This past week has been amazingly active for this artist! Beginning last weekend, I participated in the “Paint the Town” event sponsored by the Plymouth Arts Center. I spend four days during the week-long event painting two scenes in downtown Plymouth. Below you see my setup for those two locations:
       

While I wouldn’t say it was my best work, I did enjoy painting on those four days.  Then I attended the community reception this past Friday, September 27th,  where about 90 paintings were displayed from over 20 artists.  It was wonderful to see all the rich variety of paintings and the artists’ interpretations of downtown Plymouth.  Below you see Kitty Lynne Klich, the organizer of the event.

On Saturdaymorning, September 28th, I enjoyed  the Farmers’ Market, and then stopped for a few minutes of poetry, slam, and break dancers at the “Poets for Change” event at the Mead Public Library in Sheboygan… see below:

I also enjoyed a visit to the Frank Juarez Gallery, 604 Erie Avenue, Sheboygan, to enjoy the latest exhibits by Melissa Dorn Richards and Angie Zimmerman.  Here’s Frank Juarez at work in the gallery:

It was quite a creative and artistic week!

Here is a picture of my painting I finished in my first two days of participating in “Paint the Town” sponsored by the Plymouth Arts Center.  The painting, “At the Intersection,” is 11x14inches, oil on canvas.  The two afternoons were enjoyable to be painting outdoors, and to talk to interested spectators about painting.

This evening I enjoyed the official opening for artists, Colleen Ansbaugh and Curtis Newman, at the Glas Coffee House in Sheboygan. Colleen is a fiber artist and Curtis is a painter. You can see a wall hanging quilt created by Colleen to her left and a painting by Curtis just above him in the photograph.

I was glad to complete and then pass on this painting to the happy owners. This was my first painting of a dog. I was pleased they liked the image of their pet, Boone. The painting is 16inches x 20inches, oil on canvas, framed.

Click on the link to see a short video clip from the Art Talk in which I participated on Sunday, September 8, 2013.

http://vimeo.com/74073707

This afternoon I was one of the featured artists at the Art Talk sponsored by the Frank Juarez Gallery at the Glas Coffee House in Sheboygan. I also shared the “spotlight” with Curtis Newman, another local painter/artist. For 20 minutes each we shared about our artwork. It was an enjoyable conversation. Here’s a picture as I talk about my painting “Evergreen Sky” (taken by Frank Juarez).

“Nick Mann Painting His Story of Sturgeon Mural,” 2013, 12×24, oil on canvas.

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I was grateful for the generosity of Nick Mann, AKA “Doodles,” who allowed me to paint “en plein air” as he worked to complete his mural about the story of the sturgeon.  His mural is one of several that are part of “The Wooster Collective: The Sheboygan Project” sponsored by the John Michael Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan.

As we both took a break in our work, Nick told me the story behind the mural.  It tells of the sturgeon, one of the oldest known fish.  They used to thrive in Lake Michigan.  But because of overfishing and human development along the rivers where they spawn, their population has dramatically decreased.  But even now, there are attempts to restore the habitats and repopulate the lakes with this ancient fish.  Nick also said that in some native spirituality, the Sturgeon is a symbol of life’s enduring and regenerating strength.  Because of that, in the mural, Nick imagined the four seasons of life in the interconnected circles… a sign of life’s evolving strength.  Thanks, Nick, for sharing your creativity with our community!