Morning Guy Blog

For Early Risers Who Wish That It Could Be Morning All Day

For Early Risers Who Wish It Could Be Morning All Day

Quiet Waters

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“Quiet Waters” by Nita Engle. The painting that inspired me to become a watercolor artist.

I just learned that Nita Engle has passed away. She was to the watercolor medium, what Babe Ruth was to baseball—a true game-changer. I stumbled upon her work, flipping through artist magazines back in the 1980s. So impressed I was by her unique painting style, that I searched for and eventually found her phone number. This was in the days before the internet and smartphones.

Not knowing she was rarely home, I naively dialed her number. By dumb luck she answered—and my career, and arguably my life, took an abrupt turn. No more talk of law school. I was going to be an artist.

After a drive to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, I had the honor of meeting her and visiting her modest Lake Superior shoreline home. It was a cabin, really, surrounded by the majestic wilderness that she so expertly captured in her paintings.

Lessons ensued and her influence has since been instilled in my artwork.

I do not believe she ever had a website. She was “old school”—not “techy”—yet she was incredibly innovative in her art. If you do not know her work, I suggest that you Google “Nita Engle” and tap “Images.” You will soon agree that she was among watercolor’s best.

Nita Engle will be greatly missed, but her light and vision will live on through her paintings.

Nita Engle, AWS, NWS

Kind Of Creepy

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Kind of creepy, but my new “thermostat” just told me that my Halloween costume has been delivered.

Creepy that a thermostat talks, yes, but creepy that it knows such things too.

If the wood carving starts talking, I’m moving.

Up On The Roof

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Unlike James Taylor, “this old world wasn’t start’n to get me down,” but I did want to check the roof’s condition before winter.

The Sea Was Angry

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I pulled the boat out two days prior to the scene shown in the video clip below. This was due to an unseasonably cold weather forecast. I did not expect, however, that the wind conditions would get as bad as they did.

Even with heavy dock lines and shock-absorbers, I don’t think the boat would survived this prolonged pounding in the slip. The cleats would have eventually been ripped out, casting the boat into the shoreline rocks to be busted up and scuttled.

Luckily, I paid attention to the forecast. I am glad to report that my boat is safely on its trailer, winterized, and ready to be launched next spring.

Filmed by Jill Hedeen of KPAX-TV

That’s The Ticket

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Yeah, move to Montana. It’s like Minnesota but with mountains. And the winters are warmer—a lot warmer. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

Geez!