Orange Poppy

'Poppy Explosion' 9x12 pastel

Be sure to check out the Daily Painter's site on Wednesday where we have a theme day.(link on sidebar) The theme for the day is the color Orange. I wanted to think of something unusual for the color orange but when I saw this poppy photo I knew I wanted to try to paint it. This is painted on a sheet of black unison paper which is quite rough. Very different from the uart paper I have been using!

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Summer Hay Bales miniature

'Summer Hay Bales' 2.5 x 3.5 pastel

I love painting these minis! It is a relaxing change of pace and a challenge at the same time. I try to see how I can say what I want to say with as few strokes as possible. This is a field in the North Georgia Mountains.

Autumn Marsh

'Autumn Marsh' 8x10 pastel

I love the colors of fall. Especially the time of year when the colors are still subtle. I am still working on simplifying my landscapes. I will try some more this week. It is fun to revisit some of my photos and trying to interpret them in a new way.

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Chanticleer Inn, Nantucket Island

'The Chanticleer Inn' 8x10 pastel

This past summer we had a wonderful visit to Nantucket. We have family on the island and had a great time touring the island with them. I really wish I had taken more photos but I think I just need to go back with my pastels and paint!

White Pumpkins Pastel

'Purple & White' 7x5 pastel

Here is my version of the white pumpkins on Karin Jurick's site 'Different Strokes from Different Folks'. I had fun with this one. It is a challenge to intepret the photo and put my own spin on it....but a lot of fun. Check out all of the pumpkins here.

Opening Reception

Here I am in front of my paintings at last night's opening reception. It was a very nice evening and thank you to everyone who came! I met the other artists finally and enjoyed seeing their work and talking art. The show will be up for a month so if you are in the area, stop in to see it. The Art Place Gallery at Mt View in Marietta, GA.

Early Morning Mist

'Early Morning Mist' 7x5 pastel

I am still working on simplifying my scenes to get ready for my plein air trip. This is a marsh in South Carolina that I had the chance to paint one spring. We were out early and saw the misty marsh as the sun came up. It was magical! Last night I watched Doug Dawson's plein air DVD and thoroughly enjoyed it (Holly you need to watch it with us) I got some great tips and I hope I remember them next time I paint outside.

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Tobi & Maya

Just sharing a photo I took of my Siamese cats Tobi and baby Maya. This might be interesting to paint someday. I loved the dramatic light and the interaction between the two cats. Maya is a sweet girl with just the right amount of spunk....just right for Tobi!

Huntington Island South Carolina

'Huntington Island Marsh' 8x10 pastel

After last night's experience with pointillism I decided to do just the opposite today...loose and bold. Those little dots and dashes were tedious though oddly relaxing. I don't think I would enjoy painting that way all the time though it did give me some ideas I want to try. Today I am going through some of my photos and trying to interpret them with bolder strokes and different colors. I am having so much fun!

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St. George Island Pine

'Solitary Pine' 10x8 pastel

I am working on tree studies this week. I really don't paint them enough so I have decided to devote at least this week to trees. Of course tonight at class we are painting in the style of Georges Seurat. That should be interesting!

If you are in the Marietta, Georgia area this Thursday I'd love to have you come to the opening reception of the 7 artist show I am a part of called 'Seven of Seven'. It is from 7-9 pm at the Art Place Gallery at Mountain View on Sandy Plains Road. I have seven new paintings in the exhibit and I am very excited about being a part of the show!

North Georgia Fields

'Country Fields' 8x10 pastel

Here is a scene from an area in North Georgia where I had the pleasure of doing some plein air painting a couple of years ago. It would be nice to go plein air painting now that fall is in the air. Actually Jayne, Holly and I will be taking an Autumn drive and painting trip soon. I have a new easy-l easel and artcomber cart so I am ready. It's funny though because it seems we never have the right equipment and then I just watched Doug Dawson's plein air dvd and he carried his pastels in a tupperware container and puts them on the ground on a placemat! So we really don't need to have the fancy gear to do beautiful work!

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Mountain Clover

'Mountain Clover' 11x14 pastel

Here is my demo painting from today's class. I had a request for a lesson on working with color and this demo helped me illustrate the ideas we talked about. We all tried working with a limited palette and keeping our pastels we are using seperate so we can get better color harmony. Everyone had success with their paintings and I hope had some fun in the process!

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Dragonfly Painting

'At the Pond' 5x7 pastel

This is a Twelve-Spotted Skimmer, a dragonfly familiar to ponds and fishing holes. I'd like to go through my dragonfly photos and see just how many varieties I have photographed. I always enjoy painting these beautiful dragonflies...especially their delicate, lacy wings.

Apple Study

'Apple Study' 8x10 pastel

You may remember these apples from a couple of weeks ago when I painted them in the style of Matisse. This was the painting I did first in my usual style. It is on LaCarte paper. For Tuesday's class, Marsha is having us paint in the style of Seurat. Maybe I will try the same apples!

Monarch Butterfly

The Art Institute of Chicago has a wonderful sculpture garden and when I was there in August there were several Monarch Butterflies enjoying the gardens. I enjoyed trying to get photos and was able to get a few nice shots. I love using the oranges and reds! This painting is 7x5 on LaCarte paper.

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Red Poppies SOLD

'Red Poppies' 10x8 pastel

I had a request for a work in progress (thanks Karen!) so I thought I would put it in a slideshow which is posted below. You can click on 'see images' for a closer look at any of the photos. This is painted on Uart paper 500 grit which I toned with a pink nupastel. I sketched in the main areas with a peach nupastel then began painting the distant treeline and the sky. I wanted to leave these trees and the distand field less detailed and lighter and cooler in color so the poppies in the foreground would be the stars.

How to Paint Poppies with Pastels

A Meadow in Maine

'A Meadow in Maine' 10x8 pastel

I tried the oil stain underpainting for this on Uart paper and I am pleased to say the paper didn't buckle a bit! I didn't get my underpainting as vibrant as I wanted so I need to work on that. But this is a moody day in Maine so I think it worked out fine. I am ready to paint something very colorful though...I have some ideas so stay tuned!

New Wildflower ACEO

'A Glorious Field' 2.5 x 3.5 pastel

On our drive to Chicago we stopped for gas somewhere in Indiana. Next to the gas station was the largest, most glorious field of Queen Anne's Lace I had ever seen! I had to go over with my camera and I took as many pictures as I could. It was amazing! The flowers were in all stages of blooming and the field was alive with the buzzing of bees. I could have spent hours there! I hope I remember where it is for the next trip to Chicago! This is a miniature aceo size painting on Wallis paper.

Eggs!

'Eggs!' 10x8 pastel

Today we painted white without using any white pastels. This was a painting I did to illustrate how white reflects the colors of it's surroundings. We had a still life of white objects to work from. This painting is from a photo but all of our paintings from life turned out colorful and delicate! It reminds me how important it is to paint from life whenever possible.

Low Country Marsh...SOLD

'My Memory' 10x12 pastel

I thought you might like to see the final painting from my earlier post on working out a painting. The little studies helped me work out the details with my collector... And we decided on a sunnier, brighter mood. I was able to use a few different techniques on this painting and I am excited to try another marsh scene. Today Jayne and I went to the art supply store and got some more oils to do the oil stain underpainting that Richard McKinley does on his dvd.

Great News! Textbook Cover!

I am very excited to share the news that my Little Blue Heron painting has been chosen by McGraw-Hill to illustrate the cover of their 9th grade Literature series! I knew it was in the running but just got the word that it was chosen! This means a lot to me because it has always been a dream of mine to one day illustrate children's books and this is close! At least it is a step in the right direction.

Summer Fields II

'Summer Fields II' 10x8 pastel

Rehoboth Beach

'Back from the Beach' 8x10 pastel

This scene from Rehoboth Beach is this week's challenge on Karin Jurick's new site 'Different Strokes from Different Folks' If you haven't checked out the site yet I highly recommend it. Each week Karin will post a new photos for artists to paint. The resulting work is then posted on the blog. Last week she had 52 artists participate. The paintings of her dog Jack are all wonderful. It is great to see how we all bring something different to our art. This also qualifies for one of my homework assignments since I took the photo and made a few changes!

A Taste of Autumn

'A Taste of Autumn' 14x11 pastel

Fall has not yet come to Georgia but I am ready for it! I am looking forward to opening the windows and taking out my fall clothes! This is painted on UArt paper which I am really enjoying!

Marsh Study

'Marsh Study 1' 4x9 pastel

This is one of my studies for this marsh painting commission. It is actually based on one of my Creighton Island plein air paintings which I have sold. I think my favorite of the three is this long one. I am partial to long and narrow formats for painting the marshes.

Working out a Painting

I thought I would share the process I am going through to work out the details of this marsh painting. I am really trying to be good about doing thumbnails and value studies before starting a painting. I am now using a bigger sketchbook so I have room for several sketches and notes. I am writing down what I want the mood and focus of the painting to be as well as any other notes to myself. I am thinking of this as my warm-up exercises before the actual painting begins. In this photo you can see my sketchbook and reference photos as well as three small color studies in different formats.

Baby Maya

Here is Maya's first painting. It is hard to capture that baby look and I will have to practice. I took some cute pictures when she was asleep so I will be painting her again for sure!

Introducing Maya Blue

Maya Blue is the newest member of our family. She is a 12 week old seal point siamese and is Tobi's half sister. Before we lost Ceara we had been debating about getting a kitten and then Maya became available...she was too hard to refuse. I am sure she will keep me busy....she was already introduced to pastels today and somehow ended up with a purple stripe on her side! It's a Terry Ludwig Eggplant so I am sure she will be purple for awhile! By the way, her name Maya Blue comes from the blue pigment that the Mayans used on their artwork. It is a color similar to a siamese cat's eyes and it never fades!

North Georgia Barn

'Georgia Barn' 11x14 pastel

Today was the first class of the Fall session of my pastel class. It was good to get back into our routine and see everyone. This was the demo painting I did using a nupastel underpainting. We are going to be working on doing 4 value thumbnail sketches before every painting as our warm-up exercise. I shared the idea of using 3 gray TomBow markers to do the value sketches. I hope that today's class was helpful!

Saturday's Painting

'Quiet River' 10x8 pastel

I spent the afternoon with Jayne and Holly and we finished watching the Richard McKinley dvd. We also tried doing our own painting using the oil stain underpainting. It was a challenge! I think that one needs practice getting the underpainting good enough so that you really can let it work for you. That will take many more tries. But I really did enjoy the oil paint technique. This painting was actually 12x18 but I thought it had become two paintings. I like the cropped version better and now I actually have two paintings! I would like to try this technique some more!

Bowl of Lemons

'Bowl of Lemons' 8x10 pastel

Here is another fun painting I did on Labor Day...I was productive and did 5 paintings! It was fun just playing with the pastels and with color. I love the vibrancy of pastels and using colors I don't often use is always fun! My pastel Fall session starts on Sunday and I am excited about the lessons I have planned. I have had a lot of requests for classes and workshops. This class is full but I do have a list of folks interested in another class and workshops. Let me know if you want more information!

My Version of Jack

'Jack' 7x5 pastel

One of my favorite artists, Karin Jurick, has started a new blog I am very excited about. It is called 'Different Strokes from Different Folks' She is going to post a new photo every Wednesday and is inviting other artists to paint their own version of the photos. She will be posting the results. What a great idea for artists and art lovers alike! This week the photo is of her dog Jack, who she recently lost. How well I understand the pain of losing a dear pet. This is my pastel version of Jack. If you are not familiar with Karin's work visit her blog...she is a wonderful artist!

Cape Cod National Seashore Painting

'A Seaside Hike' 24x18 pastel

I think this is one of the prettiest areas on Cape Cod. My son and I had a very enjoyable hike around this meadow. My husband and daughter decided to stay in the car (and sadly missed out) The best part was when we got to the overlook parking lot all we had to do was call them and they drove up to meet us. That was a good ending to a wonderful hike!

Ceara

It is with a heavy heart that I post this today and almost didn't. My beautiful Calico cat Ceara died unexpectedly this morning. She had a heart condition so we really have been blessed with the 10 wonderful years she gave us. I raised her from a 3 day old kitten and we had a very strong bond. She was a beautiful cat inside and out and always seemed to know when I needed her the most. I will miss her laying on my pastels and keeping me company all day. This is just a little aceo study I did a few weeks ago intending to do a larger painting. I will when I can.

Apples... A Still Life

'A Plate of Apples' 8x10 pastel

Time to play! The inspiration for this painting is a painting by Matisse called 'A Bowl of Oranges'. At the Art Institute of Chicago last week , I bought a wonderful book on Matisse. I just love his bold compositions and use of color. This is my second version. The first one was a little too dull and stiff. For this one I just had fun with applying the pastel and playing with color.

A Sneak Preview

Jazzpurr takes a look at my framed paintings that will be a part of my upcoming show at Mountain View. He approves! Actually he is still purple from rubbing up against a painting earlier in the week. I need to be more careful!