Live Zoom Presentation, April 13, 7-8am & 3-4pm

 

Greg doesn't just create amazingly vibrant fun games with fabulous package and game design, but he also does murals and artist in residency programs! 

Join Greg and Heidi as they present the Artist In Residency Program Greg has done with great success in schools. Hear how he brings students of differentages and talents together to create a one of a kind piece of art that involves everyones' own creativity.

This program is great for schools, businesses, elderly and communities. Team building, community building & school spirit!

Heidi Preslicka is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87240106948

Superior Distancing

Took a quick trip up Highway 61along Lake Superior. I figured painting alone in nature is a great way to social distance. Many people had a similar idea. It wasn't nearly as busy as it would have been pre-virus days but many of the State Parks' parking lots were full. Everyone kept a safe distance.
The animals weren't so accomondating. I think with less car activity the deer have moved in. I saw more than 50 deer from Two Harbors to Grand Marais. Most off to the side but some that thought they owned the road. On my way back last night, on 35 heading south out of Duluth, I meet a black bear in my lane. Fortunately I saw its black silhouette early enough to slow down ad swerve to miss it.
It has been a while since I spend some time plein air painting. It felt good to shake off the cobwebs and spend some time outside.

Black Beach, Acrylic 9"x12", $150

Black Beach
The rock on the north shore has distinctive colors from the red of the rhyolite to the gray of the basalt. The variations are subtle and pretty consistent all along the shore. What struck me in this view was the orange of the distant rock. Orange colored lichen grow where the gulls sit and poop. A little disgusting but adds for some great color.
Many times, when painting, I meet interesting people or see something I wouldn't expect. It was a cool and overcast day at Black Beach Park in Silver Bay. There were a couple of people on the beach. One guy stopped to see my progress and mentioned he hadn't been up to the north shore in a while and really missed it. In the parking lot I noticed a car with a large rack meant for kayaks. While painting a man pulled nt the bay in a kayak and walked towards me. He stopped to take a look at the painting and I noticed he was cradling a bird. He told me it was a dead Peregrin falcon he found in the lake. He was going to take it to be autopsied to determine why it died. They nest just up the coast from where I was on Palisade Head. It was interesting seeing it up so close.

Grandview Shore, Acrylic 9"x12", $150

Grandview Shore
In Lutsen is a little park called Grandveiw, located just past the ski area. From the highway it looks like and small town's park it it has a small shoreline where the rock layers slope down into the lake. It is not a very big spot but the rocks are quite picturesque. I have stopped here many times to do a quick painting. Typically I aim my gaze a bit higher to include the horizon but was struck by the ripples and reflections on the water. This type of scene is always a tough one to pull off in a painting. I would only attempt it if I am feeling confident and want a challenge. I would never paint this at the end of a long day of painting. Reflections and ripples are always changing unlike the rock formations. To paint them I try to watch for patterns and paint the patterns since it is impossible to paint exactly what I see. It was overcast so the light wasn't changing making this a little easier to complete.

Cascade Bridge, Acrylic, 9"x12", $150

Cascade Bridge
The sun can be an artist's nemesis while also being the creator of contrast and beauty in a scene. This was my first painting of the day. I started it around 9 am. The sun was still a bit lower in the sky, in front of me and off to my left slightly. Looking into the sun can make it difficult to see the scene correctly. I positioned myself under some low trees and had shade on my palette. With the brim from my hat I was able to shield my eyes directly from the sun. Usually that is enough to be able to paint into the sun but white hot reflections of the sun off the water were blinding. I constantly had to step off to the side of my easel to see the painting without all the glare behind it. Looking in to the sun has an effect on the way you see colors and values. I think what happens id your pupils close to let less light in so as not to damage the eye. This makes you see things darker than they really are. Many times I have done a painting where the values (lights and darks) look correct when I am painting them, only to look at it later, after my eyes have adjusted back to see that it is too light overall. I know now to trust the values of the paints rather than what I think they look like. I wasn't sure how this painting came out when I finished it. It was later that I saw the worked out pretty well. The bridge is the Hwy 61 bridge over the Cascade River. The blue looking through it is Lake Superior.

Cascade Shore, Acrylic, 9"x12", $150

Cascade Shore
Typically when I finish a painting I head to another location. This is probably because I have so many spots I would like to visit that I move on to the next one. This morning I decided to stay at the Cascade State Park and find another scene. This is pretty much on the other side of the Hwy 61 bridge I just painted. If I pivoted 90° to the left I could see the current of the river flowing far into the lake. The water wetting the shoreline rocks turn the a striking deep purple with reflected blue highlights from the sky. The wind was strong off the lake causing the waves to break on the rocks and  my easel to blow over before I started painting. Hanging my backpack under it stabilized it and I had no more incidents. The air and the colors of the lake were crisp and clear.

Black Beach Overlook, 8"x12", Acrylic, $150

Overlooking Black Beach.
Back to Black Beach. This is a spot in Silver Bay, Mn that used to be owned by the Taconite Plant next to it. A few years ago I was driving around looking for painting sites and came across this location. There were a couple of Bald Eagles on the rocks waiting for lunch. I noticed "no trespassing" signs warning to stay out. There was a phone number that went to the plant. I figured if I call and explained that I wanted to do a quick painting of the location they would surely let me. No luck, they sternly sent me packing. I am glad to report that Black Beach has been opened up to the public and is quite popular. You have to know it is there as there are no signs pointing it out on the highway.

Split Rock Last Light, 8"x12", Acrylic, $150

Split Rock Last Light

Not sure if I have ever painted this iconic North Shore spot. I'm sure I must have. Because of it's popularity I usually avoid the spot. I was good at social distancing before it was cool. No one was at the "Selfie Spot" at the pull out on Hwy 61 when I started. I couple of cars stopped while I was working on it. A couple from New Ulm said it was their first time visiting the North Shore. They picked a good day to be their first. When heading south down 61 I had this spot in mind and knew the light would be perfect when I arrived. The sun was setting behind me casting a warm light on the light house. I worked quickly to get the colors and values right before the sun went away. 

These paintings are all for sale for $150 each. This is a little new for me. I typically have a studio open house every couple of years to sell. Not sure when that would be able to happen so I am making them available here. If you are interested email me. They are all Acrylic paint on hard board so they can be framed without glass. They could be picked up at my studio or I could ship them to you for a small additional cost.

greg@preslickastudio.com

An Excellent Nap Taker.

We don't know much about what the Giggle does all day. We do know that it is not very ambitious. Of the few times they have been spotted they were taking a nap. There are no know records of anyone ever seeing a Giggle up and moving around. There is plenty of evidence though, of their love of naps. Tiny forest beds have been discovered made from forest floor materials. Usually they are simply leaves used by the Giggle as a hammock. Some more elaborate structures made from the softest moss or lichen, lined with dandelion stems and covered in apple blossom petals have been found. Naturalists have suggested  the Giggle might be nocturnal, sleeping during the day and active at night, but from what we can tell the Giggle spends much of its time at night sleeping too. More observations are needed to make a better determination.

Artist Thoughts: I mentioned in the last post that I was usually quite calculated with most things I do in my life but even more so in regards to my art and especially with my business. I am trying hard to keep this blog much more organic. As much as I can, I restrict myself from from thinking too far ahead. As an introvert, when faced with new situations, I go over all the possibilities in my head. This includes, anything from conversations, meetings to full presentations. I think this has been beneficial in my game development. I am able to work out problems because I can see all the different scenarios.

The plan is each day I will add to the blog a new image. An image that that comes when I sit down at my drawing table. I won't go through the more thought out process that is typical for most of my work. No word lists, thumbnail sketches, or color studies. Just creating what strikes me at the time. In today's world where we all are out of our comfort zone I am stepping out a little farther. No expectations. We'll see what comes of it. And maybe forget about the news.

There's A Giggle In The Gooseberries

I don't really do much without having a plan. This is a bit different. With the extra time I now have with the virus cancelling projects and limiting mobility I felt like I wanted to do something that took my mind off it. And maybe a relief for anyone else looking to kill a little time with something that doesn't include reading the latest numbers infected. My wife, Heidi, says I need to fly by the seat of my pants once in a while. Well, here I go hoping to get a little air.

The concept for the Giggle character came to me as a game idea. A Giggle is a furry little creature that steals the gooseberries when no-one is looking. Though it steals the gooseberries you can't help but love and want to help it out.

Like I said I don't really have a plan except to paint daily a picture of this mischievous creature. The hope is to try to discover who this creature is. As I do I plan to share some of my thought process and maybe the painting process.

My only motive is to maybe inform and put a smile on a face or two. If nothing else this will distract me for a few days and maybe entertain you. Please feel to share if you so feel fit to. Sign up for notifications or just check back regularly.

Paintober

Painting A Day.
Follow me as I paint a personal portrait of October. Each day I will do a painting from life, recording a slice of season. It will be a whirlwind tour of my favorite month. Some paintings will be on location and some in the studio or where ever I am. I’ll try to include in progress photos and some videos.

The Yooper

Just returned from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I stayed in Ironwood, just over the boarder from Wisconsin. It is on the edge of the Porcupine Mountains near the shore of Lake Superior. A big area for winter sports, there are several ski hills the area. I was drawn to the are for the waterfalls. There were more than 30 in a 50 mile radius from where I stayed. Because I was new to the area and with a major road closure I spent more time driving than visiting falls. I did get the chance to paint a couple. Altogether I painted 11 plein air paintings. That is a little shy of my expected average of 4 to 5 per day. As I get familiar with the area I will drive less and paint more.
This was the first real field try of the fluid acrylics I have been using in the studio. Wanted to see how they performed in hot sunny conditions. I was pleasantly surprised how well they did. Because they are of a thinner more runner consistency they didn't on my palette too quickly. With the one exception being when I was on top of the Porcupine mountains painting the Lake of the Clouds. I had my palette shaded but there was a steady 20 mph wind that sucked the moisture right out of them. I used 2" diameter cups to hold the paints so there was not a lot of surface area for them to dry out from. I brought all my other paints, gouache, casein, and oils but never took them out.

Old Victoria, 12"x12"

Gorge Falls, 9"x12"

Cascade Falls, 12"x12"

Above Conglomerate Falls, 9"x12"

Black River Bank, 12"x12"

Lake of the Clouds, 8"x10"

Mt Zion, 9"x12"

Little Girl Point, 8"x10"

Superior Driftwood, 8"x10"

Recollections

New Series

A collection of remembered places on Minnesota's North Shore.

These paintings are a reflection of all the time I have spent collecting visual memories while paint the North Shore.

For nearly twenty years I have been traveling to the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota to paint the landscape. I began with the thought that to help my studio painting I needed to paint from nature to learn. This grew into a love for solitude with nature and plein air painting.

Plein air painting and the effort to capture the light and sense of place became my obsession. As many successful artists quickly learn it is a different challenge to paint in nature. Besides the the ever fleeting light one has to contend with weather, insect and fatigue. I embraced the challenge painting exclusively plain air for many years. I became a purist only working on paintings in the field and never in more than one session, but I always felt like I was still learning.

Now I have changed focus slightly with this series, Recollections. The paintings are based on memories of the places I have been and many I have painted. I am drawing from the vast experiences and recollections of abstract feelings and the concrete elements. I used plein air studies for some as seeds. Some will feel very familiar and hopefully all will elicit a sense of place.
To make the paintings work together and feel as a whole I set up some parameters. All are painted in a square format. This forced me to make the composition tell part of the story rather than use a horizontal format for panoramic views or a vertical format for tall subjects. Having  a consistent format also best conveys the idea that these are all born from the same idea, as if all are looking through the same window into my memories. If asked, I could tell you the locations that inspired each painting. While some are specific most are a conglomerate of several places.

The color palette I used was restricted to red, yellow, black and white. This gave me a basic set of warm and cool. Using black as my only cool, gave me a really strong dark to create dynamic contrast of the values. It also forced me to look at the subtlety of grays. Something I really enjoyed that will forever effect my plein air and studio work. I will do another post that I get into more depth about the palette in the near future.

Another departure from my plein air and studio work was with the choice of medium. Until recently I painted most studio paintings in oil and plein air paintings in oil, gouache, or casein. These are done with fluid acrylics. The fluid of the acrylics allows me to stay fresh with my brush strokes. They are, for most colors, pretty opaque. Which means I can lay down lights or darks and develop a painting without thinking about the process. Although I love oils I don't think I am disciplined enough to get the best out of them. This is also why I have recently been using gouache and casein for my field sketches.

Sometimes, as an artist, it is tough to change up what you are doing especially if you are having success. You work hard perfecting your craft and it is hard to okay lets try something different. I guess part of it is the risk of failing. I'm glad I took the risk and believe I learned much from the process and plan to continue this series for a while.

12"x12", Acrylic

12"x12", Acrylic

12"x12", Acrylic

12"x12", Acrylic

More to come soon.