Sunflowers in the Mountains

'Sunny Meadow' 6x6 pastel

I really need to go back to this North Carolina meadow this summer. Jayne and I stumbled on it last year and I have had so much fun painting from my photos. I did this little painting in preparation for tomorrow's pastel class. We are going to be talking about painting from photos and how we can make our paintings better than the photo. I will have some tips and a fun exercise for practice.

The View from Cabin #4

'View from Cabin #4' 9x18 pastel

At least I think we were in cabin #4....I will have to confirm that. This was our view anyway from our cabin on Creighton Island. I took many photos of the view, each with it's own mood. I liked the peaceful feeling I got when standing here looking out at this view! I wish this little picture showed up larger. It is hard to see when I have to crop it down.

After the Storm

'After the Storm' 9x12 pastel

One of my long time collectors admired my Stormy Sunset painting and requested a 9x12 portrait version to add to her collection. I love this scene so I was happy to paint this for her. This is on art spectrum paper which I normally don't enjoy working on but it was nice for this painting. On another note....have you seen that Terry Ludwig has a new set of light pastels? One more thing I need!

Mountain Summer

'Mountain Summer' 5x7 pastel

Here is another little painitng I did at the lake this past weekend. It is based on a photo I took last summer up in the mountains around Murphy, NC. There were no Queen Anne's Lace this time but I did manage to get a few photos of the poppy fields. I can't wait to try to paint them!

Siamese Asleep

'Siamese Asleep' 5.5 x 5.5 Pastel

It was time for another small cat painting and this pose of Tobi called out to be painted. I am often asked how I decide on my backgrounds for my animal paintings. This one happened by accident. I was planning on making it a colorful dark and I put down the purples first. I decided that I just liked it purple so I didn't add any other colors. Sometimes the painting just tells you what to do!

Poppy Field at Sunset

'Sunset Field' 5x7 pastel

Here is another painting I worked on this weekend out on the house boat. I wanted to try this scene. The colors and light were just amazing in the reference photo. Thank you to the photographer in the wet canvas image library. I couldn't resist this one even though I try to only paint from my own photos.

Queen Anne's Lace close up #2

'Against the Sky' 5x7 pastel

I just got back from a weekend up in the North Carolina mountains. The weather was perfect and I had a chance to do some small paintings. I only did one plein air piece becuase by the time we arrived at the lake the light was so flat so I ended up painting from some photos I took in the mountains. Painting outside on the houseboat was a lot of fun and very relaxing! I took a lot of photos too....wildflower fields, butterflies, sunsets...can't wait to get painting!

A Sweet Boy

This is a commission I did recently of a sweet cat named William. It is 5x7 on LaCarte paper, my favorite for animals. William was fun to paint because of his soft coloring. He was the first orange cat that I have painted. Today I am headed to the mountains for the weekend. I have my camera and pastels and a pile of books packed. I need to start finalizing the itinerary for my upcoming New England vacation. I am getting excited!

Eastern Bluebird Painting

'It's Dinner Time!' 5x7 pastel

I missed getting over to Jayne's to get photos of her bluebirds so I painted this from last years photos. Hopefully they will raise another family this year and I will have a chance to enjoy them! They come so close to get the worms Jayne puts out. They are wonderful!

Chicago Street Scene Garrett's Popcorn

'Popping In' 5x7 pastel

I have yet to try Garrett's Popcorn in Chicago. The two times I was there the lines were huge! I figure it must be pretty good and it is on my list to try on my next visit. It looked extra warm and inviting on this cold December evening!

Wildflower Demo Painting

'Among the Daisies' 8x10 pastel

Here is the demo painting I did for my pastel class last Sunday. We talked about composition and focal areas. We also talked about learning to train our visual brains and start thinking and talking in visual terms....shapes, colors, values rather than naming objects. Everyone painted wildflowers or fields of flowers and did a great job! We have one more class and then on to session II!

A New Nest Painting

'Spring Treasure' 5x7 pastel

I wasn't able to post last night because our power was out from a storm. Then this morning windows wouldn't start on my computer and I had a mini panic! But it seems to be working for the moment. Here is a new nest painting. It was fun to paint this one. I am continuing with my city scenes. We are going to concentrate on them in Marsha's class for the next couple of sessions so look for more to come!

Dragonfly Close-up

'In the Garden' 5x7 pastel

I decided to try a close up view of a blue dragonfly. This is from one of Jayne's old photos I recently found. I am going to be on the hunt for dragonflies up in the mountains this weekend. I am out of reference photos!

Chicago Theater Street Scene #2 SOLD

'A Night on the Town' 5x7 pastel

Here is a larger version of my Chicago Cityscape #2. I took this photo while waiting to attend the show 'Wicked' a couple of years ago. I love all the bright lights of the city. It is such a change from painting wildflowers! In my pastel class I teach we painted fields of wildflowers today. We talked about focal areas and ways we can get them to be the stars of the painting. I had fun and everyone did such nice work! I am happy to say that everyone will continue on to the next sesion. I have some fun things planned for us to do!

Roadside Wildflowers

'Roadside Wildflowers' 5x7 pastel

I had a wonderful day with Jayne & Holly. We went to an area art festival and spent the afternoon looking for a place to try out our limited pastel palette. We never did find a place to paint but we did make a few photo stops....a sheep farm, a field of wildflowers and some daisies and Queen Anne's Lace by the side of the road. Just my kind of scenery! I did this little painting when I returned home while it was all fresh in my memory.