Milwaukee Sketch Club at Vernon Marsh Overlook

Very sunny out today. Chilly too, but we were toasty in our cars.

Directions to Falcons View Overlook to Vernon Marsh

See Dec 1 & 6, 2009 posts for pictures.

We will be meeting at Falcons View undeveloped subdivision off of Hillview Drive on the East side of Mukwonago. This is a view high on a hill overlooking the Vernon Marsh on the east and looking west, hopefully into a beautiful sunset.

The directions from Sunset Drive in Waukesha is: Turn south onto Oakdale Drive from Sunset Drive. Drive approx 4 mi when on the left you will see Morningstar Golf Course. At the end of the golf course, turn right onto Hillview Drive. As Hillview turns sharply to the left, you will see a sign on your right that says Falcons View Subdivision. Turn right, going up the hill and look for our cars. We will be either at the top circle or on the left down the hill a little at the bottom circle.

From Hy 83. South on Hy 83 to Pick N Save, Hy NN. Left or east on NN to the stoplight. Turn left on Hy ES (east) past Heaven City. You will then see a Citgo Gas Station on the right. A white farm house will be ahead on the left, and that is Hillview. Turn left onto Hillview, (north) and past the four turns in the road. After the fourth turn, you will be on a straight road, which at the next right turn, (do not turn) you go straight up the hill into Falcons View subdivision.

Gerlinde Gelina at the MCafe

Gerlinde Gelina,
showing at the MCafe, http://www.mcafeonline.com/index.html ,
535 E. Wells Street Milwaukee Jan 25 - Mar 26.
Opening Reception Tue Jan 26 5:30-8
cafe hours: M-F 7am -2:30pm.

Milwaukee Sketch Club at Blarney Castle playhouse in Mukwonago

Relatively warm & overcast today with a brisk wind.

Next week Thursday we will be at Falcon View Estates subdivision overlooking Vernon Marsh. Should look different in the snow. See Dec 1 & Dec 6 posts for more information.

Milwaukee Sketch Club at Vernon Farm

Overcast & relatively warm.

Next week Thursday we're going to Phantom Ranch with its Blarney Castle since we got snowed out last week. For directions see post 1/5/2010.

Ann Miotke Lecture about Egg Tempera painting

For more information on Ann Miotke see

• http://www.toryfolliard.com/painting/Anne-Miotke.shtml
• http://www.gracechosygallery.com/GraceChosyGallery_pages/GraceChosyGallery_artistimages_folder/GraceChosyGallery_artistimages_Miotke.htm

It was more of a lecture than a demo though at the end we could try the egg tempera.

The basic advantages to egg tempera is that it "glows". You need to build it up in layers, usually by crosshatching with a brush. It dries quickly. It appears to be very labor intensive. Generally used for small paintings done on gessoed (not acrylic gesso) wood. She said people who are good draftsman and like to draw tend to like it. Traditional method involves using a detailed under drawing. She used a blue watercolor underpainting. She recommends buying Ampersand's cradled clayboard for tempera to avoid the labor intensive process of preparing the substrate. If you want to experiment with the technique you could try blending the yolk with watercolors but may not work.

Here's a link to the Society of Tempera Painters, http://www.eggtempera.com/

Some possible places for Plein Air

Drove along the lakefront on Lake Drive in Milwaukee yesterday around 4pm. The sun was shining and it was very beautiful. Turquoise water with ducks & ice floating in it, wind sculped snow. Shadows cast by the snow fences and tall weeds. Knarley trees. People were walking their dogs and sledding down North Point Tower Hill. There are places to park and still get a decent scene to paint.

Some other possible Plein Air places from Wisconsin Trails magazine, http://www.wisconsintrails.com/ , Jan/Feb issue 2010, Places of Solitude article p. 22:

• Joan of Arc Chapel, N. 14th St., south of Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee
• Pike lake Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, State Hwy 60 between Hartford & Slinger
• Holy Hill, 1525 Carmel Road Hubertus
• Schlitz Audubon Nature Center Beach, 1111 E. Brown Deer road, Milwaukee
• Aztalan State park, Jefferson County on Hwy Q south of Co Hwy B
• The North Point Lighthouse, 2650 N. Wahl Ave, Milwaukee
• Montello Waterfalls, Hwy 23 in Montello
• Scuppernong Trail, office 3 miles west of Eagle on Hwy 59
  

Milwaukee Recreation Classes

See http://www.milwaukeerecreation.net/recreational-reader/index.htm for classes such as watercolor, animation, acrylic painting, matting & framing 202, stained glass....

Classes through Alverno Telesis

See http://www.alverno.edu/community_friends/telesis.html for the following classes among others:

p. 15 Watercolor Painting by Joyce Eesley (for examples of her work see http://www.leagueofmilwaukeeartists.com/joyce_eesley.htm )

Oil Painting, Landscape & Still Life by Ken Bronikowski (for examples of his work see http://www.finelinedesignsgallery.com/artists/KenBronikowski.html )

Greenfield News & Hobby Classes

See http://greenfieldhobby.home.att.net/classes.html for drawing, watercolor and calligraphy classes taught by Linda Lubner along with airbrush and using grid method to enlarge & transfer an image to canvas by Yvonne Brusewitz.

Upcoming Classes & Demos at Artist N Display

See http://www.artistanddisplayonline.com/classes.php for classes being offered such as Georgia OKeeffe, Charcoal & Ink, etc.

See http://www.artistanddisplayonline.com/demos.php for demos such as pan pastels, alcohol inks, etc.

Upcoming Plein Air Outing this Thursday 1/7/10 starting at 2:30pm

We are thinking of going to Phantom Ranch http://www.phantomranch.org/welcome.htm in Mukwonago this Thursday. There is a very old stone children's playhouse built in the 1900's that looks like a stone castle.

Directions:

• Take Hwy 83 south to the stoplight at Pearl Street. You will see Citizens Bank 1/2 block south of the stoplight on Hwy 83.
• Turn Left (East) on Pearl Street to Pleasant Street, about 2-3 blocks
• Turn Left (North) on Pleasant Street and it is on your left.
• The Mukwonago Library is only 1/2 block up so bathrooms are available in the library. (I haven't been there yet but I wonder if you could just follow the signs to the library.)
  

If all else fails, here is a link to the google map: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&source=hp&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=0,0,527678773508197049&fb=1&hq=phantom+ranch&hnear=mukwonago+wi&gl=us&daddr=W309+S10910+Hwy+I,+Mukwonago,+WI+53149&geocode=16464771174351241706,42.893599,-88.365379&ei=3ZFDS5KIJYTSMvqOoZEI&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=directions-to&resnum=1&ved=0CA0QngIwAA

Some more info from Tour #3 provided by the Mukwonago Chamber of Commerce, http://www.mukwonagochamber.com/ .

"401 Pleasant Street - Blarney Castle."

"The castle, with its sturdy stone walls, was built in 1897 by the Porter family. A friendly rivalry among the neighbors led them to erect this replica of the Irish Blarney Castle so that they would have a better garden than their neighbors. They got the idea from the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. The castle provided a great place for the village children to play. when cars came alon, gasoline was stored in it so that the townspeople could get gasoline when the gas station was closed."

Next week we're going to paint horses in a neighbors field in Mukwonago. Email us if you'd like to meet up with us.