"Backside of Malibu Moo"

It was finally Saturday morning..... and couldn't  believe that a whole week had passed.  The three of us arrived at Fish Creek to prepare for the final Dockside Quick Paint event.  We arrived early, around 7:00 am and picked out our places to paint.  It was raining and chilly... but in plein air.... you paint.... rain or shine!  I set up my easel, along with my umbrella, but still got soaked.

After setting up our gear...we went to the expresso bar for coffee, and to get out of the rain.  Around 9:00 am, we had to take our canvas to get the official Door County Plein Air Festival stamp.  They delayed the start time this year due to the rain. Finally, with us all at our easels.... the bullhorn sounded.... and two hours raced by before the bullhorn sounded to STOP!  We took our paintings to get them stamped again.... All of the Dockside paintings were to be exhibited at the Peninsula School of Arts final reception that evening.  We rushed home to shower and prepare for the reception.  When we returned to the reception.... I was delighted to see that my painting had sold.  This is a photo of the scene I painted....  I failed to get a photo so I applied a filter to the picture... so you can see what it looked like when I squinted.  Malibu Moo is one of the local favorite places to purchase ice cream delights.  It is always packed... and faces the harbor.

We had a wonderful week, and look forward to next year's event.... God willing!!!

"Waiting For The Rain to Stop"

Due to rain Wednesday evening....we decided to eat in.... and then paint. After dinner we all set up our easels and painted from our covered screened-in porch in our cabin in Baileys Harbor.

Our cabin was called "Sunflower".... and it had every kind of sunflower in it that you could imagine.... pillows, bed coverings, wall hangings, salt and pepper shakers.... etc. It was too funny and cute! Apparently the manager loves to go garage shopping.... and collects all of the sunflower themes she can find... and adds it to the growing collection found in Sunflower.

It was beginning to get dark and rainy, and I tried to capture the essence of dampness and rain of the evening in this little study.

The cabin is right across from Sunflower... right on the edge of the water. It is a lovely authentic old log cabin that has been modernized and updated .... called Kangaroo Kastle, complete with a "cadmium red" deck! In the driveway that circles the cabins.... there is a beautifully landscaped flower garden. The local flower gardens in Door are beautiful. You will find little pallets of color tucked in everywhere. Hollyhocks as tall as a man.... hydrangeas.... cosmos... etc... a joy to behold

I hope you enjoy little snip-its of my trip to Door County. This is the resort that we always stay... and if you are in the area I highly recommend it. It is deep within a wooded area... opening right onto the lake. Here is a quick link so you can see the pictures of the cabins at Sunset Shores Resort. Usually we stay in Lakeside cabin... but it was leased out that week.

The Pump House

I just turned in a collection of Plein Air paintings to the gallery from this summer. It is called "Cottages of Door County".

This was the fourth annual Door County Plein Air Festival ... one of the largest plein air paint-outs of the Midwest region. The beauty of this area is diverse and inspirational. It is such a unique area.... Wisconsin's best kept secrete. It is the "Cape Cod" of the Midwest. This is the 3rd year in a row that I have attended with a couple of artist friends. It was an another fun packed week.

We had a variety of weather.... sunny, cloudy and rain.... but we painted our hearts out!!!!

I am posting 6 paintings.... one each evening... from some of the many paintings from my week in Door.

This was from the first morning. We drove to the Lighthouse located in Canna Island. This is one of the small buildings located on the Island. It was the Pump House. I set up under the shade of an old oak tree... and enjoyed the morning... without a care in the world!