"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.

"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.

"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.

"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".

"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.