630 Center Gap Lighthouse, Milwaukee

I find the mostly blue sky/seascapes to be very difficult to paint.  Maybe one day there will be a painting with a sailboat in it.  I have to figure out a way to make it interesting.

618 A Perfect Day

Monday was a perfect day.  Oh, nothing of major significance happened, just an ordinary day.  But everything seemed perfect, mostly because the weather was glorious, the birds were busy and people seemed happy.  Wearing SHORTS and a SLEEVELESS top (that in itself is really earth shattering here in Milwaukee--today I had my winter coat on again.  And a sweater.  Sorry, I digress)  with my backpack slung over my shoulder, I headed out for a walk to one of my favorite spots, Big Bay Park and a beach on Lake Michigan.   On my way down the path, an artist was tucked away painting the beautiful view.  I felt ashamed that I wasn't painting outdoors.  The water was so blue and so was the sky.  Several others were there enjoying the day.  I collected rocks, and hauled them home in my backpack, a good workout.  I immediately sat down to paint when I got home, so I could keep the feeling inside of me fresh.  Yes, it was a perfect day.

"618 A Perfect Day"
acrylic - 11x14 in

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/618-a-perfect-day/386390

597 View of Lake Michigan From the Harvey's

I've been working on sea/skyscapes for the last several months as inspired by Roos Rose Schuring.  I just love her work, which is so free and seemingly so simple, but really so very difficult to achieve.  I am not trained in oil paints, so I am learning that too.  The photo reference was taken in the early evening on the shore of Lake Michigan.  I cropped out my garden club friends (shhhh...don't tell).

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/597-view-of-lake-michigan-from-the-harveys/370444

584 Pier at Big Bay

Big Bay Park at Lake Michigan is one of my favorite spots to go any time of the year.  There are two paths down to the beach area, one with at least a million lannon stone steps, that completely immerses you in nature, and the other is a gentle winding slope.  The beach is fairly small but that's where I like to go to pick rocks and the occasional bit of sea glass.  I never come home with empty pockets.  The pier is a favorite place to sit on a calm summer day.  During the summer months, there are quite a few visitors there because it is easy to manage, but during the winter is when you see the dramatic ice that has formed on the lake and the pier.  Here are pictures I took this winter of the pier and the winding steps to the beach. The reference photo for the painting above was taken a week or two ago.

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/584-pier-at-big-bay/366229

582 Lake Michigan at Beach Drive

When we first moved to the Milwaukee area, people talked about the "witch" on Beach Drive, which is located on a dead end drive on Lake Michigan.  The "witch of Fox Point," Mary Nohl created wonderful works of art, animals, people, dinosaurs, etc. out of cement.  She would haul buckets of water from the Lake, and people assumed she was strange, weird, witch-like.  Now that she has passed, there has been a movement to make her home a museum, but the neighborhood is resentful and doesn't want the traffic that goes with a museum on a dead end road near the lake. She has finally gained her notoriety and the respect she deserved as an artist.   I took a ride there the other day, where you drive so very close to the lake.  It was a beautiful day and brought back many memories of driving with my frightened children, who bought into the whole witch idea as children. 

190 Boundary

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/diane-campion/190-boundary/174672