"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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....