've had that black ceramic cat teapot for probably 30 years. Love that thing. It's probably about the only thing I bought new, aside from the candy.

The first things I painted in this piece were the maple leaves. I knew they wouldn't last but a day before drying up. It's getting late in the season and I feared waking up some morning to find all the leaves on the ground before I'd had a chance to paint them.

Maybe working in the auto factory was a good thing in that it got me used to constant interruptions, struggles and aggravations. I've adopted 2 little kitties for the studio and they interrupted me constantly. Kept wanting to climb up my legs, sit on my lap, wanting me to play with them all the time. At the end of every painting session I'd have to lock up the palette in another room, as they wanted to walk all over it.

I included a close-up detail shot of Elvis, my favorite cat. This is the third time I've included him in a painting. He typically hangs around me all the time, watching and guarding me from errant mice.

2009-10-19T07:00:00.004-04:00

"Creek House" -- plein air field study -- 9x12" -- oil on canvas -- Margie Guyot

My friend Pete called on the phone Friday afternoon, saying he wanted to show me a cute little house that just went up for sale down the road from us. We both just fell in love with it! Sitting on 10 acres, just off US31, between Eastport and Atwood, Michigan. South of Charlevoix, north of Traverse City, about a mile east of Lake Michigan.

That's a big porch on the left side. You can't see it in this painting, but there's a stream that winds all along the front of the house. A great spot to sit and watch the deer!

We met the owner yesterday, who told us the land around the house had been a thick woods, making it difficult to get back there to build the house. It had started out as a one-room hunting lodge. It's beautiful now.

I went back on Saturday afternoon to paint this view. I'd waited until about 4 PM. Which was too late to get a good sun-drenched view. The house sits back of a hill and the trees block the late-day sun. Finally a few patches of sunlight came through on the lawn in the foreground.

2009-10-19T06:57:00.004-04:00

"Sunset - 10/16/09" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

Again, this was painted from my favorite spot: Rex Beach. I live only about 2 1/2 miles away. As usual, I had the entire beach to myself. That's Northport over in the distance.

2009-10-13T16:53:00.005-04:00

"Flowering Kale" -- oil on canvas -- 30x40" -- Margie Guyot

A couple weeks ago I attended a "fungi/fermentation" workshop when I saw this huge, frilly, flowering kale. It gave me GOOSEBUMPS! Some people's heart skips a beat; for me, it's goosebumps. I went up to the workshop organizers and said I wanted to either "beg, buy or steal" it. Ended up making a $5 donation to ISLAND.

I loved the colors in the top part of the kale and selected a cloth from my fabric collection to echo those tones. The people in JoAnn Fabrics must think I'm cuckoo for the garish fabrics I buy.

The red-striped vase is from Pier One. That wonderful grape-shaped wine bottle I found at a flea market for $10. As soon as I saw it -- yep -- you guessed it: goosebumps. And that polka dot bag is so cool! It came from some hoity-toity boutique over in the Leelanau Peninsula last summer. I thought the polka dots work well, echoing the bumps on the wine bottle.

It was a bit of a challenge to get the sunlight and shadow patterns and colors. Usually I have to use my studio light during the cooler months, as it's mostly cloudy along the NW coastline of Michigan.

2009-10-12T06:44:00.004-04:00

"Charlevoix Boat Dock" -- plein air field study -- oil on birch panel -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

See those big, dark clouds in the distance? All of us painters were lined up on the boat dock, painting furiously, trying to finish before those clouds hit. Those were SNOW clouds!

I really liked the view of the assemblage of boats, sitting serenely in the placid water. It was a very chilly morning, so maybe that had something to do with the boat owners not taking them out for a spin. We painters were grateful for that! All too often we've gotten 5 or 10 minutes into a painting of a boat (or a car) when the owner shows up and drives off.

My friend Al Maciag and I finished our paintings about the same time, packed up and walked back to the Charlevoix Circle of Arts. We were participating in the plein-air paintout and needed to have all our paintings framed and turned in that afternoon. Those clouds were approaching rapidly, so we decided to call it quits for painting and do our framing in the basement of the art center. Soon all the other participants joined us. As we framed, it begain raining heavily, then SNOWING! Oh boy.

This was also the annual Apple Festival, with many arts & crafts booths set up downtown and lots of tourists. After the snow died down, Al and I took a stroll around the booths. Many vendors were zipping up the tent sides and closing down for the day. Most of the tourists had retreated to their motels. The mitten and fur accessory dealers were still open, though. I bought a pair of purple fox earmuffs, perfect for wearing while plein-air painting!

At the reception we talked to fellow painter Kevin Barton, who had been painting the lighthouse when the storm hit. His easel and painting nearly blew into the lake. His very dramatic painting won a prize (sorry, I don't have a photo).

"Charlevoix Bridge -- Night" -- plein air field study -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

Was this ever fun! After painting the view of the Charlevoix Lighthouse (see below), I was walking back to the main street when I was struck by the abstract quality and glimmer of the lights on the water. Darkness had fallen. The high winds had died down. It felt rather balmy, compared to earlier. Thanks to the row of street lights along this walkway, I had enough light to see what I was doing. I didn't know if I'd be able to pull it off or not, but I thought what the heck! It was actually quite peaceful, painting all alone in the darkness. Not a single soul came by. That's one of the great things about living up here -- there's a lot less crime. Painting after dark down on Belle Isle, in Detroit, would probably not be something I'd attempt.

This view shows the causeway that connects Lake Michigan to Round Lake. What you're looking at is the drawbridge that is raised to allow the large cruise ships and sailboats to go back and forth between the 2 lakes. The drawbridge is part of US 31, the main street through town. As you can imagine, in the warmer months, with all the boat traffic AND the numerous festivals and tourists, there can be some big traffic snarls on a regular basis! I've been caught in them -- and it's taken 20 - 30 minutes to go 1/2 a mile sometimes.

I always keep my color arrangement in the same order on my palette. Clyde Aspevig taught us to do that. He said that if you always keep your colors in the same order, you will be able to paint in dim light. The next morning I was somewhat hesitant to look at this painting, for fear the "black" tones would be too brown, blue or red. I'd painted this without any black paint, using a mix of ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson the dark brown that Scott Christensen uses (I forget the name of it).

I'm going to try to do more night paintings. This was FUN!

"Charlevoix Lighthouse at Sunset" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

One of the stipulations in our paint-out for the Charlevoix Circle of Arts was that one of our finished paintings should have been painted in a "suggested" area. At first we squealed like stuck pigs, resisting being told we had to paint in a "suggested" area. Sometimes what seems like a good area to paint to one person just might not look at all paintable to another person. Thankfully, all the suggested areas were OK (at least, to me).

We had the option of getting our blank canvases stamped on Friday afternoon (instead of Saturday morning). Rain (and possibly snow) had been predicted for Saturday, so I made sure I got a good start on Friday. I ended up painting 3 on Friday (see yesterday's post to see the one of the excursion boat).

I knew I wanted to paint a sunset scene with the town's lighthouse. They recently painted it red (it had been white). After painting the view of "The Keweenaw Star" (below), I walked over to the lighthouse and set up, waiting for sunset. By the time I finished and packed up, it was nightfall. As I walked back along the causeway to the main street, I was struck by the view of the bridge. Why stop now? It was a good day!

2009-10-10T06:39:00.005-04:00

"The Keweenaw Star" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

This was the first of 3 paintings I did yesterday. It was the first afternoon of the big plein-air paintout, put on by the Charlevoix Circle of Arts. The town was crowded with people, up for the annual Applefest. And the weather was FOUL! I had on several layers of clothing and a hat, but still felt chilled. I think the temperature was in the 40's, with dark skies and relentless wind.

The paint-out rules allowed artists to sign-in and get our canvases stamped on the back, beginning Friday at 2 PM. Two new artist friends of mine from Dearborn (Janet and Kathy) had come up and I wanted to go painting with them. Janet set up her easel overlooking Lake Charlevoix, enamored of the distant view of the blue mountains. She loves grand vistas -- exactly the type of scene I avoid. Where to paint? Where to paint?

I wandered across the bridge, toward the boat harbor and saw this big boat: the Keweenaw Star. Somebody was aboard. I asked them how long they'd be docked there. I've learned to ask because sometimes I'd be 10 minutes into a painting and the boat would drive off! They weren't planning on taking off until 6 PM. Good!

As you probably know, I love big "chunks" of things to paint (as opposed to distant vistas). I love the shapes, colors and reflections. It was a very dark, gray day, but I knew the water would still have interesting colors and reflections. Painting boats is always a challenge, but it's fun.

I did 2 more paintings after this one, continuing until well after dark. It was too dark to photograph them, so I'll post them next time.

2009-10-03T19:06:00.006-04:00

"Cherry Pie - Lattice Crust" -- oil on canvas -- 5x7" -- Margie Guyot

If you could have seen me painting this, you would have laughed. I just rescued 2 little kitties this week and both of them were climbing up my jeans during most of the time I was painting. The one kitty insisted on sitting on my shoulder. I was kind of afraid it would leap onto the wet palette.

And this pie was really a tiny pie, about 4" in diameter. The cherries are all done in the orchards now, so I'd either have to buy the frozen cherries and bake my own or else cheat and buy a ready-made. Ready-made pies are so yucky, compared to homemade, so I hate to throw money away on them. I found a tiny, individual cherry pie down at King's Orchards, on 31, north of Elk Rapids. This morning I cut it to look like it was a bigger pie slice and had to use my imagination when painting this. In reality, the red juice really wasn't all that appetizing-looking. Maybe they cooked the filling with flour instead of cornstarch, so it was more chalky-looking. I had to use artistic license on this one.

And I locked up my wet palette before leaving. I know what I'd find tomorrow: paint-covered kitties!

2009-10-01T19:04:00.003-04:00

"Fisherman's Island #1" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

"Fisherman's Island #2" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

Today was supposed to be the last really nice day we'll have up here for a while. Rain is moving in tonight. I decided to let everything else slide -- and drive up to Fisherman's Island State Park, just south of Charlevoix. Last week I'd been mushroom-hunting up here and I knew I'd have to come back and paint this spot. It's one of the few areas that looks good at mid-day.

Both paintings were done within less than 50 feet of each other. I guess I just liked the design of this view, with the "white" gravel road and distant view of Lake Michigan. The fall colors have just begun to show.

2009-09-29T17:52:00.004-04:00

"Lemon Pie #2" -- oil on canvas panel -- 5x7" -- Margie Guyot

"Lemon Pie #1" -- oil on canvas panel -- 5x7" -- Margie Guyot

Had quite a busy day today! I had baked a pie shell (from scratch, of course!) yesterday so it would be ready to use. This morning I used my grandmother's recipe for lemon meringue pie. It's been years since I made this pie, so I was really watching every step. So easy to foul up, especially with the meringue. I almost DID foul-up. When I stuck this into the oven to brown the meringue, I considered taking some scraps out to the chickens. Good thing I stopped. I know I would have gotten side-tracked and the whole thing would have been burnt to hell.

It was very dark and dreary here today, so I used a studio light. And I set a box on my table and set up my still life on top, so it would be a bit higher. Was just in the mood to show the pie a bit closer, maybe the way a child would see it, looking more head-on, rather than looking down from above (like an adult). Pie #1 has a pose rather reminiscent of a big shark, ready to leap out at you.

I picked up a tiny kitty in the middle of the road a few days ago and since nobody would take it, I decided to make it my studio cat. Named him Picasso. Picasso kept wanting attention, so I'd say about 50% of both paintings were done while holding little Picasso. He doesn't like being ignored! He tries clawing his way up my jeans, as if they were trees.

Guess I'm going to be one popular person in this neighborhood! I gave away the rest of the pie to the neighbors. Gave away the apple pie I baked the other day to the neighbors. I'm TRYING to be on a diet! If I don't give the pies away, I'll be a blimp.

2009-09-27T18:20:00.004-04:00

"Apple Pie" -- oil on canvas panel -- 5x7" -- Margie Guyot

"Ala Mode" -- oil on canvas panel -- 5x7" -- Margie Guyot

Friday I baked an apple pie just for the purpose of getting to paint a picture of a slice of it. I have been on a diet since March, so this is the first pie I've baked in months. I could have bought a slice down the street at Friske's (south of Charlevoix), but it's never as good as homemade. And expensive!

I had intended on painting a series of slices of pie but had been busy with all kinds of things all summer. Glen's Market had "buy one, get one free" on bags of Ginger-Gold apples, so that's what I used. Turns out they worked great.

I used a tablecloth I bought a few weeks ago at a garage sale.

These two paintings I did, using the same slice of pie. I finished one, turned it a bit and put a scoop of ice cream (Stroh's Vanilla Bean). In the middle of painting it, my neighbor Jerry came by and we visited a little. Ah -- how fast ice cream melts! Good thing I'd painted it in early. I had to pick up the plate & slurp (remember that Jell-O scene with John Belushi in "Animal House"?) to avoid it flowing over onto the tablecloth.

OK, ok, I DID eat this piece. But I'm giving the rest of the pie to my neighbors. Stay tuned for "Lemon Meringue", coming soon....

2009-09-09T20:48:00.004-04:00

"Black Bell Peppers and Corn" -- oil painting on stretched canvas -- 18x24" -- Margie Guyot

A few days ago I found these bell peppers in a roadside farm stand south of Eastport, north of Elk Rapids. I'd never seen this color of pepper before and just had to have some to paint! Got this sweet corn at the farm stand as well. I thought it looked more interesting to leave the silk and part of the husk on. I'd avoided painting corn. What to do with all those kernels??? How to handle the silk?

What I did was paint a deeper gold tone on the corn cob. Later I went back with some lighter paint and just dabbed it along in rows. It turned out to be easier that I'd thought. And painting the silk was a lark!

This setup remained on the table for several days, so the corn was a little too old to eat. I gave it to my chickens this morning and after a few dubious pecks, they quickly decided it was "edible - choice".

2009-09-03T06:50:00.005-04:00

"Maple Conservancy Barn" -- plein air field study -- oil on birch panel -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

I'd driven down to this spot with the intention of painting the sunflower fields. But alas -- I'd arrived too late: the sunflowers were done blooming, heads hanging down, heavy with seeds. Boo-hoo! But then this old barn caught my eye.

I loved the strong sunlight/shadow pattern running across the red boards. And I especially loved the fact that I was able to paint this view, standing under the shade of a big maple tree. Even so, I had to put up my BestBrella, as little rays of sunshine occasionally peeked through the tree, falling onto my painting surface. Ah, technology -- love it!

The Maple Conservancy is a beautiful parkland located between Elk Rapids and Traverse City, Michigan.

2009-09-02T09:35:00.003-04:00

"Peaches" -- oil on stretched canvas -- 18x24" -- Margie Guyot

I'd found these wonderful peaches at a little market and wanted to use them in a still life painting. As soon as I set them on this table, the thing that struck me as being most interesting was the way the sunlight and shadows fell. That made the whole thing exciting.

What I became very aware of is how quickly the sun changes! Or more correctly, how fast the earth rotates. This exact pattern of sunlight/shadow only lasted a couple minutes. Every day I had to be ready, paint mixed, brush in hand, waiting for 1:10 in order to see the same vision, how the light patterns affected the peaches and highlights on the antique glass bowl.

As usual, I'd used a vintage tablecloth in this one. It was horribly wrinkled -- and since I hadn't found my iron since moving up here, I decided to make the most of the wrinkles. Painting them in was less work than digging around for that stupid iron & ironing board!

The glass bowl I inherited from my mom. How it survived all these years without breaking, weathering about 3 or 4 moves, is amazing to me. It's got an intricate pattern of gold-gilt roses.

And let me tell you -- those peaches were perfect! Sweet and dripping with juice!

2009-08-29T07:38:00.003-04:00

"Brandywine" -- oil on canvas -- 18x24" -- Margie Guyot

A few days ago I was visiting my neighbors, chatting away on their front porch, when I happened to see this marvelous tomato sitting in their windowsill. I loved the greenish-yellow "shoulders", contrasted with the red. It gave me goosebumps! I knew I just HAD to paint this tomato. Sue and Shirley graciously let me borrow it. They told me it's one of their heirloom tomatoes they plant every season: a brandywine.

I'd bought this lovely purple cabbage last week and had planned on using it in a painting as well. I love painting cabbages! Could paint them all day. Love the colors!

The next step for me was to dig through my collection of vintage linens. I just love tablecoths out of the 40's and 50's! I don't have dozens of them and am always on the lookout.

The cherry crop up here in Michigan was abundant, and I happened to have a bag full in my fridge. I thought the dark red sweets looked good with this arrangement. Used a glass dish from a garage sale to set them in. I love the design, with its ridges and how it allows bits of the tablecloth design to show through.

And those striped glasses! They were also from a garage sale. Guess I've got a "thing" for painting stripes and often use them in my still lifes. Sure, it's really tough to paint them, but I love a good challenge. Painting is, after all, nothing but a big puzzle. Instead of laboring over a crossword puzzle, I'd sooner spend that time figuring out my own puzzles.

Finally, I really love showing a strong sense of light and shadow in my paintings. One thing Clyde Aspevig taught me is to lay down your shadows early and stick with them. This still life was set up next to a big window and as I painted, the sun and shadows moved. Clyde told us to just establish the shadows early on and to avoid changing them (or you'll just go nuts!). I really enjoy establishing the color changes between the lighted areas and the shadows.

2009-08-29T07:26:00.005-04:00

"August Sunset" -- oil on canvas -- 12x24" -- Margie Guyot

I used a small field study to paint a larger version in my studio. The sunsets over Lake Michigan can be quite spectacular. I love trying to paint them. It's challenging, though, to paint them for several reasons. For one, the scene is constantly changing -- have you ever watched how fast clouds can move? And it's nearly impossible to capture the brilliance of the colors. Oil paint, when you start mixing it, often tends to turn muddy. Probably a good way to work out this problem is to paint the bright, strong passages in pure white, leave them dry, and then do thin glazes of pure color, mixed with Liquin.

The brilliant red color in the center is "coral red", straight from the tube.

I live right down the road from 4 Lake Michigan parks. My favorite one, Rex Beach, is the one I tend to go to for painting sunsets. You can drive right down to the water at Rex Beach, instead of having to park and carry all your painting gear for blocks.

There have been times this summer when it was impossible to paint anywhere on the lake because of swarms of hatching bugs. I don't know what kind of bugs they are, but there are clouds of them, landing in your eyes, wet palette, painted surface, etc. I learned not to even try during these bug swarms. Thank goodness these bug swams don't last long!

2009-08-25T07:00:00.003-04:00

"Scott Road" -- plein air field study -- oil on stretched canvas -- 12x24" -- Margie Guyot

This is the road I live on. Lake Michigan lies 1 mile west (as the crow flies). I moved up here nearly 2 years ago, after participating in a daylong paintout with the Crooked Tree Art Center (Petoskey). I hadn't been up this way in 30 years, so it was quite a surprise to see how beautiful it was up here. It kind of reminds me of the rolling hills of Vermont. The summers are packed with tourists, but the winters are rather brutal. Only the toughest old birds stay here.

I've always loved the look of this road, especially in late afternoon, with the long shadows running across the road. As a plein air painter, I especially like scenes where I can paint while standing in the blessed shade.

Normally I don't paint such large canvases, but there are a couple shows coming up that called for this type of wide format. I actually painted this on 2 afternoons, returning to the same spot.

"Sunset - 8/23/09" -- plein air field study -- oil on stretched canvas -- 12x24" -- Margie Guyot

Again, I normally don't paint in this wide format en plein air, but I was wanting to put this into a show that was looking for this size. Sunsets are beautiful to paint, but they're also the devil. The light and cloud formations are changing so rapidly, it's best to arrive on the scene early, try to pre-mix an anticipated range of colors, use a big brush and a small canvas.

After several days of gusty winds and rain, it was calm on Sunday night. I drove down to my favorite spot for sunset paintings, Rex Beach, just south of Charlevoix, MI. The advantage to this spot is that you can drive right down to the water. Other parks dot the shoreline here, but you have to schlep your gear for 3 - 4 blocks, up & down a long hill and across sand dunes.

As I painted, a car of people pulled up to enjoy the sunset, too. Two of the men got out their fishing rods and casted for panfish. I didn't see them catch anything, though.

The cloud formations always amaze me. They roll in off the western side of the lake and are wonderful. Trying to paint the glowing reds and golds is tough. If I use this study for a later studio painting, what I'd do is paint the red and gold areas with white, leave it dry, then give thin glazes of color. That's the only way I know to get anywhere near the brilliance.

2009-08-16T06:59:00.005-04:00

"Shady Road" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

I wish I knew the name of this road! This was my last painting of the day, painted across the street from Les Heney's farm, near Empire, Michigan. As it was a hot, steamy day, I was looking for a cool, shady spot to paint. Love this road.

At first it looked quite crazy as I laid it in. Sometimes my paintings do look crazy at first. Almost enough to scare even me! But I think that sometimes being successful at painting requires the ability to control one's panic.

Paintings quite often are similar to taking an algebra test. When I would be handed the test, I'd be in complete panic mode, flipping through the pages. I don't know how to do ANY of these! But finally I'd see a problem I could do. Then I'd flip around and see another problem I could solve. Eventually I'd finish the entire test. Painting, for me, is kind of like that: all kinds of things to solve. Just keep from freaking out and giving up. Do what you can, keep plugging away, and you (usually) figure it out. Somebody once told me they thought painting came easily to me. No! I just know to quiet that little voice that says this looks horrible! and continue figuring things out.

Besides doing a lot of painting, the thing that helped me most in my painting was Betty Edwards' "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". I'd first read it in 1980. She says that "if you can see, you can draw". The key is to learn to block out that part of your mind (the left brain) that tells you you can't draw -- and to just concentrate on looking and judging sizes, angles, lightness or darkness.

I was happy to find out this particular painting won 2nd place in the Glen Arbor Art Association's first annual Paint-Out.

2009-08-16T06:51:00.003-04:00

"Welch Rd. - Near Empire, MI" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

This is the second painting I'd done this morning. My friend Karen and I were participating in the Glen Arbor Art Association's first annual Paint-Out. Time was of the essence: the goal was to paint a maximum of 3 good paintings between 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM. Frame them and have them back at the gallery by 4:30 PM. So there was not a lot of time for lollygagging.

This area is in the Leelanau Peninsula of Michigan. I really love it here. Lush, rolling hillsides, small farms and orchards, lakes and it's surrounded by Lake Michigan. Everywhere you look, there's a painting.

We decided to stop at the top of this hill and paint the long view. It's a popular road for bicyclists, as many cycled by us as we painted. Karen and I were grateful to find a shady spot to paint in, as the temperature rose to nearly 90 again.

2009-08-16T06:40:00.005-04:00

"Heney's Green Acres" -- plein air field study -- 6x8" -- Margie Guyot

My friend Karen and I had been driving around near Empire, Michigan, looking for interesting things to paint. We stopped at a beautiful little farm that had a cardtable out front, with a sign that said "Apricots for sale". Les Heney, the farmer, was mending a fence out past the rhubarb patch. He gave us permission to paint anywhere we wanted. Amazing man -- he said he'll turn 94 on September 8th! He soon left, driving his 95 year old wife to the hairdresser! I'm always happy to find older people in such lively shape!

I really loved this barn! It was a little tricky to draw in, but the patterns of sun and shade were what I loved most. I also appreciated being able to stand in the shade to paint this, as it was up near 90 degrees.

Karen and I each bought some of his apricots -- only $1 for a quart!

2009-08-14T19:12:00.005-04:00

"Rex Beach" -- 12x16" plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- Margie Guyot

Yesterday morning two friends and I drove over to meet other painters in an orchard. But nobody was there. Luckily, my friend Jerry had his cell phone and called a contact number. Turns out the orchard was going to spray their cherries, so our location was suddenly changed to Rex Beach. Right down the road from where I live. Rex Beach is right on Lake Michigan, south of Charlevoix.

Rex Beach is great for painting sunsets, but during mid-day I think the light is too flat and it's rather uninteresting to paint (to me, at least). It took me quite a while to finally decide what view to paint. I nearly wiped this out. The tough thing about paint this was that the sand and grass in the foreground is very bleached-out by the sun. So to be true to what's in front of us, we have to paint it looking rather bleached-out. What I loved most about this view is the distant bank of trees and the sparkle of the water.

2009-08-09T06:58:00.004-04:00

"Laid to Rest" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

After painting "Blue Umbrella" (see previous post), I drove over to the Tillotson's Orchard, near Ellsworth. I'd been there last week to pick cherries and had seen a wonderful, big orange truck. Planned on painting it. Alas -- it was gone!

I drove over by the barn, where I saw these 2 old GMC trucks, abandoned in the grove of young aspen trees. I parked at a 90 degree angle to them, threw open the liftgate on my Flex, set my Soltek easel inside the cargo area, and was able to paint in the still-falling rain. I find images of old cars and trucks to be more interesting than the same old, gloomy scenes of rain on the lake.

After painting, I walked over to a big pile of rotting, fermenting cherries and scooped up a few handfuls into a bag. Got home and gave them to my chickens. Later, as I left to drive up to Harbor Springs, I could hear some excited cackling going on back in the coop.

2009-08-09T06:51:00.003-04:00

"Blue Umbrella" -- plein air field study -- 0il on canvas panel 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

It was raining cats & dogs! And it was the morning of the Tvedten Fine Art Galley's annual Paint-Out. What to paint that wouldn't look so dreary? In desperation I threw down my blue umbrella onto the sidewalk in front of my porch. Loved the blues! I have a bunch of red geraniums (some 5 years old) that looked great with it.

Stood underneath the porch overhang to paint this. Was able to run 2 loads of laundry at the same time. Nothing like multi-tasking! And it was convenient to be able to run out to the studio to get my tube of cobalt blue. I normally don't carry that color around with me. There are some colors that just can't be mixed. Some of the reds & blues -- you just need to have the tube.

2009-08-03T08:45:00.003-04:00

"Common Mullen" -- plein air field study -- oil on stretched canvas -- 30x15" -- Margie Guyot

Mullen is a favorite wildflower of mine. The first time I ever noticed how beautiful it is was when I was out in Boulder, Colorado, about 12 years ago. They practice natural landscaping out there and somebody had a whole grove of this stuff in their front yard. It was glorious! Back in the suburb of Detroit (where I lived at the time), if I'd tried growing a grove of this in my front yard, the city would come, cut it down & send me a bill.

Now I've got hundreds of these plants in my yard. I've used the leaves for tea to help relieve congestion. From what I've read, mullen was introducted to America hundreds of years ago from Eurasia. Some people call it "Forester's TP". But I can tell you from personal experience, those fuzzy leaves leave you itching!

This is the biggest size I've ever attempted doing en plein air. I wanted to do something long and narrow, and the 30x15" canvas was the only thing I had on hand. But I had nothing else planned for the afternoon, so I just decided to take my time and see if I could paint this. At times early on I wondered if I could make it work. Oh -- and I had to duct-tape this onto my Soltek easel.

This was also my first use of the new BestBrella I'd bought. The instructions say to hand-tighten the screws, but I had to use pliers. And re-tighten things occasionally, as it was quite windy. But I probably couldn't have done this painting without an umbrella. The sun's glare would have been too blinding. I also had on a longsleeve shirt, hat and SPF 70.

Those leaves were quite a challenge! Well, when I start a painting, EVERYTHING seems like quite a challenge! But I just kept plugging away, painting what I could figure out. It's like doing a puzzle, only all the pieces are wet paint blobs!

I loved this scene especially because of the background, too. The mullen plants were growing amidst white yarrow, calendula and black-eyed susans. 4 hours just flew by! And thank goodness for left-overs, so I didn't have to cook dinner.

2009-08-03T08:32:00.003-04:00

"Sunset -- 8-01-09" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel -- 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

After painting in Petoskey all day for the Crooked Tree Paint-Out, some buddies of mine and I decided to meet at Rex Beach for sunset painting. Rex Beach is part of the Antrim Creek Natural Area, 2 parks that are along the east coast of Lake Michigan. The advantage to painting at Rex Beach is that you can drive your car right down to the water, instead of having to park and schlep all your gear for several blocks down a trail and across a sand dune.

It was a beautiful evening to be out on the beach! There were only a few swarms of newly-hatched midges. Not at all as bad as the swarms in June.

There was pizza there and I was offered some, but it's impossible to paint anything so fleeting while eating anything! I always use at least a #8 flat brush and paint as quickly as I possibly can. The light and cloud formations are changing every second.

2009-08-02T06:23:00.007-04:00

"Cherry Pie" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 5x7" -- Margie Guyot

I'm calling this a plein air field study because it WAS painted en plein air. I was participating in the 4th Annual Crooked Tree Art Center's Paint-Out yesterday up in Petoskey. Right after painting "Bear River Bridge" (see below), the rain started. I'd had foresight to buy a slice of cherry pie on the drive up. I had the perfect little, ornate frame and canvas. There had been a 60% chance of rain predicted, so I wanted to have something I could paint under shelter.

I set the pie on a blank canvas board and painted the whole thing under the shelter of the liftgate of my Flex. The rain poured down, ruining the many sidewalk sales also underway in Petoskey, but I was happy as a clam.

Of course I sat in the car upon finishing this painting, enjoying some Starbucks coffee I'd brought from home and this cherry pie! Waste not, want not.

"Bear River Bridge" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

Last Monday my friend Evelyn Wujcik and I had to drive through Petoskey on our way up to play in the Harbor Springs Community Band concert. I asked Ev (a fantastic trumpet player) if she knew of any pretty places in Petoskey. She showed me this great little park on Lake Street. Besides this beautiful bridge, there are also a waterfall, boat harbor and historical buildings. Thanks to Ev, I knew right where to go. I knew the rain wouldn't hold out for long and I couldn't afford to be driving around, searching for something to paint.

A crew of volunteers were cleaning out trash from the Bear River and shoreline. Besides the usual junk, they carried out a waterlogged full-sized mattress!

I stood under a giant maple tree to paint this view. It's always a rare pleasure to find a spot interesting enough to paint that isn't also in the blinding, hot sun!

I think it took longer for me to draw in this bridge than to paint the whole picture. Very complicated, but lovely architectural details. It was very overcast, but I tried to brighten up the colors a little.

During the salmon runs, this river is lined with fishermen. It's quite a sight. The Bear River empties out into Lake Michigan at this point and it's amazing to watch the big salmon and steelhead trying to head upstream to spawn. Huge boulders all along the sides, thundering sounds of rushing water, clean, crisp air -- it's a wonderful place.

2009-07-30T19:34:00.006-04:00

"Sunset - July 29, 2009" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

When I don't make regular postings, some of my friends start to worry. Well, don't worry! I've just been very busy, doing a jillion things. Planting cherry trees, playing my sax in 3 bands, planting flowers. The most exciting thing I've been tied up with is the completion of my art studio. Finally the drywall is up. Trim is up. Everything is painted. The only holdup is a backorder on my track lighting. I'd been under the gun to get parts of the job done (such as priming and painting) so the contractor could do his job. It cut into my painting time, but the end is in sight. While waiting for the track lights, I've been putting things away and organizing.

I've been lusting to get back into painting large still lifes, but it's been impossible with my studio under construction.

The weather up here along the NW coastline of Michigan has been perfect this summer. Parts of the south have been suffering severe drought and heat. But not us! We've enjoyed most days around 70 degrees (nights in the 50's), with regular rainfall.

Last night was so beautiful I took my gear down to Antrim Creek Natural Area, south of Charlevoix, on the shore of Lake Michigan. It was about 8:30 when I drove over. A new hatching of midges was out. As I walked along the path that hugs Antrim Creek, there were little fish leaping out of the water, going for the midges. Had to keep my mouth closed when walking through clouds of the things. At least they weren't mosquitoes!

But what to paint? The water level of Lake Michigan is up about 6" this year, thanks to last winter's over-generous snowfalls. The big rock formations I painted last year are mostly under water. I always use a little viewfinder to try to see what might look like an interesting composition. I strolled along the shoreline, looking all over, trying to find something that excited me enough to paint it.

Finally I saw 3 big rocks that I thought I might as well try painting. After roughly drawing them in, a big cloud obscured the sunlight. Rats! It was the colors of the water and sand that had struck me as most interesting. And now they were dulled-down by the absence of sunlight. I turned around, feeling frustrated.

Egad! The sky was fabulous! Loved the colors! Loved the cloud shapes! I picked up my Soltek and did a 180 degree flipflop with it. Wiped out the rock outlines and painted this scene as quickly as possible. Sunsets change every second! In the distance you can see a bit of the Leelanau Peninsula on the horizon.

I really loved the gentle, rolling waves coming in and how they showed the darker water underside along with the dazzlingly-bright reflection of the sun. And overall, the water surface had a gorgeous viridian tone to it. One of these days I've got to remember to throw a tube of viridian into my bag! I had to kind of wing it with blue and a hint of yellow.

Having grown up in Iowa, Lake Michigan continually amazes me. The colors sure don't match what I saw in the Wapsipinnicon River! I've come down to the lake to paint many times and each time I see new things. This summer I've been trying to learn to capture the look and feel of the waves. Like a sunset, waves won't hold still, doggone it!

2009-07-12T07:46:00.006-04:00

"Late Day -- Two Ponds" -- plein air field study -- 6x8" oil on canvas panel -- Margie Guyot

Yesterday had been a flurry of planting poppies and flowering tobacco in my garden, then hours of digging through paintings for Tvedten Fine Art, the gallery up in Harbor Springs. They called me about noon, saying they'd like more work on Monday. All needed to be varnished, signed and framed. Yikes! That took hours and hours.

About 8 PM I thought I'd drive down to Antrim Creek Natural Area and paint a lake scene. But when I got down there, nothing looked interesting. At least, interesting enough to paint. Too serene, too blah. I got everything back into the car and drove along Old Dixie Highway, looking for long shadows and patches of sun.

This spot is right at the NE corner of Old Dixie Highway and Rex Beach Road. I pulled my car up and parked right in front of a No Tresspassing sign. The signs always say you need permission to be on the land, but they never tell you who to ask. So I picked my way through the brush and set up my Soltek in front of this lovely pair of ponds. Fortunately, I'd thought ahead and had sprayed myself liberally with mosquito lotion, as they were ravenous.

I really love finding spots like this, with contrasting light and interesting shapes. Most of the scene was in shadow. The sky was changing to a pale viridian (it was nearing sunset) and the golden streaks of sunlight were raking across distant fields. It's so much more fun to paint either early in the morning or late in the day because of the dramatic lighting.

I decided to use a small panel (6x8") for this because I'd realized that I had a plethora of small frames.

Painted this entire piece using my favorite #8 flat brush.

2009-06-28T18:41:00.005-04:00

"Waves -- Lake Michigan" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

After painting the sunit ferns on Antrim Creek, I decided to go further and take a peek at Lake Michigan. Today the wind was up, creating the most fabulous waves! I lugged my easel over right to the edge of the sand and set up. Sometimes waves would wash over my feet. I noticed my easel legs were slowly sinking down in to the sand. When I finished I had to rinse the legs off in the lake before I tried folding them up. It's a Soltek easel and they get problems if you let sand get inside the metal legs.

Painting moving anything is tough! Painting waves -- I'm still figuring out how to do them. The colors of Lake Michigan just amaze me. Having grown up in Iowa, I'm used to brown-colored rivers & ponds. Nothing clear. So it's really a thrill to see turquoises and blues and even golds in the water.

How to put down all the colors I see? It's still very experimental for me, to paint Lake Michigan. I did a thin wash in the foreground of yellow ochre & hints of orange & a few things, wiping it flat. Then I tried to decide what color the underside of the waves seemed to be. Sort of a pale olive? Waves are constantly moving & changing every split-second -- so if you want to challenge yourself, try figuring out how to paint them!

In the distance is the Leelanau Peninsula. In the upper right foreground is a tiny jut of land with grasses. The lake is up about 6" higher this year, maybe because of all the snow we had last winter. Last year you could see more big boulders out at that point (where the grass is on the upper right). One of my friends told me he was here yesterday and saw some huge carp spawning in the creek, right where it empties into the lake.

At the very least, I had a great time out here today!

2009-06-28T18:34:00.002-04:00

"Sunlit Ferns" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

My buddies were already down at the beach, painting. We decided to meet at Antrim Creek Natural Area, our favorite spot. It's a long hike down to the beach from the parking lot, going through a beautiful woods, following Antrim Creek. I spied this little patch of sunlit ferns and somehow managed to climb down the steep, muddy, poison ivy-filled bank to get down to the stream's edge.

Overhanging branches and leaves were casting shadows on the water. Some of the trees take advantage of the situation and grow right up at the edge of the stream, sending roots right down into the water.

I really loved the bright green reflections on the water.

At one point, my friend Mike Toderoff tried to scare me by making a most convincing imitation of a bobcat. But I knew it could only be something Mike would do. Still, there ARE bobcats in this area, as I'd seen one in my front yard earlier this spring.

2009-06-28T18:28:00.002-04:00

"1940 Allis Chalmers Garden Tractor" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

This was the 3rd painting I did yesterday during the Charlevoix Circle of the Arts "plein air paint-out". I'd seen this tractor a couple weeks ago and planned on painting it sometime. Love the orange color! It belongs to one of my neighbors down the road. He plows the neighbors' gardens for them. I asked if he minded if I came over & painted it sometime. He said no problem -- but to watch out for the electric fence.

To get a halfway decent view of the tractor, I had to set up my easel as close to the electric fence as possible: about 3 feet. Had to keep reminding myself not to step back!

Time was running short, so I painted this as quickly as possible. 99% of each painting is done with a #8 flat brush. The only thing I used a little brush on this on was to do the steering wheel.

I was hot, sweaty & worn out, but I managed to frame all 3 paintings, shower & get gussied up and deliver everything back to Charlevoix for the 4 PM deadline. Whew!

2009-06-28T18:19:00.003-04:00

"Haybales -- Bolt's Farm" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

This is the second painting of the day I did yesterday. I was participating in the paint-out put on by Charlevoix Circle of Arts. I've always loved haystacks, hay bales, hay furrows -- whatever forms hay comes in! As I drove past Russ & Cindy Bolt's farm yesterday morning, I noticed all these cool bales. Got their permission to stand and paint. I always ask if there are any critters around that hate visitors, critters likely to gore me or take a chunk out of my leg. Or if there are any electric fences. It was safe, thank goodness, and I stomped on over and set up my easel.

Oh, that sun was HOT! Again, it was another case of realizing the tendendy to go into a panic. Trying to draw in a scene like this, with the problems of trying to make a flat canvas show the rising/falling hills and furrows -- it ain't easy! And the colors of the field were perplexing. We hadn't had rain here for about 3 weeks and most things were fried to a crisp. Shredded wheat lawns all over.

I love the way the round bales were dotted all over the place. I knew I had to paint them THEN and not wait for another day. Farmers tend to move all the bales over to one side of the property. That's what happened to me last year. I saw these bales and when I came back a couple days later, they were all lined up in a single row against the fence. Oh, the heartbreak of it all!

I'm going to be cruising around the rest of this summer, keeping my eyes peeled for more hay bales.

2009-06-28T18:07:00.007-04:00

"1950 GMC Truck" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

This was the first painting of the day yesterday. I had woken up at 4:30 AM, ready get going. I was participating in a "paint-out", hosted by the Charlevoix Circle of Arts. Painters were to show up between 7 & 8 AM to get the backs of their blank canvases stamped. From there, we were free to go out and paint whatever. The rule was that we had to have things framed and back by 4 PM.

I knew I just had to paint this truck. It's been parked at Featherly's, an auto repair shop on 31, on the south side of Charlevoix. It's for sale. They are asking $7500 or best offer. If I wanted to give up all my other interests and spend every moment working on old car repairs, I'd get it. And paint it hot pink!

Fortunately, I was able to set up and paint this picture before Featherly's opened for business, so I wasn't in anybody's way. I regretted not having any viridian in my palette. I've been using the colors of Scott Christensen ever since I had his workshop last summer. But there are some colors that just can't be mixed. I had to come to a close approximation with a mix of ultramarine blue, yellow ochre, a teeny hint of alizarin crimson and white.

Thank goodness the bugs weren't too bad. But it was very sunny and hot. I roasted the whole day, only finding interesting things that were in full sun. Seems like most artists long for a nice, shady tree to stand under whenever possible.

Don't think it's easy to draw in a vehicle, either! I just have to keep reminding myself not to panic! I often have to wipe out parts and correct things. The background is entirely made up. I removed the "reality" in back of the truck and set Lake Michigan as the background. Such feelings of control....!

2009-06-26T21:13:00.002-04:00

"Burning Gas & Hauling Ass" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

I'd driven past this truck 3 times this week and just HAD to go paint it today. It's parked along the side of 31, in Elk Rapids. It's for sale. And '86 Chevy. While I painted, several people stopped to talk. I always fantasize about some wealthy gallery owner stopping, falling to their knees, tears in their eyes, speechless with the joy of seeing my painting. Ha ha!

It's been very dry here for 2 weeks. Lawns have turned to shredded wheat. But the yellow sedum, a succulent wildflower, flourishes. It loves neglect and drought. I thought the sight of this yellow truck, sitting on a hillside with yellow sedum was too cool to pass up.

Probably the hardest thing about painting a vehicle en plein air is making oneself calm down and look carefully. Are the lines parallel that need to be parallel? And those doggone tires! Obelisks are tough boogers to draw! It's one thing to paint a tree and quite something else to paint a car. You can fudge quite a bit with a tree and people will still see it as a tree. Cars (and faces) are far less forgiving.

2009-06-24T07:15:00.005-04:00

"Wild Vetch" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

I saw this field of wild vetch on the drive home from Antrim Creek Natural Area. They're related to the wild sweet pea. It was late in the afternoon when I decided to stop and set up my easel. Long shadows were falling across the field from the old maple trees lining Old Dixie Highway. The sun was falling lower towards the horizon and the light was more golden and brilliant.

This was painted on the grounds of Fox Mission, a very rich (and expensive) piece of real estate. The house lots are further up on the top of the ridge, overlooking Lake Michigan. Some of the lots have been sold, but no building has taken place. The economy in Michigan's taken a huge dive. But all of us neighbors are glad nothing's happened yet with construction. We love the peace and quiet.

I want to return to this spot again and try to do another view this weekend. Lately I've been swamped with trying to paint my studio and replanting 2000 narcissus bulbs in the lawn. I've been digging up clumps of narcissus, finding as many as 100 bulbs in each clump. Planting them all in the lawn closer to the house, so next spring it would be beautiful.

2009-06-04T16:58:00.002-04:00

"Willys Fleetvan" -- plein air field study -- oil on 9x12" stretched canvas -- Margie Guyot

It was a beautiful, sunny (and cool) day here. Perfect for getting out to paint! I had to drive up to Charlevoix to get the oil changed on my Flex, so thought I might as well drive over to my friend Linda's and try painting her vintage Willys. I think she said it's a 1962 model.

In reality, the sun visor is dented. A tree fell on it. But it's in otherwise fairly decent-looking shape. Decent-LOOKING is the keyword here. Needs brakes and a muffler replacement, but ah -- details, details! I'm told this is one of only 6 left in the US.

Boy o boy -- this was pretty tough to do. Weird shape. I'm a sucker for reflected light, so maybe some people will look at this and think she was on drugs when she painted that! Well, no -- it's still springtime up here in NW Michigan and the grass is a rather furious shade of bright green.

I painted this whole thing with one brush: my favorite #8 flat.

Egad -- now I must sign off and go change clothes. I just came in from spraying Liquid Fence on my hollyhocks (to keep those naughty deer away) and some of that stinky stuff spilled onto my jeans. I need to leave for band rehearsal in a few minutes and I think it's not a very good idea to go in stinking to high heaven....

2009-05-31T19:16:00.002-04:00

"Todd's Truck" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel -- Margie Guyot

Friends and I went over to sculptor Todd Warner's house today and visited. Some of us got out our easels. So much to choose from -- he lives in the most interesting house I've ever seen, with quite a menagerie. Still, this red truck caught my eye.

I only had 2 reds with me: cadmium red light and alizarin, plus no small brushes. I think I painted 95% of this with my favorite #8 flat brush. The sun was only out for about the first 20 minutes, so I kind of had to wing it as far as the lights went. And Todd had to leave before I was finished, so that's the excuse I'm using if anybody has any criticism!

The only bad thing was that this truck was parked right next to his poultry pen. We're talking Peeee-yoooooooo when the wind was just right!

2009-05-17T19:23:00.005-04:00

"Beach Study" -- plein air field study -- 6x8" oil painting on canvas panel -- Margie Guyot

This is one of the smaller paintings I've ever attempted. 6x8" is about the smallest size that my Soltek easel will hold. Still, I used a #8 flat brush for about 90% of this painting.

It was very sunny here -- but chilly. The good-old Goretex jacket saved the day again! I hiked down to the lakeside from Antrim Creek Natural Area and set up at my favorite spot. This time I finally remembered to bring the wet canvas carrier! It really helps. In the past I've ruined some paintings by setting them on the sand while packing up my equipment. The wind is always blowing here and more than once I've ended up with a sand-coated painting.

Glad to have my trusty hat and sunglasses! Normally I don't paint with sunglasses, but that sun on the water is quite glaring.

I love this spot and have painted it many times, including in several winter time blizzards. Painting water is a mystery! I plan on continuing with my water studies....

2009-05-17T07:24:00.006-04:00

"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!

2009-05-05T09:39:00.003-04:00

"Orchard -- Early May" -- field study -- 9x12" -- oil on gessoed paper -- Margie Guyot

It's still too early for the blossoms to open on the fruit trees here in NW Michigan. I found this orchard on Maple Hill Road and loved this scene. Something very ordered, very geometric about it. The growers up here are very fastidious with their trees. They plant them in carefully laid-out grids and usually keep the ground beneath the trees free of weeds. The belief is that the weeds rob the tree roots of nutrients.

Even though no blossoms were open yet, it was such a beautiful, warm sunny day, I had to get out and paint. Loved the bright green of the grass. If you look along the upper portion of the painting, you'll see a pale greenish-gray. That is from the thousands of small branches, covered in pale green leaves that are just peeking out. The sun was striking the branches, which have a bit of a sheen to them.

I also love how thick and gnarly old apple trees can get! Each spring the trees are carefully pruned to allow for sunlight penetration into the tree. I've heard pruning should make it easy enough for a bird to fly right through the tree. Sometimes these years of pruning end up creating some unusual-looking trees!

Several beehives were about 50 feet away. With no blossoms open yet, the bees were frantically racing about, looking for something to eat. Several came close to me, buzzing around, but I knew not to be afraid. When they realized I was not a flower, they flew off.

Stay tuned for more orchards!

2009-05-03T08:31:00.005-04:00

"Macintosh" -- plein air field study -- oil on stretched canvas -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

For the longest time I'd been noticing there is a certain variety of apple tree up here that has beautiful pinky-peachy tones on the branches. Apple orchards are everywhere up here, and I'd been meaning to set up my easel and paint one of these wonderful trees before the leaves and blossoms appear.

So yesterday afternoon I drove over to Friske's Farm Market, south of Charlevoix, on US 31, and asked if they minded if I painted on their property. It's always a good idea to politely ask a property owner's permission, I've found. Some people are quite touchy about somebody painting something of theirs -- even when you're merely standing on the road, not even touching their land!

Thank goodness I'd thought to bring along my Gore-tex jacket and windstopper gloves! It was about 60 degrees and sunny, but the wind ripping off Lake Michigan (about 1 mile west) was truly bone-chilling.

Smart apple-growers now keep the ground beneath the trees clear of weeds. The belief is that weeds compete for nutrients, resulting in lower apple yields. Friske's followed this practice, and underneath the trees was mostly moss. This time of the year the moss was a very interesting golden olive tone. In between the rows of trees they keep the grass neatly mowed.

As usual when I paint trees, what I love to see are the darker shadow shapes and the sunlit portions. The blue of the sky was reflected in places. Some of the branches reflected the blindingly bright light of the sun. It all depended upon their angle. It's this variation of reflected lights and shadows that give a tree painting a feel of 3-D.

I found out this tree is a macintosh.

Stay tuned for some "orchard in bloom" paintings. It might be another week or two before we see blossoms.

2009-04-28T09:11:00.002-04:00

"Yellow Roses, Alstromeria & Baby's Breath" -- oil on canvas -- 12x9" -- Margie Guyot

No I haven't fallen off the face of the earth! I've been very busy for the past month with change-of-season chores and getting a new car. I'm starting up a henhouse for the first time ever (a lifelong dream of mine) and there never seems to be enough hours in the day! I've learned not to despair: it just happens like this once in a while, where I get too busy to paint everyday.

I love this vase, the way it distorts the stems of the roses! Some of you may recognize the yellow-flowered vintage tablecloth. It's a favorite of mine that I like using in paintings.

Roses and other flowers are harder to paint than you'd think! All those doggone petals! You look at the flowers and think "this one will be easy" -- but once you start trying to paint them, it suddenly seems impossible. It's one of those things where you have to expect panic at first, but have to just hang in there, knowing you'll figure it out. I guess that happens a lot of the time for most artists. It's the experienced painters that know not to stop -- but to keep at it, knowing they'll get it in time.

One thing I kept in mind while painting this was to pay attention to the shadows in the blossoms. A good portion of the big, central rose was in shade. People who don't paint ("left-brainers") aren't aware of the interesting range of colors that occur when a flower is in shade. Impossible to describe in words what colors there are sometimes.

2009-03-16T19:54:00.004-04:00

"Elk Lake" -- plein air field study -- oil on birch panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day, up to about 50 degrees. Probably the nicest day we've had yet this year. I felt the urge to drive down to Elk Rapids, the next little town down US 31. Every time I've been through, this big lake catches my eye. I've wanted to come and paint it ever since I moved up this way. The town's name is Elk Rapids, only I have no idea where the rapids are. All I've ever seen is this big lake. It's got dozens of tree stumps, some of which you see poking up out of the ice in this painting. I don't know the story on this lake yet. Probably it had been a river and it was dammed up, killing a bunch of trees?

When I see all those tree stumps in the water, the first thing I think is there must be some great bass fishing! I hope to get some fishing in this year. I haven't taken time to fish in almost 10 years, what with working and moving. This year I'm going to go fishing. And get out my kayak!

2009-03-13T09:09:00.004-04:00

"Peebles Rd. - North of Toad Lake Rd." -- plein air field study -- oil on birch panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

This was the second painting I did yesterday afternoon. It was about half a mile south of the first painting. 13 degrees out. I had to wear 2 pairs of gloves. After finishing this one, I had to drive a couple blocks down to find a spot to turn around. Then I saw the Toad Lake Road sign. Brought back memories of last spring. It was the first time I'd driven home from Ellsworth and wasn't quite sure which road to take. I got onto Toad Lake Road. What a mistake that was! It's a dirt road that turns into a swamp! Goes for miles, twisting around in the farmlands. I've got 4WD, but there were times I thought I'd be stuck in the sea of mud. There was a lake back there and I'm sure it had plenty of toads.

2009-03-12T20:00:00.003-04:00

"Peebles Road - S. of Essex Rd." -- plein air field study -- oil on gessoed panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

The 50 mph winds from yesterday died down somewhat, but it still was quite chilly to be out. The high got up to about 13 degrees with a windchill factor of minus 1 degree. I parked my Explorer on the side of the road and set up my easel right in front, using the vehicle as a kind of windblock. Had to wear 2 pairs of gloves. The blue sky began peeking out this afternoon, which was good to see. We've had a number of days of storms.

The land around here is quite beautiful, rather like Vermont, with rolling hills, ponds and streams. It's big farming country up this way, with lots of orchards and vineyards.

2009-03-08T12:22:00.005-04:00

"Cattail Marsh" -- plein air field study -- oil on gessoed panel -- 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

Yesterday I was on my hike out to Fox Mission and loved the patterns of melting snow on the cattail marsh. After I returned from my hike I loaded the Explorer and drove back over to paint this view. I wasn't sure if I could get it to come out -- it's kind of difficult to get the illusion of the dark water with rotting vegetation at the bottom. Painting very dark shades with the very light shades is always kind of a test. Things want to smear together.

As always, I composed this by framing it through my little plastic viewfinder. Clyde Aspevig got us used to using it and I wouldn't attempt a painting without one.

It was very quiet here. All I could hear were occasional bird songs. Love this area!

"Fox Mission: Late Afternoon" -- plein air field study -- oil on gessoed panel -- 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

Friday afternoon I got started late with my painting. I'd spent hours trying (in vain) to burn jpegs onto a CD to send in for an art grant. Finally had to give up and call my neighbor Jerry. He drove over & was able to save for me in 2 minutes. Ah, youth!

After mailing the CD and grant application, I was driving home and noticed the beautiful, pale gray sky. The snow is starting to melt around here and the temperature was relatively warm (upper 30's) and the sky had a very special quality to it, sort of a pearl-gray tone. I loaded my gear and drove up to the top ridge of Fox Mission to paint this. This view is facing south. I loved the smokey blue line in the far distance. And the patterns of the melting snow. This is a favorite spot of the white tail deer.

"Bag of Oranges" -- oil on panel -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

I was getting behind in my posts! I did this one on Thursday in the studio. It was a very dark, gloomy, rainy day. Impossible to paint outside with oils. To get the strong shadow shapes I set up a studio light.

The scary part about doing this painting was painting the suggestion of the red mesh bag on at the end. Everything was very wet and gooey. There's always the risk of ruining everything. But I remembered the words of Robert Bateman. He told our class never to be afraid to try something that might improve your painting. It's always a risk worth taking.

2009-03-03T16:49:00.002-05:00

"Daffodils" -- 12x9" -- oil on stretched canvas -- Margie Guyot

Besides finding possums stealing sunflower seeds under the bird feeder, another sure sign of spring here in Michigan is seeing daffodils in the grocery store. Too early for showing up in the gardens. We've got knee-deep snow here at the moment. I'd gone to the grocery store today, hoping to find a potted purple tulip, but no dice.

I'm having lots of fun, painting very simple still lifes, just set up on my work table, letting the patterns of lights and shadows form a lot of the interest.

Daffodils are just the devil to paint, though!

It's been quite cold lately so I've been wimping out, painting in my studio. It could be worse: I could be cleaning house. A tough day painting daffodils is better than housework any day!

2009-03-02T17:04:00.002-05:00

"Red Vase" -- oil on canvas -- 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

I started this little still life yesterday and just finished it this afternoon. The vase is from Pier One. This is the first attempt at painting it. I just love the way the colors are so intense! I want to do another, bigger still life using this vase and maybe some oranges or melons (other things "orange"). The little frogs are favorites of mine, and I loved the shadows they threw in the bright sunshine. We've had 2 days of sunshine in a row here and it's very unusual. Ten degrees below zero this morning, with a high about 10 above, so it's a good day to stay inside and do still lifes.

"Pink Tulips No. 2" -- oil on canvas -- 12x9" -- Margie Guyot

I did a painting quite similar to this a couple days ago, thinking the tulips were about to drop all their petals. I'd finished the "Red Vase" painting this afternoon around 2:30 and noticed these tulips were looking even prettier than before. So I basically painted the same thing, all over again. I never thought I'd finish it this afternoon. I painted as quickly as possible, using my #8 brush as much as I could. I think I like this version even better than the one I did this weekend. It's supposed to be bitterly cold again tonight and tomorrow, so I'll probably be looking for something new to paint tomorrow again. Another tulip painting?

2009-02-28T16:47:00.002-05:00

"Pink Tulips" -- oil on canvas -- 12x9" -- Margie Guyot

I picked up these tulips at the grocery store last week and was too busy painting other things this week. They were out in my studio and I nearly forgot about them. I knew I had to paint them today, or they might be falling apart in another day or two.

I really loved the way they looked in the bright sunlight. Because I knew they wouldn't last much longer, I wanted to keep it simple and rather small. I painted them just they way they were, sitting on my big table. I'd left the white plastic grocery bag around it and I think it makes a more interesting painting.

The sun was moving so fast! I didn't know if I'd be able to pull this one off. I started out painting just the dark shapes. Then I moved to the medium-toned shapes. By then it really looked crazy. But I kept slugging away at it.

Notice how the dark gray shadow on the table right underneath the pot is reflecting back some of the dark pink?

2009-02-26T18:44:00.003-05:00

"Orange Truck" -- plein air field study -- oil on birch panel -- 9x12" Margie Guyot

After painting down on the beach (see below) I trekked through the snow over to this abandoned orange truck. It was parked by the ranger's station at Barnes Park Campground, in back of their little log cabin headquarters. I saw this the other day and planned on returning to paint it before our snow melted. I really loved the color of this truck! After painting so many vehicles in the snow, I knew how the shadows would look, so I invented some for this painting. In reality, it was an overcast day, with no strong sunlight and defined shadows.

"Ice Breakup - Lake Michigan - 2/26/09" -- plein air field study -- oil on birch panel -- 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

I decided to take my morning walk down here at the beach, at Barnes Park. It's a beautiful park and campground on Lake Michigan. During the winter it's virtually abandoned. We were having a heat wave -- all the way into the upper 20's today. Still -- I put on my layers of long underwear and heavy down coat. And I was so glad to have it. Surprisingly, it wasn't windy. Usually it's like trying to paint in the middle of a tornado down here, but today it was calm.

I walked along with my viewfinder, checking to see what looked like a good design. I really loved the clumps of ice, piled up a little ways out from the shore. A few weeks ago I crossed a stretch of flat ice to climb up onto some of these "chunks", but I didn't trust the ice today.

As I painted, the ice was moaning and making crunching sounds. Really neat! Dark clouds were moving in the distance. As far as you could see at this point, Lake Michigan was covered in snow-covered chunks of ice.

I liked the little pattern of footprints on the ice. I wanted to be sure to include it in this painting. And the snow was not a dazzling white today, due to the cloud cover.

2009-02-19T16:29:00.003-05:00

"Red Primrose" -- oil on panel -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

Don't you love this intense red? I saw this little plant at the grocery store last weekend. I don't think I could chose a favorite color, but if somebody was twisting my arm, I guess I'd chose red. Or yellow. No -- wait....

We went through a week or so of totally blah weather: cloudy skies, with very little interesting views to paint. And when it's down around zero, I like to have something inside the studio to work on. I believe I can plant this primrose outside in the spring. I have some yellow primroses and what the heck -- I should go back to the grocery store and get one in every color!

The vintage tablecloth is from a garage sale, of course. The rose glass is from my favorite aunt, Aunt Madeline. If you've been following this blog for a while, you would probably recognize the frog. I thought the viridian-green of the frog went along well with the viridian-green in the tablecloth.

Although there are 3 big southern-exposure windows on my studio, it's been too cloudy to cast strong shadows. So I had to pull out the studio light to create a sunlit effect.

2009-02-18T17:26:00.003-05:00

"Waiting to be Dumped On" -- plein air field study -- 11x14" -- oil on board -- Margie Guyot

Yesterday I drove around the country roads, looking for something amazing to paint. Nothing looked interesting: it was overcast, gray and blah-looking! I made it my rule never to paint anything that didn't amaze me. So I came home. Decided to take a hike down the road for some exercise.

Old Dixie Highway is just a 2-lane blacktop and nearly deserted in winter. It's a very safe place to walk, especially when there is snow and ice. I veered off onto Fox Mission, a luxury home subdivision. Thanks to the economy, lots may have been sold, but nobody's built anything up there yet. So it's all MINE!

The driveway goes through a pine woods, through a cattail swamp and then up a ridge that overlooks Lake Michigan. It's beautiful up there. A flash of something white caught my eye. It was a whitetail deer. He (or she) and his 11 buddies scampered off into the pine woods. I walked over there to take a peek at the landscape and saw this scene. I loved it! The shapes of the melting snow were amazing (to me, anyway).

I took a shortcut home, hiking down the snow-covered field and crossing the frozen creek. Thank goodness it was frozen! I couldn't find the bridge. Cut though my neighbor's yard and went to my studio. Loaded the Explorer with my paints and drove back up to Fox Mission.

It was 5 PM by then and the light was starting to fade. Northen Michigan was under a posted storm warning, expecting "up to 10 inches" of snow over these next few days. So the sky had a dark, brooding feel to it. Surprisingly, it was quite pleasant up there. Compared to other painting experiences I've had lately, it was great. The wind was blocked by the pine trees. It wasn't too cold. I loved it!

This painting seemed to paint itself. Well, it was pretty simple in composition and basically had only 3 values to it. There were no strong blue shadows. No glaring snow. Things were very grayed-out. Notice how the dead-grass background is more of a red tone? I learned that in Scott Christensen's workshop last fall: as the land recedes, it increases in red. Little tips like that make paintings turn out better.

I got home in time to soak my brushes in soapy water, clean my palette, drop off my gear in the studio and drive up to the Charlevoix Library for a lecture on the Mt. Everest disaster. One of our local men was up on the mountain, 400 feet from the top of the mountain when he had to turn back. 8 men died on that trek, which several books have been written about, including "Into Thin Air" by John Krakauer.

2009-02-16T17:30:00.004-05:00

"Basket Bushes" -- plein air field study -- oil on panel -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

My neighbor Jerry tells me these are called "basket bushes" because of their shape. They're some kind of cedar that grows in the wild, up here in NW Michigan. Some can get quite large. These were "youngsters". I liked the design of the cast shadows and deer tracks in the snow and wanted to do something rather abstract.

We've had a few partly sunny days and the snow is beginning to melt down a little, especially around the base of trees and shrubs. It's been melting and freezing, off and on, for the past couple weeks. The nice thing is that it's created a rather hard, crunchy snow surface that will hold me up when I walk on it. Otherwise I'd be sinking in up to my knees.

This morning I took a long walk down Old Dixie Highway and found a sure sign of spring: a wild pussywillow tree, loaded with catkins! Looking forward to going painting in a T-shirt again.

2009-02-15T18:35:00.004-05:00

"Ice Breakup -- Lake Michigan" -- plein air field study -- oil on panel -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

Never thought I'd ever say this, but I'm kind of sad to think of winter ending. I've had such an interesting time this winter, painting snow-covered cars and lake scenes!

This morning I had planned on painting daffodils in my studio all day. But first I decided to drive down to Barnes Park Campground, about 3 miles south, for a hike along the lake. I try to get some daily exercise, outside whenever possible.

When I got down to the lake, it was just amazing to see the huge chunks of ice and the sky and just everything! I turned around, drove home, gathered my painting gear and drove back. Needless to say, I had on my wind-proof pants, polartech pants, thermal socks, Arctic snowboots, heavyweight goosedown coat and gloves. Always over-dress! You can always remove stuff, but if you find you need it -- and don't have it -- it's pretty miserable.

It was a nice hike from the parking lot, through the crunchy snow. I was glad it has semi-thawed, then refrozen, or it would have been hard walking in it. There is a rather steep hill going down to the lake at this point. Glad it wasn't icy!

About 50 feet from the shoreline was a long, high mound of ice and snow. To get to it, I had to hike over snow-covered ice. This time of year, a person is never totally sure of how thick the ice is. It could have broken through. But I figured the water was probably only about 3 feet deep right there, so I decided to risk it.

The mounds were the place to be! Standing up higher, a better view of the ice chunks could be seen. I decided long ago only to paint things that I found amazing. Never paint anything that's boring. So this scene was pretty amazing to me. I loved the variations in colors: the pale mauves, the hints of olive, lavender, etc. The sky in the distance was so interesting as well, with the low, dark cloud bank, bordered with higher, brighter clouds.

Notice the distant "bluish" treelines? The ones on the right side are the Old Mission Peninsula, I believe.

It was very windy, but not quite as horribly windy as the other day when I was painting on Peebles Road. It was a relief not to have my gooey, wet palette blow up onto my good goosedown coat.

So I finished the painting, carefully packed up, lugged everything up the steep hill, drove home -- and then realized my camera was missing! Drove back to the park, slogged through the snow and down the hill again. Whew! There it was: my beloved camera, lying in the middle of the path!

I hope we have another big snowfall again. Just one more!

2009-02-10T21:35:00.002-05:00

"February Thaw -- Lake Michigan" -- plein air field study -- 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

This was the second painting of the day, started about 4:30 PM. The snow was melting fast in this 50 degree temperature, so I wanted to capture the look of it -- and the ice chunks on Lake Michigan. The sun was setting fast, and the shadows were deepening. Some of the snow, partially melted, had a rather smokey violet hue.

The distant water along the horizon always amazes me for its deep blue color. Not a true ultramarine, it's grayed-out a touch. Closer up, sometimes you see the most striking shades of paler blues, even ranging to turquoise and ochre tones.

The ice was breaking up and piling up in clusters all along the shoreline. As you can see, what remained of the snow showed in rows and rows of ripples. The endless wind creates all those ripples. Strangely enough, it wasn't as unbearably windy here on the shoreline (at Fisherman's Island State Park) as it was around noon today, near Ellsworth. Thank goodness.

The distant sky, right above the horizon, was a gray-blue: a far-off cloudbank. Somewhere it must have been snowing in the Upper Peninsula.

It's fun driving along, looking everywhere, all the time, trying to see amazing things: amazing shapes, stunning colors. I look for that stuff all the time. SO much more fun than doing taxes!

2009-02-10T21:20:00.004-05:00

"Peebles Road, Looking South" -- field study on panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

Yes, it was 50 degrees. And yes, it was sunny. But my gawd -- the wind! It was roaring in off Lake Michigan, blowing straight across the empty farmers' fields, where it tried desperately to rip my hat off, blow over my easel and drive me insane! 5 times it blew the palette off the easel, landing the full, gooey color mess smack-dab onto my jacket. I was just covered with paint by the time I finished this little field study. Ordinarily I can paint & not get a drop on me. Not today!

Everybody was so excited to finally had a sunny, warm day! Our first "nice" day since last October. I knew I'd be out painting. The land around here is pretty hilly in places, with remnants of pine forests here and there. Many cherry and apple orchards in this area as well. I seem to gravitate towards picking a north-and-south-running road, then looking south. I like the perspective and colors. The blue haze in the distant hills. Noticing all the colors is so addictive!

I parked on the side of the road and kind of wondered if I'd be stuck. So if it wasn't the wind that did me in, it would be the muck. I'm not a big fan of wind. The wind, the Mistral, drove Van Gogh nutty and by God, I guess that's good enough for me. By the time I finished this, I'd felt battered. Covered in oil paint and battered from stem to stern. Exhausted from trying to hold my palette down and my hat and a paintbrush all at the same time.

The wind was so strong, it kept blowing my hand around. The hand holding the brush. Damn! And I was slowly sinking into the mud. But at least the mosquitoes weren't out yet.

Was glad to finish this. Drove straight home and threw my clothes into the washer. Had a cup of tea, some guacamole & Ritz crackers, changed clothes, then went back out again...

2009-02-08T17:24:00.003-05:00

"The North Forty" -- plein air field study -- oil on masonite panel 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

After painting Shirley's truck, I moved my easel over to do a painting of the view just to the north of her house. This is a very small wood shack that a couple lives in. It's a historical building along Old Dixie Highway, just north of Eastport. Over 100 years old, it consists of 2 rooms.

The 2 big stacks of logs are Sue & Shirley's firewood supply for the winter. They cut, split and stack their own wood every year. They have 2 large gardens where they grow a lot of their own food. This spring I look forward to having them show me how to rig up a solar panel to power a small pump for my irrigation system.

Old Dixie Highway is lined with huge, old maple trees that were casting shadows across the snow this afternoon.

2009-02-08T17:14:00.002-05:00

"Shirley's Truck" -- plein air field study -- oil on birch panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

Last week I painted Sue's Willys and would have liked to have painted Shirley's truck, but it was way too cold. We had highs of 3 degrees and 9 degrees this week. Today it jetted up to about 40 and there were sunny skies, so I went next door to paint Shirley's truck. Last week it had a lot more snow on it, doggone it!

There are lots of huge, old maple trees that cast interesting shadows across the snow. This truck was parked on the north end of their house and you can see bits of the snow-covered hillside in back. That's a big forsythia bush at the front bumper of the truck. I look forward to seeing it in bloom.

Shirley said her truck has 13" tires. When the grass is wet, it has absolutely no traction. Just sits and spins.

2009-02-05T14:17:00.002-05:00

"Kutya" -- oil on canvas -- 20x24" -- Margie Guyot

It's brutally cold and windy here this week, so I was happy to have a pet portrait commission to work on inside my nice, warm studio. I was given a small portrait to copy on my digital camera, which I then printed to an 8x10" sheet of paper. Still, the colors may be slightly off. Before calling it 100% finished, I'm going to ask the man to come and look at it to get his OK.

I hadn't done a pet portrait in years and had forgotten how much fun it is.

2009-02-03T15:42:00.004-05:00

"Willys -- 9 Degrees" -- plein air field study -- 8x10" -- oil on birch panel -- Margie Guyot

This Willys belongs to my neighbor Sue. She lived in this car for 7 years, while studying to be a cobbler. It's parked alongside her house and I've been admiring it. I especially love painting cars covered in snow, on sunny days, with the deep blue shadows. Well, today it was sunny (a rarity here in NW Michigan), so I layered the clothing and donned my big snowboots and waded through the knee-deep snow with my gear.

Sue's Willys is a two-tone in shades of deeper and lighter turquoise-type tones. That backside in the shade was picking up some good reflections from the snow. There's a black pickup in the back, on the left, that I'd like to paint some day before our snow melts.

I knew it was rather cold out despite the sun. By the end of the painting, my fingers were getting stiff. Toes are still thawing out. My Soltek easel's legs had frozen, so I just laid the whole thing flat in my Explorer, legs frozen in the extended position, and am letting it thaw out in the studio. My vehicle's got a thermometer and I was kind of surprised to see it was only 9 degrees out! No wonder I was feeling rather chilled. I'm forever in search of warm gloves that are not too bulky.

I dream of a nice, above-freezing, sunny day with no wind!

2009-01-28T16:47:00.002-05:00

"Ten Degrees in the Shade" -- plein air field study -- 8x10" on birch panel -- oil -- Margie Guyot

This afternoon the clouds disappeared and I thought I'd drop all the varnishing and framing tasks to go out and do a "quickie". Decided to check out Barnes Park in Eastport. Most parks aren't plowed here in the winter, and this one only was plowed as far as the parking lot. So I turned around and on the way out, saw this sight. I loved the way the sunlight streamed across the road, through the blue shadows of the trees.

When I'd gone out to paint, I thought it would be warmer, since the sun is out (for a change). Wouldn't you know I'd pick a view that was in the heavy shade? About froze my fingers off, even wearing gloves. As I painted, a pair of cross-country skiers glided past. I bet they were warmer than I was.

2009-01-27T16:02:00.004-05:00

"Epiphyllum" -- 0il on canvas -- 40x60" -- Margie Guyot

I thought of calling this "Stripes". Ha ha. The epiphyllum is the strange plant that is hanging out over half the painting. Also known as "the rickrack plant", it's an orchid cactus. Technically a succulent, when it finally gets big enough to bloom, it's spectacular. I'm a big fan of epiphyllums. There are a bunch of this type of plant in the greenhouse down on Belle Isle. When they bloom, the flowers are large as dinner plates and range in color from hot pink to screaming orange, white, red, etc. Give me spectacular, give me opulence! Give me screaming orange, especially!

Then OK, I guess I must also admit I love tough challenges. I tell people that doing a big still life is like doing a big crossword puzzle, only you have to make up the design and pieces for it all by yourself. This striped fabric, all wrinkled, with folds and in shadow & sunlight -- it about wore my eyeballs out! This still life took longer to finish than most of my paintings because of the difficulty. For a while there I didn't know if it would turn out. I may leave it set a while & might change things later, as I see fit.

Robert Bateman once told us that he felt very depressed during the first 95% of his painting; it was only during the final 5% of it that he got excited again. It was kind of like that with this one.

I think I'm going to do a series of smaller still lifes for a while. I really liked the look of that green Depression glass plate on the lower right. The striped fabric underneath got such interesting distortions, I think I'll have to do a small one with that combination. It's a good excuse to go buy some pretty cupcakes!

Often I like to place yummy-looking sweets on a plate in my paintings. But since I moved up to the sticks, yummy-looking cookies & cupcakes are very hard to find. About all I see in the store down the street are bags of Oreos. Nothing oozing and to-die-for. However, maybe I should think about doing a still life with Cheetos? Cheetos & beer? Or pizza? Plenty of those down at the IGA.

Let me explain that monstrous green glass torpedo-shaped bowl in the center. Naturally, it was a garage-sale find. I got it for about 50 cents ten or fifteen years ago. Of course it's butt-ugly, but it's a siren, beckoning me to pull out once every 10 years to try to paint. I liked how it cast blue and green hues onto the white stripes of the cloth.

I used almost an entire tube of alizarin crimson on this painting! But it was a good thing: a few months ago I'd lost the cap to the tube, so I had to do something to use it all up before it dried in the tube. Waste not, want not.....

2009-01-19T15:40:00.005-05:00

"Ford Explorer" -- plein air field study -- oil on birch panel -- Margie Guyot

A sunny day here! I hung around until mid-day, waiting for the temperature to rise up from the below zero range. What to paint, what to paint? I couldn't resist it any longer: what I wanted to paint was my red Explorer, sitting out in the driveway. I loved how it cast blue shadows onto the snowbanks and how it reflected the blue of the sky. And yes, that's a layer of snow on top, between the luggage rack bars. Remnants of snow also cling to the top of the hood and front grill.

Believe it or not, but I actually was feeling a bit hot. Had on all my full array of long underwear and hi-tech boots, etc. Even my zebra cowboy hat. Had to unzip a few things.

Then the chickadees were buzzing me. Earlier, I'd held sunflower seeds in the palm of my hand when I refilled their feeder. Some of them were sitting in my hand, eating. So when they saw me again they must have thought I had more sunflower seeds for them.

Elvis and Matisse, my cats, were outside, prowling around, airing themselves out. We'd had about 18" of snow last week and I think everybody and everything was happy to get out into the glorious sun for a change. Elvis likes to hang around me and gives me meows of approval.

2009-01-19T09:41:00.005-05:00

"Late Afternoon - Four Degrees" -- 8x10" plein air field study -- Margie Guyot

This is right at the entrance to my property, looking east. I'd just returned from a big adventure* and wanted to paint a quickie. I loved the stripe patterns in the snow, created by the late afternoon sun. It was about 4 degrees and I was soaked from my earlier adventure, so I did this as quickly as possible. I love these red pines! Their bark has a sort of reddish tint to it and it was catching rays of the low afternoon sun. In the distance is the ridge that runs in back of my house. It's covered in maple, aspen and a few white pines. I used a size 8 brush to paint this whole thing. No dilly-dallying around in 4 degrees with itty-bitty brushes! Especially when you're already soaked in sweat.

Earlier in the afternoon I'd settled into my studio to continue working on a big still life. The heater was going and I had "Prairie Home Companion" going on the radio. Then a friend called. She wanted to see my studio. Afterwards we decided to take a hike at Antrim Creek Natural Area, one of my favorite places. I threw my paints into my Explorer, thinking I might paint another lake scene.

After weeks of clouds, it was a thrill to see the sun! We'd had about 18" of new snow this week. So we both were excited about getting out for a walk in the woods.

Right as we pulled up to the park entrance, another vehicle pulled up, coming from the opposite direction. The park is never plowed in winter, and the snow looked ominously deep. I waved the other driver through, figuring if he could make it, what the heck -- I'd just follow in his tracks.

We both got stuck! Not at the entrance, but way down in the parking area. Luckily he had a shovel. For the next hour the 4 of us shoveled. We took turns getting stuck, rocking back & forth and finally getting free. We shoveled and shoveled and basically ended up shoveling out the whole driveway all the way back to the road. The other driver pulled out some beers to celebrate our victorious efforts. Truly, it was Miller Time!

Lessons learned:
1) Ford Explorers are wonderful in snow, but they can't manage knee-deep snow
2)Always keep a snow shovel in the vehicle

After I returned home, I was soaked in sweat. But when I saw these blue shadow stripes across the snow, I had to get out the paints. I had some real snow boots in the Explorer, which I put on. By the time I finished this painting, my other boots (which had been totally soaked in sweat and melted snow) were frozen stiff.

I just don't know what got into me yesterday. After finishing painting, I shoveled out the mailbox again. It's a daily chore here. The snow is almost 5' high by the mailbox. Thank goodness for Aleve!

And it's sunny again here today. A miracle! I think I'll just have to go out painting again today. The big still life in the studio needs to dry a little before I can do any more to it. Hasta la vista, baby!

2009-01-02T16:56:00.004-05:00

"New Year's Day -- Lake Michigan" -- plein air field study -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

Yes, it was COLD and WINDY! After the last experience of painting in a blizzard down at the lakeshore, I made up my mind to wait until better weather. Obviously, I changed my mind. It was New Year's Day. What better way to spend it than going out painting in the wilds? Actually, this was the 2nd visit to the lake on New Year's Day. I'd gone down there in the morning for a nice, long hike. I wanted to see the ice chunks piled up. I had no intention of going down there to paint. I hiked about 2 miles up along the shoreline, then back again, snow blowing in my face.

Got home about 10 AM, laid down for a little rest. The next thing I knew, the phone was ringing. It was noon! My buddies were calling, wanting to go out painting, down by the lake. How could I say no?

It was threatening snow, but we lucked out this time. Only light flurries. Windy and horribly cold, but I wanted to try to paint the big blocks of ice that were starting to pile up along the shore. We've got another 2 - 3 months of winter to go, and I'm really interested in seeing how much ice piles up. So stay tuned for more ice paintings now & then! I must admit, though, I'm looking forward to doing another still life in my nice, warm studio.

The same thing happened this time that happened last time I painted out there: the wind whipped the painting out of my hands and it ended face-down in the snow. With a fine coating of sand on it. I had to let it sit overnight in the studio so the snow melted off.

I'm really looking forward to returning to this area when we have a sunny day. The ice chunks, some of them, had hints of turquoise blue in them. Ah -- the next best thing to painting in the Arctic! It's my dream to go paint the icebergs someday. Hope I can come up with the money before the icebergs all melt.

2008-12-31T13:47:00.003-05:00

"Pumpkins" -- oil on canvas -- 40x60" -- Margie Guyot

This was almost as hard to photograph as it was to paint! This image got cropped a bit. I use a little point and shoot digital to get my jollies with. I work from life, not from a photo. I only photograph things when they're finished.

These are the coolest pumpkins! All were grown locally, mostly at Bolt's Farm, on Atwood Road. We had them as decorations at Tapawingo this fall and my boss let me take them home. I knew I wanted to use them in a still life. I'll try planting the seeds next spring. I hope the deer leave them alone.

Everything in the painting was scavanged or haggled for. The table was from a resale shop. Finally -- a big table to put still lifes on! In the past I balanced a piece of drywall on cardboard boxes. The orange and beige tapestry I haggled for down in Peru some years ago. The deer antler came from a garage sale, as did the squirrel nutcracker. The ornate gold frame was from a resale shop and I found the wild turkey feathers out in the woods. Those prickly-looking doodads in the upper right corner are seedheads from cardoon flowers. The Mexican bat mask I haggled for down in Mexico when I was there last time, on a mushroom-hunting trip up in the volcano region, outside Mexico City. Ah, I love junk!

The one piece that inspired this whole painting was the orange plastic Jack-o-lantern Jell-O mold I got at the neighbor's potluck and give-away party! As soon as I saw it, I got goosebumps! When something gives me goosebumps, it's a sign I need to follow through with it.

Even the canvas itself was from a garage sale.

2008-12-23T16:59:00.003-05:00

"Christmas 2008" -- oil on masonite panel -- 12x16" -- Margie Guyot

This morning I bundled up, hitched on my snowshoes and took a long hike back into the swamp. It was about 10 degrees, with blowing snow. I'd been to a big party last night and was trying to burn off some of those yummy dips and cookies! Spied a cute little evergreen and considered cutting it for my Christmas tree. But I decided to leave it be. I'd rather be painting in my studio!

Don't ask me what kind of skull that is. A young deer? Don't blame me -- I nabbed it at a garage sale, along with everything else in this setup. The hardest thing about doing this painting was the tapestry. I slugged away on it for days. Scraped it all down a couple days ago. It's one of those things I could slave away on for years and years, but I think I finally got it down to give "the illusion of tapestry".

I love painting shiny, reflective things, so that was probably the most fun thing: painting the Christmas ornaments. But doggone! Getting a perfect circle is tough! I ended up scavenging through the studio to find various sizes of jar lids to trace, to get the round shapes.

It's been cloudy here for probably 2 months (and will probably continue being cloudy until April). It snows up in this part of Michigan practically every day. I used natural light when painting this, so there were no really strong, sharp shadows. We did have one day of sun, however, last Saturday. That gave me my one crack at seeing some bit of shadow shapes. I probably should use my studio lights for the next still life.

How to get the skull and antlers to stand out from the tapestry? It was another problem to work out. When I'd squint and look at the setup, there wasn't really a great deal of value difference between the tapestry and the skull. I had to make the skull look like it was sitting on top of the tapestry -- and not sunk into it. The wild pattern and colors of the tapestry naturally would tend to make the viewer focus on that. Scraping down the surface of the tapestry helped, I think. And I laid on the paint for the skull pretty thickly. Being the largest, solid shape also helped.

Ah, I SO look forward to starting on my next still life! It will be using pumpkins. Gotta paint them before they rot!

2008-12-13T15:42:00.004-05:00

"Bell Peppers" -- oil on canvas panel -- 15x15" -- Margie Guyot

After weeks of painting the winter blahs (or, as we used to call them, "the sour owl"), I was gunning for something very bright and yeowly. Actually, this is even more bright in real life, but it was very dark when I photographed this (without flash). The peppers were easy, but the cloth they're sitting on is really tough to paint. It's a deep fuscia brocade that reflects into the bluish/purplish tones. Red paint, even though I own probably every shade they make, is very hard to recreate all the colors, due to the physical limitations of the paint. To get this very intense shade of the fuscia, I ended up putting down several layers of "Aurora Pink".

I live in the Snow Zone in NW Michigan, where we get snow pretty much every day. So it really is exciting to paint bright, screaming colors now and then. After the last painting experience, setting up in the middle of a howling snowstorm on the edge of Lake Michigan, holding onto my gear so it didn't blow into the lake, I decided it was time to spend a bit more time in the nice, warm studio for a while.

2008-12-02T16:53:00.003-05:00

"Storm - Dec. 1, 2008" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

This was the second painting I did yesterday out on the beach, looking at the stormy Lake Michigan. It was so windy I had to hold onto my easel with one hand the whole time. The wave's spray was freezing instantly, pelting me with ice pellets. That white stuff in the foreground was chunks of ice. Waves were swooshing it up onto the rocks at my feet. That big boulder you see out in the waves was getting a crust of ice on it. In the distance you see the snow-covered hills of the Leelanau Peninsula.

I like painting at this particular spot because there's a small reef that juts out into the lake and the waves come at it in a crosswise pattern. Having grown up in Iowa, where we had rivers and ponds (and no waves), I'm totally captivated by waves here.

I thought I had a good grip on this painting, but the wind caught it and blew it face-down into the snow, missing the lake by inches. I had to let it thaw and dry out in the studio overnight before I could touch it up a little and photograph it.

Painting in a snowstorm along Lake Michigan kind of wore me out for a while. I'm going to be painting some still lifes in my nice, warm studio for a while. When the ice starts piling up along the shore and the sun comes out I'll go down and paint again. Expect bizarre things!

2008-12-01T16:18:00.003-05:00

Easel setup in the snow, Dec. 1, 2008

"View of Antrim Creek, Dec. 1, 2008" -- plein air field study -- oil on birch 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

Wow -- it was cold and windy today! We woke up to about 12" of new snow that had fallen overnight. Of course I just HAD to drive down to my favorite spot to paint! Thank goodness for my Explorer. It handled the unplowed roads like a champ.

That first photo I took of my easel, sitting up on the little hill I painted on, looking down upon the tale end of Antrim Creek, where it empties into Lake Michigan. I'd brought along a big umbrella with the thought that it might help keep some of the blowing snow out of my palette and painting surface. Not only was it ineffective -- I had to hold it with one arm so it wouldn't blow away. It came in a nice carrying bag with a strap. Alas, the wind blew the bag down the hill, into the creek. Did I mention the creek was freezing over? Goodbye, umbrella bag!

In the spring you can stand by this creek and watch the steelhead and salmon run up to do their spawning. Last spring I was standing next to this creek, painting the lake and heard some splashing next to me. It was a big steelhead.

I'd been itching to try some winter storm lake painting, so when I finished this one

I slogged back through the snow with the usless umbrella and this painting to put them into the Explorer. Then it was slog all the way back through the snow and move down to the waterfront, where I struggled to paint a second scene. The ice pellets were blowing in my face. Waves were crashing. Spray was flying. I was standing in semi-frozen slush. The wind was so strong I had to hold onto the easel at all times. It was really a challenge. The wind ripped the painting out of my hand and it fell face-down into the snow. The snow is melting off, out in the studio, and tomorrow I'll probably post it. It was a fun day!

2008-11-30T15:58:00.005-05:00

"November 30 - The Beach" -- plein air field study -- oil on birch panel 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

It was the Calm Before the Storm. This was the first time I've been to the lakeshore and there was no wind or waves. It was overcast and very chilly, though. We're bracing for another big round of snowstorms, beginning later this afternoon. The weather forecast is for snow every day this week.

When I go to a place to paint, I'm always wondering what's the most interesting thing here? What is the most exciting thing I see? Today it was the shape of this rocky shoreline with its thin remnant of snow that I thought was beautiful.

What's surprising to me is that this strip of rocks was not visible this summer. It was under water. The lake level has dropped at least 6" recently. Some of us suspect water is being siphoned off or diverted elsewhere. There are several water bottling plants using Lake Michigan water and longtime state residents are saying the water levels have dropped noticeably, by several feet.

I just read online that the Great Lakes do experience tides, affected by the pull of the moon. But they're not as dramatic as ocean tides. Other factors affecting the lake levels are the wind and weather. So apparently when we're experiencing high winds from the west, it's pushing the waves higher here, on the western shoreline.
So because the day is so calm, the water appears lower right at this point.

I'm really looking forward to coming back to paint here as the winter progresses. I've bought some hi-tech snowshoes to get down here, as the snow can really pile up. I want to get some ice pileup paintings along the shoreline. And while hunting season goes on, I've got my hunter's orange cap to wear. It's a long hike through the woods down to the water.

2008-11-29T15:22:00.005-05:00

"Beach -- 11/29/08" -- plein air field study -- oil on 8x10" birch panel -- Margie Guyot

"Beach -- 11/27/08" -- plein air field study -- oil on birch panel 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

Most people probably went to the Malls this weekend. Not us painters! We grabbed our gear and hit the beach. It's truly addictive. I grew up in Iowa, with no views anything close to this, so I'm totally ga-ga over Lake Michigan. I could come down here every day and paint. The colors of the water astound me. Painting the waves is tricky. Kind of like trying to paint a barnyard of chickens running around nonstop. The light's changing constantly, so it keeps me guessing all the time.

Painting on the beach in NW Michigan at the end of November is cold business. The temperature may be slightly above freezing, but the wind howls relentlessly off the lake. Layering helps immensely. Thank goodness for Gore-tex! Being all bundled up makes small movements take longer. Just putting away a piece of paper towel into a trash bag and tearing off a new one takes about three times as long as it does in warm weather.

I always love to walk along the rocky shore, looking for Petoskey stones. I find one about half the time. Petoskey stones are petrified coral that was formed along the coast of Chile, they tell me. Over time the plates shifted and the coastline of NW Michigan is supposedly the only place in the world you can find them.

Today I was lucky enough to have 2 old-time painting buddies along with me. They agree: this place is wonderful. It's at the Antrim Creek Natural Area. We're planning on having a hot dog roast with more of the gang next summer. A "paint-athon".

2008-11-23T17:22:00.005-05:00

"November Storm - Lake Michigan" -- plein air field study -- oil on birch panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

Ever have a rough week and you just had to go out and paint or you'd go nuts? This was such a week. I had a lot of dental work on Monday (2 1/2 hours of drilling!) and my mouth has been sore ever since. And my older brother's health is failing fast. I'd been watching him slip away in the nursing home. But there's one place I know I can go to feel good again: the beach. It doesn't matter what the weather. There's something about seeing the amazing colors and hearing the waves crashing that heals me.

The wind was whipping along something fierce. OK! How windy was it? It was so windy, I had trouble painting the straight horizon line of the water. (In the far distance is the Leelanu Peninsula, by the way.) The wind kept pushing my hand around. Foaming waves were crashing against the rocks. Gloomy skies. had snow every day this week. Fortunatley, I had on expedition-weight longjohns over sweatpants and my heavy-duty down coat. Thank goodness for all that, or I'd have been frozen.

What struck me as most interesting were the patterns of sand, crusty ice and snow that were starting to build up along the shoreline. The painting doesn't show it, but there were thousands of little, blue, crawdad claws washed up onto the rocks.

You probably think this photo looks rather fuzzy. It isn't fuzz. It's a fine layer of sand! I had laid the painting down on the beach while I packed up. The wind was so strong, it was blowing fine sand over it. I should have known better. But after it dries, I might be able to wipe the sand off.

I really need to find my hunter's orange vest. It got lost in the move up here last fall. I paint in areas where hunting is allowed. Hopefully I don't look too much like a deer!

2008-11-19T16:50:00.003-05:00

"Poinsettias" -- oil on birch panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

Finally the poinsettias are coming into the stores! I'd been waiting for these hot little numbers. I've been doing lots of plein air landscapes and things were getting to be dark & gloomy! There's nothing like a good dash of red to liven things up.

This is just a tiny poinsettia I picked up for $3.33 at the grocery store. I set it on a red brocade fabric my brother brought over from China. It was quite a challenge to paint, as there was a lot of detail to it. Of course I could have painted in all the little details, but I wanted to keep this "loose and juicy". The two Christmas ornaments must be well over 50 years old. They were old when I was a kid and somehow they survived moving several times.

This little plant is surrounded by a gold foil sleeve and it was reflecting in quite an interesting way. It was kind of difficult to photograph this. It's extremely wet and gooey and the light today was very dim. We're having a big ice storm at the moment here in NW Michigan. So the bulb on the far right was glaring. Really, it's darker.

Oh -- now I see the ice storm has changed over to snow. Yee-haw!

2008-11-08T06:31:00.005-05:00

"Farm on Farrell Road" -- plein air field study -- 8x10" -- oil on birch panel -- Margie Guyot

Yesterday was probably one of the last nice days we'll have here in NW Michigan until next April. So I had to get out and "make hay while the sun shines". I saw this farm scene on Farrell Road, just south of Essex Road. I loved the way the shadows fell across the grass and road and the bright green grass.

Behind this windrow of spruce and deciduous trees was the farmhouse. I believe that bright green field (on the left) was planted in winter wheat. It was fresh and new, only several inches high. On the far right you can see a tip of the cornfield, fully dried out and still waiting to be harvested. Farmers often plant cover crops such winter wheat and rye to help save against erosion and to help fertilize the soil. Besides corn and other grain, there are many apple and cherry orchards. This area is also known as "The Cherry Capital of the World".

The day started out with 100% pure blue skies, but as the day wore on, the clouds and chilly breezes came in. After several balmy days with highs about 70 degrees, we're expecting a weekend of ice pellets and snow.

2008-11-06T08:20:00.003-05:00

"November 5th - the Lake" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 12x16" -- Margie Guyot

This lake is addictive! I went back to Rex Beach again yesterday afternoon to enjoy another moment of painting while the good weather still held. We've had highs up near 70 degrees the past couple days. And there's nothing quite so refreshing as standing on a Lake Michigan beach!

Good thing I had my polartec jacket with me. Sometimes the wind direction would change, blowing in a chilly breeze. Storm clouds were rolling in from the west. The weather forecast is for a high of about 30 degrees this Sunday, so I really wanted to seize the day.

The day before, I'd painted about 100 feet north of here. I'd included the sun's glare on the water. Today I didn't feel like blinding myself again, so I looked more to the north. I loved the pale viridian hue of the water and the shoreline pattern of the rocks. No sand in this view! The rocks all had some kind of crust on them, so hunting for Petoskey stones was out of the question.

This canvas was actually a recycled canvas that I'd coated over with a gold tone. It's larger than I'd normally use for a plein air study, but I managed to complete this painting in about an hour. The sun was dropping fast towards the horizon, so there was no time to dilly-dally.

I loved the little pools of water in between some of the rocks. Maybe if I try repainting another version of this in the studio, using this study as a guide, I might be able to show these pools better. As usual, I painted this whole thing with a single #8 flat brush. And hurridly. So small details couldn't be noted.

Another plus to painting in November: no mosquitoes!

2008-11-04T17:57:00.004-05:00

"The Lake 11/04/08" -- plein air field study -- oil on stretched canvas -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

"Maple" -- plein air field study -- oil on birch panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

After voting this morning, I came back home and loaded up my Explorer and went out to paint. As usual in Michigan, the weather is usually pretty nice up until about the first week of November. Then it all goes to hell. All the more reason to go out and paint today!

I was able to get by with just a T-shirt & jeans this afternoon. No bulky down jacket yet. It was wonderful. The maple tree in this painting is just down the road from me, on Old Dixie Highway. Most of the trees are bare by now. This one had some glorious red and gold leaves hanging on yet. I love the way these big old maple trees get so gnarly.

After painting the maple tree I drove down to my favorite beach: Rex Beach. You can actually drive right down onto the sandy beach, but you can't park there. With all the rain we've had lately, the sand has been pretty wet and it is kind of scary to drive on it. I see deep ruts from other vehicles who've barely made it out.

First I took a walk along the beach, looking for Petoskey Stones. Alas, all the stones I saw were covered in some kind of dried scum. The sun was blindingly bright on the water and I found this spot where cross currents were making interesting patterns. In the distance is the Leelanu Peninsula. If you like rocks, this is the place to get some! Because of the blinding reflections on the water, it was kind of tough to paint this. I kept my sunglasses on through most of it, which is something I wouldn't ordinarily do. It was kind of tricky to get the values of the water and rocks right so that the sunlight reflections would give the feeling of how bright it actually was. And painting waves is always tough -- like trying to draw chickens running around in a pen! But I really enjoyed painting this.

2008-11-03T19:40:00.004-05:00

"Late Fall, Late Afternoon, Creekside" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

This is part of the Antrim Creek Nature Area. I'd seen this creek months ago but never got over to paint it until this afternoon. It was one of the last nice days we'll have this year, with temperatures in the 60's. Soon there will be blowing snow.

I dragged my painting gear down the leaf-covered trail, scootching up big mounds of leaves along the way. I had it in a little cart with wheels, which is great if you're on a sidewalk. Kind of an adventure in thick carpeting of leaves, trudging up and down hills. But it saves the shoulders.

This view was painted at the edge of a small cliff, looking down on the winding creek. It empties into Lake Michigan, about a block west from this spot. It's spawning grounds for some of the large salmon who swim up this stream to lay their eggs. A great blue heron flew off, another sign of the stream's health.

I had to work very fast, as it was late afternoon and I was losing the light in a hurry. I liked the reflections in the water and the soft, faded-golden light. Maybe I'll return to this spot tomorrow and try another painting. If I have more time to work I might get something with a bit more detail. And working earlier in the day will give a whole new lighting and color scheme.

Had to wear my orange T-shirt while painting this. Hunting is allowed in the park and I didn't want to be mistaken for a squirrel.

2008-10-26T15:47:00.003-04:00

"Rain Squall over Lake Michigan" -- field study 11x14" -- oil on canvas -- Margie Guyot

"Approaching Storm" -- field study -- oil on canvas -- 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

This morning I looked out the window and saw some fabulous clouds out in the west. Hot damn! I was especially fired up to go painting because the Tom Thomson book had just arrived yesterday. He's one of the Canadian Group of 7, who did a lot of plein air painting in the Algonquin area. His colors and sense of composition intrigue me. I just got the book, so don't be too critical yet of my compositions!

"Approaching Storm" was the first painting of the morning. I loved the way that big cloud stretched forward and diagonally. I'd set up my easel on the sandy beach, nearly getting my Explorer stuck in the wet sand. Good thing it's got 4-wheel drive. The wind was brisk, but it wasn't bitterly cold. Still, I knew I had to hurry with this painting. Good thing it was relatively simple. What I'll probably do later, in the studio, might be to increase the contrast a bit. In this photo it looks a bit pale. As I removed it from the easel, the rain started in.

I decided to go home, but as I got about 2 miles down the road, the rain stopped. So I drove back and did a second painting. This one, "Rain Squall over Lake Michigan", had to be another quickie. Those clouds were moving fast! I loved the many layers in the clouds and the little pocket of golden light at the left. The colors of the lake continue to amaze me. Before I moved up here, I had no idea how turquoise the water often looks.

Again, the rain and sleet started up just as I finished this painting. As I drove out through the park, everywhere I looked, I saw a Tom Thomson painting! Oh, to learn his feeling for composition and color!

2008-10-20T08:36:00.004-04:00

"Maple Tree on Toad Lake Road" -- plein air oil study -- oil on canvas board 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

There is a one-lane dirt road that winds along between the farms between Ellsworth and Eastport, called Toad Lake Road. The first time I happened upon it, I was lost, trying to find my way home from Tapawingo. It was early spring and the road was quite muddy in places. I have a 4-wheel drive vehicle, but I was worried I'd get stuck, miles from help. I revisited this road on Friday, armed with painting gear. The road was relatively dry. It's really quite a pretty drive, snaking along through the woodlands and hills. Rather like parts of Vermont. No Hunting/No Trespassing signs are posted, along with Season Road -- Not Plowed in Winter (And they mean it!) signs.

At one point it does pass a small lake. The famed Toad Lake, I assume. I rolled the window down and listened. Hmmm... no toads were calling. Wrong season anyway. None were trying to mate at the moment. Come back in the spring when the road's a quagmire and hear the frenzy.

There was a really cool, old, gnarly maple tree along the roadside. There are LOTS of old, gnarly maples up here to chose from. Some are right on my property. But somehow the excitement (and suffering) of exploring the hinterlands give certain gnarly trees more of an appealing aura than others.

I loved how the branches snaked out. And the golden leaves, some brushed with shades of red, some still green, shot through with bright sky holes! It's tough to paint. I'll probably try doing another version of this, using this field study as a reference. What I'd change is the value of the leaves in relation to the value of the sky holes. I'd make the leaves a shade darker and give the sky holes a bit more of a design, a pattern. It's sometimes kind of difficult to consider all these aspects when out painting in the field. The light changes so fast. The wind is blowing. Insects are biting. Branches are moving and leaves are falling. Clouds move in; clouds move away. No wonder Van Gogh went mad!

2008-10-13T20:23:00.002-04:00

"North Side of Church Road, South of Atwood Road" -- plein air field study -- oil on masonite -- 12x16" -- Margie Guyot

This is another scene I've been wanting to paint all summer. Some lucky person has a house right on this small lake, with a glassed-in porch hanging right out over the water. I hope to meet these people some day.

It was an unusually warm day here, but the clouds were pretty thick by the time I got to this spot to paint. Most of what you're seeing is dead, dry cattails and gray sky reflected in the water. Even the distant ridge of maple trees is muted. Their fiery reds and oranges have simmered down quickly.

As I painted, I heard various croakings, including a mating call of a leopard frog, Rana Pipiens! I didn't expect to hear mating calls this time of the year.

It was a pretty tough scene to lay in. I'd like to do another version, maybe a bit larger. I'll probably redesign the bits of open water slightly. When the snow's flying and it's freezing out, I'll pull out some of this summer's studies and see what I can do with them.

2008-10-13T20:18:00.002-04:00

"Richardson Road" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

The other day I'd been driving along this road and saw these wonderful dark maroon shrubs all over in this field. Maybe they're some kind of dogwood? I wanted to get over to this spot and paint it on my day off. Thankfully, it was fairly sunny this morning and relatively warm for October. There was a grove of maples and pines in the background. The colors are changing very fast up here, along Lake Michigan, from fiery reds and screaming oranges to more muted tones.

2008-10-11T20:01:00.003-04:00

"Speedboat at Rest" -- plein air field study -- 9x12" on canvas -- Margie Guyot

After painting the maples at my friend Cal's house, Mike and I went into the town of Charlevoix, where they were having their annual Art, Apples and Autumn Festival. We'd been invited by the Circle of Arts to paint en plein air around the town, then frame our works and return to the gallery by 4 PM. They hosted a wine and cheese reception.

I love painting boats in the water (and cars), so I suggested to Mike that we mosey on down to the marina and paint. This boat looked interesting to me. I'd just drawn in the basic outline when the owners showed up and started getting ready to take her out! I asked them if they minded hanging around another 15 minutes or so. They got out their fishing poles and fished. But they also took the front tarp off and I had to work a lot of this painting from memory, trying to remember what color things were. I worked as quickly as possible, but they were gone before this painting was done.

I really loved the ripply water and the reflections. I would have loved to have painted more boat scenes, but we were running out of time.

I framed this and it sold within the first 5 minutes of the show! Hey -- that's a car payment for me.

2008-10-11T19:54:00.004-04:00

"Cal's Maples" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 11x14" -- Margie Guyot

This morning my friend Mike and I met at our friend Cal's house, just south of Charlevoix. He's got these giant, old maple trees in his front yard. As I drove up I saw these and knew I just had to paint them. The fall colors are starting up here. Some of the maples are fiery red, but some are still quite green. Old maple trees can get quite gnarly and weird-looking!

I'm still trying to get used to the new color palette I learned at Scott Christensen's workshop out near Jackson Hole. I really like the color range, but I think I will need to add a few colors to work here in Michigan in the fall.

Last fall I was occupied with packing and moving up here and had NO time to paint at all, so it's been a real treat to get out and paint.

2008-10-11T19:43:00.003-04:00

"Waves -- South of Petoskey" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 9x12" -- Margie Guyot

Friday I was driving back from visiting my brother in the hospital in Petoskey when I noticed these amazing waves. We'd had nearly 2 weeks of dreary, wet weather and finally it was sunny -- but very windy. The wind was kicking up big whitecaps on Lake Michigan and there were places along the shoreline south of Petoskey that I just had to stop and paint!

For this painting I walked way out to the edge of the water and set up my easel. There were lots of big rocks and the ground around the rocks was slimey and mucky, but it was a very invigorating experience, being pummeled by the wind. I haven't had much experience painting waves, but they were fabulous to watch. The fall colors were just beginning with their reds and golds. It was late afternoon and the distant tree-covered shoreline was showing some deep, bluish shadows. Way at the back on the left is the beginning of the hills of Petoskey. It was very refreshing to stand out there, doing this painting -- after a very rough week.

2008-10-03T13:05:00.009-04:00

"October Storm" -- field study 11x14" -- oil on canvas -- Margie Guyot

After weeks of beautiful, warm, sunny weather, everything turned foul. It's rained copiously for days. Yesterday I just had to get out and paint something or I thought I'd surely go mad. The skies were so interesting, filled with dramatic storm clouds. I went to my favorite spot, Rex Beach, which is part of the Nature Conservancy land along the coastline here. It was kind of risky -- the rain has been hitting off and on. I could have been drenched, halfway through the painting (which has happened before).

Thank goodness I'd thought to bring along my winter coat! The wind was about 30 mph and the temperature was in the low 40's. Bitterly cold. But the clouds were just so cool, "roiling", as they say. What painter could resist those? I'll have to be sure to bring along some of those hunters' hand warmers in the future. Thought my fingers were going to freeze off.

In the distance you see Northport, the little town at the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula. It juts out into Lake Michigan. The foreground in this painting shows a little reef covered in reeds.

The sun dropped to the horizon and it was quickly getting dark as I packed up the Explorer. Deer darted across the highway. Going out to paint is so much better than vegetating in front of the TV!

2008-09-23T16:19:00.002-04:00

"S. Dennis Rd. Creek" -- field study 11x14" -- oil on canvas -- Margie Guyot

Woke up this morning at 4, unable to breathe. Must have some kind of nasty little cold. What to do at that hour? Get online and hope for daylight to hurry up & arrive, that's what! We're still on Daylight Savings Time, so daylight doesn't really show up here until after 8 AM.

I was showered, dressed and all set to roll this morning. Headed east on Essex Road towards Ellsworth. Yesterday morning I turned onto North Dennis Road; this morning I headed onto South Dennis Road. I don't know who that Dennis guy was, but he's got a pretty road. Just a one-laner dirt road, but it runs through pretty land.

This spot is just north of Toad Creek Road (tip: never try driving that road in the springtime or after a hard rain! You'll end up stuck in the middle of nowhere, miles from civilization.) There is a very small creek here that caught my eye. As I set up, I saw 4 huge turkey vultures sitting in a dead tree a little further over. As the sun rose, they'd spread their wings and sit, letting the sun's rays heat their tired old bones. One by one, they eventually flew off. Most of the time while I painted, they were there, watching me and croaking. Or maybe it was ravens or crows that were croaking. If I was the skittish type, I'd have freaked out and vamoosed long before the painting was finished! It would have been a good place to have been ambushed & eaten by a bear or mountain lion.

What I liked about this scene was that most of it was in shade when I arrived. Only a few streaks of golden sunlight fell across the land. It's still very early in the fall season up here and the foliage was only beginning to start in with a few shades of red and gold. As it grew lighter with the sun, I could see into the shallow creek bottom. Small trout were flitting about. No tresspassing signs all over. No hunting, no fishing. Good. I didn't see any "no painting" signs, thank goodness.