“Snowy Barnes Park – 2/19/12″ — oil on canvas 8×16” by Margie Guyot
Here are a few more of my en plein air paintings of the ice on Lake Michigan. I learned to paint “in the open air”, as opposed to painting from photographs. I moved to northern Michigan at the end of 2007 when the auto plant I’d worked in was shut down & all our cars sent to Mexico. I’d only been used to river and ponds, so Lake Michigan was quite a thrill. And it still is!
People always ask if my paints freeze when I’m outside, painting. So far they haven’t. I always wear layers of longjohns, wool socks, wind-blocker pants, Arctic boots, goosedown, etc. Still, it’s sometimes a challenge, since I suffer from Reynaud’s Syndrome. A sled comes in handy at times.
Some years the lake freezes over, especially in the Grand Traverse Bay area. Even so, I don’t trust the ice. I’ll go out a short way, no farther than if it’d break, I’d only go in about thigh-deep. One time when I was painting over at a popular spot known as “Rex Beach”, a family with 4 of 5 little kids came running down to the shore and out they scurried, about a block out onto the ice. Not a good idea!!
Oh yeah — I almost forgot — these paintings (and many more) will be on display at the Crooked Tree Arts Center in Petoskey, MI. Show opens on January 17th, running through February 28th.
Margie Guyot Art 