As the wind has picked up, ice blowing in from open water has begun freezing the bay around Sand Island. The team will be on the island for a couple more days before moving camp. Hopefully, Maria will have the opportunity to explore more of the mainland by helicopter.

Stay tuned for more news from the field.

–Darin

–Darin

Sand Island, Greenland. Approx. 500×300 meters (zoom out for context):

View Maria High Latitudes Expedition in a larger map

Opportunities for communication may be few and far between, but I will try to get news of our expedition to my husband Darin, so he can post on my blog until I return the week of August 16th.

Wish me luck!

I am honored that my High Latitudes project is now recognized as a Wings WorldQuest Flag Expedition! WINGS is an international organization based in New York that is dedicated to the supporting women involved in environmental conservation and field science. I just received flag #24 in the mail which I will carry to Greenland and I look forward to becoming involved with WINGS’ programs to promote scientific literacy and positive role models.

The little Western Wood-Pewee is a new favorite of mine, mostly because a juvenile likes to perch on the water spigot outside our dining window to forage for bugs. I love watching it cock its head left and right searching for insects before swooping out and returning to its perch, sometimes with a fly between its beak. Finally, the American Goldfinch caught my attention with its brilliant colors and swooping flight. More birds on my “bird card” list including Grosbeaks and Ruddy Ducks! Any requests?

Spring Green, 29" x 15.5", watercolor

Aspen Sketch, 29" x 15"

During the past few weeks, the landscape around my house has just exploded with green. It’s been cultivated by warm weather and days of rain, which are productive for studio work. I recently finished the painting above and thought I’d share a bit of my process. It’s by far the greenest and most detailed painting I’ve ever completed! First, my inspiration was a large field sketch I completed a couple weeks ago using my new tripod. I liked the general composition, and sketched out ideas for painting the Apsen trees more densely, exploring the patterns of trunks. Once I finalized my drawing (done lightly with a 2H pencil), I used brown packing tape and a razor blade to mask out the tree trunks.

Next I wet the paper and began to wash in colors, using Daniel Smith’s hansa yellow medium, pthalo blue (red shade), pthalo green, quincridone rose, and quinacridone burnt orange. (My color inspiration came from Molly Hashimoto’s lovely Alder Demonstration). As some areas dried, I began to add more detail.

Working my way from the background to the foreground, I defined foliage and painted the trunks. I used a limited palette, working only with the five colors listed above.

I continued adding patterns of light and dark to the foliage and trunks.

Finally I added the shadows in the road and defined the grasses.

To complete the painting, I punched up my shadows to emphasize value changes. I keep in mind the advice a professor of mine in college once gave me, “make your darks dark!”  Once the marks I was making were no longer making an appreciable difference to the painting, I declared it complete! (Please note, the colors between these photos shifted as the light changed in my studio.)

Last weekend after my High Latitudes Benefit in Seattle (which was great fun- thank you everyone who came!), Darin and I headed over the South Cascades mountains to the small town of Tieton which is close to Yakima. We were there to visit the Mighty Tieton, an entrepreneurial arts endeavor founded in 2005 by Ed Marquand, the owner of Marquand Books in Seattle. I’m exploring possibilities for working with the Mighty Tieton as artist-in-residence next year and it was exciting to learn more about their projects and see their creative spaces.

Ed and his associates invested in several empty fruit warehouses and buildings that have since been converted into amazing art, work, live, and meeting spaces. One warehouse is now 14 condos and another 40,000 square foot warehouse is now home to the Goathead Press printmaking workshop, a full woodshop, kite workshop, the studio of sound-artist Trimpin, and a massive event space. Another building down the street is home to Marquand Editions studio and bindery. The creative energy of so many art and production spaces is inspiring. It’s well worth a visit and while there, be sure to stop by the brand new Tieton Creamery with fresh goat cheese and eggs. I look forward to my artist-in-residency and contributing to Mighty Tieton’s endeavors!

Marquand Editions

Book stitching machine