Plein Air Paintings

BY BRIAN STEWART

	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.

	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.

	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.

	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.

	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

	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.

	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.

	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.

	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.

	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.

	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.

	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.

	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

	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.

	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

	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

	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.

	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.

	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

	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.

	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

	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.

	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

	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.

	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.

	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.

	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.

	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.

	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.