Painting Sea Shells

'Low Tide' 12x12

I just finished another addition to my shell series. When I was in Sanibel this summer I took a few random photos of shells at the shoreline. I didn't arrange them in any way...what you see is exactly how they rolled in with the tide. It is a fun challenge to paint them...kind of like doing a jigsaw puzzle. This one was tricky because of the foamy surf. I have a few more photos left, but I will need to wait until my cruise in January to get some more shell photos! On another note...I brought the painting of the couple in the sunflower field to class for a critique. Marsha liked it and told me about two areas to fix...I will post an update when I take another photo.

My Flamingo

'The Drama Queen' 12x16

I never know what will strike me and just call out to be painted! This morning it was a picture of a flamingo of all things! I just had to get it out of my system. What fun it was to use all those colors!!! Tomorrow we have to go to Binders and Pearls for my son Corey's art supplies...he is a freshman in college majoring in Graphic Design. So I have to be a good mom and take him art supply shopping...that's dangerous for me!

A Little More Work......

I woke up this morning and looked at this painting and saw something that was bothering me. The tree line in the back was too tall and the group of people on the right were too small....making everything look out of whack. So I brushed out the trees and lowered the sky and made the people slightly larger in the background. I think this is better. Now I am going to work on a Flamingo for Caitlin's room. Notice a 'Pink' theme????

The Sunflower Festival

I don't think I'll work on this one anymore. I want to bring it to class to get some critique to see what I should do or what I need to do differently the next time. I enjoyed working on this size 16x20...Tomorrow I hope to work on a night time picture I started months ago but I was waiting to organize my studio box by value which I did last weekend. This weekend I want to paint! Stay tuned!

Something new for me....

On the easel is something new for me....people in a painting! I have put little figures into my landscapes here and there but this is the most detailed I have gotten so far. I am working up to doing a painting of my daughter on the beach with the ice cream man...one of my favorite pictures of her. This one is 16x20...Marsha has asked us to try working larger but I was ahead of her on that as I started this one already! I did an alcohol wash on the background and I have blocked in my people with nupastels. Now I will start on the rest. The trick will be to keep the background stuff less detailed so the focus will be on my couple. I took this photo at the Sunflower Festival Jayne and I went to over te 4th of July weekend. It will be good practice regardless of how it turns out.

Pastel Show Update

Last night was the opening reception for the Southeastern Pastel Society's 12th International Open Exhibition. It was my first show I entered and I was thrilled to have a painting accepted. It was so exciting to see it hanging with such wonderful work. I was thrilled to be able to share this evening with my friends, Jayne, Holly,Marsha & Ginny. A big thankyou to Jayne and Holly for being there for me! And of course to Marsha for helping me reach this point. We arrived early and had a chance to really get up close to the paintings. We then had a nice dinner out before the reception started. I didn't win a prize but Marsha got an Exceptional Merit award which was ....of all things...a 'Marsha Savage Southeast Set' of Terry Ludwig pastels. That was funny! Congratulations to Marsha! I've posted a picture of my painting...though not a very good one and a photo of the corner where my painting is hung. Marsha's painting is the big one on the left.

More Water Lilies

'Lillies for Caitlin' 9x12

One more Lily painting! I did this in class last night. It is for Caitlin's room. I think I will take a break from flowers but I really do enjoy painting them. It is relaxing for some reason. When I do a landscape I don't feel quite as serene. It's good to change gears every once in awhile.

Southeastern Pastel Society Show

You may remember me telling you I had a painting accepted into the 12th International Exhibition of the Southeastern Pastel Society. Tomorrow night is the opening! I am very excited to see my painting hung in my first juried show. I'm planning on taking pictures so I'll post them here. Last night pastel class started back after a month long break. It was a good night with several new students including Holly and Jayne's neighbor Barbara. We've got a great group! Marsha also shared with us her exciting news. She had a painting accepted into the Pastel Society of America's show to be held in New York City. This is quite an honor and I am so happy for her. She deserves it and I am proud to be her student!

Painting a Water Lily

Here's another pink flower painting. My daughter Caitlin wants some flower paintings to hang in her new room so we bought two frames over the weekend and this is the first painting. I hope she approves! It's another small one at 6x6. I really like the square format for flowers and shells and I am getting to love the LaCarte paper. I find that I am not blending with my fingers at all and I really like that. I wonder if it would be good for landscapes? Maybe I'll try one.

Macro Lily

My daughter loves lillies so I painted this for her new room today. She has taken over my son's room since he moved out to college. He is only 15 minutes away so it's doubtful he'll be home much to sleep...so his room is going to be the study and movie room for my daughter and her friends....and the cats who have taken over the new chair! The room will be done in pinks and browns so I thought this lily would fit in. It's a tiny one at 6x6 but we'll find a nice size frame for it tomorrow.

Vance Mountain North Carolina

'Miles and Miles' 12x16

I don't know why but I felt like painting a tree scene! This is from a photo I took early last Fall near Murphy, North Carolina. I painted this on white Wallis paper with an alcohol underpainting. I haven't used that method in months and it was fun! What struck me about the view up on Vance Mountain was how far one could see. There were layers and layers of mountains visible since it was such a crisp autumn day. Today I am placing an order for some new pastels...as soon as I can decide which set I would like. Now...what to paint next??????

Broken Treasures

Here's a different kind of shell painting. Not every shell can be colorful and perfect. The old weathered and broken shells have a sculptural beauty of their own. I set these shells and whelk egg case up in my tray of sand and painted them. It was good practice.

Queen Anne's Lace

'Summer Dunes' 9x12

I love Queen Anne's Lace! It's especially pretty when it grows along the sand dunes by the sea. I have painted a similar painting before from an old photo I took one summer in Cape May, NJ. I wanted to try it again on different paper. I'm not sure what will be next on my easel. I have some more shell photos....or maybe some sunflowers....

Great Blue Heron Finished

OK I give up! I can't think of a name for this painting! I have trouble with names anyway but this one is really hard. The painting is 12x18. I always say I like working large and that's true especially for birds. I want to try a snowy egret on an even larger piece of paper! I may not get to paint tomorrow as I have to get my shell painting ready for the Southeast Pastel Society's Show...it has to be delivered on Tuesday! I will take a picture of it all framed and post it later.

Great Blue Heron ...work in progress

Today I am posting a work in progress. I started working on this Great Blue Heron and I've gotten as far as the first layer. This is 12x18 on white wallis paper. I was tempted to do a watercolor underpainting but I decided to just do an underpainting with hard pastels and rub it in with foam pipe insulation. This heron is backlit in the photo which will be interesting to do. I'll post an update soon.

More Shells

'Sunrise Shells' 6x6

I painted this small shell study today to fit in a frame I had. It was a nice frame with a double mat on clearance. I thought the other shell painting would fit but it was too big. I don't want a nice frame to go to waste so I had fun with this little painting. This is from one of my Sanibel photos.I believe the big shell is a Buttercup Lucine. I wish I had taken more like it...the combinations are endless! I will get a chance this January as we just booked a Caribbean cruise. I am excited about the ports...Turks & Caicos, Tortola, St. Thomas and a private island in the Bahamas. Now I have to hit the clearance racks for a new bathing suit!

The Castaways...Sanibel

I wanted to do a quick painting before I tackled another shell challenge. Looking through my photos, this one of the yellow cottage appealed to me. This was late afternoon as we waited for sunset at Blind Pass. It was a gorgeous sunset with a wedding right on the beach complete with tiki torches and flowers. What a romantic spot! This one is 9x12 on Art Spectrum paper.

Painting Trees

'Back to the Woods' 16 x 20

I wanted to take a break from beach scenes so I have been working on this painting of an early Fall day along the Chattahoochee River. Jayne and I had gone out to do some plein air painting last Fall and I took a picture of this scene. It was hard to get back into painting trees (other than palm trees that is!) I did a watercolor underpainting on white Wallis paper and it was looking so ugly that I was tempted to scrap it. But I figured I wouldn't learn from that and what did I have to lose anyway! So I worked on it some more and it started to come together. I'm sure that technically there are things I need to improve, but overall I am happy that I didn't give up on it.

American White Pelican

We recently visited the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary on Florida's Gulf Coast. I wanted to get some close-up reference photos of seabirds. There was one area with some White Pelicans which I had never seen before. In the back corner of their enclosure there was a nest with babies! I couldn't zoom in close enough for a good photo...but I did get some of this juvenile pelican. He already has that pelican attitude!

Pastel Disaster!

It was bound to happen sooner or later! Pastels and little children really don't mix. But it was my fault. The baby was reaching for something on my desk and pulled a towel from under my box of Girault pastels. I watched with horror as it crashed to the floor sending the pastels everywhere! On closer inspection there really weren't many casualties...a few broken sticks, but now they are all mixed together. I think I will just leave them that way and I can do like Albert Handell. He keeps his colors mixed up so his eyes don't get 'sleepy'! Now I think I have a good excuse to order some more Giraults!

Quick Canson Practice

'Twilight Palms' 9x12

I'm getting ready to change gears and paint something other than beach scenes....but I felt like doing another quick palm tree study. I love doing these on Canson paper. I don't use any hard pastels...just go right at it with the softies and paint with wild abandon. Now I'll move on to something else.

Today's Painting

I had a request from a visitor to my ebay store for more NJ Shore paintings. She liked my Salt Water Taffy painting ..which I think I will do a larger version. So I went through my old reference photos and found this one of a lifeguard stand. I loved the way the morning light is hitting the stand. I think it's time to take a break from beach scenes though! Maybe I will do a Southwest desert scene just for a change of pace....I'll go look through my SW album and see what I can find!

Florida Fighting Conch

Shell Study #1 9x12

What to do with all the shells I've collected on my trips to the beach? I did get some glass jars to fill, even a tiny antique medecine bottle for the tiniest treasures. But I had another idea when I was cleaning out the den.....I found a small wooden tray and I thought I could fill it with sand and arrange shells for still life paintings. So tonight I did my first shell study. This is a Florida Fighting Conch I found on Sanibel at low tide. This one was in good shape and was quite shiny on the inside. I will paint the other side next. This was an interesting painting to do because it was on black art spectrum paper....the first time I ever painted on black paper. I liked it too!

Painting of the Day

I took the weekend off from painting to spend time redecorating our family room. On Friday I just looked at it and decided it needed a facelift. So my daughter Caitlin and I set to work...shopping for new accesories. What fun we had! We took down the dark curtains and hung white roman shades, added new area rug, throw pillows and end table. We got some great stuff at IKEA...love that store! We found a coffee table for $9.99 and an awesome lamp for $11.00. Now I have to fill my empty walls. I have a few of my own paintings I'd like to hang. I left up my Jamie Wyeth print of the Buoy Tree on Monhegan Island. I'll post some pictures when I am finished with the room. I have a few ideas for my next painting...possible a large egret or finish my boardwalk painting that I started months ago....decisions, decisions!