After I finished painting the previous little iris floral painting, I simply turned my little chair around and painted the landscape scene directly behind me. The sun was shining through the pine trees and created a bit of that “light glow” that I so love. I worked really quickly and finished it in about 20 minutes. There’s something to be said for painting fast and not thinking…

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper
Medium: Windsor Newton Gouache

On Friday, I met one of my buds over at a garden in Saline to do some quick, small sketches. I only had an hour so I decided to work in gouache. A group of purple irises were lit by sun with pine trees in the background creating a dark, dramatic background–just right for a floral painting. I really like the ability to paint opaquely with this medium, and build layers of color and values.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper
Medium: Windsor Newton Gouache

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

Another plein air garden painting …even though it might look more like a native forest. I was drawn to the gnarly old tree which I thought was quite beautiful. However, the land owner told me he really didn’t care for the broken down tree and wanted to have it pulled down. He was amazed, and frankly a little alarmed, that out of all his beautiful garden views, I would choose this craggy old thing to paint. In his honor, I just had to name the painting for him!

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

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

I got a chance last week to do some plein air work at one of the lovely sites for the upcoming Ann Arbor Garden Walk. This winding brick path, leading to a fountain, caught my eye. I did a quick watercolor underpainting, let it dry in the sun, and then slowly began to layer pastel over the washes.

All of the eleven artists have been diligently creating paintings of the gardens for almost a year now and we will have near 100 to view and sell on June 9th at the walk.  We are starting to feel like we know each garden intimately, although they all have different blooms depending on the time of year.

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

Another one in my series of skyscape pastel paintings. The inspiration for this piece came from one of our spring trips “Up North” near Charlevoix, Michigan. When you are at the top of some of the hills in that area, it feels like you can see forever. And in some places, there is not a trace of civilization to be seen. I often think that I might be enjoying the same stunning view that native Indians or early settlers saw many years ago.

This painting is currently at River Gallery in Chelsea. Stop by if you’d like to see it in person!

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

The last one of the series (so far…). This piece was inspired by the same area of shoreline as the previously posted seascape in pastel. Can’t wait to get back “Up North” and be inspired by our gorgeous Great Lakes again!

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Illustration board with Terra Cotta Art Spectrum Primer
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

One of the cool things about Lake Michigan is that the lake and shore look completely different depending on your location. There are white sandy beaches, rocky shorelines, swampy wetland areas, towering dunes and deep wooded banks–an endless variety of subject matter for pastel seascapes! The rocky areas often remind me of my Riverstone Series. Although the viewpoint and effect is much different, the rocks in both have a “zen-like” quality that I find very calming.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Illustration board with Terra Cotta Art Spectrum Primer
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Here is the second pastel seascape in my series of the Lake Michigan Shore. The subject matter for each of the 4 paintings comes from my trips up to Charlevoix, Michigan over Memorial Day Weekend every year. Sometimes it is glorious and sunny. Sometimes it snows. But I like capturing the lake with all its different personalities. I think they really make a nice grouping together. I framed them with deep wood frames with a warm silver tone and no mats.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Illustration board with Terra Cotta Art Spectrum Primer
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

The days are passing by quickly and it is almost time for “the season” up in Northern Michigan. It can be very quiet up there during the winter months, but between Memorial Day and Labor Day the whole area is hopping! I’m framing and packaging all of the new artwork that I will be bringing to Tvedten Fine Art in Harbor Springs  this this May.

The pastel seascape above is part of a 4-part series of the Lake Michigan Shore that I painted in my studio this winter. They are all small squares (one of my favorite formats!) with an undercoating of Art Spectrum Primer on heavy illustration board. I really like working on this substrate for a couple of reasons. The random effects that happen from the underlying primer brush strokes are very interesting to me. They give the piece another layer of texture. And, working on a heavy board eliminates the need to use a mat or backing board. Plus, its inexpensive because I use the extra pieces of archival board I have hanging around the studio. Bonus!

I’ll post the rest of the series in the coming days.

I mentioned that I was honored to be chosen as one of Fine Art Connoisseur‘s “Today’s Masters” in their May/June 2012 issue. I love this magazine, one of the preeminent art collecting magazines in the world. The publication came out today and it is marvelous! It was especially wonderful to share the honor with my friend, Nora Venturelli!    Read the article here.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Illustration board with Terra Cotta Art Spectrum Primer
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Pastel landscape painting    14  inches x 11 inches
Please contact me if you are interested in this or similar artwork.

Do you remember those pictures in children’s books where you had to find the changes between two similar images? I feel like this post is a little like one of those little tests I used to take. I had finished the pastel landscape painting on top long ago, but was never really happy with it. Its been hanging on my wall for over a year. Finally I decided I needed to either address it, or throw it out. I liked the “idea” of the painting so I worked on just adapting it a bit. I didn’t make a lot of changes but I tried to tone it down and integrate everything together a bit more. On the bottom version, I muted the sky and lightened the distant trees. I highlighted the water a bit and filled in some of the field in front.

I think I like it more, although I’m not positive it is better. But I AM done!

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