Plein air watercolor painting of a porch on an old home with geranium baskets.
Watercolor painting 9 inches x 6.5 inches $100
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Pulled out the watercolors the other day and walked around downtown Saline. In the morning, the sunlight illuminates the old houses on the main road into town. I always swear I am going to try a new location but the sunlit porches tend to grab my attention. So….another watercolor architecture painting of my hometown!
Plein air pastel painting of flower filled porch in Harbor Springs, Michigan
Pastel painting 12.5 inches x 5 inches $150
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After painting the pastel cityscape on my previous post, I stayed at the same spot and pivoted for a view of this intimate porch scene. Harbor Springs is full of beautiful old summer homes with intricate, Victorian architecture. I love capturing the unique details that make intriguing and personal house portraits. Contact me if you are interested in a special piece of art to commemorate your home in watercolor or pastel!
Plein air pastel painting of adirondack chairs in front of an old bed and breakfast in Harbor Springs, Michigan
Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 12.5 inches
We spent Memorial Day Weekend “up north”, as usual. I look forward to this trip every year. We go with 4 of our favorite friends, and each of us spends time relaxing and doing what we love best. For me, it is painting en plein air in watercolor and pastel. I painted 9 pieces over the 4 days we were there and will post some of them over the next couple of weeks.
This pastel cityscape was my first piece. I set up on the front lawn of a beautiful old bed and breakfast right on Main Street in Harbor Springs. I felt a bit exposed, but the early morning sunlight hitting the stark white chairs was just to good to miss!
Later in the afternoon, I dropped new work off to Tvedten Fine Art, my new gallery in Harbor Springs. Margaret’s beautiful space was overflowing with inspiring new art. I am so honored to be among her stable of artists. She sold one of my pastel landscapes , “The Secret Place”, that weekend. Yea!
Plein air pastel painting of the windows of a stately mansion.
Pastel painting 10 inches x 5.5 inches $100
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The last of the pastel paintings I did at the Curtis Mansion in Saline. It was late afternoon and the light was flagging, as was my strength. But I couldn’t waste the chance to do one more pastel house portrait of this local historical site. I may never have a chance again and I figured I could go home and collapse when I finished…and I did!
Plein air pastel painting of Curtis Mansion in Saline, Michigan.
Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 12.5 inches $300
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Ewwwww!!!! What a special, special honor! Linda and Jane, our fearless plein air leaders, requested permission for a small group of us to paint on the grounds of Curtis Mansion in Saline. If you’ve ever been downtown, you can’t miss the towering, grey-green Victorian house on a couple of shaded acres on Main Street. I’ve wanted to do a pastel house portrait of the mansion for years, but very few people are allowed on the grounds. We spent a glorious full day there, and I managed to do 3 pastel paintings in the hot sun. Thank goodness hubby John was a life saver and brought lemonade to the group!
Plein air pastel landscape painting of a old farm lit by the afternoon sun.
Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 12 inches $300
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I was driving home from work, the same way I’ve driven a thousand times, and suddenly saw this old farm house with new eyes. Its a beautiful building, nestled in some trees, and on that day the sun lit it up dramatically. Luckily, I keep a roving studio of supplies in the back of my car. I stopped and set up shop for a pastel architecture landscape. The ability to be spontaneous is just one of the great joys of painting in pastel. Anything is possible!
Don’t Forget: Spring Cleaning Sale through June 15th! Any small blog painting ($300 or less) on sale for 30% off! Please contact me directly for your special piece of art.
Plein air watercolor painting of sunlit pillars on a fenced walkway
Watercolor painting 9.5 inches x 6.25 inches $80
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I’m all about light and shadow. Its always what attracts me to a plein air subject, even when I’m just hangin out at the pool. I did this watercolor painting of a fenced walkway specifically because I liked the way the sunlight and shadows played on the pillars. I also love architectural and sculptural elements so the little pineapples on the tops of the pillars were and added bonus!
Plein air watercolor cityscape painting of a sunny art gallery in Naples, Florida
Watercolor painting 10 inches x 6.5 inches $80
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It was pretty cool and cloudy down south but I managed to get in one watercolor painting on a sunny Sunday morning in Naples. The city is filled with quirky little galleries that carry every type of art imaginable. I love visiting each one when we are in town. Galerie Soleil is bright yellow and reminded me of the warm buildings in Italy. Gotta grab the chance to do some more paintings of architecture…
Pastel painting commission of dowtown Saline, Michigan
Pastel painting 18 inches x 24 inches SOLD
I was so honored when River Gallery notified me that the art consultants for the new wing of the Saint Joseph Mercy Saline Hospital wanted me to create a large pastel commission of downtown Saline. I shot a lot of photo references and we settled on this storefront scene of the area on South Ann Arbor Street. Its a quaint little row of antique stores, barber and coffee shops and always looks picture perfect. I like painting architecture and I LOVE painting local scenes so this was a dream come true! I’m in the process of framing it and when it is done it will hang in the new community room of the hospital.
Pastel painting of Angell Hall at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor
Pastel painting 5 inches x 7 inches $100 + shipping
Please contact me if you are interested in this artwork or a commission.
Ann Arbor is full of beautiful architecture, much of it related to the University of Michigan. One hot, sunny day last summer, I photographed this view of Angell Hall peeping through an umbrella of trees. I try not to recreate the “official-postcard” scenes of campus in my pastel paintings.In this small piece I wanted to simplify, simplify, simplify to capture only the essential elements of the scene.
Watercolor painting 5.5 inches x 7.5 inches $100 + shipping
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I forgot to post this last watercolor landscape from my visit to San Luis Rey Mission. I painted this study on traditional cold press paper, not the plastic-like yupo that I had used on the previous mission studies, so it has more of an evident texture. It is really interesting to use different types of paper and see how they effect the look of your watercolors.
For those who are interested….About .com explains the different types of watercolor papers this way:
Machine-made watercolor papers come in three surfaces: rough, hot-pressed or HP, and cold-pressed (or NOT).
Rough watercolor paper has a prominent tooth, or textured surface. This creates a grainy effect as pools of water collect in the indentations in the paper.
Hot-pressed watercolor paper has a fine-grained, smooth surface, with almost no tooth. Paint dries very quickly on it. This makes it ideal for large, even washes of color.
Cold-pressed watercolor paper has a slightly textured surface, somewhere in between rough and hot-pressed paper. It’s the paper used most often by watercolor artists.
Watercolor painting 9 inches x 6 inches $100 + shipping
Please contact me if you are interested in this artwork.
This is a quick plein air watercolor sketch of the entrance to the Mission San Luis Rey. I really wanted to paint in the interior courtyards, and while they would let me walk through them for the price of admission, if I wanted to paint them, I had to pay mucho bucks to join the “friends society”. I decided there was more than enough interesting architecture on the outside!
