Pastel painting 6.25  inches x 6.25 inches $100

This is a small pastel painting that I did this summer sitting in my driveway and looking out toward my neighbor’s house. The sunlit patches of lawn created an interesting pattern that culminated with the bright light around the porch next door. Theirs a lot of texture showing through the pastels from the rust colored primer I applied on a small piece of illustration board. I like to work on small pieces every now and then to break up the pressure of the larger ones!

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Illustration board with Terra Cotta Art Spectrum Primer
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

Plein air pastel painting of a path in a park in Michigan with a bridge in the distance.

Pastel painting 12.75 inches x 5 inches

I painted this scene in Gallup Park in Ann Arbor a couple of weeks ago (right after I jumped into the lake to save my first plein air painting of the day). I have been challenging myself lately to stop looking for the “perfect” subject matter for my pastel landscapes, and just paint what i see in front of me. This is probably not the type of scene I would have searched for, but I am pleased with the results. If you’ve seen much of my work, you know I like to work with odd shaped compositions. This extreme horizontal worked well for a panoramic-type view.

Plein air pastel landscape painting of reflections in a Michigan pond.

Pastel painting 11.5 inches x 8.5 inches

One morning last week I parked in a spot near my home where the “Cody” farm used to be. The local lore says that Buffalo Bill Cody’s cousin owned the place and that Bill often visited there. Last year, the farm buildings were torn down and there’s a nice little hill where the house used to be. It gave me a nice view of the pond across the street. Painting reflection is always challenging because the water changes every second. I survey the scene and then freeze in my mind where the lights and darks fall. If I don’t make the decision at the beginning of the pastel painting, I am constantly chasing the fluctuating light and water patterns. It can make me crazy!

Pastel plein air landscape painting of the woods near the Raisin River in Saline, Michigan.

Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 11.5 inches

After painting the landscape at Weller’s that I posted a few days ago, I shifted my position and did a pastel drawing of the scene from a slightly different viewpoint. This scene incorporates more of the river and is in a vertical format. Same woods, rocks and tree but completely different effect.  Its amazing the number of compositions you can create from the same subject matter…

Plein air pastel landscape painting of an old Michigan farmhouse in the sunlight.

Pastel painting 11.5 inches x 8.5 inches

Yay! This Michigan artist is finally smiling! We actually had sunshine here on Saturday. I did my usual plein air thang and wandered the back roads til I found something that caught my eye. I was yearning for bright light and shadows and this old farmhouse did the trick. I love doing paintings of architecture – especially historical buildings. The owners told me his home was built in 1847 and it’s still a gorgeous structure. After I finished this pastel landscape, I drove for an hour looking for another spot, not wanting to waste the sunshine.  Somehow I ended up back at home, painting at the pond in our subdivision. Go figure.

Pastel landscape painting of an old homestead in Montana

Pastel painting 14 inches x 18 inches

I never brought my pastels with me when we traveled out west. At the time, I was new to the medium and I just couldn’t get my mind around carting all the dusty supplies and actually making pastel paintings on site. Plus, protecting the resulting art seemed difficult.

I’ve come a long way since then. But I still shoot hundreds of research photos wherever I travel for inspiration during the winter months when I paint in my studio. This pastel landscape shows another very special little homestead that we often visited on our horseback riding adventures. We would rest our horses and peer into the open windows of the cabins, imagining what it must have been like to live there in the late 1800s. This piece was all about composition and color for me. The spring grass in Montana after a snowy winter is an unbelievable shade of green!

Plein air watercolor landscape of ranch land in Montana

Plein air Watercolor painting 5.5 inches x 15.5 inches

When I visit new places, it helps me to jump outside my usual style and techniques. The countryside in Montana pushed me to work in different compositions and sizes. In this watercolor landscape I wanted to capture some of the enormity of the landscape, but from a close-up and personal viewpoint. I sat near one of the trout streams and looked out toward the distant mountains.

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of buildings and a bridge over a stream

Watercolor painting 9 inches x 6 inches

When we were on a South Carolina vacation last spring, I didn’t get a lot of time to paint. But every day or so, I’d walk around the resort til I found something that grabbed my attention. This bridge was one of my favorite subjects for  watercolor landscapes. I posted a painting of a different view of the same bridge a while ago.

Just finished up a watercolor commission of a beautiful garden. Looking forward to giving it to my client, but won’t be able to post it til after the holidays because its a present!

Plein air pastel painting of farm buildings in the early morning light.

Pastel painting 11 inches x 8 inches

My friend Karen and I hit the plein air road last month while our husbands played golf. We didn’t have to travel too far from the golf course to find a scene we both liked. There were some old farm buildings, with peeling orange paint, just down the road. Karen set up for oil and I did a pastel painting while the bright morning sun was at its most dramatic. I had just enough time to start another pastel landscape before the guys called and were ready to be picked up. I will work to finish that one in the studio.

Plein air pastel landscape painting of a Lake Michigan Beach near Charlevoix

Pastel painting 11 inches x 8 inches

Please contact me if you are interested in this or similar artwork.

Right near the Charlevoix light house on Lake Michigan, there is a beautiful pristine beach. Most of the bathers swim near the park area and this sandy stretch stays relatively empty. I sat under one of the  covered picnic areas and painted this pastel landscape in the shade.  I liked the simple, bold and dynamic composition of this scene. While I was setting up, two old advertising friends from Ann Arbor strolled up, hundreds of miles from home. I tell ya, its amazing how we are all connected in this big old world…