Back to the Beach....My First Landscape Love

'Summer Magic'               8x10            pastel            ©Karen Margulis
available $175

This painting has been up on the easel in an unfinished state for weeks. Life got in the way but I was anxious to finish it. It is from an older reference photo from a trip to Nantucket Island years ago. It called to me to be painted. I realize that lately I am drawn to painting the beach. (partly because we are focusing on beaches on Patreon) But mostly because I am inspired by the sea and the beach.

We should paint what we love. But sometimes the things that inspire us the most wax and wane. It is so with my beach paintings. It reminds me of a story about painting what we love. It happened to me during the first year of my journey with pastels.

I decided to take a 5 day workshop with Albert Handell. He was going to be near my town and my teacher was going. We decided to go together. I didn't feel ready but I was game and excited for my first workshop. It was an interesting week. Much of what Albert shared was over my head. I wasn't ready for a lot of this information. But some of it made an impact including how to organize a pastel box. A simple job which was one of the best things I ever did!

On the last day of the workshop the afternoon was devoted to critique. We were each able to share any work we wanted including work done in the workshop and paintings or slides of work we did at home. I eagerly awaited my turn. I had brought a few slides of my work and my favorite painting to date which was a large 18x24 painting of pelicans. All of my paintings were beach related. Here is my Pelican painting done back in 2006. I was so proud of it!

  

When it was my turn and Albert flipped through my slides I held my breath. He had already proven to be quite blunt with others and I wondered what he would say to me. He looked at me and said and I quote...."Stop painting the beach and no more DUCKS"  What!! I was taken back for a minute. Why couldn't I paint what I loved? Then he pulled out the Plein air paintings I had done during the week at the workshop. They were all North Georgia woodland landscapes. I still have one on my wall. Albert then told me "This is what you need to paint" pointing to the plein air pieces.  I wasn't too happy about the critique at the time. But that is because I didn't understand what he meant. A few years later it clicked!  Albert noticed something in my plein air landscapes. He knew that was the direction that really suited me. I ended up going in the landscape direction on my own accord but it was interesting that Albert knew it before I did!  (I have another story about a critique that I will share another time)

Moral of this story......paint what you love but remain open to things you might not have considered. Listen to critique with a grain of salt but be open to those pearls of wisdom that are being imparted. 

The underpainting for my latest beach painting