Colorado Cabin...Antero Hot Springs

One of the highlights of our summer vacation was our stay at Antero Hot Springs Cabins in Nathrop Colorado. This is the 'Hortense' cabin. We stayed in the smaller cabin 'Cottonwood'. These are wonderfully restored historic log cabins each with it's own private hot mineral spring pool. What a fantastic time we had soaking in the hot water looking up at the stars. I'd go back in a minute!! I did an experiment with these two paintings. The top one is 8x10 pastel and the very bottom one is a 5x7 oil. I can see from doing the pastel what I would do to improve the oil painting. That was fun!

Sunset at Blind Pass...Sanibel

'Sunset at Blind Pass' 5x7 oil

Here is oil painting #3. I need to get some more supports to paint on and I am itching to go larger than 5x7! This is the beach on Sanibel Island at Blind Pass. When I showed it to my husband last night he knew exactly where this scene was so that made me happy. Carol...I did paint the gull and I will be posting it over the weekend.

South Carolina Marsh Painting

'Quiet Morning' 12x16 pastel

This is the marsh at Huntington State Park on the South Carolina coast. It was a cool spring morning and very peaceful at the marsh overlook. Holly, Jayne and I set up to paint in the observation shelter and had a wonderful time painting while listening to the sounds of the marsh.

Workshop Opportunities with Marsha Savage

If you are in the Southeast and you are interested in a great pastel workshop opportunity with Marsha Savage this Fall then check out her website for more information. I have been studying with Marsha for 2 1/2 years and she is a wonderful teacher. It was a workshop with her that really sparked my desire to paint everyday. I highly recommend this experience!

Sunflower...Oil Painting #2

'Sunflower Fun' 6x6 oil

I had so much fun playing with my new oil paints last night! This could be dangerous for me. I loved playing with the color mixing and even better was the texture I could get with the paint. I still have so much to learn about and I can't wait to do another one!

Santa Fe Sunset

'Last Light over Santa Fe' 8x10 pastel

This is the sunset view from Cross of the Martyrs in Santa Fe. We had a very cloudy day and the sunset was very subtle but still beautiful and peaceful. The perfect end to a wonderful day. Today is my son's 19th birthday and he says he feels old...hmmmm does that mean I should feel old too??? He is going out with friends so that means I am heading out to the studio to play with my new oil paints!

Beach Skies

'Beach Skies' 5x7 pastel

This is another pastel I did last week on prepared gatorfoam. I have a few more pieces as well as some large pieces of gatorfoam that I may prepare to bring to Creighton Island. It's a nice change of pace to paint on different surfaces. Tomorrow I would like to paint a Southwest scene before I tackle my next pet commission.

Mountain Field..First Oil Painting!

'Mountain Field' 5x7 oil

Yes you read that correctly! I spent my Utrecht gift card money on some oil paints and here is my first attempt. . I thought it was time that I learn how to paint with oils although it will be a weekend thing for me. Pastels work much better with my schedule. It was fun playing outside my comfort zone...now I need to go back over all those books I have about oil painting. I started with a limited palette of just 5 colors...to limit my expense as well as force me to learn to mix the colors. It will be a learning curve but a fun one!

The Beach Path

'The Beach Path' 11x14 pastel

Today I am sharing a commission I did this week. It is the same beach I have painted a couple of times but this is a different angle of the fencing. I haven't had the chance to paint this weekend but I did spend most of the day organizing my pastels. I had so many small boxes of various pastel pieces that I finally condensed into one area. Tommorrow I am going to the Utrecht store because I was given a gift card from a 'graduating' child from my daycare. It was a generous and thoughtful gift and I have to decide what to buy! They also gave me a beautiful bouquet of Stargazer Lillies which just have to be painted!

Juneau

'Juneau' 8x10 pastel

I am planning to paint two poses of this dog. I have a wonderful picture of him lounging on the couch. He is part wolf and part malmute I believe. I am also going to post a couple of progress shots of this painting on my pet portrait blog.

Sanibel Beach Path

'Sanibel Beach Path' 5x7 pastel

Here is another small painting I did on prepared gatorboard. This had an orange underpainting which you are able to see peeking through here and there. I am getting ready to start on two pet portrait commissions. One is a wolf mix dog and he is gorgeous! I hope I can do him justice. I also have my map out....getting bit by the travel bug again. It's never too soon to plan next summer's vacation and the early bird gets the worm...or in my case I was able to get a historic rim cabin with fireplace at the Grand Canyon! I am so excited about that. Now I have to plan an itinerary around that reservation!

Playing with Abstracts

'Raven Cliffs' 12x16 pastel

You know you have the right art teacher when you come up with similar ideas. I had been thinking of playing with abstracts and Jayne and I had discussed trying them and last night at class, Marsha tells us we are going to do an abstract this session! I figured I'd start playing around ahead of time. I really know nothing about how to go about painting an abstract. I chose one of my photos of the red cliffs of Moab, Utah and liquified it in photoshop (fun!) Then I based my painting on the result. I see a raven in in so I am calling it 'Raven Cliffs' That was fun!

Low Country Sunset...Lefty version!

'South Carolina Sunset' 5x7 pastel

Tonight at class I knew I wanted to take it easy and Jayne & Marsha suggested I paint something with my left hand (I am right-handed and if you've been following my blog you know I hurt my right elbow this summer) So here is the result...I painted on a gatorboard surface I prepared which lends it self to looseness!

Miniature Cat Painting

'Sleepy Boy' 2.5 x 3.5 pastel

It isn't easy to keep myself from painting to give my elbow a rest! I was good this weekend but now have two commissions to work on this week. This one wasn't bad since it was just a mini and I can sit at my desk to paint. The next one is an 11x14 beach scene and I will just pace myself. I did the sketch and tomorrow I will do the underpainting. The good news is that our bathroom remodeling project is just about finished. I just need a window treatment. I am calling the bathroom a 'zen spa' look....green marble floor, glass countertop and sink and lots of fluffy white spa towels. I am going to hang my feather and shell paintings to finish the project. Now onto the kitchen!

North Georgia Plein Air

Here is a plein air painting I did last year at the Albert Handell workshop in Dawsonville Georgia. I don't remember what title I gave it so I will have to look that up but it is 8x10 on white Wallis paper. I remember Albert telling me that painting on the white paper would make my paintings more vibrant. I had been using only the grey color paper.I have been told that you take certain tidbits from every workshop you attend and this is one piece of advice that has stuck with me. I don't believe I have painted on grey paper since!

North Georgia Mountains

'Summer Hay' 11x14 pastel

As promised here is the second painted accepted into the show 'Seasons'. It was a very nice evening. Jayne came with Michael, Caitlin and I. We saw Marsha and her family and Carly came by. We talked about our Creighton Island trip and ate cheesecake. The show was very nice with a good variety of work. I was pleased to be a part of it.

A Promise of Spring

'A Promise of Spring' 8x10 pastel

Tonight is the Opening Reception of the show 'Season's at the Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta. I have two paintings in the show and this is one of them. Tomorrow I will post the other one.

Friday's Featured Website...Southeastern Pastel Society

Today I am introducing a new feature to my blog....'Friday's Feature'. Each Friday I will share something that I think you might be interested in...it may be a website or an artist I discovered or it may be a review of an art related product. Today I'd like to share the newly updated and revamped website for the Southeastern Pastel Society. If you haven't visited in awhile it is worth checking out the new look. I now have a page in the member's gallery. Also be sure to check out the link to this year's exhibit, lots of great photos! Next week I plan to review my new plein air easel so please come by again!

Lion's Paw Shell

'Treasure from the Deep' 5x7 pastel

The Lion's Paw shell is one of those elusive finds on Sanibel Island and of course every year I visit I look for one. I got lucky two summers ago when I found this tiny Lion's Paw just washed ashore after a tropical storm. I consider it my good luck charm.

I am planning to take a break from paintng for the next two weeks so I can get this elbow on the road to recovery. I need to be at full speed for my trip to Creighton Island this fall so I just have to be good. I will still be posting...I have some good pastel info to share as well as some paintings I haven't posted so please keep checking in!

A Selection of Miniature Pastel Paintings

Today I am sharing several of my recent miniature paintings. These are each 2.5 x 3.5 and are a lot of fun for me to paint. Sometimes I do them as color studies for larger paintings and sometimes I like to paint them just to play. I got some 5x7 and 8x10 mats with openings for these little paintings and it really gives them a presence. I really should start a collection because a lot of wonderful artists are offering these tiny paintings now.

Cactus Flower Pastel Painting

'Summer Blooms' 5x7 pastel

Tonight it was back to pastel class after a three week break. We spent time catching up and talking about our upcoming Creighton Island adventure. Marsha had asked me to bring in five of my Southwest paintings because we had agreed on a trade. I am so honored that my teacher would want a painting of mine! She chose two of my plein air pieces from my stay at the Red Cliff's Lodge in Moab, Utah. I can't wait to have a 'Marsha Savage' in my collection. Thank you Marsha for all you have done for me! So I didn't paint much tonight...just enough time to do a little cactus painting. I could spend more time refining it...but I like it as it is. The blue isn't as bright in real life...blues are hard to photograph well.

More Appalachian Wildflowers

'Country Fields' 8x10 pastel

I took many reference photos from this field of wildflowers at the John Campbell Folk School in the North Carolina mountains. This is the second painting in a series I am doing of this field. For this painting I decided to do an alcohol wash underpainting. I am gearing up to do a much larger version but I am still having a nagging problem with my elbow so I am only going to paint 5x7's for the next couple of weeks...painting large seems to aggravate it so I have to be good!

New Terry Ludwig Dark Pastel Set!

I was on the phone as soon as the postcard advertising the new Terry Ludwig Intense Dark set arrived. I knew I had to have these so why wait. Look at those yummy colors...now those are my colors! Thank you Terry! If you are like me and need to have this set, you have to call to order. Check out Terry's website for contact information.

Sea Shore Plant

'Shore Shadows' 8x10 pastel

Today's painting was a request from my friend Carol who stopped by this weekend to pick up her painting 'Magen's Bay Shade'. She wanted to see how I do a painting using an alcohol wash. I had her choose a photo from my stack and did this one as a mini demo. I wish I had taken more photos so I could post a work-in -progress but we were too busy talking!

Low Country Marsh

'Low Country Spring' 8x10 pastel

Here is a painting I did back in March but I had not posted it. It just sold last week and I received an interesting note from the buyer that I thought I'd share. He told me that this painting will be part of a bequeath to the Gorgas Library on the University of Alabama campus in December. He said it will be part of a collection that includes works by Teniers, JMW Turner, A. Sani, Alberto Bramante, AJ Carreno among others. I am quite honored to be a part of this distinguished collection!

I was busy today framing my work that will be in the show 'Seasons' at the Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. The opening reception is Friday the 17th at 7:30. If you are in the Marietta area, I'd love for you to come!

Florida Palm Tree Painting

'Four Friends' 8x10 pastel

Maybe it's the 100 degree temps we've been having but I was feeling tropical today so my daily painting is of palm trees. This group of palms were found on a trip to St. George Island a couple of summers ago. I really need a beach trip!!

NJ Shore Lifeguard Stand

I had a special request for this painting from the 'Taffy Lady', the patron who commissioned the salt water taffy painting. She wanted a lifeguard stand as a companion piece for her taffy. I had painted this same stand with the lifeguard and an umbrella which I removed for this smaller 5x7 painting.

Siamese Cat Pastel Painting

'Royalty' 5x7 pastel

This siamese cat does seem to have a regal look. He has a way of looking like he's the king no matter what he is doing. Here he is having a little catnap. I love trying to paint different angles and close-ups of the cats. To me, cats are so beautiful you just can't go wrong no matter what angle you paint them!

Taos Pueblo

'Taos Pueblo Blue' 8x14 pastel

I don't usually paint after 8pm but when my son Corey showed me his photo of our visit to Taos Pueblo...I had to paint it! We had so much fun taking photos at the Pueblo. We had arrived early as it first opened to visitors and that is really the most magical time to visit. By the time the crowds arrived and the colored doors opened into shops...we were relaxing on a bench drinking watermelon juice! What a wonderful way to spend the morning!

Great Sand Dunes National Park

My friends are on vacation out in Colorado and they just visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park. We were there on our trip in June so the memories of the landscape are very fresh. We spent the night at the Great Sand Dunes Lodge which had amazing views of the dunes and mountains not to mention swarms of hummingbirds! On our visit the weather was very changeable. It was cloudy and threatening with breaks in the clouds every once in awhile...actually a photographers dream...we got some very dramatic photos. A landscape this awesome really deserves a larger painting than 8x10 so I will consider this a study!

KEM...The Story Behind my Signature

Recently I was asked why I sign my paintings 'KEM'. You may have noticed that I sign my work with my initials KEM which stands for Karen Elizabeth Margulis. When I began painting I figured that I needed to have a way to sign my paintings. I settled on my initials simply because I felt my whole name was too long. I thought I'd make it a bit different by writing the 'E' with just 3 lines. Not a very exciting story I know....maybe I need something a bit more intriguing!

Salt Water Taffy Painting

'Sweet Treat' 5x7 pastel

I had a special request last week to paint some salt water taffy. Painting my favorite candy is always fun....but what made this request even more special is that it was made by a family member of the candy company's founder. If you've been to the NJ Shore than you may recognize these salt water taffys as Fralingers. They are my favorite and luckily I had saved some taffy from a trip I made several summers ago....I am not kidding!!! For a joke I had them in a glass box marked 'break in case of emergency' They were definitely too hard to eat but were great to paint!!

Plein Air Hibiscus Flower

'A Pink Surprise' 5x7 pastel

I finally had a chance to paint plein air today!! I went over to Jayne's house and we painted in her neighbor Bessie's garden. She has a wonderful garden filled with plenty to paint. It was a challenge to focus in on something though! I found this pretty pink Hibiscus flower for my first painting. I am starting on a new challenge to paint 500 outside paintings. I will elaborate more in my next post and I will also review my new easel so stay tuned!

Cindy's Flowers

A couple of weeks ago My friend Cindy came by on the way home from the groceries with these flowers. They weren't yet opened so I kept them to paint. By the weekend they were ready so I set them up and painted them. Thanks Cindy! We really enjoyed the flowers!
Tomorrow Jayne and I have plans to do some plein air painting then some shopping for supplies for our upcoming trip to Creighton Island. Hopefully I'll have a plein air study to post!

Photos from our Summer Vacation

I was playing around today and made this slide show of some of my summer vacation photos. In my *spare* time I am trying to make a photo book and this is as far as I've gotten..only to day 3 of a 10 day adventure!

Summer Woods

'Summer Woods' 8x10 pastel

I am late posting today! It's been a busy day with lots of excitement .... I am working with an art consultant to have one of my paintings made into giclees for a hotel....when I can share the exciting details with you I will! I got a commission for a very fun painting and I will share that when I get confirmation as well! In the meantime here is a painting I did this week from my trip last weekend to North Carolina. This is my Godmother's side yard...we found all kinds of great mushrooms in her woods!

Appalachian Wildflowers

'Appalachian Wildflowers' 8x10 pastel

To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the Palm of your Hand And Eternity in an Hour.
--William Blake

This weekend Jayne and I wandered the backroads of Western North Carolina and somehow ended up at the John Campbell Folk School. There was a wonderful field of wildflowers and we lost ourselves while taking many pictures of the flowers. This is my first painting of the field. I am planning more since I really enjoy painting the wildflowers. I'd love to do this scene really large! GREAT NEWS Update......I just had two paintings accepted into a juried show 'Seasons' that will be held at the Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, GA. If you are in the area on August 15, 7:30 PM...I'd love to see you at the opening reception!

Golden Retriever in the Lake

'Gone Swimming' 5x7 pastel

I had time for a quick little one tonight. A few weeks ago I took a picture of this Golden going for a swim in the lake during the magic hour of late afternoon. I loved how the light hit her coat and how the lake water just shimmered.