Plein air pastel landscape painting of Everglades water in the morning.

Pastel painting 11.5 inches x 8.5 inches  SOLD

I love doing plein air paintings on location when we travel. But as a Michigan artist with galleries in-state, it is difficult to show pastel landscapes which are obviously done in different parts of the country. People tend to like images that relate to their own surroundings. One of my goals for this year is to find good gallery representation in the southern states…

Plein air pastel landscape painting of grasses and water in the Everglades

Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 11.5 inches

When I’m down south, I always head out to the Everglades to work on plein air paintings. There is nothing like the light shining on the water wandering through the acres of marsh land. Every view has some enticing little nuance that I want to capture in a pastel landscape. Unfortunately, it is difficult to get very deep into the Everglades with painting equipment. I usually set up my easel on the side of the Tamiami Trail and paint out of the back of my SUV as traffic whizzes by. This has its good and bad points. The noise is terribly distracting, but I feel somewhat safe in a quasi-public area, as opposed to deep in the swamps.

However, when I was painting this piece, I ran into something I hadn’t bargained for. I noticed a car with two older couples crawling up behind me. They stopped the car and excitedly asked “Did you see it?” I had no idea what they were talking about. They explained that they had just seen a huge black bear rumbling through the grasses in the field next to me. Oy. But I’m a die hard. I wasn’t finished with my pastel painting and I wasn’t leaving til I was. But you can be sure I kept a close eye out, in case I needed to escape into my car!

Plein air pastel landscape painting of a marsh in the Everglades in Florida.

Pastel painting 12 inches x 8 inches     $300

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

Another pastel painting from the Everglades when we were down south. I was just fascinated with the landscape of the marshes. It is so rich and mysterious. And I loved the hundreds of birds, turtles and various other creatures that moved in and out of my view. Not a bad way to spend a warm sunny pastel landscape day.

Plein air pastel landscape painting of the the sun rising over the Everglades in Florida

Pastel painting 12 inches x 8 inches     $300

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

The Everglades in southern Florida are pastel painting heaven. When we stayed in Naples, I spent one whole day driving back and forth on the Tamiami trail. Whenever I saw something that caught my eye, I would park my traveling studio (the family SUV) at the side of the road and set up shop out of the the back. The wandering rivers catch the light and make wonderful scenes for a pastel landscape.