I went to Scotland!

The following is an article I wrote after my trip to Scotland this May with a group of really wonderful friends and Gail Speckman our group leader. We spent 11 days traveling a circle route in the northern half of Scotland. What a wonderful experience.

Staffa Day Trip

The day starts early and ends late but what a day. Four of us shared a taxi down to the wharf where we waited for the ferry to take us to Mull. Mary and Gail walk the mile or so to the wharf - such energetic women. 

Ferry to Mull

The huge ferry was being loaded with box trucks taking produce and products to the islands. The prow of the ferry splits and raises up, opening the ship so the ramps can lower for the trucks and cars driving into the ferry. I think about how my husband would like to see the process. While we crossed to Mull, the clouds begin lifting. Breaks in the fog give views of small islands with light houses, beacons and ruins.

On Mull we rush to the waiting bus which will take us to the other side of the island for another ferry ride. The early morning brings day workers to the island and tourists eager to start sight seeing before the crowds spoil views.

Typical scenery in Scotland

The ride across the island of Mull takes an hour over the typical highland narrow, twisting and turning roads. Water falls are crashing down the mountains and streams that flow into lochs are abundant.

Another ferry ride, much shorter this time, takes us to the island of Iona for a short stop. Our ride to the island Staffa is waiting for us. It is a 40 foot cruiser with outside seating and an enclosed area for rainy days. 

Staffa boat taxi

The sky is clearing and the ride to Staffa takes about a half hour. Our captain really knows his boat and the ride is smooth, even with 3 and 4 foot swells coming in off the Atlantic. We can see Staffa coming into view. On maps it is a tiny pin prick of an island but as we get closer it raises up, towering over us. The captain pulls up to a concrete pier, where we jump down from the boat and begin exploring the island. We have two hours to see what ever we wish.

Approaching the Island of Staffa with Fingal's cave

Staffa is a volcanic island and from far off looks to me like a cupcake. The sides of the island are the pleated cup cake paper and the top the island is puffed up and over the paper cup. It is formed entirely from hexagonally jointed columns within a lava flow. Cooling on the upper and lower surfaces of the solidified lava resulted in contraction and fracturing, starting in a blocky tetragonal pattern and transitioning to a regular hexagonal fracture pattern with fractures perpendicular to the cooling surfaces. As cooling continued these cracks gradually extended toward the center of the flow, forming the long hexagonal columns seen in the wave-eroded cross-section today. The cave's size and naturally arched roof, and the eerie sounds produced by the echoesof waves, give it the atmosphere of a natural cathedral. The cave's Gaelic name,An Uaimh Bhinn, means "the melodious cave."

Kathy and I decide to experience the cave. Just below the cliffs above the high tide mark, an easy path has been set for tourists, The hexagons are covered with grit to keep them from becoming slippery in wet conditions and there is a railing to hold onto to keep us steady.

The hexagon shape of the black rock is fascinating both the up right shapes that raise above us and the hex shapes that we follow to the cave. It is a short walk to the end of the island where Fingal's cave opens up to the Atlantic. The waves are crashing in and echoing in the huge cave.

The cave raises above us, hexagon after hexagon forming the tall narrow cave. Kathy and I walked in to the end of the walkway inside the cave. The crashing and echoing sounds create an exciting atmosphere. You can feel the energy surging all around you. There is mist in the air from the crashing waves and an island of foam on the water --- like my Guinness the night before.

After the trip to the cave I decide to explore the top of the island. I know that Gail and Mary went to find the puffin's roosting place at the other end of the island. As I climb the steps to the top, I stop to see the wild flowers growing out of the rock – life taking hold where ever it can. 

Sea Thrift

Oddly some the little wild flowers are the same I have nursed along in my garden at home. They look happier here in this wet island atmosphere than they do in my Minnesota garden.

At the top of the island, I find a huge rolling pasture of lush grass dotted with little yellow and white daises. Paths lead out from the steps in every direction.

Where to turn? Walk right to the puffin roost, ahead to the middle of the island or left? The view from the top is spectacular with islands dotting the horizon. I peer over the edge of the green grass to the hexagons many feet below me. There are no sturdy railings to keep people safe from their own carelessness. I do the crazy thing and lean over to photograph the tourists walking the path I was just on, so far below. I see the hexagons from high above and can see their interlocking patterns.

“What would the view be like if I walked up to the top of the cave?” I wander up the slope hoping that I will end up in the right place. There were no signs pointing to the over look above Fingal's cave. It is a fairly small island and the Scottish tend not need signs to tell them where to go. The path I took led me directly to the top of the cliff above the cave. I suppose there were many people who had the same idea as I. Peering over the edge I could see the point of hex shaped rocks that mark the opening of the cave. To get a better view, I lie down on my stomach to point my camera downward. I ask myself, “What is a 60-something grandma pulling a trick like this?” 

There is Gail and there is Mary, taking their photos of the cave below unaware that I am far above them taking a photo of them taking a photo.

Our time on Staff is limited and we are back on the boat. The next stop is the Island of Iona a civilized island with shops, a nunnery in ruins, a rebuilt Abby, standing crosses, and a Saint.

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 Highland Impression

Clouds and fog play hide and seek with mountains,

Shedding their loads of rain and mist over bracken,

Unnamed streams fill, crash, twisting and turning, falling down mountain sides,

Carving gullies, streams, river basins, filling lochs

Lochs reflecting cloudscapes on their mirror surfaces

Clouds, fog, mists, sprinkles, streams, rivers, lochs --- Scotland

The holidays flew by, January has had us frozen in our tracks. I have a week to finish writing my grant for one final emerging artist grant. I need to start painting again. I think it has almost been a month and a half since I did any thing in my studio. Time to hop back in there and create.

I have been doing art related things in this painting hiatus.  My oasis paintings are in the new Prairie Lakes show for grantees from two years ago. They look really good and everyone wanted to live in the scenes of desert palm trees. What a great show, you need to stop over at the St. Peter Art Center on Minnesota Ave. to see all the great art. I am proud to be a part of that show.

"Oasis I," oil on canvas, (with lots of hot air for cold Minnesotans)

I delivered one of my oil and cold wax paintings to St. Paul's Monastery in Maplewood, MN for their "Seeing God" art show. The opening is Wednesday evening. We will not attend but I will go up on Saturday to see the show. I announced that I had taken the piece, "Fiery Spirit" to the show on FaceBook and one of my dear friends, liked it and bought it! I told her that she will really love it when she sees it in person. The texture just cannot be photographed well enough to see all the depth in these oil and wax paintings.

Fiery Spirit--oil and cold wax on canvas

There  is another juried show at Woodbury Lutheran Church. A similar theme for the show as the monastery's show--A visual bridge to God's truths.  I like these themed juried shows. I have a couple of paintings that will work for this show which starts in March.  Onward to another full year of art.

It is December---already! On Friday morning I set up for the first big art festival where I have my own display.

This is the poster for the show. It is up all over town.

I took inventory today and have about 60 paintings to display. From abstracts to flower paintings and everything in between. I think it will be a good way for me to hear what people like about my paintings. And then may be I can create more that people will like and maybe even buy.

So I hope that we have good weather and that lots of people come to the show. Dan and I have gone to the show the past couple of years as customers. Dan likes shopping at the show for my Christmas gift from him. There are so many good artists that participate in this sweet little show. Now I will be an artist there hoping to make a few sales.

We have a display rack all ready to go. We need to make it festive looking and have lights and garland ready to set up. I will have a special display for my pet portrait commissions. Have I mentioned how much Dan has helped with this project. He is the one who devised the rack, found the right kind of lights, makes frames for my paintings, and will keep me company this weekend. Nicest of guys!

This is the display before the garland and lights are added. 

 With 60 some paintings to bring to the show. I will have twice the number of paintings hanging on both sides of the display, some on the table in the space and stand-bys in boxes for customers to browse through. 

After this show is over, I will be able to get back to painting. My grandson, Jaedon, has requested a painting of Batman for Christmas. Can I do a cartoon character? And I might just have a commission to paint a pet for a Christmas gift.

On the Easel

Working on this commission. Mike's pit bulls who are as gentle as can be. The pair are sitting and soaking up early morning sun. This is still in progress. The puppy is mostly done. But Diesel, the big white needs lots of work on his face and eyes. Hope to have it done for the GSR Fine Arts Festival on Dec. 6-8 in Mankato's Verison Center.

 I love making the greys using orange and blue, with a little cad red. No black used in this painting.

My colors lately have been quite limited. For this painting I used,  burnt sienna, ultra  blue,  a tiny touch of cad. yellow and red medium, and white. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family. Enjoy the season and buy original art! :)

It is a Month of Shows!

It has begun--Two months of shows and displays for me to keep track of. Lists, I must make lists!

This week there was an opening in the new Grand Center for the Arts in New Ulm. Their annual show, Artscape, is always fun to enter. The remodeled building is really nice. Good gallery space, lots of studio spaces for artists, work rooms for classes and a very nice apartment for a resident artists. A real class art space in a nice small town.

This is one of the paintings I entered in New Ulm. A water color from my experience in Italy in 2005. "Sunlit Window"

Two weeks ago, my studio mates and I hung a sampling of our work at Barnes and Noble for our bookfair. We use this project to raise some money to support our December show at the Emy Frentz Guild. The bookfair was really successful. This service from Barnes and Nobel is a real blessings for starving artists.

The front of our postcard announcing our member show.

We need a little cash to have post cards printed and to buy some wine and snacks for the show opening which is this week on Nov. 21st at our gallery I will show my abstracts in this show which will hang until the end of the year.

"Poppy Red" is a new painting for our show this Nov. and December.

The Carnegie Art Center in Mankato has a members show in December too. As a member I will be entering several of my smaller abstracts. This show hangs for the whole month of December.

"Shooting Stars"

Finally in January the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council will have a show at the St. Peter Arts Center for all the artists who were awarded a grant in the last round of awards. Since I recieved an award to attend a work show in Scottsdale, AZ, I will be able to hang my paintings from that experience.

"Three Palms"  one of the paintings for the Prairie Lakes show.

Whew! What fun and then we add Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years in the mix. You will understand when I get totally mixed up with what is going on.

GSR Fine Arts Festival December 6,7,8th!

Just a month until I set up for my first GSR festival -- December 6, 7 and 8th at the Mankato Civic Center. It will be a great experience showing with over 45 other artists. My friends, Ann Judkins, Gail Speckman and Lisa Biere will be there at the show with me.  The show has music to listen to as you browse, a beautiful atmosphere.

Dan has put together a great display for my paintings, we have lighting and decorations and they tell me that I need to have some chocolate to hand out to our customers. Knowing me and chocolate, I will need to have my own stash under the table so I do not raid what is there for our customers. :-)

I will have a broad selection of paintings for the show. My pleine air landscapes, the new abstracts and some of my beautiful floral paintings. I will also offer to paint pet portraits on commission.

Hope to see lots of friends and family at the show.  It is a great time to find that special Christmas present for your favorite people.

I received a commission to paint a portrait of Stella, one sweet little doggie. I really like Stella but she does not like me. When I visit her she just smells "CAT" on me and keeps her distance. Makes me sad to think that a little cat hair gives her the willies. Stella's mom took a great photo of her. Black dogs are so hard to catch where their eyes show and their coats have light in them. Here is my finished painting. "Stella" will be a center piece in my display at the GSR fine arts show this December. I want to let other people learn about pet portraits by Margie. ;-)

"Stella" 

The photo has a glare on the upper right hand but that doesn't take away from Stella's calm gaze.

Summer Plein Air Paintings

What a summer! And where is that summer? Time flies by so quickly. Today the leaves on the green ash in my neighbor's yard are carpeting our yard with gold. The fall winds are bringing in cooler weather and I will be spending more time in the studio than outdoors painting. Though I spent not as many days painting outdoors as I have the past few years, I have some nice paintings to post here.

Hay harvesting--no more cubes of hay modern farmers roll their hay and then move it off the field quickly. Gerry and I had to get to this field right away or the field would have been bare. Those farmers are efficient.

A day on the Minnesota river. Early sunlight piercing the trees. A snag on the river from high water this spring.  As usual the blue is too blue. Think of those shadows as more greyed out. This was a day when I was very frustrated by forgetting half of my supplies at home. Gerry would have loaned me paint but I needed my brushes too. So made a quick trip home and then only blocked this in on site. Finished the painting at home from my photo. Gerry says I need a check list. But then I would probably for get to check the check list. ;-)

Our weather this fall has been beautiful. This is an old oak tree a the Minneopa State Park on the prairie side. Those who know the park know that it is divided in two. One side has the falls and the other prairie land and campground.  Gerry was doing a nice vista type landscape but this old tree caught my eye. I did this one mostly with a knife  and it has lots of texture. I really liked the backlit leaves on the tree. That gnarly old tree was a challenge because I had to edit down some of it's limbs in order to make the the design work.

We were a the Gustavus Arboretum a couple of times this year. What a beautiful place. There are still many more paintings waiting to come to life there.  This is across a field to an old farmstead that is on the site. I knew that the maple tree would soon be changing so I gave it a head start and gave it full autumn color. I need to find a different color to use to make rusty color grass. If you can make the grass in the foreground lighter gold.

These are all small paintings and will be for sale at the Gold Smiths Reunion (GSR) on the first weekend of December. I decided to enter a show and see how sales go. This is a popular show hopefully we will not have a storm like they had to cope with a couple of years ago.

Moving on to Abstract Cold Wax Paintings

Sometimes I am really inspired by a workshop that I take and sometimes the workshop is just a really fun vacation. The workshop I took with Jim Scherbarth in January, is one that has inspired me to create and create and create for the past three months. The work can so slowly or sometimes the paintings fall together without a second thought. The really great thing about this style of painting is that if  I am not happy with what is happening I just put another layer on and start a new idea. The more layers the juicier and more interesting  the painting becomes. Here are some of the works I have just put a final polish on. My husband will put a cradle on the back of the boards for me and then they will go out to be seen by the world.

"Remember the Sun Rise"

"Remember the Wind"

"There is Joy"

These first three paintings were selected to be shown at the Carnegie Art Center annual show. I pick them up on Saturday the final day of the month long show. I received lots of  questions about what cold wax was and the process of using it to create paintings. I will probably do a demonstration at the art center later this fall. 

"Shooting Star"

"Celestial Orbs"

"Universe"

I scratch in words sometimes in the under paintings. The words are usually my inspiration for the painting. But sometimes are just there for texture.  With these paintings above I had a little outer space theme going. I am a bit of  a trekkie from way back.

"Yellow Square"

This one is done on a canvas panel that had a failed watercolor painting glued to it. I tried to pull the painting off but ended up with a rough border all around.The mistake is now an interesting painting.

"Three Squares"

I wish you could see these in person. A photo just does not show the depth of the painting, the textures and subtle colors that come from the under paintings showing through.  One suggestion is that I go bigger with these paintings. The largest so far has been 11 x 14. Therefore, I am working on a 18 x 20 canvas that I have in the studio.

For those of you who are curious. Here is a link to Rebecca Crowell's article about her cold wax paintings. Rebecca has been using and teaching this method for years. One of her workshops is on my to-do list for next year. http://oilandwax.ning.com/notes/Basic_Cold_Wax_and_Oil_Procedures

This video will help you understand a bit more on how I use this method. http://oilandwax.ning.com/video/ruth-andre-fine-art-cresting-creek

I have about four or five more paintings in process in the studio right now. There are so many different techniques to experiment with that I cannot stop.  I have run out of panels and now am working on larger canvases that I have in stock. If I decide that I do not like the canvas to paint on, I will get my sweetie to make some cradled panels in larger sizes.  Photos of of the new set will follow shortly. Don't let me forget to update the blog!

Commission finished

I did finish the commission for the choirs at SS Peter and Paul's church. Brian Kapp, our music director, has placed it in the entryway for the past 6 weeks. I have gotten some nice comments about it. Eventually it will move to the 3rd floor where the choir can see it as they go to the choir loft to sing for Mass.

This was a big project  (30 x 40 inches) and took much of my winter working on it. The final touch which is hard to see here was gold leaf on St. Cecilia's crown, the large capital "S" and sprinkles of gold in the angels' hair. 

My new work in abstracts has been much easier and in a way freeing from the constraints of the commission. So onward I move. Trying new and interesting projects.

Cold Wax and Oil Workshop

This past weekend I attended a work shop in Minneapolis with James Edward Scherbarth. The workshop taught the participants how to use cold wax and oil and develop layered paintings-paintings that have depth and character that single layer paintings cannot hope to achieve.

 Jim is a great teacher and shared so much of his knowledge with the artists in the workshop. And the artists in the workshop shared their ideas too. We all came up with totally individual paintings. We used Jim's instructions and then created paintings that came from ourselves.  The following is one of my paintings from the weekend.  11 x 14 on a wood panel. I will have the good final paintings mounted on 1x1 supports to give the painting a good presentation. I am glad that I just started with the flat panel instead of the expense of pre-made panels. Cause I know that some of these are totally going to be painted over.

I worked on five panels over the course of three days and know that I will have many more days of work in on the paintings. They are all works in progress. I find that one of my errors is that my paintings do not have the contrast in values that make a painting interesting and eye catching.

This is the painting above in black and white showing how the values are very close together and have little contrast.

This image shows enhanced contrast in values.  I definitely need to get to this level of contrast.

Onward in my quest for a good abstract using cold wax as a medium for my oils.

Continuing Work in Progress

This is a photo of where the Ss. Peter and Paul commission is heading. I have printed out the psalm and kind of placed it on the painting where I think it will go. The original idea was to letter St. Ceceila choir in this space. We decided that was not right since there are more than one choir at SSPP and we want to honor all of the choirs. I will still use the elaborate capital at the beginning of the psalm. I want to use some of the techniques I learned this weekend at a cold wax and oil work shop with James Edward Scherbarth in the back ground and in the angels dresses. The lettering will be in various shades of the back ground colors.  And the final touch ( I hope) will be some touches of gold leaf.  Onward................

A Commission for our church choir is next on my list of works in progress. It is quite large about 30x40 and will hang in the hallway between the choir loft and the third floor offices at Ss. Peter and Paul Church.

This first photo is a very rough draft early on in the painting. I started with a really loose back ground painting in blue, yellow and orange. The image is St. Cecilia the patron saint of choirs. She was a very early saint in the church. Way back in Roman times. I plan a sweeping line of text from one of the psalms across the lower quarter of the painting that will say something about singing to the Lord. That is to be determined yet. I also want to use some gold leaf on the halo on the saint and a few other places on the painting.

 This second photo is after several days of work. I decided to make Cecilia's gown blue and purple to calm the color down a bit. I have worked on the angels on the right side although the work doesn't show well in this photo. The paper words at the bottom are there for me to determine where I will letter the psalm. They are moved around a bit so I could paint under them. The swirls at the top are an inspiration from Starry Night by Van Gogh. Not sure if I will leve them in or make them darker so there is just a hint of the movement. I should have quite a few days this week to work on the painting. An up date will come later.

I can't believe that I have not updated this blog since November. I suppose that the whole Christmas season totally messed with my mind. It seems like there are lots of pet portraits out there now. Thought I would take a hand at some for my boys for their Christmas presents. Top is Matt's Budica, who is the sweetest pit bulldog you could ever meet. Bottom is Marty's Chaco who has been Marty's bike ride companion for 13 years.  12x12 in acrylic. Love adding really interesting colors to the portraits. I really like capturing the personality of the pet. That is Chaco's favorite resting position and Buddica has those melting brown eyes. I  love how they turned out. And have a few more portraits to paint for other pet lovers.

Harley Chrome Painting

In September I donated a certificate for a chrome painting at a fund raiser for a friend who needed to have his home retro-fitted for his wheel chair. The fund raiser was quite a show and there were hundreds of dollars raised for him. I have been working on it for quite a while now. At least a month a couple of hours a day four or five days a week. The man who won the certificate really is getting a bargain. If you consider time and labor on the painting. (wink)  Here is a photo of the work in progress. There is lots of work to go on the cooling fins. This is the motor of a Harley Davidson. It was fun doing the skull. The cycle is green and the blue shadows are a nice contrast to the blues. I work on the painting one little bit at a time. As soon as it is done, dried and varnished it will find a new home. I hope that the owner will loan it to me for a show later next year.

I do not know how long I have followed the Painter's Keys, a bi-weekly letter from Robert Genn of Canada but I do know that I look forward to each news letter as it drops into my inbox. He is a facile writer seeming to always have something pertinent to say to us. I have put a link to his page here on my blog. Click over and see if you like him as well.
His home page is full of all kinds of information including quotes about art that can come in handy for a none writer like me. For example:

The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the ordinary. (Christina Baldwin)

Seeing the miraculous in the ordinary truly is what I feel every day and what I try to put into my paintings. 

My life has been really busy lately and this blog suffered my neglect. With a little perseverance  I will be posting a bit more often. If just for my own record of my work. 

This is one of my plein airs from a workshop that I took in Scottsdale AZ in April with Marc Hanson. That workshop lead to lots of work for me in my studio. Palm trees are way outside of my comfort zone. 

Painting Accepted in Regional Show

It is 20th Annual Prairie Lakes Regional Juried Art Exhibition time. Lots of my artist friends have entered their art to be juried into the show. 226 pieces were submitted and 104 pieces selected for the show.  I received a good notice in the mail this year.  My abstract experiment from this winter was accepted

On a whim I change the name of my painting to "Fractured Comet" to fit with my theme of outer space.  And decided that I like it viewed vertically. My other painting was called " Solar Flair." I'll post jpeg tomorrow.

The show is in the Carnegie Art Center here in Mankato and will hang from April 26 through June 8th.

Starlight

This is the beginning of my winter series. I started with a photo of one of our wine glasses. Cropped it very tightly, did some adjusting on Picnic (good bye Picnic I will miss you) and transferred the design to my canvas. Once on the canvas I painted my shapes with a fine brush so I would not loose the shapes under my brush strokes. I liked those lines so I was careful to leave some of them showing. I think they help with the texture and in leading your eye around the painting. Until next time.

Carnegie Art Center Members Show

I rejoined the Carnegie Art Center this summer as a member.  Personally I wish I would get a reminder to rejoin,  details like renewal of memberships always get lost in the clutter of my life. Just ask my friends how many times I have to be reminded about our next outing.

Any way.........I rejoined so that I could be part of the current member show going on at the art center. A cheesy way to get my paintings out there so people can see them and admire my wonderful work. (this is me being a bit sarcastic) No juries to tell us what they like. The show is up all month and the Carnegie has hours on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Hope you can find time to stop by to see all the work. Here are the two I decided to show. I am glad I could just put them out there. Have a feeling neither would pass a judge. (sarcasm..again)

"Lisa on the Beach" (oil on canvas) on one of those hot days this summer that required that you spend it near water. I wanted to give that feeling of hot humid air. I hope Lisa had her feet in the water to keep her cool.

This is a semi-abstract that I did this past spring. It is watercolor on paper that I then mounted on a gallery wrapped canvas. It really is a change in my work and needs to be seen in person to get the full effect of the close values of the painting. Called this one "Intersections"

I am working on new projects at my studio and trying to find a theme for my next show a year from now.  I need to work toward another theme besides flowers and landscapes or try to make those themes newer and  more interesting. I am feeling frustrated....................and reading about creativity.