Plein air watercolor landscape of an old farm in Michigan

Watercolor painting 11.5 inches x 4.25 inches    $150

Please contact me if you are interested in this artwork.

This is one of my favorite farmscape watercolors. Over the years I have tried to capture as many of the old farms in my area as I can. This one was especially interesting to me and made a neat horizontal composition for a watercolor landscape painting.

My new grandson, Max Wagner Ricketts was born last week! Everyone healthy and happy. Pure joy at our household for the holidays!!!!

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a farmstead seen from faraway fields.

Watercolor painting 9 inches x 6 inches

I painted this watercolor landscape right after “Along the Road” which I posted a couple of days ago. Obviously, the storm was still threatening.

I used my favorite paper, Saunders Waterford 200# cold press, for this piece. You can see how this substrate gives a very different feel than my previous watercolor painting. More subdued and less defined. I’ve tried many sheets and this one seems to fit my style just right. Colors appear very vibrant and strong, and yet they are easy to “pull up” if you need to. The 200# weight is more substantial than 140# yet isn’t as bulky as 300#. The texture is evident but not overpowering. Although using professional-quality paper is very important, I’ve found there is not a “right” or “wrong” as far as choosing between particular brands. Try a bunch and see if you can find one that floats your boat!

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a storm approaching a distant farm as seen from the road.

Watercolor painting 11 inches x 9 inches

There was a storm rolling in when I set up to do this watercolor painting but I was sure I could get it in before the downpour started. You can imagine how detrimental raindrops can be to a watercolor painting. Even more so when you are painting on Yupo, a plastic material that causes paint to sit on the surface instead of seep into the paper. I painted fast and loose and got the watercolor landscape finished just as the first drops came down.

Just found out that River Gallery placed 3 giclee prints of my larger paintings in the new Pepsi Headquarters in Michigan. Giclees are a great way to own quality fine art, without paying the full price of an original work. Almost all of my paintings are available as high quality giclee prints. Please contact me if you are interested owning one!

Plein air pastel landscape painting of old farm buildings from a field in Michigan

Pastel painting 9.5 inches x 7 inches

I painted this pastel painting of an old farmstead near our house last fall. It was beginning to fall into disrepair and looked like it had seen better days. The place was owned by relatives of Buffalo Bill Cody who was rumored to visit quite often. This summer the house and out buildings were burned down and all that remains are a few charred beams. It broke my heart. A subdivision will probably pop up in its place. I’m happy, though, that I captured this  pastel landscape before it disappeared!

This painting and many of my other pieces will be available at Art Walk October 22-24, 2010. 15 artists have banded together to present our work and do demonstrations at the Stone Arch Events building in Saline, Michigan. There will be a reception on Friday from 5pm-8pm and we will be open from 12-5pm on Saturday and Sunday. Please stop by and enjoy original artwork!

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a working farm and barns seen from the field.

Watercolor painting 9.5 inches x 6.5 inches    $125

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

Getting into the watercolor mode! I was out on the back roads again searching for that perfect farm to paint.  The weather has been absolutely fantastic here in Michigan and the bright sunlight really makes the old red barns pop. I painted this watercolor landscape out of the back of my trunk. There was a lot of activity going on, but the hardworking farmers moved way to fast to paint them!

Plein air pastel painting of an old farmstead near Belvedere, Michigan.

Pastel painting 12 inches x 4 inches     $150

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

It was our last day “up north”. The boys had headed off to golf and I was wandering the countryside, generally headed toward the course where I would pick them up later in the day. I had had my fill of beautiful, sunny beach scenes and was pining to return to my beloved farm views. I stopped my roving studio on the side of the road to paint a pastel landscapes of this old farm. It looked like it hadn’t changed one bit since the depression. This is my favorite piece of all the pastel and watercolor paintings I did on our vacation. Its small but special!

Plein air pastel landscape painting of a spring farm seen from the fields

Pastel painting 12.5 inches x 6 inches     $200

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

Yeah! The first plein air pastel landscape of the year! I’ve been pining to get out and paint but much too wimpy to brave the cold. This  pastel painting was created on a burgundy sanded paper at an old farm site with last year’s sheared crops still visible in the fields.

Pastel plein air landscape painting of an old farmstead

Pastel painting 11 inches x 8.5 inches $200

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

This beautiful old farmstead sits right in the middle of a whole gaggle of subdivisions. It seems to be holding on to its proud farming tradition and had a certain spunky diginity to it. I hadn’t captured it in my watercolor farmscape series yet so I thought I’d give it a try in pastel. While I was painting, the one and only policeman in our township stopped by and sternly asked me what I was doing. I must have looked pretty darn suspicious there, sitting on the side of the road– with my pastels….

Pastel painting of old, dilapidated barns and out buildings

Pastel painting 11 inches x 8 inches $300

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

Sunday was another gorgeous day to paint plein aire. I’ve been pining to paint this place but there are “no trespassing” signs posted all over it. Yesterday I decided that as long as I sat out on the edge of the road, I wouldn’t be encroaching. I set up and began to work on the pastel painting, and sure as shootin, up drives the landowner. I thought I was in big trouble but he was a delightful older man who told me the whole 200 year history of the farm. He was honored that someone still thought it was worthy of notice and welcomed me to walk among the ruins. This type of real world history fascinates me and made the pastel landscape all the more relevent to me…

Pastel painting of an old farmstead covered in snow.

Pastel painting 10 inches x 10 inches $450

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

OK. I lied. One more of my new winter pastel paintings. This old farmstead down the road from our house looks gorgeous in the winter sunlight…but not so much in the spring and summer. So I decided to paint it one more time before all the snow melted.

My new absolute favorite pastel paper is Kitty Wallis Belgium Mist. It has a wonderful sandy texture and a warm grey tint that takes pastels beautifully. I also do a lot of my work on Art Spectrum paper–especially Terra Cotta. The warm rust color is a great background for landscapes and florals that are heavy in green tones.