Plein air pastel landscape painting of an old tree casting shadows on a shed.
Pastel painting 11 inches x 8. inches $200
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
“on the road again….”
The other morning I got up early, bundled up my supplies, stuck the dog in the car, and drove to a nearby field. I walk through it often in the mornings with Roxy and I knew the sun cast really interesting shadows on an old shed there. I’d been waiting for the right type of sunny day to do a pastel landscape of the scene. I had to work fast because the sun was rising quickly and I wanted to capture the light falling across the fence and the wall behind it. Architecture pastels can be a challenge, specially when you are speed painting!
Plein air pastel painting of a statue of woman holding flowers.
Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 11 inches $300
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Another example of a figure drawing and pastel landscape at the same time! This piece is a mirror to my earlier Miss Spring painting and was also done at the gardens surrounding Wellers in Saline. The bright sunshine and flowers in the background suggest that summer is right around the corner here in Michigan!
Plein air pastel landscape painting of light streaming through the woods near a river in Saline, Michigan
Pastel painting 6 inches x 9 inches $100
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Another one of my pastel landscapes from Wellers a couple of days ago. The light bursting through the trees was almost psychodelic and had to be captured in pastel! Linda and Karen were out at the mill painting too, each working on a different scene. Its nice to have some buds to create art with. I really enjoy watching how other plein air artists approach their subject and how they use their chosen medium. There are always so many new things to learn!
Spring Cleaning Sale through June 15th! Any small blog painting (under $300) on sale for 30% off! Please contact me directly for your special piece of art.
Plein air pastel painting of a bridge in midday sun at Island Park in Ann Arbor.
Pastel painting 12 inches x 19 inches $300
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I stopped by Island Park in Ann Arbor the other day to look for a good scene for a pastel painting I go there often to shoot research photos from my RiverStone Series, but this time I wanted to set up and paint plein air. There is a beautiful little Greek temple on the island, but I couldn’t get situated for a good view of it. I decided instead to do a pastel landscape of the main bridge. It was near midday and the shadow under the bridge was dark and dramatic compared to the light hitting the stonework.
Plein air pastel painting of a pot of geraniums on a bright, spring day.
Pastel painting 6 inches x 9 inches $100
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Today was plein air day at Wellers again and it couldn’t have been a better day for a pastel landscape . I spent a good 5 hours out there and painted 3 pieces. There are endless possibilities at this beautiful site. but this pot of freshly planted geraniums caught my eye. I wasn’t expecting to do a floral pastel painting, but you gotta go with what sparks your imagination!
Spring Cleaning Sale through June 15th! Any small blog painting (under $300) on sale for 30% off! Please contact me directly for your special piece of art.
Watercolor landscape painting of an old Victorian house.
Watercolor painting 9 inches x 13.5 inches $400
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I’m really getting excited about my trip to Italy this fall. I will be spending two weeks in a small village in Umbria at a painting workshop. The art school is located in a 15th century monastery and we will use the chapel as our indoor studio. But most of the time we will be traveling to tiny hilltowns throughout the region. Ahhhh….bliss!
I’ve decided to work mostly in watercolor when I’m there, and that inspired me to start painting in the medium again. This watercolor painting is from my many reference photos of old houses in our county. I believe this house is on Main Street in Milan. I love to doing paintings of architecture especially when the rigid structural forces are contrasted with natural landscape elements.
Plein air pastel landscape painting of a barn seen from barren fields.
Pastel painting 11 inches x 8. inches $200
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
Some of the fields around here are planted and starting to green up, but a lot of them are still full of the stubbly waste from last years crops. The acres of broken stalks make interesting texture for pastel landscapes. Sometimes spring is a difficult time for plein air because everything is so darn “perky” and green. It’s nice to find some gritty compositional elements to break up all of the emerald.
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
It’s time to do a little spring cleaning in the studio and I need to “shed” a few art works. Although its been a great year for me so far, I have various pastel drawings and watercolor paintings that need to move on to new homes.
I’ve decided to have a sale with 30% OFF all small works on my blog that were originally $300 or less. Limited time offer–the sale will last only until June 15th, 2010.
Take a look through previous entries on my artblog by clicking on the arrow at the bottom of the page, or zero in on your favorite mediums or subject matter by clicking on the categories in the right column. If you find an available piece that speaks to you, contact me directly. (Don’t use the Buy Now buttons because they still show the original prices). I’d love for you to have an original artwork at “sale” prices…and I would really love to create more room in my studio for future art work.
Plein air pastel landscape of small cabin nestled in the woods, seen from across a lake.
Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 12.5 inches $300
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
I found the sweetest little pond yesterday, off of Judd Road in Saline. It was hidden in a residential area and I almost passed it by. I set up my easel to do this pastel painting just as the owners came home from church. For the most part, I’ve found that people are very open to me painting on their property. They are often flabbergasted and pleased that an artist would find their property beautiful and worthy of a work of art. We all become so accustomed to our own surroundings and sometimes take for granted the gorgeous scenes around us. In this pastel landscape I wanted to capture the serenity of the little cabin tucked back in the woods and loved the long range view across the water.
Plein air pastel painting of a path through a spring garden.
Pastel painting 9 inches x 5.5 inches $80
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John has been doing some serious work on our back yard gardens over the last couple of weeks. They look better than ever. I did a quick pastel landscape sketch of one of them when I got off work the other day. In the afternoon, the light shining through the trees is just gorgeous. I’m looking forward to doing some floral pastels when everything comes into bloom!
Plein air pastel painting of an abandoned farmhouse in spring
Pastel painting 11 inches x 8. inches $200
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
“on the road again….”
The back roads of Washtenaw County that is. As soon as the weather breaks, I start wandering the rural areas around Saline, Dexter, Ann Arbor and Chelsea, Michigan. I’m looking for that special scene that would make an interesting pastel landscape. For some reason, I’m obsessively drawn to old farms. I’ve told my family that I think I may be a reincarnated country girl. I’ve painted this old, abandoned farm house a few times but the spring setting warranted another go. I really like trying to capture the effects of time on structures in my architecture pastels.
Plein air pastel painting of a Red Bud tree in full bloom in spring.
Pastel painting 11 inches x 8.5 inches $200
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
Last Wednesday I went back to Wellers one more time to paint a pastel landscape of one of their beautiful flowering Red Bud trees. Along with the Dogwoods, these trees are my favorite signs of spring in Michigan. They are electrifyingly beautiful but very difficult to capture in a pastel painting. The flowers are extremely small and the overall effect is of a sparkling cloud of violet-pink sparkles. I know that sounds weird but its the best description I can come up with. They only last for a few days so you have to catch them quickly!
