Plein air pastel painting of a treeline in Michigan in Autumn

Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 12 inches      SOLD

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Last weekend was wonderful for plein air pastel paintings! I spent a couple of hours on Saturday and Sunday painting the autumn fields around southern Michigan. The combination of the bright gold fields and the blue atmospheric woods was just too grand to pass up. Lots of people stopped by to catch a glimpse of my work and I even talked to a man who’d like a pastel commission of the sunset from his back porch.

Pastel portrait of a blonde woman in black.

Pastel painting 11 inches x 17 inches   $300

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Last week our model Lynn, sat under a hot spot light for a good 2 hours and hardly blinked. She told us she was planning her next Girl Scout meeting! The light was coming from above and probably wasn’t the best for a pastel portrait, but it made an interesting challenge.

Pastel painting of rocks and reflections in a Michigan river

Pastel painting 12.5 inches x 25.5 inches    SOLD  (Giclee prints are available)

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This is my 27th RiverStone pastel painting. I keep coming back to this subject because it speaks to me in a very special way. I originally started this series because my art mentor, Mary Beth Koeze, suggested that I paint one subject over and over, and that I “paint bigger.” These scenes speak to me of a quiet moment in time, away from the hub bub of everyday life. They become almost abstract in their composition, yet I think each one of these pastel paintings has its own, unique personality. The series has been very popular with corporate art clients, especially health care institutions.

Pastel portrait drawing of a young nude woman

Pastel painting 11 inches x 15 inches   $300

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Another  pastel figure drawing of Sarah from a different viewpoint. I drew on a “repurposed” grey Mi Tiente paper. (In other words, I scrubbed out and old drawing and used the paper again!) These are quick sketches meant to capture the essence of the model in a short amount of time. They should be fresh and dynamic, not necessarily a perfect representation of every aspect of the subject. I decided to use only 3 values to represent the figure in this piece, so that I wouldn’t get too caught up in all the luscious colors in my pastel box!

Pastel drawing of a young woman in profile

Pastel painting 11 inches x 15 inches   $300

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Our figure drawing sessions have started up again and I am so excited. We took a break this summer because so many of us had vacations and other plans. 3 months doesn’t seem that long but I was PINING to get back to figure painting again! Sarah was a new model for me and she was wonderful. I could tell she had been a dancer because of the ballet-like positions she took. She had a wonderful “old fashioned” look about her, like the models of the late 19 century. I decided to do a pastel portrait to try and capture her delicate features.

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of hostas in a garden.

Watercolor painting 6 inches x 9 inches $100

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I haven’t ventured out with my watercolors very often this summer so I thought I’d try some sketches of the backyard garden paradise that my husband has created. This watercolor landscape painting shows one of our gargantuan hostas. Its about 5 feet tall and when the light hits the flowers against the dark pine trees, it is absolutely stunning.

Hoping the sun stays out today so I can shoot photos of the apple orchards in our area…I have a series in mind…

Don’t forget the Ann Arbor Pastelists reception on Friday, 6:30-8:30pm at the Mallet Creek Library in Ann Arbor!

Pastel painting of Queen Anne's Lace in a meadow in Michigan.

Pastel painting 10 inches x 10 inches   $450

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A couple of weeks ago, I went out to the Matthaei Botanical Gardens to photograph the flowers that were blooming. I snapped a few interesting photos, but the surrounding meadows, teaming with Queen Anne’s Lace, really grabbed my attention. I’ve done a few pastel paintings of wild flower fields lately. I like the randomness of the blooms blowing in the breeze. They seem so pure and free and make dynamic flower paintings. To me, they are a gorgeous and perfect symbol of late summer in Michigan.

The Ann Arbor Pastelists are having a reception for our new show at Mallet Creek Library in Ann Arbor on Friday night. Please stop by from 6:30-8:30 pm to see amazing works from talented pastel artists!

Plein air pastel landscape painting of rolling fields and a farm in the distance.

Pastel painting 9 inches x 6 inches    SOLD

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The fields are all starting to turn and the colors are becoming more like autumn here in southern Michigan. In the late afternoon, the sun casts a warm, golden light on the farmland near our home. To me, it is simply irresistible.

I am constantly drawn to this type of  pastel landscape painting, over and over again. I swear it is because, in some earlier incarnation, I was born and raised on a MidWest farm very much like this one. I can’t explain my fascination with barns, and crops and fields in any other way. I certainly don’t know much about that lifestyle. I just can’t stop painting farmscapes!

Pastel landscape painting of a creek in the woods of Northern Michigan.

Pastel painting 10 inches x 10 inches   $450

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I am  really excited about this recent pastel landscape. I feel like I loosened up and approached the style that I really want to work in.  I feel like I finally dropped the worthless details and concentrated on the color, composition and, of course, THE LIGHT AND SHADOWS. It seems like it would be easy to recreate this feeling every time, but once I get going I get caught up in minutiae and then…..

This beautiful little river is near Harbor Springs, in the woods at Pond Hill Farm. The farm was one of the nature conservancy areas that I painted for Tvedten Fine Art ‘s plein air charity paint out. The bugs were crazy so I couldn’t paint this scene on site, but I took hundreds of photos and used several for reference for this piece.

Plein air pastel landscape painting of an old farm in Michigan

Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 11 inches   $200

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It was a beautiful and sunny on Saturday, so i wandered the dirt roads west of our home looking for a likely subject to paint. I did this pastel landscape sitting under a shade tree on Lindeman Road. The gorgeous old farmhouse looked like it had been build in the mid 1800′s but was beautifully kept up with loving care. Even the crops looked neat.

Pastel portrait of a man in profile

Pastel painting 9 inches x 13 inches   $200

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Here’s another view of Jack from our portrait class. On this second pastel portrait, I really bumped up the color and contrast and laid the pastels on heavily. I should have called it “Red, White and Blue!” Amazing the different results you can get from the exact same pose.

Pastel painting portrait painting of an older man with mustache.

Pastel painting 11inches x 14 inches   $300

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We had a fantastic model at our pastel portrait class yesterday. He had such an interesting face with lots of character. A portrait painters dream! I decided to use only a rich, dark brown and avoid all the other scrumptious colors in my box. It gave me a chance to see light, shadows and volume without all of the confusing hues in the way. Sometimes you just need to get back to basics for a bit.

This morning when I went to retrieve a favorite pastel out of my plein air box, I discovered  the box was missing! ABSOLUTE PANIC. I can’t live without my traveling pastels. I realized that there was a chance I had left it at my drawing class. A quick phone call confirmed it and calmed me down…