Even a boat can be interesting if the light is right

I'll be the first to admit that I know next to nothing about boats or fishing or almost anything to do with water. I can swim. Period. I do like the way light reflects on water and I love old worn things though. There were three of these little rowboats on the shore of Lake Ocqueoc near our cabin. I think all of us painted them at one time or another. I walked down to the beach one morning (not really a beach- more of a boat launching area for which I do not know the name). I loved the early morning light and I got a late start so I had a two hour window to do this painting. The reason for the late start was I did another painting EARLIER that morning. This would be a record-breaking day for me, as I ended up painting four plein air pieces in one day.

This is my favorite painting from our trip to Lake Huron. It seems to capture the "feel" of the northern Michigan climate nicely. Or at least how I perceived it. Paintings are a little bit of shared history and the artist can't help making them personal. That's why everyone's paintings are different, even if they're painting the same thing. I've observed this many times when I set up a still life in a room full of students or go out with friends and paint the same thing and we all end up with completely different paintings. Everyone views a scene in a very personalized way. I think we're wired to do that. If we weren't all the movies ever made would be similar; clothing designers would be out of work and life would be incredibly boring.

So while some people might look at one of my paintings and say-- "Oh- that looks so real!" I've had a lot of people- mostly kids- say that, and yet, when you compare it to what is actually in front of me- it isn't. It is MY VERSION of what is real. I think you have to paint for a long time to really be able to wrap your mind around that concept.

11" x 14" oil on canvas

Hammond Bay, on Lake Huron plein air

Wednesday we drove to Lake Huron, a short ten minute drive from our cabins. We were thinking about painting the closest lighthouse but when we arrived at the park no one wanted to paint it. The lighthouse was a smaller, square kind and not too interesting. It was also really windy and the best view of the lighthouse  was down on the beach. I did not want to be on the beach with no protection from the sun. It was really too windy for an umbrella.

I did like the arrangement of fir trees in front of the beach so I painted that and I was pretty happy with the piece when I was done. Quite a few visitors stopped to chat and one couple remarked that the turquoise water and whitecaps reminded them of the Fort Lauderdale beaches near their home in Florida. Instead of palms the beach here was lined with evergreens and I'm sure the temperature was a bit cooler too.

11" x 14" oil on canvas

Hammond Bay

More Plein Air Paintings to Post

This week I will be posting some of the better paintings I did on my painting trip to Michigan last week. I completed nine paintings in five days and I was exhausted by the end of the week. What these kind of trips do is really allow the artist to immerse herself in the landscape and geography of a place. I was surprised by how white the Michigan beaches are and the fine quality of the sand. The temperatures are quite cool in the evening even when they reach 90 during the day. A breeze can blow up alarmingly fast and turn into a gale, accompanied by thunderous clouds and developing into gusts that can easily carry away your easel. The birch trees where I stayed were much larger than I'm used to so I focused on one growing near the beach where we stayed. I had not painted many birches before and they are lovely trees.

14" x 11" oil on canvas

Ocquoc Lake Birch

Annual Painting Trip

Three years ago a few of my artist friends, along with myself, decided to travel to a "painting destination". The plan was to share the costs of lodging and find an interesting and picturesque place to paint. The first year I found a wonderful place in North Carolina near Franklin. Painting the Smokey Mountains was an eye opening experience to this flat-lander. Last year we stayed a bit closer to home and we ended up in Penn Valley, PA. This was hilly Amish country and there were plenty of farms and rustic scenes to paint. This past week we traveled to Northern Michigan for a week at Lake Ocqueoc, which is near Lake Huron. Lake Huron has miles and miles of unspoiled white beaches! Who knew?

Our group was a bit larger this time so we rented two small cabins and traveled to a different place each day. This is the painting I did on Monday, when we drove over to Lake Huron and found the place where the mouth of the Ocqueoc River formed.

16" x 16" oil on canvas
Ocqueoc River