Wind Point Beach - Racine, Wisconsin

Wind Point Beach, 8 x 6, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2014

SOLD

My home town of Racine, Wisconsin sits right on the shores of Lake Michigan. I grew up swimming in that lake, and can tell you from experience that it is pretty cold for most of the summer. The trick for surviving the frigid temperature is simple - just stay in the water long enough for your limbs to go numb. It works every time. 

By the way, this not actually the beach we swam at as kids. That beach is long and wide, and always crowded with swimmers and sunbathers. This is a quieter beach on the north side of town near the lighthouse. 

This is the last "memory lane" painting from my high school reunion weekend. I enjoyed revisiting with paint and canvas. I hope we have another gathering soon! 

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NEW WORKSHOP INFO:

Oct. 10-11, 2014 - Still Life, Austin, TX CATALOG (public registration 8/14)

Nov. 6-8, 2014 - En Plein Air, Austin, TX CATALOG (public registration 8/14)

April 30-May 2, 2015 - En Plein Air, St. Simons Island, GA, Anderson Gallery 

Wind Point Lighthouse - Racine, Wisconsin

Wind Point Lighthouse, 8 x 6, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2014

SOLD

At the end of July, my husband and I went to our 40th High School Reunion in Racine, Wisconsin. This is the town of our youth; and it had been a really, really long time since we had been back. We visited all our favorite places and every house we ever lived in. The whole weekend was so much fun and truly a walk down memory lane. 

When we got home, I had a creative urge to paint a few of those favorite spots... This is the first - the Wind Point Lighthouse on Lake Michigan. It was built in 1880 and is one of the oldest and tallest lighthouses on the Great Lakes. It's a beauty!

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Evening Benediction and Twilight's Quickening Ray

 Evening Benediction, 24 x 24, oil on canvas, L. Daniel © 2013

Twilight's Quickening Ray, 18 x 36, oil on canvas, L. Daniel © 2013 - SOLD

Oh, the night sky... it keeps us looking up, doesn't it? I am always mesmerized as the sun sinks on the horizon. Each moment offers a different variety of colors and shapes, only to be topped by the next. It never ceases to amaze. 

These two paintings will be in my show, "Landscapes: Interior-Exterior", at the Davis Gallery in Austin, Texas. The opening reception is THIS Saturday, October 5, 7-9 pm. Please join us!

Windy Bay - Door County Plein Air Festival

Windy Bay, 12 x 16, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2013

This is my final installment of paintings from the plein air festival in Wisconsin. On my last painting day, I went over to a state park on Lake Michigan and set up my easel overlooking Newport Bay. Very quickly, the wind picked up and I was almost blown away. It was such a beautiful view that it was worth enduring the opposition! :)

Below is my painting from the 2 hour quick paint on Saturday morning. For this event, all the festival artists met up in a four block circumference at 9 am, and painted for two hours (with a buzzer to start and end us). Then we quickly framed the paintings in the backs of our cars and brought them to the auction tent where they were immediately auctioned off. It is a CRAZY scene!

Lilies in the Sunlight, 12 x 9, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2013

Door County Quick Paint - SOLD

Me, painting in the Quick Paint.

Weathered Bluff and Stormy Lake - Door County Plein Air

Weathered Bluff, 12 x 9, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2012

Available at the Peninsula School of Art, Guenzel Gallery

These two paintings from the Door County Plein Air Festival are completely connected, story-wise, so I am posting them together...

I got up very early one morning to paint the rocky cove above. I was sure that the morning light would be just gorgeous, but about 20 minutes after I started, it began to rain. Clearly a big storm was coming so I had to quit. Packing up my car, I noticed the "Stormy Lake" view below and determined that I could paint that scene under the tailgate of my rental car. The storm got louder and wilder. Eventually, I was completely inside the car, cross-legged, and finished the painting with my easel practically in my lap. 

I did go back the next day for the "Weathered Bluff" painting - I was committed! It was overcast again, but still beautiful. I do want to go back again sometime when it's sunny! Hopefully next year?? :) 

(Again, please forgive the blurry photos, I did not have the right equipment with me to get good images. Still kicking myself.)

Stormy Lake, 12 x 9, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2012, NFS