Lake Lida is a painting of the edge of a small Minnesota lake at sunset. The light is filtering through the trees, glinting off the water and boats, and lighting up the American flag. I painted this in Ottertail County, Minnesota’s lake country. Minnesota prides itself on being the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”. I have no idea how many lakes are in Ottertail County, but I would imagine several thousand! The countryside has rolling hills and curving roads. Every time you top a hill or round a bend, another lake just like Lake Lida will greet you. I’m sure this sounds like an advertisement for Ottertail County, but I assure you that nobody paid me to say this.

I had never been to this area of Minnesota before coming to compete in the plein air competition hosted by Art of the Lakes Gallery. I had no expectations, but was blown away because there were scenes like this around every bend. A plein air artist’s dream location!