Motor Coach/Studio House Warming

First painting completed at home after our weekend at Coyote Rock, Kernville, Oregon! first painting of our new life style! It is inspired by the spring color as seen on the Siletz River.

"Rain" came to see and wish us well with our Winnebago Coach at Coyote Rock. Generously if we needed any help Rain and her husband were ready to assist. ( photo by Rain's husband )Thank you!

Framing the July and August Exhibits

"Dragon Song II" is my fiery painting for the group exhibit, "Feathers, Fins and Fire". It is going on a wall with other red fiery paintings by artists Gordon Dobbie and Diane Hoff-Rome. This frame is being restored to give the piece some weight. The linen liner was painted red to be part of the painting. It will be hung next to a very fiery mural size painting.

Some collector stuffed animals and my Peter Pan book from my childhood were the subjects of this painting completed about three years ago. It has never sold and I have never painted over it. It is getting a complete make over for the August Corvallis Art Guild Annual Clothes Line Sale. This hand made frame featured a white, a very bright painted white linen liner. The dark blue outer frame over powered the picture. The red painted liner goes much better with my warmed up painting. Even the whites in the painting have a warm tone.

Polishing the exhibit: Feathers, Fins, and Fire

"Siuslaw River Gull" was started seven years ago and has been exhibited before but today I felt very liberated by the daily paintings I have done in recent months. I had new found courage. I repainted the fisherman. Much of the back ground was significantly simplified. Painting the background and the figure while both are wet intermixing colors is the trick to creating atmosphere.

"Reef at Lubbers' Quarters" is one of my key paintings for "Feathers, Fins, and Fire" exhibit June at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. Again I modified the lighting to come closer to my memory.

Managing My Collection

Between exhibits is as good a time as any to go through my older paintings. I am compressing them by taking them out of frames. In some cases I cut out favorite parts of the painting and discard the remains. I am not rich like other artists who have filled one house and just move to another. Today I am trying to save a painting with a frame that really overpowered it. The white fill was just too white and the dark blue frame was too contrasty. The colors were disturbing and even after lightening them improving the color interest, they still do not sing to me yet.

Gull and Clam

After a very stormy Wednesday on Thursday we were rewarded with one of the most beautiful days at Newport, Oregon. My husband dug clams while I watched the birds. There was a bald eagel and gulls also finding and opening clams. After returning home and helping prepare a chowder, I painted this acrylic painting 3 foot by 1 foot.

Published my Granny book in new blog

In the spirit of sharing I have published my book, "When I Get to be Older". Perhaps others would like to join me and paint their dreams. And if you want to share them I will be very happy to see what your dreams are.
My new blog URL is http://widlerwenzeldreams.blogspot.com

Benton County Historical Museum Opening

Although it was difficult to get the word out that the museum was having an opening, there was a count of 92 people who came to see our "Journeys of the Heart" of four women presenting a sequel to an exhibit seven years ago. My picture book was hanging between a saying by a famous Confucius Scholar and two verses from the Psalms. I felt my work was very pretentious. It was not yet a story. Then two hours before the opening I finally let go and let the structure of what I had done write the ending.

Finally an ending for Granny Book

This evening is the opening to the "Journeys of the Heart" art exhibit. The paintings are hung but I must go back to change the ninth and last page of the book,"When I Get to be Older"
The last page is now:

No longer do I paint
about when I get to be older.
It is my 64th birthday.
I like giving myself these dreams.

If you are in the Corvallis Philomath area this evening please drop in the Benton County Museum. See what a treasure of a gallery we have here. It is about to be phased out because of county budget cuts.

Final Preperations

With only three days left before hanging the granny series at the Benton County Museum, I became very tired of the many revisions and went back to the original with the exception of the final ninth page.
I painted a dream of me dancing free of how we have to make ourselves look younger. Age is beautiful when you have a dream in your heart.

December Moon Set at Sunrise: April First Eve

Moon Rise at Sunset

All day yesterday I missed painting my daily painting so when evening approached I checked out the moon rise and was so pleased to make a few elementary astronomical observations. Mid December I painted the moon setting at sunrise. The last day of March the sun sets where the moon had in December representing about a 40 degree change in the sunset.