Pastel Painting of an old house and yard covered in snow

Pastel painting 10 inches x 10 inches
$450

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The snow has melted for a spell here in southern Michigan. It feels almost like spring–but we experienced Michiganders know better.  We probably have multiple blizzards yet in our future.

I just finished this pastel painting of an old farmhouse down the street after the last big snow storm. I loved how the cool blue shadows played against the warm sunlight on the house. I am really liking experimenting with the small square format in my pastel landscapes….

Watercolor painting of a sculpture of wild horses running at the Lely Resort in Naples Florida

Watercolor painting 11 inches x 9 inches
$100

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While we were in Florida, John golfed at the Lely Resort Golf and Country Club. It was a beautiful place but my favorite part was a life size bronzes of running mustangs at the front entrance of the golf course. One morning, I sat on the grass and painted a quick watercolor painitng of a few of the statues. They were mounted on a huge pedestal of craggy rocks. It was almost like being back at the ranch in Montana—except the horses didn’t move!

Watercolor painting of sunbathers beneath umbrellas on the beach

Watercolor painting 8.5 inches x 6 inches
$100

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What would a trip to warm weather be without the proverbial beach view? Every day the umbrellas would be claimed by sunbathers and their ocean-loving kiddles. With all the sand and wind, it was a little difficult to paint with watercolors, but I did sneak in this quick landscape sketch one afternoon.

Watercolor painting of a dock with boats and palm trees

Watercolor painting 8.5 inches x 6 inches
$100

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The Isle of Capri is less built up than the rest of the Marco Island area and still has some of the original old homes in scenic little coves. I captured this scene in watercolor while sitting in one of the few empty lots in the area. Almost every square foot of space on Marco is filled with hotels, condos or luxury vacation homes–not conducive to the type of landscapes I like to paint–so, as usual, I wandered til I found something that captured my interest.

Watercolor painting of a dock on the ocean in Florida

Watercolor painting 8.5 inches x 6 inches
$100

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This is a close up view of the Florida dock landscape in my previous post. While I was painting this watercolor sketch, the owners son came up to view my progress. We talked for a while and it turns out his girlfriend was from northern Michigan and knew of the gallery that represents me up there. I met a lot of people this trip who were connected to Michigan or my art in some way. Six degrees of separation and a small, small world!

Watercolor painting of storm clouds gathering over an ocean dock

Watercolor painting 8.5 inches x 6.5 inches
$100

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While John was golfing, I sat out at the very tip of the Isle of Capri near Marco Island in Florida. There was a neat old abandoned dock surrounded by palm trees that made a perfect subject for a watercolor sketch. A quick storm seemed to be brewing that lent some drama to the scene.

When I’m painting a watercolor landscape, I always try to find a focal point with a dark and light highlight and subdue the rest of the image back some. It can be difficult because there is so much to look at and appreciate but if you don’t have a center of interest, the composition becomes too busy and cluttered.

Watercolor painting of umbrellas, tables and chairs at an outdoor cafe

Watercolor painting 5 inches x 7.5 inches
$100

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We just returned yesterday from a week in the sun. It was wonderful and gave me a whole new outlook on life after dealing with this long, crummy Michigan winter. I brought both my watercolors and pastels down but really concentrated on watercolor landscape sketches. This little outdoor cafe was near our condo and caught my eye every morning. I loved the pattern the umbrellas made against the bright bushes in the background.

Watercolor painting of a large vase sculpture in Toledo Botanical Gardens

Watercolor painting 5 inches x 12 inches    SOLD

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I love to visit Toledo Botanical Gardens and paint watercolor sketches of the plants and sculptures on the grounds. This scene had an extra bonus in that my favorite plant, hydrangeas, surrounded an antique sculpture. I usually try to keep these small sketches to 20 minutes or so in hopes of keeping them fresh and vibrant.

Pastel painting of a grove of palm trees and a path down to the ocean

Pastel painting 5.5 inches x 7.5 inches $100 + shipping

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This was the colorful view from our condo window down on Sanibel Island. The hues were so bright they almost seemed psychodelic compared to the more subtle colors of Michigan–especially in winter!

This was the first trip that I brought my pastels along. I usually paint watercolor landscapes when I travel. I am much more comfortable with that medium and the finished paintings are easier to transport. But I found that if I wrapped the pastel sketches in wax paper, they made it home just fine.

Close up pastel painting of a potted palm

Pastel painting 5.5 inches x 7.5 inches $100 + shipping

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The patterns that palms make fascinate me. They are so rhythmic and yet each one is very individual. For this pastel painting, i focused my attention on a single pot sitting on a restaurant deck. Sometimes zooming in a on the “micro landscapes” around us can be just as interesting as the big view scenes. And of course, the bright sun and shadows really make this piece sing!

Pastel painting of a palm tree against an ocean background

Pastel painting 6 inches x 9 inches $100 + shipping

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I’ll be taking a little getaway to paint in the warm weather soon. Last year I did a lot of plein air pastel paintings on Sanibel Island in Florida. I couldn’t wait to get down there and start sketching, but to my surprise, I had a very hard time of it. The bright sun, colors and atmosphere down south is very different than Michigan. I took me a couple of days to “get the hang of it”. To get me in the mood again, I will be posting some of my favorite little Florida pastel landscapes.

Pastel painting of water rushing over rocks in a creek bed

Pastel painting 12.5 inches x 25.5 inches $800 + shipping

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Here is the companion to the pastel painting I posted the other day. It is another “micro landscape” in my RiverStone series. Everywhere I travel, I take photos of rocks in riverbeds and streams. Back in the studio, I crop tightly on the images, sometimes adding or deleting elements to make the composition flow better. In these paintings, I eliminated a lot of extraneous information that I felt took away from the feeling of rushing water that I wanted to portray.