The Leaving Storm

I thought I'd show the "unfinished" part of painting outdoors. Sometimes artists are afraid of putting ugly or crude works in front of the public but the reality is that is where we often find beauty. This 6x8" study was done in a light rain and I spent about 15 to 20 minutes on it. I wouldn't call it a "finished" painting, though others commenters disagree, but it does have lots in it. Particularly the feeling of storminess. Capturing a feeling VS. objects goes way farther in a painting. You can always go back to the spot and get certain details but you can't get back that particular feeling of the moment. Watch for this scene to show up in a bigger painting someday.

Coming up on Stairway Portage

This painting was done last winter on, or above, Rose Lake in the Boundry Waters Canoe Area on the Canadian border. It's about a two mile ski (one way) to get here and a bit of a hike up the Border Route Trail to get to this vantage. It was late February and the lake snow was crusty enough that skiing was effortless, even while pulling a sled with my painting gear. I painted a person pulling a sled (sort of a self portrait) to show scale and give a sense of remoteness. For those folks signed up for the Grand Marais Art Colony Winter Plein Air event, this is the location of the Friday ski/painting day trip.
For more infromation on the winter plein air event visit the art colony on line at : www.grandmaraisartcolony.org



Happy skiing!