"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.

"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.

"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.