Minnesota Nice

I had heard about "Minnesota Nice" before. Wikipedia defines this as "Minnesota nice is the stereotypical behavior of long-time Minnesota residents to provide hospitality and courtesy to others." Well, it was much more than that for me on this trip. I finished Marc Hanson's 3-day workshop Sunday and it was fantabulous. I highly recommend studying with him. He did three demos (you can see them at his blog). Just watching him in action was worth the trip and workshop fee. In addition to squeezing in an extra demo for us, he was very gracious in answering our 1,000 questions as he worked. Plus the exercises, and and the materials that he provided and reviewed on value, color, approach to painting and supplies. I also got to tour the studio of his neighbor, Mary Pettis and see her wonderful work. Add to that a great group of fellow artists to take the workshop with. I was energized being around so many creative souls. And then, to make it extra, extra nice, we had Chamber of Commerce weather. I camped the whole time at Interstate Park (alternating the Wisconsin and Minnesota sides). Not only was the light and weather perfect for paining, but it cooled off perfectly for my nights' rest by the St. Croix river. I learned a ton from Marc in just three days. It will take me a while to absorb all the information and get it to the canvas. We stayed busy the whole time, doing exercises and watching demos. One thing I picked up was the importance of painting surfaces and I wound up putting extra primer on a half dozen panels by camp fire light Saturday evening. Hence my twitter update "Nocturnal Plein Air Canvas Priming" (follow me on twitter at donthacker). After the session ended on Sunday I went on a quick hike on the bluffs and did a painting. Then on Monday I did a couple of scenes I found driving around north of Taylors Falls, and finished the day hiking down to the river for my final piece. The area is really rich with subjects to paint. It was tough driving back to Minneapolis that night, although I enjoyed a hot shower and a bed to sleep in. In fact, it was Minnesota nice.