Plein air pastel landscape painting of a barn and other farm buildings.

Pastel painting 9 inches x 6.5 inches   $100

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

Another  plein air pastel landscape of the farmlands around Saline, Michigan. I painted this one in the late afternoon again, waste deep in a field of wheat. It was a great location except for the millions of bugs that almost ate me alive. And of course, I forgot my bug repellant!

I’m so excited about the 4 commissions I am working on this month! I will be posting a few of them in the next couple of days.

And, (oh my god!), I’ve joined the twitter nation. If you liked to follow my tweets, catch me at http://twitter.com/jillwagnerart

Have a great 4t of July weekend!

Plein air pastel landscape of a farm and fields of spring wheat in late afternoon

Pastel painting 8 inches x 10 inches   $200

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

When I paint from life outside, I usually set out in the morning. For a change, I decided to try some pastel landscapes in the afternoon light. For plein air painters, morning and afternoon are the prime times because of the lovely yellow-orange light and the great shadows at those times of day. I found this luscious field of spring wheat south of town and set up all of my equipment on the side of the road. Quite a few people stopped by to chat and one woman asked to take my photo while I was painting. Turns out this is her favorite view and she has taken photos of the scene every month or so to catalog the seasonal changes. I was happy to oblige but darn it! I forgot to ask her if she would like a pastel painting of her favorite spot!

Pastel painting of fading geraniums in front of an old house.

Pastel painting 10 inches x 14 inches   $600

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

This pastel painting is an unusual combination of floral and landscape. I was wandering around downtown Louisville, in a neat historic section, when I ran into these fading geraniums. When I noticed the old, historic home in the background, I thought their juxtaposition would make an interesting image. I get all worked up about the way we treat our cities, trashing or abandoning whole neighborhoods in our rush to expand into the vanishing open areas. This piece was a bit cathartic for me. Ahhhh…. I feel better now!

BTW: If you get a chance, check out Tony Moffits blog. He puts out very useful and interesting information about art marketing. He featured my art work today in his blog and he also has a great site for artists looking for gallery representation. He graciously included me in his artist group on this site also.

Watercolor plein air painting of the old houses along Lake Charlevoix, Michigan.

Watercolor painting 9 inches x 6 inches $100

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

When we were “Up North” on Memorial Day, I wandered all around Charlevoix and found areas I had never visited before. There was a lovely boulevard of stately old summer homes along Lake Charlevoix that caught my eye. The area was a private association and I hope they didn’t mind that I plopped myself down in the middle of the common area and painted watercolor landscapes of the scene. Nobody requested that I leave, so I took that as permission!

Plein air pastel landscape of the bridge in Charlevoix, Michigan

Pastel painting 11 inches x 8.5 inches   $200

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I painted this pastel landscape from the balcony of our hotel in Charlevoix. The bridge lifts every hour or so to let boats pass between Lake Michigan and Lake Charlevoix. It causes quite the traffic jam but is an important part of the community and facilitates the boating tourists who visit. The psychodelic blue paint and the reflections below caught my interest. A great subject for the strong colors that are possible with pastels!

Pastel plein air painting of the Charlevoix lighthouse in midday sun.

Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 11 inches   $200

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This lighthouse is like a magnet for me for some reason. This is the third time I’ve painted it in the last 2 years. I think it attracts me because it’s so stark and minimalist against the bright blue sky. Sometimes painting pastel landscapes can be overwhelming because there is SO MUCH out there to choose from that it becomes difficult to focus. Every once in a while, its nice to approach a simpler, straightforward subject!

Watercolor painting of a Victorian cottage in Bay View, Michigan

Watercolor painting 6 inches x 9 inches $100

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

Another one of the historic Victorian cottages at Bay View, Michigan. While I was doing this watercolor painting, the owner of the cottage came out to take a look. Turns out she and her husband lived in Ann Arbor for 3 years when they were in college and have many fond memories of their time in our part of the state…

Watercolor plein air painting of a cottage in Bay View, Michigan

Watercolor painting 6 inches x 9 inches $100

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

When I was up north last Sunday, I decided to ditch the pastels and concentrate on watercolor landscapes for the day. I visited the small community of Bay View near Petoskey, Michigan. I’d always admired the beautiful Victorian cottages in this gorgeous little enclave, but, as I wandered around I discovered that there was a small, historic campus nestled in among the summer homes. The community was started in the 1880s as a Methodist retreat with educational programs.

I didn’t “get religion” but I did meet some very nice people. And I was more than happy to spend a few quiet hours under the trees painting beautiful, historic architecture!

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

Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 11 inches $200

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

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…

Pastel plein air landscape painting of an old farmstead

Pastel painting 11 inches x 8.5 inches $200

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

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….

Pastel painting 8 inches x 11 inches $200

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

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…

I have found a wonderful source for creating Giclee prints of my pastel paintings and am now offering a few of my favorite pieces for sale as reproductions. They have been purchased by quite a few health care organizations and other corporate entities to hang as art in their buildings. They are less expensive than purchasing original art and make wonderful gifts.

Wikipedia describes giclees as: Giclée (pronounced “zhee-clay”)  is an invented name for the process of making fine art prints from a digital source using ink-jet printing. The word “giclée” is derived from the French language word “le gicleur” meaning “nozzle”, or more specifically “gicler” meaning “to squirt, spurt, or spray”. It was coined in 1991 by, a printmaker working in the field, to represent any inkjet-based digital print used as fine art. The name was originally applied to fine art prints created on Iris printers in a process invented in the early 1990s but has since come to mean any high quality ink-jet print and is often used in galleries and print shops to denote such prints.

My Giclees are available in many subjects, sizes and formats and are ready to frame. Please take a look at my Giclee Gallery to see all of the prints that are now available.