A Few New ACEO Pastels SOLD

Here are this week's selection of miniature pastel paintings. Each one measures just 2.5 x 3.5 inches. I painted these while on vacation. As you can see I was inspired by quite a variety of my favorite subjects...cats, birds, beaches, wildflowers, sunflowers! I will have them available by auction in my Ebay store this week. I would love for you to take a closer look.

Snowy Forest Pastel Painting

'Into the Snowy Woods' 9x12 pastel

Today I taught a workshop on painting the colors of winter in pastel. I was wishing that we were painting Spring instead! Even though I love to paint winter, I am ready for the warm weather! But we had a fun time painting snow and I enjoyed working with everyone. Tomorrow's workshop is about painting Nocturnes. I can't wait. I was just outside and there is a wonderful full moon and the sky is such a rich velvety blue...I am inspired now to paint the night!

Clouds over the Marsh

'Clouds over the Marsh II' 8x10 pastel

Today's painting is about the clouds. I am working with a private student and last night we studied clouds. Next we will raise the horizon and make the painting more about the marsh. I really love to paint clouds. On my trip I painted the sky everyday. Most days we had lots of clouds which made painting more interesting then blue sky day after day!

Wildwood NJ Boardwalk Evening

'Season's End' 7x5 pastel

Here is a painting I did while on the cruise. Besides doing plein air I brought a stack of my photos to paint from. This one was done in preparation for Sunday's workshop on painting nocturnes. I love the quiet moody feel to these night time and early evening scenes!

Cruise Ship Plein Air!

I think after four cruises with pastels I have finally perfected the art of lounge chair painting! There is nothing like sitting in the sun looking at the sea and painting with pastels. Here are a couple of photos of my set-up and a silly one of me painting the sky. I painted a sky everyday which turned into a fun series. Here is how I packed my supplies: Everything I needed fit nicely into a small backpack/laptop bag. I brought two small boxes of pastels, both of them repurposed wood boxes that I lined with foam. In the biggest box I carried 160 pastels. They were 1/3 of a stick of Great Americans from my McKinley and Chavez sets. The smaller box carried a mix of Nupastels and Giraults. I could easily paint with just this set alone but I like the soft and buttery GA's. I brought a few hand towels so I don't get the loungers dusty. For my support I use a small piece of foamcore and artist tape to attach my paper. I only bring small paper no larger than 5x7 which I keep in a clear envelope. Finished paintings are slipped into the pages of a magazine until I get home. I find this holds a lot of paintings and keeps them clean and safe. The back pack holds all of my other miscellaneous supplies such as watercolors, sketching stuff, alcohol, fixative... none of which I used! I think I will use this same set up for my summer trip to the Tetons and Yellowstone only I will carry my small travel easel from Jusdon Plein air since there will be no lounge chairs!

New Large Meadow Painting 18x24

'Summer Meadow' 18x24 pastel

I have been wanting to paint some of my wildflowers in a larger format and after painting 67 minis over the last two weeks I am more than ready to go LARGE! This meadow with it's bright orange flowers has always been a favorite of mine. I took the reference photo for the painting while on a hike in Acadia National Park in Maine. I once found the name of the flowers but didn't write it down so I forget now what they are called. I did an oil stain underpainting for this one and if you enlarge it you can still see some of the drips.

Mountain Poppies ACEO pastel by Karen Margulis

Mountain Poppies

About This Painting:
Media: Pastel
Size: 2.5 in X 3.5 in (6.4 cm X 8.9 cm)

How to Purchase:
click here to bid on this painting

Or, send me an email

Nantucket Wildflowers 18x24

'Nantucket Wildflowers' 18x24 pastel

Today I was able to get in the studio and just paint for me. I was caught up with commissions and all ready for my workshops...I am not unpacked though but that had to wait...I was itching to paint someting BIG! So here is the largest wildflower painting I have done yet...18x24. This little pictures doesn't really do it justice. I had leftover oil paint from a commission so I used it to create a oil stain underpainting. Notice all of the drips and spiderwebs. I tried to leave some of the underpainting showing in the finished painting. If you look closely you will discover a ladybug hiding among the wildflowers! I had so much fun and now #2 is up on the easel for tomorrow!

Painting Nocturnes in Pastel

'Night Falls over the Marsh' 5x7 pastel

One of the things I worked on while on the cruise was painting nocturnes in preparation for this Sunday's workshop. I am excited about the plans I put together for the workshop. It will be a lot of fun to paint the mystery and moods of the night time. This is one of the paintings I just finished. It was actually done from a daytime photo that I turned into an evening scene. I am looking forward to sharing some tips for painting nocturnes on Sunday!

Back from my Cruise!

I am back after a wonderful and relaxing back to back Caribbean cruise. I had a great time and I think I have perfected my lounge chair pastel painting set-up. I will post pictures tomorrow as soon as I load my photos. I painted 86 paintings with 67 of them being 2.5 x 3.5. Here is a photo of some of them. It was so much fun! I will be putting them on auction in my ebay store over the next few weeks. I have lots to share about my trip and the paintings I have done so please stay tuned!

Mountain Wildflowers Late Summer

Today I take you back to the North Georgia mountains where I find the most wonderful fields of wildflowers to paint. One of my goals for this year is to try to paint wildflowers en plein air. This painting was done as a demo for my Wildflower workshop.
 

My Website:   www.karenmargulis.com

My Art Blog:   www.kemstudios.blogspot.com

Kiawah Island Marsh 9x12 Plein air

Last fall I spent a wonderful week on the South Carolina coast. We had some cold and wet weather but still managed to get outside to paint. This painting was done from the deck of our hostesses beautiful home on Kiawah Island. I have many more Low Country paintings I want to paint.
 

My Website:   www.karenmargulis.com

My Art Blog:   www.kemstudios.blogspot.com

Colorado Aspens 8x10

I love the color of Aspens in the Fall! I have plans to paint this one in oil or acrylic only much larger. I think the colors will be striking in a very large painting. This is an 8x10 pastel.
 

My Website:   www.karenmargulis.com

My Art Blog:   www.kemstudios.blogspot.com

Florida Dunes Plein Air 5x7

Last fall I had the opportunity to paint at Grayton Beach State Park near Destin , Florida. It was a bright, steamy hot day but I was lucky to be painting under a picnic shelter. the painting turned out to be a high key study which I think captures the brightness of the day.
 

My Website:   www.karenmargulis.com

My Art Blog:   www.kemstudios.blogspot.com

Summer in Taos

Before the IAPS convention last year we spent some time in Taos. We had some stormy weather which gave us some very interesting skies. I painted three versions of this field. We stayed at a wonderful Inn called Casa Galina. I highy recommend it!
 

My Website:   www.karenmargulis.com

My Art Blog:   www.kemstudios.blogspot.com

Maine Wildflowers 16x20 Pastel

Summer in Maine! There is nothing quite like it. It is one of my favorite summer places. I saw these wildflowers on a hike in Acadia National Park. I did this painting at the IAPS convention at the Sean Dye mixed media workshop. I did an acrylic underpainting with an ink drawing. It was a lot of fun. 
 

My Website:   www.karenmargulis.com

My Art Blog:   www.kemstudios.blogspot.com

Chicago Water Tower 7x5 pastel

I love visiting my son in Chicago. There is so much to see and do and I always come home with lots of great reference photos. This painting of the water tower was done as a study for a commission. 
 

My Website:   www.karenmargulis.com

My Art Blog:   www.kemstudios.blogspot.com

Sanibel Palm Tree

Back to Sanibel for this 10x8 palm tree painting. It was a palm tree I saw near the beach. I loved the little periwinkles in bloom around the trees. I was also experimenting with different sky colors at the time so that's why the sky is purple!
 

My Website:   www.karenmargulis.com

My Art Blog:   www.kemstudios.blogspot.com

Colorado Waterfall 10x8 pastel

I loved this part of Colorado! We stayed at Antero Hot Springs cabins near Nathrop and this waterfall was nearby. What a gorgeous day that was!  I was pleased with how I was able to simplify the rocks in this painting. 
 

My Website:   www.karenmargulis.com

My Art Blog:   www.kemstudios.blogspot.com

North Carolina Poppies

This field of poppies is actually alongside the highway near Murphy North Carolina. I missed them in bloom last summer but will plan to visit this summer to paint them plein air! This is a large painting for me at 18x24.
 

My Website:   www.karenmargulis.com

My Art Blog:   www.kemstudios.blogspot.com

Beach Umbrella Sanibel Island

From the Mountains to the sea we travel today to Sanibel Island Florida, one of my favorite places. I like to visit in the summer when it is hot and the Gulf is as warm as a bath. This painting is 10 x 20 but I have painted one similar but much larger for a commission. I am still away on a cruise so I have been taking my readers on a tour of some of my paintings from other travels. I hope you are enjoying the trip!
 

My Website:   www.karenmargulis.com

My Art Blog:   www.kemstudios.blogspot.com

Misty Mountains Cashiers North Carolina

Today's painting is from Cashiers North Carolina. It is 11x14 pastel. I was attending a plein air workshop given by Marsha Savage. It was a fun weekend in the mountains and jump started my love for plein air.
 

My Website:   www.karenmargulis.com

My Art Blog:   www.kemstudios.blogspot.com

Caribbean Coconut Palm 20x10 Pastel

Today I take you to Magen's Bay on the island of St. Thomas USVI.  I love visiting this beach and painting the trees. One of my paintings 'Magen's Bay Shade' hangs in the guest rooms of the Caneel Bay Resort on St. John. I'd love to see a room in person!
 

My Website:   www.karenmargulis.com

My Art Blog:   www.kemstudios.blogspot.com

Creighton Island Georgia Plein Air

For the next two weeks while I am away I will be posting some of my favorite paintings from my travels. They are all available. The first is an 8x10 plein air I did on a painting adventure to Creighton Island, a private island off the coast of Georgia. We slept in hunting cabins and painted all day long for a week. It was wonderful!
 

My Website:   www.karenmargulis.com

My Art Blog:   www.kemstudios.blogspot.com

Back to my Variation Challenge

'Variation Challenge #75' 5x7 pastel

I have finally gotten back to my variation challenge paintings and managed to paint four of them. I would love to finish the challenge so maybe I will paint some while I am cruising! I will be back from my voyages on February 21st but I do have blog posts lined up. I will be sharing paintings from my travels. I hope you enjoy them and I will be back to 'live' posting soon!

In case you missed my announcement....my online pastel classes will be starting in March. For more information click on the tabs at the top of the page!

Kiawah Island Marsh View

'LowCountry Mood' 8x10 pastel

I will never tire of painting this view! It's a good thing I took so many photos! Whenever I don't know what I feel like painting.....this view always feel right.

Nantucket Island Beach Sconset Painting

'Summers by the Sea' 8x10 pastel

Today's painting is the demo I did for my Pastel Master Class last night. The class meets once a month and the goal is to jumpstart our month and try something new...and hopefully inspire and motivate us to paint more! Last night the topic was 'High Key Paintings'. None of us usually paint in high key so it was a great opportunity to push ourselves to think and to work on seeing value. It was a fun evening and I am looking forward to next month.

I am excited to finally officially announce my online pastel classes. I have been working on the details and my first class will be available March 1st. It will be an online version of the High Key Master class though I will be offering other class options over the next few months. I'd love for you to read more about the online classes and how they will work. You can visit my workshop blog www.pastelworkshops.blogspot.com and click on the tabs at the top of the page for more information. Feel free to email me with any questions.

Sanibel Shells Demo Painting 10x10

'Sunshine on the Beach' 10x10 pastel

It was a perfect day in paradise! I had 14 students at my pastel workshop held at the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum on Sanibel Island. It was 80 degrees and sunny so we had the workshop outdoors in the courtyard. Most of the students were new to pastels so I gave a crash course and shared some tips for painting shells. This was the demo painting from the workshop. It was mostly finished but I gave some finishing touches in the studio. I love to paint shells! I am also enjoying the square format. I have an idea for while I am on the cruise next week using a square format...need to pack my supplies and cut lots of paper!

Wildflowers on a Bright Hazy Day

'Summer Haze' 5x5 pastel

Today I tried experimenting with getting a different mood and sense of light in a wildflower painting by working in a Higher Key. I won't go into too much details because it is the topic of tomorrow's pastel master class! I usually have much darker darks in my wildflower fields so it was a challenge not to reach for them! I have done several other high key paintings this past week and I am really enjoying the change of pace.