New Year’s Resolution #1: Dig out the Studio. Check.
I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I had art and supplies everywhere. Pastel paintings going out to galleries, watercolors coming in from shows, donations lined up for my favorite non-profits. My studio was a mine field.
So I finally buckled down and cleaned the whole dang thing. I threw away a LOT of paintings that I once loved but am no longer proud of. Paper, pastels, books, and tools are now all in their correct place. With the help of my wonderful husband, I even created a new, organized painting storage area. (Note the very anal retentive title labels on each painting…)
As a Michigan Plein Air artist, I HAVE to paint indoors during the winter. Now, with a clean studio, I finally feel free to create again. Ahhhhh….
Plein air watercolor landscape painting of old barns near Saline, Michigan
Watercolor painting 9.5 inches x 9.5 inches $300
Please contact me if you are interested in this or similar artwork.
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are relaxing after all of the festivities!
I’ve been working diligently on my Italian paintings but will not be posting them until after my show. I have also been trying to make order out of a studio filled with paintings and art supplies. It is a daunting task!
This plein air farmscape watercolor was accepted into the Annual Michigan Watercolor Society Exhibition a few years back. I usually use a horizontal composition to capture the wide space of the farms I love. But for this one, I chose a square format and left some of the painting loose and unstructured. I wanted to create a watercolor landscape painting where the viewer is drawn in, through the field, to the focal point of the bright red barn.
Pastel landscape painting of a snowy winter field with a stream running through it.
Pastel painting 5 inches x 7.5 inches
Between helping with my new grandson, work, and the holidays, I haven’t been getting much painting done! I’ve been pining to do a winterscape so I slipped this small pastel painting in this afternoon. This field is near our home and I often take my Aussie, Roxy, for walks along the little creek. Its barely noticeable from the road and feels very secluded. I painted another larger pastel landscape of this area a year ago. I can’t wait to go back this spring and try a plein air version.
Plein air watercolor painting of the lighthouse near Charlevoix, Michigan
Watercolor painting 9 inches x 13 inches
Please contact me if you are interested in this artwork.
I’m on a comparison binge this week. The watercolor painting above was done plein air a couple of years ago in Charlevoix, Michigan. And the pastel landscape below was done plein air last year. Almost the same seascape view but using very different mediums.
Plein air watercolor landscape painting of the countryside around Gettysburg, PA
Watercolor painting 9 inches x 6.5 inches $150
Please contact me if you are interested in this artwork.
I found that visiting Gettysburg was a life changing experience. The horror of the battles that occurred there is astounding. But the strange thing is that the countryside where one of the Civil War’s most grisly confrontations happened is very serene and bucolic. And it looks very much now the way it looked before the war. How could something so horrible happen in such a place…or in any place for that matter?
While we sat out on Seminary Ridge to have a picnic, I painted the watercolor painting above of the rolling hills. The view is very similar to the pastel landscape “Tranquil Fields” which I painted in my studio and posted recently. Again, it is amazing how different a scene looks using another medium.
Plein air watercolor landscape of an old farm in Michigan
Watercolor painting 11.5 inches x 4.25 inches $150
Please contact me if you are interested in this artwork.
This is one of my favorite farmscape watercolors. Over the years I have tried to capture as many of the old farms in my area as I can. This one was especially interesting to me and made a neat horizontal composition for a watercolor landscape painting.
My new grandson, Max Wagner Ricketts was born last week! Everyone healthy and happy. Pure joy at our household for the holidays!!!!
We had a beautiful model for our figure drawing session this week. One of the few we have had who smiled the whole time! 2 hours always goes by so quickly for the artists, but I’m sure it is an eternity for the models. I wish I had had a bit more time to finesse this pastel portrait but I think I caught some of her effervescent personality…
If you are still wondering what to give your loved ones for the holidays…art is always a good idea!
Pastel cityscape painting of diners at a restaurant in Little Italy in New York City.
Pastel painting 5 inches x 7 inches $100
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
I thought I’d take a break from the large paintings I’m working on and do a small cityscape pastel. Sometimes its good to step away from big projects and throw in a little fun one to freshen up.
When we were in New York City a while ago, I took lots of reference shots to paint from, archived them and then promptly forgot about them. I loved this colorful scene of a restaurant in Little Italy and thought it would make an interesting pastel painting. I used a photo for inspiration, changing it liberally to create a composition that worked for me…
Watercolor still life painting of a single orange and shadow.
Watercolor painting 9 inches x 6 inches
A very simple piece today. This week I have been spending my studio time working on a set of large paintings of Umbria and haven’t done many small pieces.
This is another still life painting from my work shop in Italy, painted on Waterford cold press paper (my favorite!). Below is a painting of oranges that I posted a while ago, done at the same time, of the same oranges, but on Yupo plastic paper. You can see that the paper has A LOT of affect on the final outcome of painting. If you want to control the outcome, it s very important to have a vision before you start painting and choose your paper accordingly. If you don’t need total control, experiment with different substrates!
