Reedsburg UncorkedWine Walk Silent Auction

The Reedsburg Uncorked Wine Walk is a great time, Jenny and I always enjoy attending the event. It's a nice opportunity to see what's new and to reconnect with businesses downtown.

Dana, from the Blue Heron does a lot of work to make the Wine Walk happen. A few weeks ago, I was dreaming of spring, and really wanted to paint some flowering trees. I set up this still life, with Carr Valley Cheese and Wollersheim Port in my studio with one of my favorite plein air studies from a couple of years ago hanging on the wall behind it. It was something a little different and fun for me to paint. The still life is 24x20" and is being auctioned off, in conjunction with the Uncorked event, with proceeds to benefit the Reedsburg Revitalization Organization "Community members working for the revitalization of Reedsburg". If you'd like to place a bid, email Blue Heron at: blueheron@rucls.net
Hope to see you there!



Photo's by Jacob Owen

Spring is in the Air

The weather is always unpredictable during early spring, but this year is extraordinary. This piece, Loganville Stream is 16x20" and was painted when we were still in the calendar's winter, but I considered it to be the first day of spring because I painted in a t-shirt. The temperatures were in the 80's and everything greened up all at once.



Which among equal colors will look more or less dark or more or less bright... The painter will show you things at different distances with variation of color due to the air lying between the objects and the eye.
-Michelangelo Buonarroti

Late Winter

When it comes to blogging, you don't have to be great to try, but you have to try to be great!

Here are some pieces from late February and the first week in March, the end of winter.
This year, the temperatures are so high, that the trees are blooming now. Maybe it is payback for the late spring that we had last year? Whatever it is, I'm happy to wake up every morning and rediscover what I like about painting color in the warmer months.

20x24"


10x8"


8x10"


8x10"


8x10"

"Maybe I am not very human - what I wanted to do was to paint sunlight on the side of a house.

-Edward Hopper

Highway 23

24x30"

The light changes quickly when painting outdoors. That's pretty obvious, right? It is easy to predict this change when painting a building that aligns with north - south directions. The light hits the East side of the building until 11:00 AM or so. Then there is a transition between 11:00-1:00 PM. This is when I like to take a break from painting for the day. The light then hits the West side of the building. Of course the South facing walls are being lit up for most of the day.

This barn didn't align with those directions. Many buildings do not. The light was the best on this barn for about 45 minutes each morning that I worked on it. Because the barn is weathered, it quickly turned from direct light to grazing light to long shadows from the irregular barn boards, and finally to complete shade. This isn't neccesarily harder to paint, it just has to be planned for. I guess it's these sorts of things that i like the best about painting. There are as many different ways to solve the puzzle as there are painters.

Workshop in Lima Ohio

Reedsburg Farmers Co-op 16x24"


Teaching is a big part of painting for me. I enjoy working with others, I get just as much out of it as the students do. This week, we had the first session of a six week drawing class that I'm offering through continuing education at the University of Wisconsin. There are 16 students enrolled, and it is the largest class that I've led. There were a couple of "repeat offenders" in the class, but mostly new faces.

I'm starting to plan my summer, which is going to be busy, and am excited to announce a 2 day, landscape painting from life, workshop in Lima Ohio. With my painting workshops, I try to assign a couple of exercises up front to put the students in a position to have an experience with value and composition. This works nicely to move the group towards the goal of making striking, organized, and colorful paintings. As a part of my lesson plan, I prepare and hand out worksheets with key concepts of the lessons. I know that most artists are visual learners, but it's always good to teach in a few different ways. I do a lot of demonstrating during these workshops, and I explain what I'm doing as I do it. After the workshops each day, it's nice to grab a bite to eat and talk about what we did and why we did it.
I can't wait for Lima!


For more information, or to register, please contact:
Ruth Ann Sturgill
Studio of Fine Arts
rasturgill@woh.rr.com

Blue lit Gold

24x30"

I like the idea that paintings are right outside of my front door.
I try to remind myself of this daily.
This cuts down on driving time and allows more time behind the palette.
When I do not remind myself of this, bad things happen.
I end up driving around, aimlessly, down some country road looking for something that's not there. I end up painting a landscape that is just a band of land, bluffs or trees and sky.

Some great abstract compositions are in my backyard, down the street or a few blocks away. It might be that I grew up skateboarding around these places, and I'm familiar with them. They feel good to paint.
I've painted this big blue warehouse, in front of the co-op several times. During the last hour of light, it catches a great, golden, quality of light that I don't need to drive any further for.

I was out on this piece for a few days, under similar lighting conditions. Being an alla prima man at heart, I painted this version one day when haze blocked the sun. It snowed the next day and put me out of business.


8x10"

Tractor

12"x12"

We had one snowstorm in November, but it melted in a day or so. There was rain and warm weather into January.
We finally got a good snow cover last week, and some sun to go with it.

Finding a place to park in the winter can be challenging. I don't have 4WD, so when I see something that I'd like to paint I have to be careful if I pull into the ditch.
On this day, there was too much snow, so I asked a nearby neighbor if I could park in their driveway.
It's always interesting after you ring the doorbell, not knowing what you are going to be met with. I always explain that I'm interested to paint a landscape, and would like to park my car on their property. These people understood right away and were accommodating.
Sometimes it takes a bit more explaining, something like, "I don't want to paint on the tractor, I want to paint the tractor."
Of course, painting in town is another option, where parking is a bit easier.

Foundry in January

20x24"

9x12"

The first half of January felt more like Spring than Winter.
Temperatures were warm, sometimes mid 50's.
While I was painting these, people were outside doing all sorts of things, running, walking the dogs, playing with holiday presents, enjoying the weather, and stopping to chat.
I enjoy talking while I paint. I usually keep painting, while I talk, I'm not trying to rush you away, it's just that I like to paint while I talk.
Now it is much colder, people are less likely to stop to see what's on my easel. If you see me out there painting, please pull up and say hi. You can stay in your car, but it's nice to see you too! Just don't run me over, or sneak up on me.

The light during the Winter months is especially great. The sun hangs much lower during this time of year which makes dramatic shapes possible, aiding in design, even during the noon hour.
The top piece was painted at high noon, and the one below closer to sunset.

Forrest and Interior

16x16"




16x16"


Here are a couple of pieces from around my farm. Painting inside the forest is a pretty good challenge. The light can move quickly and change the pattern of light and dark dramatically during a painting session. I like trying to capture this fleeting quality.
The interior is my dad's tool bench, in a shed at the farm. We haven't gotten around to cleaning it up, I sort of like leaving it that way, just how he left it. There are some leaves growing inside that came through a gap between the wall and the window. It seems as if the entire space is covered in a film of grease. Anyone who has seen my studio can see where I got my sense of organization from.

Second Half of October

16x20"

Autumn played some tricks this year. We had a frost in September that turned many trees brown. It seemed as if the colors were going to be subdued this year, compared to last years explosion of chroma. In the second half of October, the reds and yellows popped and I'm glad they did. This is a street in my neighborhood from a week ago. It was a overcast and rainy day, but the sun came out for two hours and I immediately set up my easel, stopping as the sun went away. I think I made the right decision.

Thats a wrap on the Fall Art Tour 2011

The Fall Art Tour has passed. I'm exhausted. The space that I exhibited in was a renovated chicken coop on our family farm. I'm thankful for everyone who helped, especially my mom, my wife, my aunt and sister in law who were all very involved in making the tour a success. There were over 80 paintings hung, and many less came home. Here's to a good tour, I can't wait until next year. Thanks for stopping by!

Fall Art Tour, This Weekend

 Sumac and wild grapes 4x6"

Calf Grazing 5x7"


The Fall Art Tour is finally here! This third weekend in October is always a blast and this is my first year of being a part of the fun. We have renovated our old chicken house, on the farm, into a studio. This was a huge task, and I really have my mother to thank for it. We cleaned it, removed the ceiling to open the space and whitewashed the walls. Finally, we added a chandelier. It is a well lit and clean space, and I'll have just under 80 paintings displayed for the tour. For something new, I've posted a couple of 4 color reduction prints that I'll also have available for the tour. They are both based on paintings that will be on the tour as well. Please browse the website for the tour at www.fallarttour.com for more information.