by Jill Stefani Wagner

"Petoskey Haze"   oil   9x12   Michigan State Parks turn one hundred years old this year. Let's celebrate!   Landscape artists were invited to paint scenes from over 100 State Parks in our beautiful state. The Great Lakes Plein Air Painters Association was up for the challenge! We painted our diverse recreational areas from October 2018 through September 2019 in groups and individually.   With my crazy plein air schedule, I only managed to squeeze in visits to 3 parks in different areas of the state. In cold, foggy May, I spent a day at Petoskey State Park, capturing the grey mist as it rolled off Lake Michigan. [...]

"Antiques"   oil   12x16   As usual at plein air events, I got up and out early in the morning, driving til I saw something that caught my artistic eye. I slammed on the brakes when I saw this old antique store bathed in dappled light. It was on a busy street, and it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but I just had to paint it.   "Vineyard with a View"   oil   11x14   I returned to a favorite vineyard on the lake... and spent a whole day at a iris farm filled with flowers and old farm buildings. But I have reached the stage in [...]

"Near the Vineyard"   oil   12x16   My next painting adventure this summer took place in New York State at the Finger Lakes Plein Air Festival. I've painted in this event quite a few times and it's a favorite of mine. Our painting area included the entire area around Lake Canandaigua and some miles east and west. That's a lot of ground to cover if you don't know exactly where you want to paint! But the roads aren't crowded and the scenery is breathtaking. What's not to like?     One day the artists concentrated on the southern part of the lake to paint the many vineyards, [...]

"Table for Two?"   oil   8x8   The first couple of days at the Wayne Plein Air Festival, it rained. For some reason that seems to happen more often than not. In this event we were allowed to paint indoors if the weather was bad. (Others force us outside to paint in hail storms with combat helmets.) So I headed to a beautiful floral/decorating store to paint my first piece. Then off to a bar to capture the lunch crowd. To say that patrons in these establishments were curious is a gross understatement. "What? Painting in a bar?" Much explaining ensued.   "Liquid Lunch"   oil   12x12   I [...]