Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a garden path and potting shed.

Plein air watercolor painting   7 inches x 10.5 inches

Last week, my friend, Cecily, and I visited a beautiful garden at a home built in the mid 1850′s by President Millard Fillmore’s brother. The gardens had a wonderful old fashioned feel to them and complimented the old house perfectly.  It was extremely hot, but we planted ourselves in the shade and did a few plein air watercolor paintings. I also took a lot of reference photos of the many flower beds, trellises and out buildings for future pastel garden paintings to be done in my studio this winter.

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of ranchland in Montana

Plein air watercolor painting   6. 5 inches x 10 inches

Montana in June was marvelous! They have had a lot more rain this year than usual (maybe TOO much!) and the land was lush, green and covered with wildflowers. We spent most of our time at Bonanza Creek riding the 35,000 acre ranch, soaking up the unbelievably beautiful scenery. A couple of days were spent on culling out “pairs” (a mother and baby cow) from the herd, team penning (separating specific cows into specific pens) and moving one of the herds to new grazing grounds. Of course, all of these tasks could have been done with one experienced rancher and a dog, but our group of 7 plucky cowgirls did an admirable job.

I didn’t have much time for plein air watercolor painting but I did manage to do a few quick sketches in the afternoons. Whenever I travel to a new location, it takes me a while to “get the lay of the land.”  And believe me, the land out there is amazing! How do you suggest endless fields and valleys that lead, miles away, to huge jagged mountain ranges? Especially when it is not the landscape that you are familiar with? This is my first attempt at a watercolor landscape of the daunting but very beautiful western countryside…

Gouache landscape painting of a fence in front of an old bungalow house.

Gouache painting    6 inches x 6 inches

I’m burning out a bit on pastel paintings of Italy, so I thought I’d give myself a new challenge. I’ve been meaning to explore gouache and for some reason, I never get around to it. This medium entices me because it is similar to watercolor, but much more forgiving because it can be applied opaquely. That means mistakes can be revised instead of thrown in the trash. I’m also hoping it might help me to loosen up a bit.

I started with this small landscape painting (or architecture painting depending on how you view the subject matter.) This little bungalow is right next door to my brother-in-laws house and I’ve always loved the way the light hits it in late afternoon. I only let myself use large brushes to cut down on fussing with details. I think it’s a good start…

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of mountains, lake and fields in Montana

Plein air watercolor painting    6 inches x 9 inches

Pastel painting of a sunlit fence in a garden.

Pastel painting 5 inches x 8 inches

It’s a friggin blizzard outside so I thought I’d do a little summer pastel paintings to warm me up! Nothing like bright garden sunlight and shadows to chase away the winter blues…

Plein air pastel landscape painting of summer fields

Pastel painting 11 inches x 11 inches

ArtWalk was a great experience last weekend. We had hundreds of art lovers, students and artists at the Stone Arch Arts and Events in Saline. During the show, I set up my easel and demonstrated pastel painting.  I worked on this pastel landscape on Sunday in my booth and finished it up Monday in the studio. It is inspired by a photo I took while in Gettysburg, PA, but it reminds me a lot of Michigan scenes.

Plein air watercolor painting of a lion statue guarding steps in Petoskey, Michigan.

Watercolor painting 6 inches x 9 inches 100

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

Every May we travel “up north” for a few days. I paint, while the guys golf. Then we eat marvelous food and start all over the next day. I painted this watercolor painting one sunny day in Petoskey. The spunky little lion statue looked like it was guarding the modest mansion behind it. I was attracted to the light and shadow and the way the stairs formed a natural lead in to the center of interest.

Watercolor painting 9.75 inches x 6.5 inches $100 + shipping

Please contact me if you are interested in this artwork.

I’m going off to exotic places to paint for the next week so I thought I’d post some watercolor landscape paintings that I have done on past trips. This bright little clapboard house hugged the train tracks in beautiful downtown Dillon, Montana. It refused to succumb to its dingy surroundings and the pride of ownership demanded attention!

Pastel painting 13 inches x 8 inches $375 + shipping

Please contact me if you are interested in this artwork.

I walk by this field almost every night with my Aussie, Roxy, and never thought anything of it. Then one afternoon last week the sun was low and the light coming though the fence looked fantastic. I ran back home and got my pastels and Roxy and I spent a great hour painting together.

Pastel painting 6.5 inches x 9 inches SOLD

Please contact me if you are interested in a similar painting.

This is another pastel that sold at the Great Lakes Pastel Society Paint out. I sat in the shade to escape the burning sun. The light hitting the garden was almost electric and created an interesting pattern that really appealed to Cynthia Little. She snapped it up!