Wild Lupine

 Recently I went to the Madison Arboretum.  It is an amazing place.   I walked through the Grady Tract Plot to find some wild lupine...some of the trails were quite wet, flowing water mid shin.   I didn't find the big stands of Wild Lupine but I did see this little self seeded lupine on the edge of the path.  It was so sweet and small, my painting is about life size at arms distance.   I wish I would have brought my phone or camera on the hike with me.   The trails were so "wild" and quiet...at one point after walking for a half hour or so, I saw a huge dark object and jumped because I thought it was a bear...just a big fallen tree.   Lots of little birds around me as I quietly painted...I am eager for the night to get cool so the mosquitoes die off!!

Bejing Calling: Professors JIADUO LI, ZONG GU, GUISHENG WANG, WEI ZHEN, LIN XIA JIANG

My painting of the little Boat House on the river in Fort Atkinson

In progress 

It was a great joy painting  with UWW Schuh visiting artist from Bejing China Professor Gu Zong on site in Fort Atkinson before their campus residency began.

Another Fort Atkinson landmark.

My study in progress; this was a quick one but so fun to paint with the artists...each painting imbued with the artists touch

This is where I had to leave it...not "finished" but that is the nature of these quick little studies.

Professor Wei Zhen with his paintings of the White Boat house and the Bridge!

Professor Guisheng Wang and Jiaduo Li teach the students and me Chinese Ink Painting; both in the studio and en plein air! I was so happy; the artists were giddy about the objects in the Natural and Inspired Object Collection that I started a few years ago.

Me, with one of my wonderful classes with Professor Guisheng Wang working in UWW Crossman Gallery"studio"

  On campus at UWW getting a lesson from the masters!  I love the rice paper and the immediacy of the medium! 
We have such a beautiful campus!

We had a great turn-out for the UWW Nature Preserve Paint a long.  Many students and people from the community along with the Provost, Dean, Chair and Willie Warhawk all showed up to paint along  with our visiting artists!  Thank you Craig Schriener for this photo and for the next one of me and Pat!
My student Aubrey brought her family to the event!  So great to meet students families!

Big shout out to the love of my life: Pat Moran!  Not only did he cover me at home while I was on the Schuh Committee but he came to the Prairie Paint a long and played mandolin!  Professor Gu Zong said it just right through google translate: " Your husbands music, played with such feeling, is now a part of all our paintings".  

We painted at a sod farm together!  Wish this was a better photo of my study...

Professor Zong Gu's study in the foreground mine deeper...we sat side by side not being able to speak but enjoying the unspoken visual beauty of the landscape and painting.

Julia, Wei Zhen and Gu...we took break to eat steamed corn in the field, it tasted great on a chilly day.

We also painted out lower Hebron Road, we met Mr. Danhert who owns the farm we painted...so incredibly beautiful! This is my little study...my very first barn painting!   These studies are quite fast about 2 hours...so many shades of green! 

Professor Gu painting the farm.

Professor Wei Zhen had a poetic and compelling way of communicating  intellectual and sensory ideas.  He touched each of us with his mastery and openness to creative thinking and being. 

I am honored to be pictured here with these amazing people!  This Schuh residency was a great gift to all of us.

It was wonderful to paint both in oil and in Chinese ink brush and see these master teachers/painters interact with our students!  This is Professor Lin Xia and Professor Gu Zong working with my class outside "en plein air" on campus.

Professor Wei Zhen teaching some of the students I am working with this semester.  Near the memory garden on campus....beautiful day.

Professor Lin Xia, Gu Zong and myself...a quick selfie!  What a pleasure.

It was a great deal of work to be on the Schuh committee this year; at times it was exhausting.  But at the end of the day I will remember the great friendships, artistic dialogue and the gift that this years residency was to our students and all of us.  The students above all benefitted from these remarkable people.   Professors JIADUO LI,  ZONG GU, GUISHENG WANG, WEI ZHEN, LIN XIA JIANG, I thank you!  And  Annette and Dale Schuh  who gave the donation to support this program, on behalf of our students, I am indebted.

Up coming Exhibit

Windzy watching over my painting!

I am very pleased to be invited to exhibit at the James Watrous Gallery in Madison Wisconsin.   As part of the the exhibit I have been consulting climate scientist Christy Lowney who is a Research Specialist at the UW Madison Arboretum.   Here is a link to the Wisconsin Academy site with the show announcement:  Uprooted: Plants in a Changing Climate

It has been great to make work inspired by this dialogue and I am grateful to be showing with 4 terrific artists who care so deeply for the natural world: Cynthia Brinich-Langlois (Whitewater), Helen Klebesadel (Madison), Katie Musolff (Stoddard), and Lynne Railsback (Williams Bay) April 26, 2019 to June 16, 2019 . James Watrous Gallery • Madison

Leaving the site

Leaving the site .... my "photographer" took this last picture of me with the painting at the 'top' of the hill before we loaded it into the van.  I will work on it a bit more from memory and then take it back to the site one last time to finish.  The scene you see at the edges is not what I was looking at nor is that full raking light in the painting but  you get the idea... this painting is about transporting someone into a place...not so much an impression but an account of a connected harmonious ecosystem that is truly beautiful.  I tried to do it justice... a little more work and I will post the final painting.

Drawing in the backyard with Wei Zhen

Wei Zhen (left) Sue Messer (middle)  Mine (right)

Kind of cool to look at the "arch space" in all three drawings.  I was situated pretty far to the right when we were in the yard so mine is a bit compressed...but Sue and Wei were near each other and while our styles are different, you can see the observation of the arching tree in all three....

I am so excited to have 5 remarkable Painters from China visiting this year as the UWW Schuh foundation residency.   Wei Zhen came over to draw at my house as summer began...along with Sue Messer.  Then we all went to Dales house to celebrate a little bit!  

link: Dale and Annette Schuh visiting artist endowment

link :  Professor Wei Zhen one of the Schuh visiting artists

Give a listen next time you are cleaning your brushes!

Give a listen to  Artists Tony Curanaj (right) and Edward Minoff (left) "talk art".
Wonderful podcast! and two lovely people and great painters as hosts not to mention Jay Braunbraunbraun...
link :   Suggested Donation Podcast

A couple more portraits

On this day I did two studies...I rushed and didn't take enough time on the drawing...

so important to draw well!

Great Models!