Plein air pastel landscape painting of Lake Michigan coast

Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 6.5 inches   SOLD

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9 am, just north of Charlevoix and south of Petoskey. There is a sweet roadside park that I visit every year and every time I bring back a completely different landscape. Its one of those unique places where you can paint one scene, pivot 30 degrees, paint and equally beautiful view, pivot, paint, pivot, paint, etc.

Pastel paintings are especially good for this type of plein air work because they are relatively easy to set up and almost mess-free. (except the multi-colored dust all over your hands…and sometimes on your face!)

Plein air pastel landscape of a bridge and stream in Petoskey, Michigan

Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 11 inches $200

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Last Friday, I set out to paint some cityscapes of downtown Petoskey, Michigan. But I got waylaid by this monumental bridge in the park below the main drag of the town. The sun streaming through the trees was gorgeous and the big old bridge was a perfect foil for the spring landscape. The mosquitos were horrendous but I managed to stick it out for an hour before I moved on to other subjects…

Plein air pastel painting of the Lake Michigan coast near Charlevoix, Michigan

Pastel painting 6.5 inches x 8.5 inches   SOLD

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We are just back from an absolutely wonderful trip “up north”, as we Michiganders say. My husband and I and 4 other dear friends spend 3 or 4 days each year in the Charlevoix area. The boys play golf, some ladies shop, I paint, and we all eat way more than we should at 4 and 5 star restaurants. Pure Heaven!

I did quite a few plein air watercolor and pastel paintings and will be posting them here over the next few weeks. This pastel landscape was done on the coast, just south of the lighthouse, near downtown Charlevoix. And in another one of those “small world” stories that seem to happen so often, the cottage I painted in front of is owned by 2 painters. They came out to chat with me and it turns out that they run a local plein air painting organization! Of all the cottages up north, I plant myself in front of one filled with the creative energy I seek….very cosmic…..

Charcoal sketch of a young man thinking

Pastel painting 11 inches x 14 inches $100

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We are taking a short vacation “up north” over the holiday weekend so I thought I would post another one of the figure drawings I did at our last session. In this quick sketch I wanted to focus on light and shadow so I used only charcoal and white pastel. This pose kind of reminded me of Rodin’s “The Thinker”. There’s a large cast of it in front of the Detroit Institue of Arts.

Pastel plein air landscape painting of an old farmstead

Pastel painting 11 inches x 8.5 inches $200

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This beautiful old farmstead sits right in the middle of a whole gaggle of subdivisions. It seems to be holding on to its proud farming tradition and had a certain spunky diginity to it. I hadn’t captured it in my watercolor farmscape series yet so I thought I’d give it a try in pastel. While I was painting, the one and only policeman in our township stopped by and sternly asked me what I was doing. I must have looked pretty darn suspicious there, sitting on the side of the road– with my pastels….

Plein air pastel landscape of a bridge reflecting in a river.

Pastel painting 8 inches x 10 inches $200

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Monday was a gorgeous, blue-sky, spring day in Ann Arbor.  I made a bee line to Gallup Park to do a few pastel paintings. Sometimes plein air wori is difficult in spring because EVERYTHING is green. To counteract that, I usually look for some additional color to perk up the scene. This foot bridge fit the bill!

Paste portrait of a young male.

Pastel painting 9 inches x 12 inches $100

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Finally made it to a figure drawing session this weekend after weeks of playing hookey and painting plein aire landscapes instead. We had a new male model with an interesting face so I decided to do a pastel portrait. We only have 20 minutes to capture a quick likeness. I worked on some deep purple, textured stock that our advertising agency had received from a paper company. You have to kinda work in reverse when you are drawing on dark paper. Its good practice for seeing the lights and darks of a subject.

Pastel Painting of a field of Queen Anne's Lace

Pastel painting 10 inches x 10 inches $450

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Lately I’ve been inspired by Karen Margulis‘ small pastel paintings that are filled with wild flowers. I decided to try my own version substituting my favorite Michigan wild flowers (or are they weeds?)–Queen Anne’s Lace. I love the way they blanket the fields in late summer. I took a reference photo last fall when I was out painting farmscapes. They are hard to paint plein air because they are in constant motion, so I did this piece in my studio.

Pastel painting of sunlit cascading geraniums on a stair step.

Pastel painting 18 inches x 18 inches $800

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I’ve been working on this large (for me!) floral pastel painting for about a week now and I THINK it is finally finished. I really wanted to capture the feeling of bright sunlight hitting the flowers against the cool shade of the building.I’m hoping to have this piece placed in one of my galleries by the summer season. (Unless, of course, it sells right off the blog or website!)

I just purchased a new set of Sennelier colors and I am like a kid in a candy shop. Unfortunately the mounds of pastels are starting to take over my studio. But not to worry. I truly believe the saying: “whoever dies with the most pastels wins!”

Pastel painting 8 inches x 11 inches $200

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Saturday started out fresh and sunny…perfect for a plein air pastel landscape. I drove out south of town and wandered til this little old shed popped up into view. I loved the way the sun hit the side of the building and the trees shadow wrapped around the roof. I painted quickly but it wasn’t long before the sky turned black and it began to rain. I was hoping to paint more but there’s always tomorrow…

Plein air watercolor painting of trees along the Huron River in Gallup Park.

Watercolor painting 9 inches x 3.5 inches
$80

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In Ann Arbor, we have a beautiful public treasure called Gallup Park. The Huron River runs through it and it is a gathering place for joggers, kayakers, dog walkers, families and courting couples. I try to get out there at least a couple of times a year to do some plein air painting. This small watercolor landscape was one of a few I did recently. The views are so varied that I can  just set up my supplies, paint, pivot, paint, pivot, etc., and get an interesting scene at every turn. I’m hoping to get out again this weekend with either my watercolors or pastels and capture some of the gorgeous red buds that are in bloom right now…

Plein air pastel landscape of meadows near a wetland in spring

Pastel painting 9 inches x 6 inches $100

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This is my second plein air pastel landscape from this weekend’s outing. Everything in southern Michigan has turned green and lush at last! I took a lot of photos when I was out so I could paint more Treescape pastels in the studio when we get our traditional rainy spring days.