Day 24 ~ February Challenge 28-in-28 Days

Clouds Over Ice 16.5" x 9.5" Pastel on Canson MiTeintes orchid paper.

Cumulus clouds in an intensely blue winter sky. The vibration created by the contrast of the orchid pink paper and the blue causes the sky to come alive.

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Day 18 ~ February Challenge

Cirrus Clouds ~ En Plein Aire 12" x 9" Pastel on Richeson Pastel Paper

It was another unseasonably warm winter day, so I headed out to paint outdoors. I didn't travel far, just to the field behind my house.The sky was intensely blue with high, thin cirrus clouds. It was great to be outside. Working on the  Richeson paper was new to me and I liked the rough texture and deep tooth.

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Day 17 ~ February Challenge 28-in-28 Days

Soft Evening Light 10" x 18" on Uart pastel paper.

Soft autumn light falls across a grassy field and the trees just beyond.

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Day 12 ~ February Challenge 28-in-28 Days

Hills and Clouds 7" x  9" Pastel on Uart 400 grit pastel paper.

On this blustery, winter day I enjoyed working in the sutdio from my reference photos taken when the temperatures were warm and it was a fine day to be outside.

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Day 3 ~ February Challenge 28-in-28

Slip Slidin' Away 11" x 14"

Another take on the sun slippin' below the horizon on a winter evening. Yesterday's version was a tiny 4.5" x 5.75". This one was done as a demonstration for the residents at the Heartland House Care Facility. CLICK HERE: TO PURCHASE THIS PAINTING

ON THE TRAIL - 8 x 10 - WIN THIS PAINTING!

YOU COULD TAKE HOME THIS PAINTING!

This original, framed, ready to hang pastel landscape painting will go home with one of this year's Sweetheart Candlelight Event raffle ticket buyers. So, go to the event, have some fun, buy raffle tickets, and you might be the one. You'll have the satisfaction of knowing you helped to financially support the Ice Age Trail and you will have an original work of art to remind you of the trail.

Waushara County Chapter of the Ice Age Scenic Trail

18th Annual Sweetheart Candlelight Event

February 11, 2017 -- 5-9 PM

Caribou Bay Retreat

N795 County Rd. JJ, Coloma, WI

This family event is a fun winter outing for all ages. After hiking, snowshoeing, or cross-country skiing on the Wedde Creek Segment, warm yourself by the bonfire. Go inside the Caribou Bay Retreat to enjoy music by the Cody Clauson Trio and refreshments - and be sure to enter the raffle for great prizes.

Here's why I donate art to the Ice Age Scenic Trail's annual Sweetheart Candlelight Event's fundraising raffle:

~ The raffle proceeds go directly to creating, protecting, and supporting the trails in Waushara County.

~ The Waushara County Chapter maintains 20.5 designated miles of trail divided between 6 segments.

~ Access to the trails is free.

~ Giving back to an organization that helps preserve the areas where I hike and paint is simply "the right thing to do."

HOLIDAY GREETINGS

PEACE - My Christmas wish for you. I chose Snow-Covered Lane to use for my holiday greeting because it conveys a quiet sense of peace. This painting is of the driveway to my home. I walk down the drive almost every day and when it is covered with a heavy snow like the one in the painting I am filled with a sense of peace and well-being. When the sun sparkles on the snow creating a zillion priceless diamonds I am very aware of the treasure I have in living where I do.

Reflecting on the past year I am very thankful for the time spent with family and friends. I am also very thankful that I have the opportunity to create art and for the many ways it connects me to you. I am thankful for each of you and the encouragement you give me. I truly hope that my art brings pleasure to others.

May PEACE be yours today and every day in the coming year. If we are unable to meet face-to-face, I hope we will meet here (via computer) in 2017.

Please visit my new website susanklabakfineart.com.

PARFREY'S GLEN 18 X 14

A very beautiful and popular location in Wisconsin. I have not been able to capture in the photo the colors that are in the painting.   

ON TOP OF RIB MOUNTAIN 14 x 14" Day 5 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Top image is the "tweaked" version.

This one might need a little tweaking in the leafy area, but I am satisfied with the way the rock outcropping looks.I am posting it before I am completely ssatisfied so that I have one for Day 5 of the challenge.

RIB MOUNTAIN GOLD 10 X 13

Day 1 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Break in the Clouds 8 x 20

This is (was) the view across the field behind my house. The little white country church burned to the ground a few weeks ago. This was the original version of this painting. At some point I removed the church from the painting. I still have the painting and I plan to put the church back in; maybe the parishners would like it as a remembrance. I hear they will be rebuilding on the same lot. The church was a beautiful, historic landmark. I don't have words to describe my feelings when I looked out about 8 pm the night it burned. Our quiet moonlit winter landscape was filled with the flashing red lights of the firetrucks and in the center the huge ball of orange as the entire building was totally engulfed in flames, a stark contrast to the moonlight on the blue snow. The site was even more horrific in the light the next morning.

Winter Farm Ditch 13 x 17

We still have plenty of snow, and it will be here for awhile. Two years ago the ice was off our lake on March 15. We still have snow on top of the ice, and it was very thick this year, so it won't be melting for some time.

This painting is available unframed via PayPal: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/susan-klabak/winter-farm-ditch/208217

Autumn By the River 16 x 28

As winter continues on in Wisconsin, I decided to do a colorful autumn landscape. This is one of my larger pieces so it took a few days to complete. I have difficulty working any larger because I can only handle glass that is 24 x 36, which is the size this one will be framed.

Autumn Rib Mountain 17 x 13

Day 27 - Autumn Rib Mountain

Edge of the Woods 9 x 9

Day 24 - Edge of the Woods

Day 24, almost there, six more to go. This was done from a photo I took of the woods near the end of my driveway. Behind the deer is the neighbor's corn field where the deer had been most likely eating dinner.

Sunlit Pines 8.5 x 8.5

Day 22 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

I've been wanting to do a painting of the green lichen that grows on many of the trees in our woodlot. I loved the colors in this painting...my favorites - greens and blues.

The Shack 9 x 11

Day 21 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

I am often attracted to derelict buildings. They seem to tell stories, and I like to embellish the stories in my own mind; thinking about the people that have used or inhabited them long ago. I wonder what the builder of this building would think if they saw this building today, so sadly neglected. 

Autumn Treeline with Clouds 7 x 14

Day 17 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Just another cloudy day in autumn.

Half Way to the North Pole 9 x 9

Day 16 - 30  Paintings in 30 Days
After hiking at Rib Mountain with the Waushara Outdoor Women,  the group that I was with took a side trip to the exact center of the northern half of the Western Hemisphere. North 45 Parallel, West 90 Meridian - Marathon Co. WI, They were slightly more fascinated by the location than I was. I was more interested in this little creek that was nearby. I loved the reflections of the autumn trees in the still water.


The heavens are yours and
yours also the earth,
You founded the world and
all that is in it.
You created the north and the south.
Psalm 89:11-12

River and Clouds 10 x 16

Day 15 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Clouds, again. Clouds, my favorite subject. This time with my second favorite subject -water.