Pastel floral painting   16  inches x 20 inches
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So far I’ve painted 20 or so plein air paintings of the gardens which will be on the Ann Arbor Garden Walk. But I have also been working on floral pastels in my studio. This piece looks very different from my reference photograph. It felt a little flat to me, so I introduced a ray of sunshine to dapple the hydrangeas and give a dynamic spark to the otherwise straightforward composition. I also infused color into the wall behind the garden…

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Burgundy Art Spectrum Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Pastel landscape painting    14  inches x 11 inches
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Every summer we participate in a  community supported agriculture program. Each week, John takes a trip out to a wonderful farm on the outskirts of Saline and picks up our weekly produce package. We never know what will be “in season” and each box is a surprise package of fresh, local delicacies. Last fall, the farm hosted an intimate rural dinner for all of their customers, with an amazing multiple-course meal made from their own crops. The late afternoon sun bathed the autumn fields with a warm glow that just begged to be painted. I took lots of reference photos and this winter I spent some cold days in my studio recreating the magic feeling of that special evening in a pastel landscape painting.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Blue Art Spectrum Colourfix Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Every time I finish a skyscape pastel painting, it becomes my new favorite. I know it is just a momentary infatuation, and as soon as I start another pastel painting, THAT one will become the new favored child.  I used to think that “crush” feeling was kind of infantile, even self-centered, but now I know it is part of my process of creating a work of art. I HAVE to be in love with what I am painting at any given minute. Its the only way I can have the courage and stick-to-it-ness to finish another piece and keep growing as an artist.

This sunset painting will be heading to Tvedten Fine Art in Harbor Springs, Michigan for the summer season. It will also appear in an ad I am running in the May/June Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine which features me as one of their “Today’s Masters”…    

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Burgundy Art Spectrum Colourfix Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Watercolor and pastel floral painting     7  inches x 10.5 inches  $150
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Like last year, I spent my Tuesday mornings in Florida at the Naples Botanical Gardens. Every week, they allow artists to bring in their supplies and easels and set up to paint among the flowers for 4 hours. All of the plantings there are gorgeous, but I am always drawn to the huge assortment of water lilies that dot the many ponds in the park. In my plein air watercolors of these gems, I like to zoom in with a tight crop that accentuates the beauty of individual lilies, but also gives an abstract quality to the composition.

I started out this floral painting in watercolor, but I wasn’t completely happy with it so I decided to layer pastel over some of the areas. I use a fairly textured watercolor paper, so the strokes and weave of the substrate is quite obvious. I’m still grappling with working with multiple mediums at one time. Always experimenting…

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper
Medium: DaVinci Watercolors

Watercolor landscape painting      10.5  inches x 7 inches  $150
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Naples is filled with beautiful buildings, all in an Italian-style stucco with red tile roofs. Condos, hotels, businesses and stores all follow “the format.” Although this style creates a very unified look to the area, it can also be a bit redundant. Everything looks the same!

Luckily, I’m an Italian at heart, so the style appeals to me. I painted this plein air watercolor along a canal with a friend from Ann Arbor who also winters down south. I’m always drawn to architecture paintings and this building with the light shining in the bay windows caught my attention.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper
Medium: DaVinci Watercolors

Plein air pastel seascape painting    6  inches x 9.25 inches
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On the Naples dock again, this time looking back at the shore. There are well-spaced benches up and down the whole dock, which makes it perfect for artists wanting to paint plein air pastel seascapes of the surrounding views. It was a hot, windy day with strong waves hitting the shore at constant intervals. It was a challenge to try and capture the waves at the same position every time they came in, but I did my best to imply them. I again worked on a small piece of green Art Spectrum paper, allowing some of the color to peak through.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Green Art Spectrum Colourfix Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

I’m still working diligently on the new sky series that I started in January. Part of my goal with this group of pastel paintings is to loosen up a bit and play with color and light. This particular piece is about as close as I come to an “abstract” composition, while still being very recognizable as clouds lit by the afternoon sun.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: White Kitty Wallis Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Pastel portrait painting      18 inches x 24 inches
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Our 9-hour  figure drawing session was amazing! 5 artists chipped in to pay Janet to model in the nude for 3-hour sessions for 3 straight days. Our lovely hostess allowed us to set up in her studio and leave our easels, pastels and paints in place from day to day.  We worked well together, breaking every 25 minutes or so. I was worried that I would get bored with the same pose, but time flew by. I felt for the first time, that I actually took time to consider my decisions, get proportions correct, and conceptualize my pastel portrait to create a finished piece of art, not just a sketch. I was especially happy with the hands which are always torture for me!

I worked on a large piece of tan pastel board called Solid Ground that I got from my friend Mary Beth Koeze’s art estate sale when she passed away.  I feel like she is still whispering in my ear when I work with her supplies. It’s a very “hard” surface that feels more like a gessoed board than sanded paper. It took me a bit to get used to, but I really like it. I brushed water into some of my pastel work and it became paint that I could move around easily on this substrate. The boards are available at HudsonHighland.com.

This artwork was created with
Paper: Canson Mi-Tients Grey Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Plein air pastel landscape painting    12.5  inches x 8.75 inches
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Early morning on the beach. It was a moody scene for a plein air pastel seascape but I loved the dark sky against the sunlit beach. The Sea Grape trees created needed structure…

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Burgundy Art Spectrum Colourfix Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Plein air pastel landscape painting    6  inches x 9.25 inches
Please contact me if you are interested in this or similar artwork.

One day down south I set up my pastels and easel out on the Naples dock. People were playing on the beach and constantly moving but I decided on a composition and ignored the tumultuous activity. This is a quick plein air pastel seascape of the scene which took me about 45 minutes to complete. I worked on a small piece of green Art Spectrum paper, allowing some of the color to peak through the colors I applied.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Green Art Spectrum Colourfix Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

I was honored to be included in Cherry Art Products Annual Pastel Classic Exhibit. Its an online show of pastel paintings by a talented group of artists and will be available for viewing through June 1st. If you get a chance, click the image above to take a look at what is going on in the pastel world. When you are at the site, you can click on individual small paintings to get a larger view…

Plein air pastel landscape painting    9  inches x 12 inches
Please contact me if you are interested in this or similar artwork.

The beaches around Naples, Florida are really lovely and a lot of them are quite secluded. I painted this plein air pastel seascape late one crystal clear morning. I was working toward a looser application of pastel and a more abstract composition. Leaving the details behind and just trying to capture the feeling of a quiet moment in time…

This artwork was created with:
Paper: UArt Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels