Plein air pastel landscape painting of a golden autumn field and distant tree line.

Pastel painting 9 inches x 6 inches       $100

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

After the nice farmer man offered me his “back yard” to paint in, I drove way back in to his fields til I found this intriguing scene. I liked the strong diagonal of the grassy lane and the endless golden fields. The colorful little trees in the background made a perfect focal point. I painted quickly because now it was after five p.m. and REALLY cold. But I’m happy I stayed to add this pastel painting to my autumn landscape series. In a couple of months, when winter descends,  I’m sure I will be pining for this type of “mild” weather…

Pastel plein air painting of a dirt road framed in autum leaves.

Pastel painting 6 inches x 9 inches       $100

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

It was friggin cold on Sunday afternoon. But I persisted. The colors in southeast Michigan are starting to burst out and I refused to miss the explosion! The back roads were filled with orange and yellow and this little lane looked like a perfect place to set up for a pastel landscape painting. Within 20 minutes, my fingers were absolutely numb. I was packing up to go when a sweet man who owned a farm on this road stopped to chat. He told me how beautiful the fields behind his house were and invited me to paint there. I couldn’t refuse. I will post that painting in a couple of days.

SafeHouse Center, an organization that fights to stop domestic violence and sexual assault in Michigan is very close to my heart. I designed a calendar filled with the art of local women artists as a fundraiser to help offset the huge funding cuts they are experiencing. The art is really amazing and the cause is so important. For a donation of $15 for 1 or $40 for 3 you can make a difference for thousands of women and children.

Thank you to the many artists who donated, to my friend and wonderful copywriter, Linda Fitzgerald, and to Kelly Parkinson and the Allegra Print and Imaging gang for making this calendar happen!

The calendars wold make wonderful holiday gifts. Please contact me if you are interested!

Plein air pastel landscape painting of a distant barn seen from the fields

Pastel painting 9.5 inches x 6 inches       SOLD

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This beautiful old farm on Judd Road in Saline caught my eye last weekend. On cloudy days, it would seem like the landscape should be dull and drab, but its really the exact opposite. All the colors become hyper saturated in relation to the dismal sky.  I love autumn in Michigan when all the crops turn rusty ochre. To me, a pastel painting of golden soy bean fields can be more exciting than the traditional landscapes filled with brightly colored fall trees. I painted this piece on white paper that I had underpainted with a bright red watercolor wash. I like to leave some of that red color peaking through the pastel to unify the painting.

Hope the weather holds so that I can get out again this weekend…

Pastel painting 5 inches x 7 inches $100  plus shipping

Please contact me if you are interested in this artwork.

Finally got over the creeping crud that our family had been dealing with for the last 2 weeks and have gotten back to painting! The beautiful fall colors have now faded and it is a little too chilly for plein air work, but I was able to shoot a lot of reference photos for studio work. This pastel painting is based on some shots I took on our town’s main street. It was early morning on a beautiful, clear day and the sun shining through the trees created some dramatic shadows.