Lumpy Blue Pumpkin

"Lumpy Blue Pumpkin" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas 12x12" -- Margie Guyot

Isn't this the coolest pumpkin?  I found it at a roadside stand by Traverse City a couple weeks ago.  To me, it looks a bit on the blue side.  And the lumps just made it even more amazing!  

 

At first I set it down in the green grass, where I'd painted my other pumpkins.  But since it's rather blue-ish, I thought it might look better in warmer rust tones -- dry grass and fallen leaves.  

 

The sun struggled to come out this afternoon.  And it was pretty chilly.  I had to wear my down winter coat to paint this.  The wind was pretty steady, blowing my hat off a couple times.  But at least there were no mosquitoes!

 

Right after I finished painting, the light rain started.  Great timing! 

Farmall Tractor

"Farmall Tractor" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas board -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

Last week I had to drive way down to Mancelona, MI, for a band rehearsal.  And right west of town I saw this wonderful, old tractor, sitting in a big field of goldenrod!  Wow!  Way cool!

And it rained and was terribly windy all week.  Impossible to go out plein air painting.  Yesterday the wind departed and the clouds left -- and I loaded the Flex and took off down M-88 for Mancelona.  Nothing was going to stop me!

But -- oy vey!  I'd pitched my Soltek about 10 feet from the little highway to paint this -- and was surprised at the volume of traffic!  M-88 is a "major through-way" out there, with semis and cars, zooming along at 55+ mph!  I didn't enjoy that, painting so close to those tons of speeding metal, whizzing past at 10 feet away.  But I was determined to paint this thing!

The goldenrod was on its way out.  Good thing I got there when I did.  Today it's supposed to rain again.  

The Farmall looked ancient.  The red paint was very faded.  But I bet it'll run! 

"Sunset #1: Rex Beach 8/15/10"

"Sunset #1: Rex Beach 8/15/10" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

It's been very windy here the past couple days, so when I first got down to Rex Beach I prowled along the shoreline, hoping to find a Petoskey stone or two.  The waves usually bring them in.  No luck.  I was killing a little time, waiting for the big cloud bank to move south a little more.

The view was spectacular!  I could see patches of heavy rainfall out over the lake.  Somebody was getting pounded.  I found out later Harbor Springs, Petoskey and Charlevoix were catching hell.  Dry as a bone where I stood (just north of Eastport).  

But the wind!  It was difficult to paint a straight horizon line with my hand being buffeted by the wind gusts.  I looked up and saw the sun in this position, peeking out for one last look before being covered by the clouds.  

The view changes by the second!  There's the urge to keep changing the painting, but I've learned from experience not to do this too much.  You can drive yourself crazy, following the endless changes.

Geraniums and Frog

"Geraniums and Frog" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

After finishing painting "Porch Ornaments", I looked down and saw this at my feet.  I had an hour or so before I had to frame things and drive back to Petoskey, so why not go for a third painting?  It had been such a dark, gloomy day, I thought it would be nice to do a funny, cheery painting.

Charlevoix Train Station

"Charlevoix Train Station" -- oil on canvas -- 10x20" -- Margie Guyot

Ah, the morning of the Crooked Tree Art Center's Annual Plein Air Paint-Out -- and it was raining!!!!  Boo-hoo!  And I had two surprise houseguests, fortunately both painters: Heiner Hertling and Mike Toderoff.  We had to check-in up in Charlevoix at 8 AM.  Pay our fee, get our blank canvases stamped on the back.  Everything was due back in Petoskey by 5 or 6 PM, framed and ready to hang.  Such pressure to produce -- and have it look GOOD!  


Neither Mike nor Heiner knew of any good spots to paint, especially protected spots.  So I took them down to the old train depot in Charlevoix.  There were covered spots we could stand under.  About the only view we had was of the train station, now owned by the Historical Society.  


None of us likes paintings buildings.  All those windows!  All those straight lines!  But it was the only option at that point.  So we slugged away on it, muttering and complaining the whole time.  


Heiner and Mike finished theirs and headed on north, towards Petoskey.  I packed my gear up and drove home.  Had to recharge -- have lunch, a coffee, and consider what on earth I could paint next.

"June Field" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 8x16" -- Margie Guyot

A painter friend and I were driving around the Leelanau Peninsula the other day, looking for good spots to paint. I spied this view of the furrows and row of willows. That's a new crop of corn peeking up. The farmer apparently didn't plow last year's crop of cornstalks under. They'd been harvested, but all the stubs were still in place.

It was supposed to be partly cloudy, but it turned out to be mostly cloudy, turning to completely cloudy. At one point, just for a couple seconds, the clouds parted and sunshine appeared on the upper left portion of the field. I tried to capture that view.

"Leelanau Barn" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

The sky was completely overcast. My friend and I were hoping to find something with a bit of color. He loves painting barns, so we stopped at did this view of an old barn. It was on one of the largest cherry orchards on the Leelanau Peninsula.

In the foreground there were a few daisies and a type of weed that has a rusty-pinkish bloom on it. Some call it "British Soldiers"; others call it wild sorrel.

"Peony Garden" -- plein air field study -- oil on canvas -- 8x16" -- Margie Guyot

Lots of rain here lately! But it's a good thing. Everybody with a garden is happy. Although I'm sure the campers are miserable. I knew my neighbor's peonies were in full bloom. They don't last forever, so I took a chance on painting yesterday. The sky was leaden. Every once in a while I'd feel a drop of rain, so I painted as fast as I could.

"Maples -- Early Spring" -- plein air field study -- oil on panel -- 8x10" -- Margie Guyot

The weather had turned foul. Most of the day it rained and snowed -- and it was May 8th! I stopped by to visit my friend Cal, who lives south of Charlevoix. He's got lots of big maple trees that fascinate me. Gnarly old things!

The rain and snow had stopped around 2:30 PM. The sun came out for about 5 minutes, long enough for me to see a bit of the highlights. Then it was obliterated by the clouds again. I set up my easel and had on my warmest winter coat: heavyweight down, plus my wolf fur trooper hat. That's some of what I wear when painting the ice pileups and it felt good! The wind howled. Where were my gloves, darn it?

Feeling rather miserable always has an effect on the speed with which I work. Sometimes that's a plus!