Pastel painting   9 inches x 13 inches

It’s way past prime garden time in Michigan right now. The plants and trees are all bare and the flowers are long gone. But I took hundreds of research photos from the 6 gardens that will be on next year’s Ann Arbor Garden Walk and I am starting to work on pastel floral paintings in my studio. A group of artists will be exhibiting our artwork at the event in June. These hydrangeas were in a garden of a beautiful old home, built by President Millard Filmore’s brother in the 1800s, just outside of Ann Arbor, Michigan. I love the way the sunlight hit the petals and contrasted with the cool background of the old house.

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

Plein air watercolor painting of potted flowers in an Italian courtyard

Plein air watercolor painting   6.5  inches x 10.5 inches   $150

One more watercolor painting of our lovely courtyard at the La Romita School of Art in Umbria. The Italians don’t fool around when it comes to flowers! Every doorstep, windowbox and courtyard overflows with color. Never thought I would go to Italy to make paintings of flowers but it almost can’t be avoided once you get there!

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

Plein air gouache painting of summer flower pots on a deck.

Plein air gouache painting   7 inches x 9.5 inches

This summer I continued to play with a new medium: gouache. To me, it feels like a cross between watercolor and acrylic. You can paint thinly and create nice washes AND you can paint opaquely and cover previous strokes. (this intrigues me because I am constantly tossing watercolor paintings that I can’t fix.) Its taking me a while to get the hang of it so I thought I’d post some of my attempts from time to time. This floral painting view is right outside our back door on our deck.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Illustration board
Medium: Winsor & Newton’s Designer Gouache

Plein air watercolor painting of a flower garden against a shaded wall.

Plein air watercolor painting   7 inches x 9.5 inches

This cutting garden looked very dramatic against the shaded house so I thought I’d do a watercolor painting of it. But there was so much detail that I couldn’t capture all of it. I decided to do a loose, freestyle version of what I was seeing. That is an ongoing challenge for me with floral paintings. Include every little bit of foilage and flower, or try to get down the general feeling of the view?

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

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a roadside garden

Plein air watercolor painting   9.5 inches x 7 inches

We had a whole gaggle of plein air garden painters at another new site on Wednesday. It was a small area and we were all packed in, gabbing and painting. Pure heaven. This time I decided to switch back to watercolor landscapes. It was sunny and warm again so the colors dried quickly and kept their vibrant hues. I love watercolor painting in this type of weather! This site still had a lot of plants blooming so it was a perfect time to get in a couple more floral paintings. Every day that passes moves us closer to autumn…

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

Plein air watercolor painting of a pine tree near a meadow garden.

Plein air watercolor painting   7 inches x 9.5 inches

Another plein air watercolor landscape painting from the Ann Arbor Garden series I have been working on. I’ve visited this particular garden 3 times now and each time a find a completely different, intriguing view. The wild flowers made and interesting highlight against the dark depth of the forest behind. The flowers are fading fast in Michigan, but I hope to visit the gardens a few more times to do some  pastel garden paintings …

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

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a July garden in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Plein air watercolor painting   7 inches x 10.5 inches

Another  garden view from the older home I’ve visited a few times. I keep switching back and forth between plein air watercolor and pastel garden paintings, trying to decide which medium works best for flower filled landscapes. They each have their good points…guess I will just keep painting in both mediums…

Plein air pastel landscape painting of a flower urn along a garden path.

Pastel painting 9 inches x 12 inches

Another pastel garden painting! This property is amazing. It has every type of garden you can imagine. Formal shaded areas, large sunny meadows, wild flowers, wooded trails and creekbeds. Everything a Michigan plein air artist could hope for. I’ve painted on their beautiful grounds quite a few times and am starting to feel like one of the family. I always knock on the garden owner’s door to let them know I will be wandering their property. Its too creepy otherwise.

There was so many views to consider, it was almost overwhelming. I settled on this “small” scene since it was so hot and I knew I would not be able to take the heat for more than an hour or so. Plein air painting is not for sissies!

Plein air pastel landscape painting of garden and potting shed.

Pastel painting 9 inches x 12 inches

Saturday morning I visited the same beautiful home where I did the watercolor painting, “Garnet’s Potting Shed,” which I posted a few days ago. This time I wanted to try a pastel garden painting of the luscious grounds.

Much as I may want to create a painting that is all flowers, I am always drawn to the architecture in a scene. I like to take the strong, structural lines of buildings and play them against the organic flow of landscape, or in this case, flowers and shrubs. I walked to the other side of the shed and really liked the view. The small shed was in deep shadow but some of the plants were lit by almost psychodelic sunlight. Just the type of subject I like for plein air painting!

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a garden path and potting shed.

Plein air watercolor painting   7 inches x 10.5 inches

Last week, my friend, Cecily, and I visited a beautiful garden at a home built in the mid 1850′s by President Millard Fillmore’s brother. The gardens had a wonderful old fashioned feel to them and complimented the old house perfectly.  It was extremely hot, but we planted ourselves in the shade and did a few plein air watercolor paintings. I also took a lot of reference photos of the many flower beds, trellises and out buildings for future pastel garden paintings to be done in my studio this winter.

Plein air pastel landscape painting of a small garden with path and birdhouse.

Pastel painting 5 inches x 7.5 inches   $100

Although I am still knee deep in Italian paintings for my upcoming show, I am starting another fun project. A group of 12 Michigan plein air artists will be visiting 6 gardens in the Ann Arbor area to photograph and paint this summer and fall and next spring. Then in June, during the Ann Arbor Garden Walk, we will exhibit and sell some of the work we’ve done over the last year.

I visited one of our sites the other day, in the blistering heat, and did this small plein air painting. I took lots of photos to work from in my studio during the freezing winter months.

Plein air pastel still life painting of an elk skull, flowers and stone wall.

Plein air watercolor painting   6. 5 inches x 10 inches

The lodge at Bonanza Creek is comfortable and inviting. It’s surrounded on one side by a stone wall with western paraphernalia arranged among the rocks. One day, after riding, I decided to do what I rarely do: a watercolor still life. Granted, the elements are a little different from the usual apples, lemons and wine bottles. But it seemed appropriate for this Michigan artist visiting Montana!