Surfside Beach Nantucket Island SOLD

'Summer Days Nantucket' 5x7 pastel

I love Nantucket Island! I have been fortunate enough to have visited the island the last two summers. If you have followed my blog for awhile then you may know I have done my family tree and discovered my roots trace back to the founders of Nantucket and that I still have a cousin on the Island. I hope it works out that we can visit again this summer. I would love to paint plein air on Nantucket!

Snow Country Pastel Painting

'Snow Country' 8x10 pastel

I happen to like snow. I know I don't have to shovel it or deal with it and I know that it can be dangerous....but I enjoy it's beauty and I really enjoy painting it! The colors in a snowy landscape are subtle but so wonderful.

A Mixed Bouquet...Wildflowers

'A Mixed Bouquet' 10x8 pastel

I loved this profusion of wildflowers I found growing along the road on Nantucket Island. They seemed to make a perfect mixed bouquet! I plan on doing this one larger. It will be fun to paint with wild abandon!

******My Ebay Auctions for several aceo size paintings end this weekend. Here is the link for one of the wildflower paintings. ******

Summer Marsh Pastel Painting

'Summer Marsh' 10x20 pastel

I am working on getting my blog posts lined up for the time I will be away in February. I will be able to post by email which will be great for the limited internet time I will have on the cruises. I plan to share some of my favorite paintings from my travels over the past couple of years. If I am able to I will also be posting some of my 'lounge chair' plein air paintings.

Cup of Coffee ACEO 2.5 x 3.5 pastel

One more mini painting....this one a cup of coffee. I enjoy painting food and beverages! When I go on a cruise I bring my camera to dinner and take pictures of the wonderful presentations of the food. I must not be the only one to do this because one of my cameras actually has a setting for food photos! This little painting is done on LaCarte paper. I used a push pin to draw into the thick layers of pastel. It is fun to draw with push pins!

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St. Thomas Beach Painting

'Caribbean Dreams' 8x10 pastel

I am packing my pastels for my upcoming cruise so I thought I'd make sure I had the right 'Caribbean' colors in my pastel box by painting a scene from last year's cruise. This is Sapphire Beach on St. Thomas USVI. This year we are going to San Juan, St. Kitts and St. Maarten. I am planning on my usual 'lounge chair' plein air paintings.

Sanibel Island Pastel Painting aceo 2.5 x 3.5

Today was my first day without my childcare. The first day in 21 years that I didn't have little children to care for and it was different. I went to the grocery store at 2:00 in the afternoon...that was strange! I do know that I am excited to have more time to paint and work on all of the ideas in my head! Although I didn't get to paint today...I did the boring paperwork stuff so that tomorrow I can paint! I painted this little painting of Sanibel Island yesterday at my group's annual 'Un Christmas'Party.

Poppy Field Demo Painting

'A Summer Walk' 8x10 pastel

I had a fantastic weekend! On Saturday I had two private lessons...both students new to pastels. I just love sharing my passion with those just getting started. I set up my studio for the students to give them a tour of pastels.... I introduced them to the tools of the trade and they got to 'test drive' different brands of pastels and papers and learn some basic techniques. My afternoon student is interested in landscapes so with this demo I showed him one way to start a painting.....there is so much more!!!

Today was our annual 'Un-Christmas ' party for my group of art friends and we finally chose a name for the group. From now on we will be known as the 'Art Spirits'. I think it is a good fit. We had a great time catching up, sharing paintings and of course eating and having wine. Thank you Jayne & Holly for all of your hard work in organizing the party and on the special tribute book for Marsha! All of the Art Spirits are the best!

Wildflower Meadow ACEO Pastel

I am calling this one 'Endless Summer'. It is another new aceo 2.5 x 3.5 inches. I have been busy so far this weekend. I am getting ready for a two week vacation in February. It is our annual cruise week. February is a slow work month for my husband so that is when we plan our vacations and we usually take a cruise if we can get a good deal. This year my parents got a fantastic deal for a cruise that starts the day we get back. As it turns out, my two sisters and I decided to join my parents on their cruise for a mini reunion....so I will be at sea for two weeks! I am packing a small box of pastels and my new watercolors and lots of paper. I have some good ideas for things to paint while at sea!
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Close-up of another Mini Pastel

Here is a closer view of 'Foggy Marsh'. It is available on Ebay auction. If you want to bid on this one or any of the others, check out my Ebay store.

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New Aceo Mini Paintings

I feel a big painting coming and I have some ideas but today I felt like doing some small ones. Each one of these measures 2.5 x 3.5 inches and will be available on Ebay. I have reopened my Ebay store as Kemstudio Art & Collectibles. My sister and I are stocking the store with all kinds of treasures...we love to shop but we just don't need all the good stuff we manage to find so we decided to put our treasures in our Ebay store to share with others. I'll put a link to the auctions for these little paintings in the morning and I hope you'll stop by and have a look!

Art Book Friday...Our 1st Book Club Meeting!

I can't believe a week has gone by already! I haven't had too much time to read but this book lends itself to reading a little here and there. In case you didn't read my blog last Friday, I am starting a book club here on the blog. We will read an art book each month and 'meet' here on Fridays for some discussion through the comment feature. Everyone is welcome to join in....our first book is 'The Art Spirit' Robert Henri. I thought I would share my favorite bit from the first few pages of the book. Henri talks about being a 'sketch hunter'...someone who goes through life and stops to know the world around him and to capture what excites him with a sketch or painting. This quote is my favorite part...."Like any hunter he hits or misses. He is looking for what he loves, he tries to capture it. It's found anywhere, everywhere. Those who are not hunters do not see these things. The hunter is learning to see and to understand - to enjoy." I think this is so true. Before I became an artist or 'sketch hunter' I don't think I saw as much beauty and interest in my worls as I do know. It is a wonderful thing! Do you consider yourself to be a sketch hunter?

Dandelions! SOLD

'Dandelion Delight' 7x5 pastel

Even dandelions deserve to be painted! I found these dandelions last summer while in Nantucket. They graced the lawn of a gorgeous oceanfront home. I just held my camera down low and took photos. This painting is on a piece of Uart paper that had been brushed off and sprayed with fixative giving me a textured surface to work on.

Lion's Paw Shell 5x7 pastel

'My Lucky Day' 5x7 pastel

I have been going to Sanibel Island since I was young. I love searching for shells and there is no better place for that than Sanibel Island. One of the more elusive shells on Sanibel is the Lion's Paw. Oh you can find lots of small kitten paws but the Lion's Paw is a prize! One year I was on Sanibel during a tropical storm. Intrepid sheller that I am, I was on the beach in the rain and wind looking for treasure. It wasn't until after the storm when the seas had calmed down that I found my first Lion's Paw. It is a small one, but a true beauty. Here is is in a painting. Now I need to find a Junonia shell!

Poppies in the Mountains 5x7 pastel

'Poppy Surprise' 5x7 pastel

Sometimes you find beauty where you least expect it. This scene is from the road to my parent's home in the North Carolina mountains. Last summer while visiting them, I went for an early morning walk. I never expected to come across this little patch of poppies on the side of a busy highway. Actually I had my dad throw wildflower seed all along their driveway so I am hopeful for even more wildflowers next summer!

Frozen Creek Winter Painting 11x14

'Frozen Creek' 11x14 pastel

Today I take you from the warm orange glow of the marsh to the icy cold of a frozen waterfall! This was the demo painting I did for yesterday's workshop on painting winter. I chose a challenging painting for the demo but I wanted to show my students how to take a very chaotic photo and design a better painting. This has a lot a lot going on but the photo had even more! We also talked about the challenges of painting snow and tips for getting a landscape with snow to look more authentic....a challenge for us in the south since we don't get to experience snow very often! It was a fun afternoon of painting. This workshop will be available as an online e-class along with other class options....announcement coming by the end of the week!

Kiawah Island Marsh SOLD

'Sunrise Memories' 16x20 pastel

I just finished this marsh commission for a friend and I am so excited for them to see it in person. It brings back a great memory and of course I always love painting the marsh. This is 16x20 on Ampersand Pastelbord. I did a value underpainting with nupastel and turpenoid. It was so much fun to paint!

Today was my mini workshop on painting the Winter Landscape. I will put some finishing touches on my demo painting and post a report tomorrow. Everyone did wonderful work!

Rooster Painting 7x5 pastel

'Cock-a-Doodle-Doo' 7x5 pastel

I couldn't resist painting this guy! It is done on salmon color LaCarte paper which is great for animals. I did the finishing touches with some Girault pastels. I forget how useful they are especially for the finer details. Today Jayne and I went to our local Pearls which is going out of business. Everything was 50% off. I stocked up on tape, glassine, fixative and a few pearlescent pastels for my shell paintings. I also got another small watercolor set. I plan on bringing them on my upcoming cruise. I have to try them out first but I think they will be fun to use.

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Queen Anne's Lace Commission SOLD

'A Blue Sky Day' 8x10 pastel

It is always fun to do a commission of my favorite subject ....wildflowers! I thoroughly enjoyed putting on some music and just getting into the flow of these flowers. I was remembering the day I saw them and took the reference photos. We were waiting for the ferry to Nantucket and I saw a patch of wildflowers behind the dumpster. It proves that we can find beauty anywhere if we just look!

Introducing 'ART BOOK FRIDAY' a book club for artists and art lovers

I have always wanted to be a part of a book club but never really had the opportunity to join one. So I thought, why not start my own and even better, why not host it on my blog and invite my blog followers to join if they wish. So here is your invitation and I would love it if you wish to join us. I will start with the first book and soon will have a list for us to vote on the next books. We will have a new book every month. For the first book we will have until the end of February. Every Friday I will post a question or book related topic for discussion and we can participate by commenting on the post. I have chosen 'THE ART SPIRIT' Robert Henri for the first book. It is a wonderful book which compiles the teachings and critiques of the painter Robert Henri. It is a book that every artist should have on their bookshelf and it is one that you can pick up and read over and over and find inspiration. I thought it would be a good way to start out the new year. If you don't have a copy of the book you can find a link to it on Amazon on the sidebar to the right. Here is some background on Robert Henri from Artcyclopedia. I hope you choose to read along with me and be sure to come back next Friday to check in!

Winter Stream Pastel Painting

'Winter Stream' 11x14 pastel

I'm back to winter painting today. I have been wanting to paint a winter stream and loved this view with the sun on one bank and the other bank in shadow. It looked like a good challenge. I did a turpenoid wash underpainting using hard pastels to block in the main shapes.You can see in the left corner I was able to leave a lot of the underpainting showing. I usually cover it all up but this time I liked the colors so I left it.

A Few Shells...Shells of Sanibel Island

Each of these paintings measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches and are pastels

How about something warm to think about today? Something warm like walking on the beach looking for treasure....feeling the sun and hearing the warm water lap the shore. I will be doing that in a couple of weeks when I head to Sanibel Island, Florida for a workshop I am teaching on painting shell in pastel. There are some openings if you are interested. The workshop is Friday January 29th from 2-4 at the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum on Sanibel.

My favorite shell is the Moon shell. I love the colors and the smoothness and I love finding one with a pretty blue 'eye'. Anne Morrow Lindbergh writes about the moon shell in her book "Gift from the Sea". This is a wonderful little book and is nice to read while sitting on a beach somewhere! OK....now back to my winter paintings brrrrrrrrr.

Frosty Meadow...Winter Wildflower Painting

'Frosty Meadow' 8x10 pastel

I have painted wildflowers in every season and here is my winter addition to my series. Wildflowers in winter you may ask....well in this case I found these dried Queen Anne's Lace flowerheads covered in frost. For today's ART TIP I am sharing my process for this painting. This was done on white Ampersand Pastelbord on wich I did an underpainting with thinned oil paints. Last evening at the Southeastern Pastel Society meeting, Carly Hardy demonstrated this technique. She did a wonderful and colorful underpainting that could have been the finished painting! I was anxious to try it today. I used water mixable oils for ease of clean up but I am going to try my regular oils on the next one. Richard McKinley uses this technique. The key is to thin the oil paint to a consistency of tea....allow it to drip and interact with the other colors. It makes a wonderful dream-like underpainting on which to apply your pastels. Here is a link to Richard's explanation of this process.

Painting The Winter Landscape..mini workshop this Sunday

I finally got to download my son's winter and snow photos from his Smoky Mountain trip. I am looking forward to doing some winter paintings this week in preparation for my workshop this Sunday. We will be working on simplifying the winter landscape, the colors of snow, how to make some interesting special effects to enhance your snow paintings and much more. There are still a few openings so send me an email if you want more information.
This 7x5 pastel painting is done on an orange toned piece of canson board coated with a pumice mixture. It was a rough surface and I used a few layers of fixative to build up layers of pastel.

TODAYS ART TIP: This tip is for pastels....If you have canson board and you don't like the bumpy texture (what I consider to be their 'wrong' side) consider making it into your own surface by covering with a pumice mixture. There are many recipes and you can experiment to see what you like but all you do is mix some gesso with powdered pumice and a bit of water to get the consistency and grit you like. It is a good way to use up that canson board or matboard that you have sitting around!

ACEO Wildflower/Queen Anne's Lace Painting

'Blue Skies' 3.5 x 2.5 pastel

I enjoy painting small. Sometimes when I don't know what I want to paint, I will take out my photos and some 2.5 x 3.5 paper that I keep handy and just do quick studies from the photos. Sometimes they turn out well and sometimes they don't but I always learn from them. They are relaxing to do. You should try them if you haven't had the chance.

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The Cat in Art ....A Cat Painting and art tip SOLD

'Seeking Warmth' 5x7 pastel

This is one of my favorite paintings of my cat Jazzpurr. My cats are seeking warmth these days since our temperatures have been below freezing for almost a week. I find them curled up in any patch of sun or in front of a heat vent.

I love painting my cats and it got me thinking about cats in art. I am familiar with Steinlen and his cat drawings but I didn't realize just how much the cat has been a part of art until I came across this wonderful site that I want to share with you. It is the website of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. They have a feature where you can view their art collection online. I stumbled upon their gallery of cat art. Enjoy 51 works of art that feature cats in this gallery. What a wonderful resource!

Birch Forest Painting #2

Today's painting is the second in the triptych I did earlier this week.It is 5x7 on Uart paper with a watercolor underpainting. Now I have an idea to do something similar but much larger! I have to finish a commission I am working on first!

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Price: $75 USD plus $5 USD s/h
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Smoky Mountain Snow

'Smoky Mountain Snow' 5x7 pastel

My son Corey just got home from hiking in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park....in the snow! He took a lot of snow photos and I am thrilled. I need to put them on my computer but I asked him to choose 3 random photos and I would paint a snow study from one of them. I love painting the moodiness of winter! This one was done on Uart paper with a nupastel and alcohol wash underpainting.

Today's Art Tip ....Organizing the Business Side of Art

If one of your goals for 2010 is to get the business side of your art organized than I have a great book for you to read. You may be familiar with Alyson Stanfield's artbiz blog and her book 'I'd Rather be in the Studio' but if you haven't had a chance to read it, you should put it on your list. It is filled with solid advice to help you market yourself and your art. Even if it isn't your goal to sell your art at the moment, I would recommend reading the book and start getting organized. You just never know when opportunity knocks and you will be ready! Here is a quote from Alyson's website about the book and I agree!
"WARNING! Don't read this book at night!
It is known to cause the dizzying effects of having too many ideas. This is not a recipe for a good night's sleep."

Warm & Cozy ... a new nest painting

'Warm & Cozy' 5x5 pastel

These tiny eggs are warm and cozy in their nest. It has been hard to stay warm these days here in Georgia. I am sitting at my computer with two fleeces on and the heater at my feet. I am waiting for Corey to come back from his trip with snow photos so I have new material for a new snow series! I am so excited to see his photos! And we might just get some of our own snow here tomorrow.

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Price: $45 USD plus $5 USD s/h
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Today's Art Tip...Soft Pastel News

I am excited to introduce a couple of new features to my blog, the first one being a daily or almost daily Art Tip. In addition to sharing my daily paintings I will be adding a little art tidbit. It may be a just a quote or perhaps a link to a website I find interesting....or it may be a mini lesson or demo. The only criteria is that the tip will be art- related. It is my goal to give my visitors more than just a painting everyday. I am always reading and learning new things about art and it will be fun to share so I hope you will enjoy the journey with me. Bookmark or subscribe to blog if you haven't already!

Today's tip is a new website that I am sure pastel artists will find to be a great resource. It is called Soft Pastel News and the creator, Mario V has done a fantastic job gathering and presenting information about pastels. Here is what Mario says about the site:

This is not a blog about my art. It is a blog about interesting pastel art, pastel news and events that can be interesting to - I hope - wide pastel art audience. I spend a lot of time on the net searching for a beautiful and inspirational pastel art anyways, so I thought why not document it?
So far I have implemented:
•main feature of course is collecting news/articles/demos about soft pastel art/materials/events
•collection of instructional pastel videos on the youtube
•featured artist - every week or two presenting a new soft pastel artist
•Amazon based store where you can buy pastel books, DVDs, pastel sticks, paper...
•latest picks from WetCanvas Soft pastel forum
•one google ad that is related to art where I found that google gives some really interesting art ads.
•RSS feed

You can visit Soft Pastel News here. I am proud to have been chosen as the first featured artist!

Birch Forest Painting

'Summer Forest' 5x7 pastel

Today's painting is part of a triptych of a birch forest in Maine. There were these gorgeous little orange wildflowers dotting the meadows at the edge of the woods. I have enjoyed painting them in a few other paintings. I need to get a better photo of the second painting but it is a continuation of the forest. It makes a fun pair. You can see my watercolor underpainting in this one, especially at the bottom.

Shell Painting on a Book Cover!

I want to thank writer Sonja Smolec for choosing my painting for the cover of her poetry book. The book has now been published and I wish Sonja much success. I am proud to have my painting on the cover. Here is more information on Sonja's book.

Painting Shells...Workshop on Sanibel Island

'Beach Treasure' 11x14 pastel

If you are in SW Florida this January and would like to learn how to paint shells with pastels, join me for my workshop at the Baily-Matthews Shell Museum on Sanibel Island. The workshop will be held on Friday January 29th from 2-4 pm. I am excited about the opportunity to paint at one of my favorite places and to share my love of shells and pastels. If you would like more information, send me an email at kemstudios@yahoo.com

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Price: $175 USD
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Pear Study 4x6 pastel

'Pear Study for Two' 4x6 pastel

I had two private lessons today so my pile of pears got a good work out! I find that painting pears are a fun introduction to pastels. It is a simple shape so we can concentrate on making marks with the pastels. It was a fun and relaxing day which was a nice change from all of the organizing I have been doing lately.

I have finalized the plans for the Spring Plein Air Workshop in Murphy North Carolina. The workshop will be held on the weekend of May 14th. If you would like more information you can view a flyer here.

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Price: $45 USD plus $5 USD s/h
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Bristlecone Pine 12x12 pastel

Whew! I have been cleaning and organizing the studio all day! Now the trick will be to remember where I put everything. It is looking good and I can't wait to just have time to paint! I have two private students coming tomorrow so I finished just in time. I still want to paint the walls and a few other minor things but I was very productive today! This painting is a commission based on another pinecone painting I did a couple of years ago. It was fun to paint!

Twilight Marsh

'Twilight Marsh' 5x7 pastel

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I would like to wish my friends, family and followers a very Happy New Year. I wish you a year filled with happiness. I ate my grapes last night at midnight...one for every month so I am hoping for a fun and healthy year. I have exciting plans in the works and changes which will allow me more time to put my plans into action. I will be announcing my online classes and workshops in the coming week as well as some fun new additions to my blog. So please come back soon or better yet sign up to receive email updates.