I love what I do. I describe my job as getting to visit some of the most beautiful places with the people who know the most about those places. Every piece of land that has been preserved has a story behind it. It’s my job to learn that story and figure out the best way to tell it back with pictures and two paragraphs or less.

An excellent, successful interpretive sign is SO much more than what appears on the surface. So many subtleties are built into an excellent interpretive sign,  MESSAGE delivery, writing, choice of visual elements, font choice, font size, layout, what to include and perhaps most important, what to leave out.
Unfortunately, in an effort to save money, many interpretive signs today are being handled ‘in-house’ by a well meaning and most likely talented designer. When a visitor glances at an interpretive sign there exists a three second (or less) opportunity to capture the further attention and interest. If the viewer glazes over and walks on by that educational opportunity is lost. Period. And honestly, can you afford to miss that opportunity? That family? That potential supporter of your preserve? No, you can’t.

Don’t trust the design, writing and layout of your interpretive signs to just anyone. Call me instead.

Just call, I can do it!

It’s not TOO late to give the gift of art to that someone special, someone who already has everything-you know who I’m talking about. Creating a custom piece in time for Christmas gift giving would be a challenge at this point. BUT I have a few lovely oil paintings from the art shows this summer. It’s quite possible I have the PERFECT painting for you to give as a gift OR to give yourself as a gift.

Send me a note, I’ll send you a painting! It’s that simple.

Happy, happy.

Sunset at Indiana Dunes Main Beach. painted en plein air, 8" x 16", oil

Clouds on the Water, 8" x 10", oil

View From Gourd Growers Compost Pile, en plein air painting, 10" x 20" oil, Lake County, Illinois

The Shores of Turtle Creek-Sunday, November 13, 2011

Treat your senses, your eyes, your ears, your sense of smell, your sense of touch, taste, your intellect, spend the day with your friends. All that deliciousness and more is yours for the enjoying this Sunday in Spring Grove at the Affair of the Arts. Over thirty local gifted, creative craftspeople will be on hand with the fruits of their passions on display. Buy real art direct from the artist. We can jump start our economy by spending our hard earned dollars on things that matter.

Art matters.

Come to see me and say hi. For the winter shows I gather and dry flowers from my gardens. I use Real flowers, Real calligraphy, on Re-cycled paper, in Re-purposed frames. I collect and recycle the inspirational sayings and affirmations as well. A 100% sustainable art form. I’ve never seen anything like it at any of the shows. Each piece is unique, I start with the frame, choose a paper that compliments the existing frame and mat, select the saying, do the calligraphy, then pull out the phone books filled with the dried flowers and start arranging. It truly is a labor of love. I hope you’ll enjoy one or two of my pieces enough that you’ll want to take them home for yourself or to give as a gift.

Hand-made with love, from the heart,

using the gift of beautiful flowers from my gardens.

Made this painting of a Great Blue Heron while at a recent show. I won’t mention names, but you know it’s not going to be the best show when the largest crowds gather for the pet parade only to quickly disperse after the last pet has waddled away.

Next weekend is yet another opportunity for you to enjoy an art festival. This one is brand new-! Throw your support behind the first Annual Mundelein Arts Festival. September 10 & 11 from 10-5 in Kracklauer Park, 100 N. Seymour Ave., Mundelein IL. Come see me in booth#23!

Recently I traveled to Door County to participate in a plein air painting competition hosted by the Peninsula School of Art. There were at least 80 painters within a four-block area near Clark Park and the Alibi Marina in the town of Fish Creek. We had exactly two hours to complete our paintings, which had to be time stamped at the start and finish.

It was thrilling to be surrounded by SOOOO many artists and art appreciators. As much fun as it was to be painting, I wished I could have been walking around to look at each of the artists as they painted. It was a great spectator sport. After the two hour paint out, auctioneers from Sotheby’s of New York proceeded to auction off forty paintings created by the invited artists who had participated in plein air painting all week. There were several hundred folks seriously ready to spend $ on art. The first two paintings quickly sold for over $700. The auction is the annual fundraiser for the Peninsula School of Art. Folks were very serious and playful at the same time about which paintings they wanted to bid on. I overheard one young woman ask another, “I wonder how much Daddy will let me bid this year.” Sales of 2-D at the art shows this summer have not been what I anticipated. Being part of the Plein Air Paint Out restored my faith in the inherent goodness of beauty.

One of the small chicken paintings sold. Another painting from the I’m-painting-my-way-around-Lake-Michigan series sold as a Fathers’ Day gift. Several couples came right to the edge of purchasing the larger paintings.

There are so many intrinsic reasons for doing the shows, talking with the folks who choose to spend time in my booth, listening to memories sparked by my paintings-which act as touchstones, listening to the live musicians is an incredible perk. This weekend Craig Kenning played both days-W O W-check his music out! Meeting amazing artists and fine craftspeople two and three tents up and down from my booth is simply wonderful. We spend the time between customers talking about the creative process.

I had help this weekend, thank-you Dean for helping set up. Thank you Jane for dinner and a lovely place to sleep two blocks from the show. Thank you Eric for suggesting I quick dry my fresh oil paintings in a low temp oven. Friday night I was bakin’ a batch of small fresh paintings.

Later this week I’ll tell the tale of traveling to the next show in Grand Haven, Michigan by sea.

This week I visited the Yellow Farm house at Liberty Prairie Conservancy located within Prairie Crossing in Grayslake. The CHICKENS! I was enchanted by the beautiful chickens! I snapped a few photos and made these little paintings. The little paintings are part of my ‘You-CAN-afford-to-own-an-original-oil-painting’ series that I’ve been selling successfully for around $50 each.

This will be my 5^th art show this season. I’m no longer a ‘newbie’, a means of identification and affection given to those of us new to the show circuit. I passed WAYY beyond that label a few weeks ago when my art, my show gear and I all survived the storm at the Cuneo Museum show.

A number of you came to Hinsdale last weekend to see me and my art. Thank you! It was wonderful to get to meet you-some of you I’ve worked with for years and never met in person.

This is the last official weekend of spring, be sure to get out an enjoy it. No matter what you do this weekend…be sure your plans include art.

Honestly, the weather has really spooked me. My work and I were undamaged two weeks ago at the Cuneo Museum Art Show. That experience took more out of me than I care to admit. Each day since the storm at Cuneo, I’ve seen photos and read accounts written by the artists themselves about the devastation at art shows happening all around the country. To say it’s unnerving is a gross understatement. I knew when I signed up for this lifestyle I agreed to take on and accept the risks. BUT, the rock-gut reality of what has been happening to artist’s booths and their art is soul crushing. I find I’ve have not been enjoying the storms as much as I have in the past. This morning there was a tremendous, house-shaking boom of thunder and a crash of lightening that caused a home to burn to the ground one street over from where I sat.

I finished this large painting the other day with joy. I worked in the cool 79-degree temp in my French basement. I strongly believe in my work and the choice I made to do the show circuit this summer. Doing the art show circuit much more challenging on so many levels now that playing Russian roulette with Mother Nature is a MUCH bigger part of the mix than is normal.

Come see me at Hinsdale this weekend or go visit another art show, there are shows all over the area. Support the artists and support the arts!

A short time b/4 the storm someone came around with an IPad to show each of us the radar of the storm coming. They were taking a poll about shutting down the show or waiting it out. They were going to let us all go into the Mansion. I said I’d be willing to wait it out IF I could haul my two crates of paintings in with me. So I did. It was quite an amazing experience. About 60 fine artists and craftspeople holed up in the entryway of the mansion and in the basement. The mansion guards would NOT let us wander around the mansion until MUCH later-hours later-that’s when I was able to take this amazing photo.

In a very weird way it was a positive experience being in the basement with  the fine artists and craftspeople while the wild storm raged outside. I was ok, all 28 of my small paintings safe with me. I had to leave the four large ones in my booth. Many of us had time to grab our lunches. We swapped stories, played trivia games, gossiped about the guards, our show schedules, how little $ we made. It was kinda fun. The usual social ‘barriers’ washed away in the torrential storm.

Quite an experience taking the booth down from the inside out in the storm, everything was absolutely soaking wet (understatement). The ground was sooooooo soft, the grass was sooooooo long. The load in and out was made even more exhausting by that unfortunate condition. Overall it was an amazing character building experience.

Smallish oil paintings to be unveiled this weekend!

The satisfaction of pleasing a client by nailing an image never diminishes. Each time I take on a new illustration project my job it to pull the vision of the client out of thin air and put it on paper, make it visible here in the material world. I love it! The thrill of acceptance into a show or an event is equally satisfying.

Embarking upon the summer art fair circuit has challenged me to grow as an artist and businessperson in many new ways. It’s good.

This weekend I’ll unveil a series of small ‘postcard’ paintings at the Cuneo  Garden Art Fest.