Scenes From a Life

2011-09-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

Plein air paintings: sunny and overcast days

In between rain storms and a bad back, I've been painting outside, either on my own or with a small class. I've been twice to Lake Needwood. This first painting was done on a day when the sun was shinging (rare!) and the shadows were distinct. I decided to work more quickly, focusing on shapes, and to use brighter, more saturated pieces of color. I worked on Pastelmat, a relatively smooth pastel surface that allows for beautiful applications of pastel.

Light and Shadow, 11.75 x 16.5, pastelmat

This second painting was done with my class later in the same week. It was an overcast day, with little direct light. The colors were more subtle, but beautiful.

The light of an overcast day, 12 x 11.75, pastelmat

2011-08-31T10:56:00.000-07:00

Prague and Budapest

The colors of Prague, 5 x 7 pastel on board

We loved Prague! Had a great room by the river overlooking the cathedral on the hill. A wonderful walking city and so many beautiful buildings. This was a particularly colorful view (of course I took a few liberties with the typical gray building on the right). Also wanted to capture the lovely aqua onion dome.

Side Street, Prague, 5 x 7 pastel on board

Another street scene in a completely different color palette. The streets around our hotel were full of views like this, making it a joy to explore.

Along the Vlatava (Moldau) 5 x 7, pastel on board

I was so excited to see the Moldau for the first time, having fallen in love with Smetana's piece when I first became aquainted with classical music. This view was typical of the beautiful churches, spires, and colorful rooftops.

Back Street View, Budapest, 5 x 7, pastel on board

I loved the color and shape of the spire on this church. Budapest is a fascinating city. We were on the Pest side, in an art nouveau hotel, but, alas, no view of the river, as in Prague.

Note: all miniatures are for sale for $125, including shipping.

2011-08-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

Salzburg, Austria and environs.

Alpine vista (view from the Eagle's Nest), 5 x 7, pastel on board

While in Salzburg, we took a trip to the German Alps to the Eagle's Nest, a building atop a mountain peak, built as a 50th birthday present for Hitler. The scenery from there was quite lovely. I tried to ignore the Hitler aspect and focus on the mountains and wildflowers.

Sidestreet in Salzburg, 5 x 7, pastel on board

The city of Salzburg is really lovely. Unfortunately, it was quite hot when we got there. One of my fascinations with our trip was the variety of church steeples and towers, and I tried to focus on these in the miniatures.

Rooftops of Salzburg,

5 x 7 pastel on board

This is a scene from early evening, at a restaurant high on a hill with a lovely view of the roof tops and the dome and spires of the cathedral.

Note: All miniatures are for sale for $125, including shipping.

2011-08-31T10:41:00.000-07:00

European miniatures.

Meisenheim am Glan, 5 x 7, pastel on board

In July, John and I traveled to central Europe. One of our first stops was the town of Meisenheim, Germany, where my great-grandfather, Emile Goela was born. It was a lovely, preserved medieval town and we had a wonderful time exploring the village and eating bratwurst and beer.

Our next stop was Strasbourg, in the Alsace area of eastern France. The old city has a waterway surrounding it. The buildings are mainly half-timbered and brightly colored with beautiful reflections in the water.

Strasbourg Reflections, 5 x 7, pastel on board.

Note: all of the miniatues are for sale for $125, including packing and shipping. I'll put up subsequent postings with the remaining 7 paintings.

2011-08-01T04:58:00.000-07:00

Seaside Garden (Molly's Cove)

14 x 16 pastel on Pastelmat

We've been in Europe for three weeks and now I'm getting ready to go to Maine to paint for a week. In between, I'm starting to prepare for a show in Mattapoisett next summer. This is a painting of Molly's Cove, off of Mattapoisett Neck where I lived in the 1950's. It was a beautiful, peaceful morning with light infusing everything. I found an area with a lovely garden of various purple flowers . And I couldn't resist adding the cormorant sitting on the rock at far left! Will be back in Mattapoisett briefly this weekend and hope it's as nice.

2011-07-02T09:30:00.000-07:00

From Plein Air to Studio

Summer Bog #1 14 x 11, pastel

I recently returned from Massachusetts with a number of plein air pieces and demos done over the past two years. I wasn't sure whether they were salvageable or not and decided to work on them in the studio.

These are two paintings done on the same day at the cranberry bog just up the street from my mother's house. I understand the bogs were recently sold--but purchased by a land trust, thank goodness!

Summer Bog no. 1 was done first and reflects the early morning light that was streaking across the bog. While there is a lot of green on the bogs in the summer, there is still a hint of red.

In Summer bog #2, I was interested in the curve of the road way and the patterns and shapes of color created by the bog. The sun went in and it became quite cool and windy! I can still remember it, even though I painted these a year ago.

In the studio I was able to enhance the color and fill in areas that were left too sketchy for my taste.

Summer Bog #2 14 x 11, pastel

2011-06-24T13:05:00.000-07:00

Painting on the Cape

This past Monday I had the joy of painting on Cape Cod with my friend Sherry Rhyno, pictured here with the beginnings of her painting. We painted in the morning on the North River, then took a break for a lobster roll lunch and a visit to her gallery. We returned to painting in Chatham, but the sun went behind the clouds and the no-see-ums came out! Not so pleasant, but a great day. Here is my morning picture: North River Morning, 12 x 16, pastel.

2011-06-24T12:58:00.000-07:00

Workshop in Westport, MA

I recently taught a three day workshop in Westport, MA called "From Plein Air to Studio". Two of the three days we were able to paint outside, then return to the studio and assess what needed to be done to improve our pictures (short of hosing them down!!!). The pictures here are from the first day on Gooseneck Island, where we had a lovely non-windy, non-hot, non-buggy day! On Tues. it was cold and rain threatened so we did sketches and painted from those--a challenge for us all. But everyone agreed that it was freeing not to have a photo in front of them.

2011-05-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

Spring Lambs 12 x 16, pastel on Pastelbord

Went out to paint today and found this old barn with just a little red still showing, but a crop of new lambs bleating happily! Fortunately, there was a small area of flat, mowed grass where I could park and paint.

I'm continuing my exploration of the areas of Clarksburg still untouched by recent development. I don't know how long this barn will last!

2011-05-25T04:52:00.000-07:00

Back to plein air--at last!

Given my show, arm surgery, and a very wet spring, I haven't had a chance to get outside to paint. Yesterday, in between storms, I was finally able to get outside.

I painted two old barns in Clarksburg and focused on shapes and values and capturing the light on the lower roof. It was lovely to be outside again--before it gets too hot!

Clarksburg Barns 11 x 14 pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord

2011-05-19T06:23:00.000-07:00

Pitcher with Three Pears, 11 x 14 pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord

I did this still life as a demonstration for a chapter in the book I'm writing on Color Choices in Pastel. The chapter is on observed color. I like the challenge of using black and more neutral colors, and really like the way they set off the greens and reds of the pitcher.

I wasn't sure about this picture at all until I put in the grayed geens in the background and it suddenly came alive. I'm finding this combination of complementary color (cool reds and warm greens) along with the blacks and neutrals to be very pleasing. Now, how to work that into landscape???

2011-05-09T04:50:00.000-07:00

Shore Houses

My recent show at Waverly Street Gallery is at last over, after 5 weeks! It's been great, however, and I've met new people, made new fans, and had a wonderful time visiting with friends and sharing my work. Last Friday, some of my friends from the library world, in town for a conference, came to see the show, and this was a special treat.

In top left photo, Hien Nguyen (LC), my husband John Hansman, and Lisa Furubotten (Texas).

In the group photo are Lisa, Hien, Galen Jones (U. of Wales), Kris Lindlan (U. Washington), me, Adolpho Tarango (U. San Diego), and Cynthia Whitaker (OCLC, Ohio).

Now that the show is over, I'm resolving to do more with my blog!!! But first, more arm surgery on Thursday to remove the metal rod and pins that are really bothering me.

2010-11-21T11:57:00.000-08:00

House on the Point (corrected!)
16 x 20 pastel on board

I thought I'd add the corrected version of this painting. After I filmed it and added it to the blog, I had a critique from my husband and friend Muriel. They both felt the shadow at the bottom was too dark and prominent. So I lightened it, reduced the size and shape to look more like another building, and softened the edges, which were much too hard. It's easier to get past the shadow now and I prefer the shape of the light sand, which leads into the house. I'm really happy with it now!

2010-11-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

House on the Point 16 x 20 pastel on board

This painting, from Westport, Mass. was done on Ampersand pastel board using a water color underpainting and a lot of hard pastel. I finished it with a minimum of soft pastel. The sky, however, is all soft.

I took several pictures of this house and knew it was something I really wanted to paint. I like the progression of boat to shed to house with the strong lights and darks. I thought about it a long time and knew that I wanted to mix a lot of colors in the darks and decided to work with hard pastel. I did a color study, using a green sky and red roofs, along with aqua in the lighted areas of the shed and really liked it. I added the buoys to the right side of the shed to give a little more interest to the shadowed side.

I like this house because it could be almost anywhere. It is New England weather-beaten shingle, but the style of the buildings doesn't say "New England." I could see this house along the Chesapeake and did think about adding an oyster boat, but decided that would make it too busy.

2010-11-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

House by the River 11.5 x 19 pastel on paper

This painting was done as a demo for my class at Montgomery College. I was demonstrating two things: the use of complementary color and the use of two different kinds of underpainting. The surface is Art Spectrum "supertooth", a fantastic surface for underpaintings.

I used both hard pastel and water color as an underpainting, using the pastel in the dark areas behind the house and in the buildings and bushes. I used water color in the grasses at bottom and part of the top, as I didn't want to completely cover it with pastel. I used various green pastels on the house as an underpainting: a mid-tone cool green under the shadow areas, a warm yellow green under the lighted area. For the finished picture, the composition is primarily red violets and cool reds (magenta), along with warm greens. I really liked the luminosity of the water color at the bottom and added only a minimal amount of pastel.

One of the biggest challenges was the roof. In the photo, it appeared to be a very light violet but I was trying to keep to my red/green color scheme. I started out with a warm aqua, but really didn't like it and cooled it down with a light grayed reddish color and a little violet. It's probably still all a little too light but the sun was overhead, hitting it pretty strongly.

The "river" is the Root River in southern Minnesota. We were hoping to take some nice walks on the bike trail, but it was in the 90s and a little too warm. This might be a stretch as a "shore house" but there really was a river nearby!

2010-11-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

Cape Cottages 16 x 20, pastel on board

I decided to share three of my recent "shore house" pictures that I'm working on for a show in April. This one is from Welfleet, Mass., on the outer Cape. I loved the row of little cottages that are so unlike the fancy new houses springing up everywhere. I removed picnic tables from the picture and added the bike. The photo was taken in early June, which is still off-season on Cape Cod!

This picture is painted on a board that had another painting on it at one time! The painting got washed off in the sink, leaving a lot of brownish color. I toned the gel I used to cover the old painting and thus, started with a rather rough and dark background. I thought it might be fun for doing white houses! For a long time, I thought it was NOT going to work at all but I kept at it and finally decided that I really like it.

2010-09-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

Emerald Glow 10 x 8 pastel on board

Back to Plein Air

After a difficult year with my broken arm and a very hot summer, I've been able to get outside to paint this month and it's been wonderful. We are finally having a spate of beautiful weather and I'm really enjoying being outside again. I'm giving a plein air class on Fridays and going out to paint on my own on Saturday. This picture was my first painting on Friday at Lake Needwood, a park here in Rockville that I've painted at in the past. I immediately spotted the beautiful green reflections in the water juxtaposed by the darks and decided this was my painting. It's being able to see simple compositions like this that makes plein air painting so challenging and rewarding.

2010-09-20T17:35:00.000-07:00

Lakeshore 14 x 11 pastel on board

This was my second painting of the day on Friday during my plein air class. I was looking at a large bank of rather boaring trees, but spotted the grouping of three trees that I decided to focus on. It gave me confidence that I could always find something of interest to paint!

2010-09-20T17:32:00.000-07:00

Needwood Reflections 14 x 11 pastel on board

I painted this scene last Saturday after my Friday plein air class. I went back to a different location and found this to be a really beautiful spot, even if it was right by the road.

I kept my color palette to blues and blue greens, along with the warmer colors, and eliminated most of the violets that I often favor. The reflections kept changing, of course, but that's part of the challenge.

2010-05-06T02:56:00.000-07:00

The Importance of Surface, Pt. 3

On the Edge, 24 x 18 pastel on pastelmat

And now for something completely different! Both the subject, a house on the cliff in San Diego, and the surface--pastelmat--are quite different. This is a more dramatic picture--a modern house and deck chair poised over an eroding cliff with vegetation. I knew I needed a surface that would allow for the details of the chair, but the cliff was equally important.

So I decided to use a new surface, pastelmat, which is really remarkable. It feels very smooth, as if there is no tooth. However, it holds the pastel beautifully and allows for a fine degree of detail, while also being a nice surface to develop foliage.

I used a sheet of white paper and did a watercolor underpainting, which was really crucial to the cliff. It didn't work so well for the house and sky as it bled around the lines. But in the cliff it allowed me to lightly brush on pastel without overdoing it. Interestingly, it is hard to smear the pastel on this paper. I was going to use it for the Summer Houses picture, and realized it might be hard to get the water right, so saved it for this instead.

This is a great new surface for pastel painters. We are very fortunate that so many companies are producing the quality surfaces and pastels that make working in our medium such a joy!

2010-05-06T02:48:00.000-07:00

The Importance of Surface, Pt. 2

Summer Houses, 24 x 18 pastel on Wallis board

This is another picture from Hollywoods Beach. The reflection of the red roof in the water really excited me and I love painting houses! Because of the detail needed for the houses and telephone pole, and the fact that I would be painting a lot of water, I chose a sheet of Wallis museum grade sanded paper, that I had purchased mounted on board from Dakota Pastels.

Wallis is a surface that allows for really fine detail, when needed, and also allows for a lovely build up of color. It also is very nice for smudging or smearing the pastel in places. This is something that should be done very judiciously! I do not regularly smear pastel with my hands as it tends to deaden the pastel. But when I'm painting water, there are times when a little finger blending is nice, particularly for reflections in water.

I found that this surface worked perfectly for this picture!

2010-05-06T02:34:00.000-07:00

The Importance of Surface, Pt. 1

March Beach, 24 x 18, pastel on board

I recently completed three paintings in the same size, each done on a different surface. The surfaces were chosen, partly because I had them in the size I wanted, but more importantly because of their properties and the needs of the individual pictures.

I am a strong believer that in pastel, the surface is as important and probably more important than the pastels that are used. Because we apply the color with our hands, it is very tactile and the feel of the surface and how it takes the pastel is very important to our ability to accomplish the kind of painting we want to do. For that reason, I use a number of different surfaces and always keep the picture in mind when I select the paper or board.

This painting is pure landscape--no buildings or important structures. Thus, there is little need for hard line. Only the three boardwalks are man-made. I did the painting on gatorfoam with a Art Spectrum liquid primer painted on, which produces strokes that give a vibrancy to the picture. You can't see this in the reproduction, but it makes a real difference when doing a painting like this. This surface frees me up and allows me to be loose, which is a real plus in landscape work. But it's a little harder to get fine detail.

The picture is the beach at Hollywoods in Mattapoisett, MA. I was there in March and my friend Paula Cobb took me there for a late afternoon photo shoot. Thanks Paula!

2010-05-04T05:29:00.000-07:00

Playing around!

I've been playing with still life again. The July show at Waverly Street Gallery will include work that is in some way different from what we normally do. I decided to do a series of 4 orchid pictures, 2 of which I'll share in the blog. I'm working in a square format, something I've never done, and I'm doing floral work, something else I almost never do.

I really had fun with these, beginning with liquid acrylic and then using primarily Terry Ludwig pastels to lightly layer and build up color, trying to let some of the acrylic show through in places.

It's very different from my landscapes, which are pretty well planned out ahead of time. With these, I've just picked up a color and played with it. And the blue vase was completely made up! All four can be seen on my website.

2010-02-01T12:17:00.000-08:00

Backroad sun and snow 13.5 x 19.5 pastel on paper

This picture is quite different from the others. I used a new surface--pastelmat--which is smooth but really holds the pastel. I found that I really liked it. I also returned to a more traditional technique of working from hard to soft pastel with no under painting. The paper was toned a warm sienna which added to the overall warmth of the picture.

In this painting there is more warm green in the sky and the light areas of the snow have been painted with peach and yellows. Combined with the reds in the bushes, the overall feel is one of bright sunshine and warmth, despite the large amount of snow!

I look forward to experimenting further with this surface.

2010-02-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

Yellow house in winter 18 x 24 pastel on board

For this third picture, I chose an image of one of the most interesting houses in Mattapoisett. It seems to go on forever, with wonderful roof lines, widow's walk, and a great view of the harbor. I enhanced the view, however!

This picture is about the house and the drama of the snow-covered road with shadows. I used a cool ultramarine in the sky with green over it. Chose to keep the light areas of the snow pretty cool so as not to compete with the house. I used a combination of green, blue, and pink tints, as well as a cool yellow.

The roughness of the prepared board worked well for the snow-covered, rutted road.

2010-02-01T10:43:00.000-08:00

Snow light 11.5 x 19 pastel on paper

Here is my second snow painting. On this day the sun was out and brilliant. It was so bright that it cast a glare over the scene. I found this old barn in Rochester, Mass. and took a number of shots of it, liking this view best.

The painting consists of complementary colors of cool reds and greens. The sky is green and pink! The snow in the shadows has a lot of light red and blue violet and is pink in the sunny areas. I like the harmony of this. A blue sky would not work as well.

The composition is unusual and I was worried that it would be too heavy on the left. So I tried to render the tree rather loosely and keep it from getting too dark. I feel that the length of the buildings stretching to the right gives balance.

The painting was done on "super tooth" paper by Art Spectrum with only Girault pastels. These are a medium soft, somewhat grainy pastel that really work on this paper.

2010-02-01T09:58:00.000-08:00

Quiet watch 20 x 16 pastel on board

Snow!

It's February 1st and I haven't posted since October! But I have been painting and have completed 4 paintings, all of snow. (And this despite a broken left arm!!!) There is no pure white in any of my paintings. So I thought I'd share them on the blog and discuss my choice of colors for the snow.

This first picture was inspired by a scene in Mattapoisett on an overcast day. I saw the arc of grasses arising above the snow and knew that I had the makings for a painting. The village is my invention. You won't see this scene in Mattapoisett.

Since the sky is overcast, the light on the snow is cooler, not as bright as it would be on a sunny day, with the yellows of the sun. The color of the more distant snow is actually a very light tint of green; the snow in the foreground is violet and pink. There are no cast shadows, so the snow forms a solid shape. I find this to be very restful, very quiet without the energy of a scene filled with shadows.

I added a red tailed hawk in the tree on the right to balance the rust colors of the oak leaves on the left. But I didn't want him to be too obvious. He should blend into his surroundings, as a hawk on the prowl would want to do!

2009-10-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

Love of Three Pomegranites???

9 x 11 pastel on mat board

I've decided to play again with still life, after buying a pomegranite for a dish I never made and decided to paint instead! I'm using liquid acrylic, as I have in other still life, in order to set some base color that I want to show through, and I'm using soft pastels to layer color. I like the juxtaposition of saturated color in the fruit and lightly applied layers in the background. I haven't paid as much attention to color as I might, and I see a potential series of many more pomegranite pictures to come! Hey, at least they aren't pears!!!

2009-10-18T07:50:00.000-07:00

Owl's Head Reflections

20 x 16 pastel on board

This is one of my first house and water scenes from Maine, painted in September. We were in Owl's Head on a very foggy Sunday morning in early July and I loved the buildings next to a small pond. I've changed them quite a bit to fit into a vertical format. I think they almost have a fairy tale quality to them! The painting wasn't working until I let the fir in the center go off the picture plane. Then I was pleased!

This area is very close to the town where Sarah Orne Jewett wrote Country of the Pointed Firs,

one of my all time favorite books. I thought about this a lot and the quiet beauty of her story as I was painting the trees in this and other paintings from Maine.

2009-10-06T17:27:00.002-07:00

Still Life???

My painting "Shore Houses," which I earlier posted to this blog, just won the award for "Best Still Life" at the Maryland Pastel Society's Shades of Pastel Show! The juror, Richard McKinley, explained that he considers still life to be about planes and reflected light, while landscape is about light on natural objects, and thus he considers this to be a still life!

I was, of course, honored to get the award, but also found it very ironic, given my "problems" with creating still life paintings!!!

When giving the award, Richard said this could be considered a portrait, a landscape, or a still life. Whatever you call it, I DO love the interplay of defined planes with the natural forms of trees and shrubs and that is what I am concentrating on now. I'm also focusing, to some extent, on houses that are related in some way to water. I have been enjoying painting houses from our trip to Maine and will share some soon, I promise!

2009-10-06T17:27:00.001-07:00

2009-09-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

House in Glen Echo

I've been neglecting my blog! But that's because the weather has been great, and I'm inspired once again, and I've been painting. Here are two versions of a picture done last week on scene in the beautiful community of Glen Echo. The picture on the left was taken as I finished it on the easel and I'm afraid is a little too washed out. The picture on the right was taken after I made some changes to it back in the studio.

The challenge of this picture was the screen porch with wooden slats. The light was hitting the slats and parts were in shadow, part in light. There was also a great fire hydrant in front, that I liked a lot. I had a few too many competing interests!

I've been reading the book Mastering Composition by Ian Roberts (North Light, 2008), which I highly recommend. Included with the book is a DVD where he shows a number of paintings where he changes the color intensity in various parts of the picture to show how it would distract from the center of interest.

Thinking about this, I realized that the bright, light green that I had used on the slats was distracting from the hydrant in the foreground and the window at top. I decided to leave the upper window trim in the green, but changed the slats to a light violet, and the light on the hydrant from violet to green. What a difference! The house immediately receded where I wanted it to, while still reading as a house in light and shadow. I probably still have competing centers of interest, but I think that the reds of the crepe myrtle bring the eye immediately to the top windows.

This isn't a great painting, but I thought it would be fun to share!

Jean

2009-08-27T15:25:00.000-07:00

Pond Light, 12 x 16 pastel on board

I went back to my neighborhood pond this morning to paint for the first time since spring of 2008. I did a lot of paintings here last year, then grew tired of it.

But today I went back and it was all fresh and new and quite different! There are new tall bushes with light green flowers, and the warm, humid light of early morning was quite lovely.

A number of people stopped to say that they were pleased that someone was painting there because it is such a lovely spot!

I recently purchased the book Mastering Composition by Ian Roberts and I spent a lot of time on this painting thinking about the compostion. I opened up the foreground to allow the eye in to the water, then up to the opening in the grasses, then along a distant light green path to the building and trees in the upper left corner.

I also worked hard at keeping things simple! This sounds strange, but I know that I normally overdo my trees, rather than getting the right shapes and values to begin with.

It was a great morning and I hope to spend more time outside this fall and sharing on this blog!

2009-08-27T15:10:00.000-07:00

Painting in the Rockies

I'm back from a wonderful week painting in the Colorado Rockies and giving my second workshop of the summer. The weather was very nice, the students were great! A big thanks to Margie and Glen Patterson in Allenspark for all they did to make this a great experience. But painting in an area with little humidity or "atmosphere" had its challenges for an East Coast painter. Still, it was hard to beat the wonderful feeling of standing outside looking at the mountains, trees, and wildflowers and trying to capture them in pastel.

Now it's back to work. My class at Montgomery College starts on Monday with an almost full class--the largest ever. So I'm going to have to really work hard to keep up with everyone. But I enjoy this type of challenge.

Doing the two workshops this summer really reinforced my feelings that teaching is what gives me the most joy. I loved both workshops and all the people in them. And I look forward to having six new people in my class at MC. I love pastel and I love sharing that joy with others.

The other thing that was reinforced was my love of painting outside. The cool, wet spring kept me inside for most of the time that I would normally do plein air. But now it is late summer and the days are warm and the light is soft. It's a lovely time to go out to paint and I've finally had the time to get back to it.

And speaking of joy--I treated myself to the complete set of 400 Schminke pastels! I've been wanting this set for a long time and now it is here, sitting on my counter. And today, I began working with them and they are really wonderful.

2009-07-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

Workshop in Marion, MA

I'm back from five weeks in Massachusetts and Maine. I'm happy to report that my show and workshop went very well. I had nine students at a three-day event and got to paint outside two of the three days and just escape a massive storm on the third! It's been VERY rainy in the Northeast. But I found, not surprisingly, that the participants were much more interested in learning how to work with pastel than in plein air painting. Still, we got to paint at Marion Harbor on the second day, and at the lovely home of one of our participants in Wareham, MA on the third (pictured here). I found my first workshop experience to be thoroughly enjoyable and now look forward to my next in Colorado in August.

Aside from demos, I didn't do a lot of painting. I'm finding that I'm wanting to change but not sure how! I spent a lot of time in Maine looking at art and saw several artists' work that really inspired me. What I admired most was the simplicity of shapes, interesting use of color, and strong drawing skills in those with buildings. I'm hoping to use my many photos from Maine as reference to explore my love of New England architecture. It's something that has deep meaning for me. I

2009-06-17T06:42:00.000-07:00

Moose River 16 x 12 pastel on board

This has been a busy spring with little time to paint! I've been in Albuquerque for the biennial pastel convention and more recently in the Adirondacks, receiving two awards from the Northeast Pastel Society. In preparation for my upcoming workshop in Massachusetts, I decided to paint the same scene three times: on Wallis Belgian mist, Art Spectrum Supertooth, and gatorfoam with AS liquid primer (my favorite surface). The last came out the best and I've included it here.

On Saturday I'll be leaving for Massachusetts and Maine and will be away for five weeks! I hope to get some painting done and lots of material for new paintings for the upcoming year. I'll be having a show and doing a workshop and celebrating my mother's 90th birthday. So a busy, and hopefully, productive time.

Back to Landscape

2009-05-16T12:25:00.001-07:00

Shore Houses 20 x 16 pastel on board

I just did this picture as a potential submission for an article in an art journal. I took photos of each stage and was pleased with the way it came out. It's been raining and lousy lately, so I decided to take the opportunity to work in the studio from photos. This is a picture from my recent trip to Mattapoisett, MA. I really liked the pattern of trees, a lovely swirl of dark with strong lights juxtaposed. I also decided to keep the bottom unfinished, something I try to do, most of the time unsuccessfully! I think it worked this time.

I've been busy getting ready for my upcoming show in Marion, MA (June 26-July 22). I just published my first book! It will be listed on a special page of my website, once my husband gets the next update done. It's really exciting to see yourself in print!

Boats at Dock

2009-05-12T02:17:00.000-07:00

Boats at Dock 9.5 x 12 pastel on paper

It's been a long time since I've posted. I was away in Massachusetts, but that's not really the reason. I think I'm in a slump! I haven't done anything lately that I've felt really good about! I did this painting of boats on Cape Cod as a demo for my college class and I think it's the closet thing to a successful "still life" that I've done lately. It's going to be in my upcoming show in Massachusetts. I did it on Wallis paper and loved playing with the colors. Used my new set of Richeson hard pastels as well and enjoyed them.

2009-04-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

The Gardener 16 x 12 pastel on board

I'm posting this image of my stepfather, Everett Eldridge. I painted the picture yesterday and learned in the evening that he died during the day. We were expecting him to go, but it was meaningful to me to be painting him for the first time on the day that he died. The picture is of him in his beloved garden, after getting out of the hospital and nursing home in 2006. Before retiring, he was a boat builder. He was a life-time resident of Mattapoisett--a true Yankee! He and my mother were married in 1975 after both had lost their spouses several years prior. It was a wonderful marriage and we will all miss him.

The Turquoise Ball

2009-04-10T08:21:00.000-07:00

The Turquoise Ball

8 x 6 pastel on board

$100 (unframed, incl. shipping)

And now for something completely different. My husband and I went to see cherry blossoms in Bethesda yesterday. I took all the obligatory pictures (which I almost never paint), but then saw this little boy with his bright orange shirt and large turquoise ball. I haven't tried to paint a child in a long time--almost never. So this was a challenge but also fun. It's all about color and light and value and shape, but it helps if you give him 5 fingers (which I didn't at first).

Terra Cotta Pot and Turquoise Vases

2009-04-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

Terra cotta pot and turquoise vases

16 x 12 pastel on board

It's been a busy time with not enough time for painting. During the week that I began this blog I also bought a piano, which arrived last Friday. So I've had a pleasant diversion from painting. I finally got to do a still life on Sunday that I'm sharing. I wanted to contrast the opaqueness of the terra cotta and turquoise pots with the clear glass vase. When I put a spot light on it I got a beautiful stream of light from the vase. I used the counter top to produce bands of mid tone and darker color. I used a black backdrop, but quickly went away from black into other colors. I like the pureness of black, but find it to be a real challenge.

I took this photo in bright sunlight and it shows every little bump of the pastel and the texture of the board.

Morandi

2009-03-26T10:45:00.001-07:00

Bath Bottles

10 x 8 pastel on La Carte paper

Yesterday my husband and I went to the Phillips Gallery to see the show of still lifes by Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964). These paintings are REALLY still. For years, he painted the same bottles over and over, getting more and more simplified in his use of shapes and values. I have to admit that we both preferred his earlier work where there were more values differences and use of color.

Interestingly, my mentor had compared my painting "Antietam Barns" with Morandi's still life. So I was particularly interested in the show. Several years ago I did this still life, which I'm calling "Bath Bottles" as these are some of the many bottles that line my tub that I look at every day. I find that this painting reminds me more of Morandi.

Morandi was a very quiet, reclusive man who rarely went anywhere. This quietness is so evident in his paintings. (I was interested to note that Janet Napolitano also visited the exhibit yesterday, according to the Post. I guess she needs some of this quiet.) Today I looked at the still life paintings of oil painter Nancy Switzer . Her paintings of butter bars really reminded me of Morandi, but with more life and verve. I love her rich application of paint. Her work also reminds me of Wayne Thiebaud's wonderful cakes, where he has virtually frosted them with paint.

What all of this says to me is how personal still life can be and how much it reflects us as individuals. Will this be true of me? I don't know, but it will be fun to explore.

Another still life

2009-03-25T09:37:00.000-07:00

The Red Pot
12 x 16
pastel on board

Here is the second still life that I painted recently. This one is a pot by Liz Lescault (also in my gallery), which normally sits on my living room table.

In doing these still life paintings, I've asked myself why it is that I'm usually not very interesting in the genre, while these have been so much fun. I think what I dislike is the obviously arranged groupings of pots and vegetables and who knows what else (skulls seem to be in fashion). They seem articifial and dull to me. Thus, I prefer to paint a single object, perhaps as one might come across it. By limiting the objects, I can also think about the background in terms of design elements.

I also have no desire to paint it perfectly, but instead want it to be painterly and exciting. Perhaps I want my still life to be less still? Using my textured boards and the acrylic underpainting allows for more depth and vibrancy.

For me, the master of still life (and painting in general) has always been Richard Schmid (http://www.richardschmid.com/). Yes, his objects and flowers are arranged on a table top, but they tend to be haphazardly placed with objects and flower petals moving every which way. Many artists have followed his example and there are now many examples of this form of still life. So I don't want to copy them (nor do I have Schmid's skill, needless to say). But I love his approach to beautifully crafted form, mixed with loose brush strokes and disappearing edges.

Among pastel artists, I really admire the work of Deborah Beys (www.abendgallery.com/html_artists/bays_deborah/bays.htm) who uses rich darks and lights in her work.

I want my pieces to have excitement and interesting color and design. Aside from that, I'm not sure. But it will be fun to explore.

Scenes From a Life

2009-03-24T03:51:00.000-07:00

Bowl With Lemons

12 x 16

Pastel on board

Welcome to my blog, something I've thought about for a long time and finally decided to act on. I took a workshop last week with the inspiring figurative pastelist, Margaret Dyer, and I credit her for getting me going.

I want this blog to be something that is fun for me and for my viewers. Several years ago, I went into a gallery in Aspen, CO and showed my website to the owner. He loved my landscapes, but told me "you're no still life painter." I believed him. Now, however, I want to end those foolish restrictions on what I paint. Last week, I realized that I can still draw a decent figure, and recently I have been exploring still life. Thus, my blog is a way of giving myself permission to paint whatever I want. My principal interest is in creating pictures with strong compositions, interesting shapes and great color.

It's also a way of celebrating the joys of everyday life and trying to hold on a little to the days and years that seem to be speeding by. I believe that we are all here to make the most of our lives, in whatever way we are most able. For me, it is painting, teaching, and playing the piano. And I do love to give the occasional dinner party. So, who knows what might end up in this blog as it develops over time.

To begin, I'm posting a still life I did recently of a favorite bowl with lemons. The bowl was created by Scottie Allen, a member of my Bethesda gallery and good friend.

For those interested in the technical details: my current methods involve using gatorfoam with two coats of Art Spectrum colourfix liquid primer. I begin with a charcoal drawing, which I make into a wash with an old brush. Then I apply washes of liquid acrylic to provide interesting tones of warms and cools, darks and lights. I work then with nothing but soft pastels, leaving some areas of the underpainting showing, as I wish.

I hope you enjoy.