finishing up some paintings

McMurry's farm
pastel on Wallis paper 10x10

fencepost
pastel on uart paper 9x12

from last summer's plague

magicicada neotredecim
colored pencil

some new things from a workshop

Bald Cypress

bald cypress
pastel on uart 600 paper 8.5x11.5

I started this in the fall with a nice person I met who wanted to paint together so that she could watch me. We met at the park near my house and had to find something to paint. It was a unique challenge and a nice way to make a new friend. As so often happens, it took quite a while to finish this. I had something that I really liked that afternoon and was afraid to proceed and risk messing it up. I took this to an art critique that I participate in and got some great suggestions there that helped me complete the painting.

Morning Commute

morning commute
pastel on paper approx 10x16

This is not a new painting. Unfortunately I can't really get to work by bike these days. Too bad. It was a great way to start the day.
But I recently had some reproductions made, to be purchased for a hospital project, and this was one that was chosen.

after the rains

after the rains
pastel on uart 600 9x12"

cows in the field

cows in the field
small pastel on paper

four pines

four pines
pastel 9x6

Painted looking across Stout's Creek in southeast Missouri.

the woodshed

the woodshed
pastel on canson paper 10x12

Just for fun. It'll be a nice warm winter around the woodstove, eh?

something old, something new

dogwoods
pastel on board 10x10

Wetland Willows (redone)
pastel on wallis paper

bishop, california

bishop, california

pastel on paper 15"x19"

a couple more funny little chairs

the butterfly chair

the cowboy chair

These are a couple more chairs that I was asked to paint for a charity auction. They are tiny chairs, only about 20 inches tall. A fun diversion, that I didn't really need.

snowbird #2

snowbird #2
pastel on paper 7"x8"
sold

These little birds just have so much personality; they seem very curious. I like to capture their "pose" without too much detail. Maybe I'll try some more of these, moving on to a spring setting, but then they won't be gathering under my bird feeder right outside my kitchen window.
I took my 2 snowbird pictures to the local art league and both sold within a few days!

4 pieces

Oregon meadow
10"x10" pastel on paper
a gift to my sister

clouds and cows
11.5"x17.5" pastel on wallis paper

two older pieces that I forgot to post,

and some newer pieces...

the pond
6"x8" pastel on sanded paper

the path
8.5"x11.5" pastel on Uart paper

Please click on the pictures to see them a little larger.

painted chair

birdnest chair
acrylic on small wooden chair

This is a chair that I painted for a charity silent auction. It was a challenge to figure out how to use all the different spaces. There's a lot of surface area on a little chair!

Beside Still Waters

beside still waters
pastel on wallis paper 9"x18"
framed approx. 18"x26"

Recently I've been displaying some of my artwork through the local art league, and through the community art program. Last month I was excited to find that I had sold 2 pieces.

This painting will be part of the member's show that will be up through the end of the year. I started it on location in a beautiful, peaceful spot in the nearby wetlands area, but finished it in "the studio".

My husband has been making these fine cherry frames which are a very nice color to set off the painting, and he'll make any size I need, in a day. Lucky me!

fence row

fence row with ironweed
pastel on uart paper

untitled

untitled
pastel on board 5x14

I've been away from blogging for quite some time now. I've found that looking at lots of other people's work, while fun, is sometimes confusing for me. It's great in small doses though.

My husband has been making frames like crazy and I'm getting some pieces together for the great little community art league here in our town. I'm planning to put up eight or so pieces in a public place as part of the community art program. An exciting first step for me.

This is one that I had set aside and forgotten about. But here it is resized (I cut the bottom off), the foreground reworked, and I'm happy with it- looking across the cow pasture at the little piece of woodland that we own in southeast Missouri. It was dusk and getting cold.
Pastels really glow in person, and that just doesn't always come through on the computer monitor.

Oregon river rocks

Oregon River Rocks
pastel on wallis paper

I finally got back to painting today. Having been gone the past 6 weekends, there wasn't much time to paint, except for the pastel workshop of course. This one was started at the workshop and finished up today.

I enjoy painting rocks. It's almost like sculpting. You add a little shadow and the form of the rock changes.
Water is fun too. There's so much color in it.
Foliage is a struggle, as always. I just feel lucky when it turns out right.

Albert Handell workshop in Oregon

Grant's Pass Water Dept.
pastel on Wallis paper 12"x18"

I just spent a week in Grant's Pass Oregon, visiting my sister and taking part in a pastel workshop with Albert Handell. It was a wonderful experience in every way. I'm still jotting down little things I learned as they come to mind- not so much technique as how to see and compose a beautiful painting.
This is one of the paintings that I did during the workshop. I was particularly happy with this one because one of the things I was hoping to work on was how to handle all the green that surrounds us in the summertime. You can only avoid it for so long...