Lotus Flower ACEO

I am doing a series of miniature paintings of water lilies based on photos I took this past summer at Perry's Water Garden in North Carolina. This painting measures 3.5 x 2.5. I have finished two others which I will be posting later this week. I'd like to wish all of my readers a very Happy new Year! I am looking forward to a year fill with art. I have posted 375 paintings in 2008 so I am hoping 2009 will be just as productive!

Angel in the Window...Tortoiseshell Cat Sold

'Angel in the Window' 8x10 pastel

My cat Angel has a favorite place in the winter on top of the hot tub in my studio. It is warm and is very sunny with a great backyard view. Perfect for a cat!

Winter Cardinal

'Winter Cardinal' 5x7 pastel

This is one bird who really stands out against the subtle winter palette. I am having a great time with my winter series and I have a few more I would like to paint before moving on.

Egret Oil Painting

'Hidden' 7x5 oil on board

I almost wrote 'pastel' under this painitng. I guess old habits are hard to break. I was playing with my oil paints today and this is the first one. I haven't had them out since Corey took them to school last spring. Some feel that pastels are messy but oil paints have them beat in that department in my opinion. I think I will try to make it a goal to take them out at least once a month this year!

Winter Field

'Winter Field at Sunset' 8x10 pastel

I had to paint this winter field when I saw it. The dried remains of summer flowers poked up through the snow and were illuminated by the setting sun. It was a wonderful combination of warm and cool... and just another example of the beautiful colors of winter.

Florida Wetlands

'Florida Marsh'     24x30    pastel

This is a commission I recently finished. It is the largest pastel painting I have done and it was so much fun to paint large!  This little picture doesn't really do the painting justice. I have another potential larger commission of a flock of flamingos. That will be another fun one!

Wildwood Marsh ACEO

'On the Way to Wildwood'       2.5x3.5      pastel

I found some old photos from a trip we took one year to Wildwood NJ.  This is a view from the causeway to Wildwood. That was a fun trip!

White Pointsettia

'White Pontsettia' 5x7 pastel

Merry Christmas to my friends, family and visitors. I hope your day is filled with warmth and happiness.

The Sled Ride

'The Sled Ride' 5x7 pastel

I am finishing up last minute details for Christmas but had some time to paint. I have a long weekend after Christmas and I am looking forward to plenty of time in my studio. I can't wait!

Winter Warm Up

'Winter Warm Up' 5x7 pastel

I was going to post another snow painting but with temperatures in the teens here in Atlanta, I needed to paint something warm today! This is the beach at Nachi Cocum in Cozumel. Michael and I spent the day there last January while on a cruise. It truly is paradise! I am getting into cruise mode...well soon I will. We got a great deal on a cruise for this winter. I am looking forward to the warm Caribbean sun!

Aspen Snow Dance

'Aspen Snow Dance' 8x10 pastel

I enjoyed painting a close-up view of the same trees in my painting 'Aspens in the Snow'. As Deborah Secor commented the appear to be on a white stage waiting to perform. I think so too! They were fun to paint!

Pepe the Parrot

Here is Pepe, a 35 year old parrot. I had fun painting his portrait for his owners. He looks like he is such a character. He likes to hide in boxes and this is one of his typical poses.

Winter Color....Finished Painting

'Winter Color' 11x14 pastel

Here is the finsihed painting. After the alcohol wash dried, I began painting the sky. I then applied the darkest areas then the snow shadows. Working all over the painting, I built up each section and reseved the lightest snow until the end.

How I paint a Winter Scene

I have been trying various techniques to paint snow with pastels. Each technique and paper type leads to a different look to the finished painting. I am enjoying the results I am getting with a value underpainting. This photo shows my set-up. You can see my reference photo and thumbnail sketch. I am using UArt paper. In thisphoto I have applied Nupastel and a dark Terry Ludwig pastel. Next I will brush this in with alcohol and wait for it to dry. This gives me a nice road map of values to follow which helps my snow stay bright, crisp and clean.

Ski Hill Winter Landscape

'Ski Hill'       16x20      pastel

Today's painting is my largest winter scene so far. It is from the Landscape Challenge over at wetcanvas.com. Thanks Paula for the photo! I took some liberties with some of the trees and warmed it up some for the skiers.  I am really having fun with these...almost a mini obsession. I have a few more in mind to paint. Hopefully I'll have some time over the holiday week.

Pine Cones in the Snow

'Pine Cones in the Snow'      8x10            pastel

I always like to find the close up more intimate views of the landscape like these pine cones in the melting snow. I have a photo of some icy remains of Queen Anne's Lace that I want to paint for my wildflower series....then I will have one of QA Lace in each season.

Snow People

'Snow People' 5x7 pastel

I couldn't resist painting these adorable snowmen. Sometimes it is fun to paint something light hearted and just fun! I think I may use this for my Christmas card.

News!

I have been asked to do a demo at the January 12th meeting of the Southeastern Pastel Society. I have to let them know my subject but I am leaning towards 'Painting the Winter Landscape' since that has been my focus for the last month. I am honored to have been asked and will do the best presentation/demo I can...despite being nervous! I hope to see you there if you are in the Atlanta area!

Forest Snowfall

'Forest Snowfall' 9x12 pastel

Yesterday was my workshop on painting the winter landscape. It was actually a trial run for the presentation and workshop I will be doing for the Appalachian Pastel Society in January. We had a great time painting snow and I hope that everyone enjoyed it and learned something too. I know that we discovered that snow is a lot of fun to paint. This is the demo painting I did for the class. It is on pastelbord with a value underpainting/alcohol wash. I also showed everyone a fun way to make pastel snow.

A Slippery Slope!

'A Slippery Slope' 8x10 pastel

This painting is from a photo I took a couple of years ago at Bryce Canyon. It was January and had just snowed. There were hardly any visitors in the park and it was just magical. At one of the overlooks, the usual path was completely covered in fresh snow. It was a trek through the snow to see the hoodoos...but well worth the effort.

Irises in Pastel

'Purple Irises' 5x7 pastel

Here is another painting I did at Van Gogh night last week. I enjoyed painting this quick study. I have many more snow paintings to share though. I am getting ready for my workshop for the Appalachian Pastel Society in January and I am having a wonderful time painting snow. More to come!

Winter City Scene

'City Sidewalks' 10x8 pastel

Back to my two favorite colors...purple and turquoise! I enjoyed painting this city scene. Corey has taken some snow pictures for me of Michigan Avenue in the snow. I can't wait to try to paint some of them.

Work Boots

'Work Boots' 8x8 pastel

I finally had a chance to fit in some time to paint this week's offering on Karin Jurick's blog 'Different Strokes from Different Folks'. I decided to go with a somewhat monochromatic palette....and I didn't use a bit of purple which is unusual for me!

Van Gogh Night

'Homage to Vincent' 7x5 pastel

Last night we had Van Gogh night at pastel class. I brought in one of my sunflower photos and tried to paint them in Van Gogh's style. I had fun with this and did two other paintings in class...more sunflowers and some irises. Now I am back to painting snow today.

Water Lilies

'Summer Pond' 4x6 pastel

Water lilies are so much fun to paint. I did these last week in class on 'Monet Night'. I was trying out my new down-sized pastel travel kit and it was a success. I will take some pictures and share it with you soon. I am determined to pare down my supplies so I can be ready to paint outside more often.

Icey Creek...snow scene

'Icey Creek' 7x5 pastel

Here is another cold snow scene. I am having a 'Winter Landscape' painting workshop this weekend and I am looking forward to sharing some ideas and tips for painting winter. Tomorrow in the pastel class I attend we are painting in the style of Van Gogh. I am planning on doing sunflowers I think. Stay tuned!

Tobi Asleep

'Tobi Asleep'        5x7    pastel 

This is one of my favorite poses of Tobi and a collector asked if I would paint it again for her. I always love to paint my cats so of course I agreed! I just got some new photos of the Siameses as I like to call Tobi and Maya so I will be painting them again soon.

Happy Sky

Here is a small painting I did last week. It is a 6x4 study for a commission I am working on. I was trying to work out the colors I will be using and it will be the biggest painting I have done yet....24x36. I will keep you posted.

I'd like to thank everyone who came to our open studio today. It was great to see old friends and meet new ones. It is so nice to be able to share our art with you and we are honored that you have chosen to make our work a part of your lives. Thank you!!

Winter Moon Rising SOLD

'Winter Moon Rising' 10x8 pastel

Now this painting makes me feel cold! It is another one for my winter color series. I just got a new set of Terry Ludwig True Lights and I can't wait to try them on my next snow painting.

Don't forget to stop by my studio on Saturday if you are in the Atlanta area. We have lots of original art in all sizes and prices. Jayne and Holly brought over their work yesterday and they have some great pieces. I hope to see you there!

Jingle Bells

'Jingle Bells' 4x4 pastel

I've been wanting to paint some bells and when I saw them at the store I had to but them to pose for me! It was fun to try to paint silver. I also bought some golden bells and I will be trying them as well. Maybe a whole series of bells would be fun.

Snow Day SOLD

'Snow Day' 5x7 pastel

Last night at class we were supposed to paint in the style of Monet. I chose to paint a snow scene but it ended up being more in my style than Monet...I kind of got lost in the process and forgot the assignment! I will have to try again soon.

Open Studio Sale this Saturday!

It's time for the VIP's 2nd Annual Open Studio Sale. It will be held in my home studio this Saturday from 10-5. Here is a photo of just a small sample of the work that will be available. Jayne and Holly haven't even brought their work over yet! We will have original art in all sizes and prices with originals starting at just $20. We will also have greeting cards, collages, fine art boxes and more. Please stop by if you are in the Atlanta area. Email me for directions.

Monet Night

Tonight at pastel class we are studying Monet. We have been studying a different artist each class and then trying to paint in that artist's style. Marsha suggested that we paint water lillies tonight but I really want to try a snow scene in Monet's style instead.....so on my lunch break today I painted a quick water lily. This one is 7x5 on wallis paper. It was a little tricky to do this in pastel because Monet's seem to have so much texture and there is only so much pastel you can build up before you lose the tooth in the paper. We'll see what happens with my snow scene tonight.

A Touch of Gold

'A Touch of Gold' 8x10 pastel

This is my demo painting from my Autumn workshop a couple of weeks ago. I did get to paint in between cleaning out the studio this weekend but it was on a big commission. I will share it when I am finished...hopefully later this week!