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Plein Air Paintings
BY
BRIAN STEWART
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Angus in Paradise
Paradise Valley is located just north of Yellowstone
between two mountain ranges. There are ranches with
grazing fields scattered with low slung trees where the
cattle gather around for shade and shelter. This makes
for a nice composition. 12 x16, oil on canvas on board,
in a gilded turn-of-the-century style frame. |
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The Chicken Coops
These pens were in the inner city Minneapolis/St. Paul
at the University of Minnesota’s experimental,
agricultural fields. In the background is the State Fair
Grounds. We’re fortunate to have this kind of inner city
scenery. This kind of stuff I’d normally drive by unless
I was looking for something to paint. The way the early
morning light was hitting the chicken coops made it
irresistible. 9 x12, oil on canvas on board, in a gilded
turn-of-the-century style frame. |
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Watering Paradise
This is Paradise Valley located between Livingston and
Yellowstone Park in Montana and it lives up to it’s
name. I recently visited there while painting with the
Northwest Rendezvous art group. Loaded with beautiful
cattle ranches there’s a lot to paint. These sprinklers
attracted me because of the soft, misty quality they
create. A very difficult effect to capture while
painting on location. 12 x16, oil on canvas on board, in
a gilded turn-of-the-century style frame. |
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The Skyway
This Skyway must be the oldest in Duluth, MN.
Originally built over an alley to join two adjacent
small manufacturing buildings it had real charm. In a
rough part of a international port city, it was
surrounded by 24 hour saunas and bars. Being a little on
the seedy side, the early morning clouds and light gave
it just the right feel. 9 x12, oil on canvas on board,
in a gilded turn-of-the-century style frame.
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Liquors R Us
I love naive architecture, where buildings are built
for function. No style, no charm, nothing else. This
building in West Duluth, MN had that plus a neon sign
that made it irresistible. The sign had great letter
forms, almost, but not quite, an art deco style. But
what really made it for me was they sold (plural)
“Liquors”, not just “Liquor”. Hard to pass up. 9 x12,
oil on canvas on board, in a gilded turn-of-the-century
style frame.
SOLD |
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The
Old Ranch
I like painting on old farms and ranches with their
various buildings and machinery, the older and funkier
the better. This ranch in Montana had that and more. An
old family ranch, over several generations and years, it
backs up to the Yellowstone River and has great views of
everything including shacks and equipment like you see
here. The kind of place an artist could spend years at.
9 x12, oil on canvas on board, in a gilded
turn-of-the-century style frame. |
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The Malt Shop
I don’t know the history of this charming little
building that sits on the tip of Lake Superior in Duluth
Minnesota. I think it was once part of the Old Fitgers
Brewery that was next door. Now a malt shop, it does a
brisk business with summer patrons coming and going,
stopping to gaze at the harbor and famous lift bridge.
For me these kind of paintings are difficult to do. You
have to document the building yet give it artistic
charm. I think I did that here. 9 x12, oil on canvas on
board, in a gilded turn-of-the-century style frame.
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The Gill Netter
This style of fishing boat with it’s high sides that
enclose the deck are unique to the Great Lakes. It
allows fisherman to fish the lakes throughout most of
the year and protects them from the elements, which in
the case of Lake Superior can be brutal, if not deadly.
I love the lines and form it gives the boats. I’ve
painted several of them. This one was at rest in an
out-of-the-way area of the Superior, WI harbor. 9 x12,
oil on canvas on board, in a gilded turn-of-the-century
style frame. |
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Over Duluth
The town of Duluth, MN is built on a hillside
overlooking the world’s largest inland sea port. The
view is spectacular from many angles, and combined with
the charm of the city’s buildings and character it is a
challenge and treat for an artist. I painted this
standing on a street corner surrounded by neighborhood
kids who where full of questions and interested in
watching an artist at work. 12 x16, oil on canvas on
board, in a gilded turn-of-the-century style frame.
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WYSIWYG
A
friend has a cabin on the south shore of Lake Superior.
At the end of his dirt road is a walking path that goes
to the lake’s edge where there sits a bench. If you sit
on that bench this is what you see and what you get: a
beautiful and varied view of Lake Superior complete with
the land form of the north shore. 9 x12, oil on canvas
on board, in a gilded turn-of-the-century style frame. |
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Home
on the Mississippi
On the Mississippi River near Winona is Latch Island
which has many funky, quaint, homemade Boat Houses that
some people live in year around. They make for
challenging, fun and great painting. This one with the
majestic bridge in the background seemed to tell a
particular poignant story of “now and then” or “progress
vs not-so-progress”. 12 x16, oil on canvas on board, in
a gilded turn-of-the-century style frame. |
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Broken Dock
This dock is in Hovland MN. Once a vibrant fishing
village on the north shore of Lake Superior, it had no
roads to it, only dog sled trails. The boats would pull
in and rail cars would go out on the dock (the rails are
now covered by a cement topping) to deliver the fresh
catch of lake trout, salmon and herring. A favorite
painting spot of mine, I have pulled my small travel
trailer out here, spent the night and watched the sun
come up in the morning as I sipped my coffee. Just one
reason it’s one of my favorite painting spots. There’s a
move to get the dock restored. I hope that happens. 9
x12, oil on canvas on board, in a gilded
turn-of-the-century style frame. |
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The Outhouse
This privy is on a very large, old vineyard in
Stockton, CA. Walking around that vineyard gave me the
feeling of the old, long gone, California I grew up
with. Sheds and quaint structures are a favorite subject
of mine and this one seemed to have a special character.
9 x12, oil on canvas on board, in a gilded
turn-of-the-century style frame.
SOLD |
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The Green, Green Cabin
I’m not sure what green means anymore. It use to
describe a color. But in any case this cabin had both.
Located in Hovland, MN this quaint structure was still
in use today. I particularly liked the vertical logs on
the front which I had never seen before and the snow
shovel that was poised for the coming snow in 5 months.
But mostly, I like the way the sun hit it. 9 x12, oil on
canvas on board, in a gilded turn-of-the-century style
frame. |
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The Fisherman’s Shacks
These shacks are in Grand Marais, MN. The last of
what were many during the fishing heyday, they’re slowly
giving way to progress. The one on the far left is on
the National Register of Historic Places. On the ground
floor the fish were cleaned and stored and upstairs the
fisherman slept. 9 x12, oil on canvas on board, in a
gilded turn-of-the-century style frame.
SOLD |
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Taco Wagon
This quaint little taco stand was in southern Arizona
right next to the Mexican border. It was homemade, well
used and did a brisk business. After I finished this
painting I found out why. The tacos were great! I love
culinary surprises like this and just think... it will
never get a restaurant review. 9 x12, oil on canvas on
board, in a gilded turn-of-the-century style frame.
SOLD |
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Shed Collection
As a plein air painter I’ve had the good fortune of
traveling all over the United States. One of the simpler
things I’ve come to appreciate is the humble farm shed.
Not the vinyl prefab type found at Home Depot, but the
homemade type with it’s endless variety and all it’s
permeations, usually found in interest settings. I found
these in Cornucopia, WI, a charming little town on the
south shore that time, fortunately, has not changed. 9
x12, oil on canvas on board, in a gilded
turn-of-the-century style frame. |
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Harbor Haze
Duluth MN / Superior WI is the largest inland harbor
in the world. For an artist, it’s full of great imagery
filled with interesting boats, grain silos, trains, dry
docks etc, all presented with true grit. To make it even
more interesting, you never know what the weather has in
store, as I found out on this June 9th morning. For me,
one of the losses of 9/11 is it’s now harder for an
artist to gain access to these places for security
reasons. 9 x12, oil on canvas on board, in a gilded
turn-of-the-century style frame. |
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Bookstore Loom
There’s a used bookstore in Cornucopia, WI that has
terminal appeal and character, not to mention a great
selection of books. I’ve painted it before, but this
time when I went in there was a weaver’s loom sitting in
the middle of it. I thought “what’s a loom doing here?”
but after thinking about it it just seemed to belong. So
I painted it again. 12 x16, oil on canvas on board, in a
gilded turn-of-the-century style frame.
SOLD |
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Moon Over Verde Valley
I painted this in Jerome, AZ. A small, very old mining
town situated on a hillside above Cottonwood, AZ. This
view is of Verde Valley looking east toward Sedona on a
full moonlit night. The expansiveness and atmosphere of
the Southwest seems to lend itself to these types of
paintings, giving the subject matter a very romantic
quality. 12 x16, oil on canvas on board, in a gilded
turn-of-the-century style frame.
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Heaven’s Light
I painted this
west of Tucson, AZ high up in a mountain pass. I drove
out there hoping to find a sundown scene looking west. I
didn’t like it, but when I turned around to head back to
Tucson, this is what I saw. Millions of stars echoed by
thousand of lights on the ground. I thought it would
make an interesting and challenging painting. 9 x12, oil
on canvas on board, in a gilded turn-of-the-century
style frame.
SOLD |
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Yesterday’s Truck &
Barn
This scene seems to be all across America. Old,
dilapidated barns and homesteads with dead cars and
trucks. But I can’t resist them when they have other
qualities of interesting color or dappled light as this
one has. It makes for interesting, challenging painting.
9 x12, oil on canvas on board, in a gilded
turn-of-the-century style frame. |
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Voyager’s Lunch
I painted this at the Grand Portage National Monument
in Minnesota near the Canadian border. The park has
rangers who are living history re-enactors that give you
a feeling for life in the 18th and 19th Century by doing
presentations and demonstrations. This one was smoking
lake trout near an Ojibwe hut. I got to taste the trout
later. It was great. 9 x12, oil on canvas on board, in a
gilded turn-of-the-century style frame.
SOLD |
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Tree Tunnel
I spotted this simple, yet appealing scene while
driving around the charming little town of Cornucopia on
the south shore of Lake Superior. I think it the duty of
a plein air painter to paint scenes that people wouldn’t
normally look at twice. This is one of them. 9 x12, oil
on canvas on board, in a gilded turn-of-the-century
style frame. |
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Cool & Clear
That’s exactly how this stream in northern Wisconsin
looked and felt. The color of the rock and the tannen in
the water combined with the color of the foliage were
very attractive to me. 9 x12, oil on canvas on board, in
a gilded turn-of-the-century style frame.
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Train Meets Grain
This is typical of the scenery around the harbor in
Superior, WI. It has that hard core industrial look with
grain silos, loading docks and boats interlaced with
trains and train tracks. It makes for challenging and
fun painting. 9 x12, oil on canvas on board, in a gilded
turn-of-the-century style frame. |
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Ghost House
This abandoned, empty shack on the shore of Lake
Superior didn’t seem too interesting to me when I first
saw it. Later I drove by it when it was shrouded in a
veil of fog. That did it. If walls could talk... 9 x12,
oil on canvas on board, in a gilded turn-of-the-century
style frame. |
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The Tug
I don’t know much about boats but I sure like them.
Particularly working class boats. This tug in the Duluth
MN harbor looked like it had seen a lot of service. The
elevators and buildings around it coupled with the foggy
weather seemed to add to the whole look. I was told the
tug recently sold so I know it has more years of service
ahead. 9 x12, oil on canvas on board, in a gilded
turn-of-the-century style frame. |
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Abandon
This
old homestead in northern Minnesota looked as if it’s
owner abruptly left leaving it to fate. I tried to
capture that in this painting as well as the wonderful
color quality it had. 9 x12, oil on canvas on board, in
a gilded turn-of-the-century style frame.
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© 2002-2009 Brian Stewart, Minneapolis,
MN
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