Pastel painting 17 inches x 11 inches     $650

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Another pastel painting from right here in Saline. This creek is just off the main road going into town. And let me tell ya, I almost got run over while shooting my reference shots from the tiny bridge! (I can see the headline in our local paper: Pastel Artist Expires Shooting Precarious Photographs…) But I just had to do it. The reflections were so beautiful, especially in contrast to the bright snow on the rim of the river. I took about 20 photos and cropped and revised the composition until it felt right for the pastel landscape I had in mind. I’m really happy with the results!

Pastel landscape painting of Mill Creek in Saline, Michigan

Pastel painting 11 inches x 17 inches     $650

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Back from a wonderful trip down south. A little cold and windy but MUCH better than the bitter cold in Michigan right now. I painted a lot of plein air pastel paintings in Florida over the last week and will post them soon.

I finished this pastel landscape just before we left on our trip. Mill Creek wanders through Saline and the city’s parks. In this piece I wanted to capture the contrast between the light-filled, early morning mist and the vibrant patch of sunlight in the foreground.

Pastel painting of an old house with a flag on the porch in Saline, Michigan

Pastel painting of an old house with autumn trees in Saline, Michigan

So proud to have 2 pastel paintings in the first “Art on the House” exhibit at the State Capital Building in Lansing Michigan. The series of 4 exhibits will be created by the Washtenaw County Arts Alliance and placed in the State Capitol by the suggestion of Representative Pam Byrnes, who is State House Representative and Speaker Pro Temp. The exhibits will display and promote the exceptional work being produced by visual artists living and working in Michigan. The great people at the River Gallery in Chelsea are helping to coordinate the series.

My 2 artworks are in Pam’s central office but will be available for purchase after the show comes down. Contact me or the River Gallery if you are interested. I also do commissioned portraits of houses and would be happy to talk to you about a special of painting your home.

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…

Plein air pastel landscape painting of rolling fields and a farm in the distance.

Pastel painting 9 inches x 6 inches   $100

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The fields are all starting to turn and the colors are becoming more like autumn here in southern Michigan. In the late afternoon, the sun casts a warm, golden light on the farmland near our home. To me, it is simply irresistible.

I am constantly drawn to this type of  pastel landscape painting, over and over again. I swear it is because, in some earlier incarnation, I was born and raised on a MidWest farm very much like this one. I can’t explain my fascination with barns, and crops and fields in any other way. I certainly don’t know much about that lifestyle. I just can’t stop painting farmscapes!

Pastel landscape painting of a creek in the woods of Northern Michigan.

Pastel painting 10 inches x 10 inches   $450

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I am  really excited about this recent pastel landscape. I feel like I loosened up and approached the style that I really want to work in.  I feel like I finally dropped the worthless details and concentrated on the color, composition and, of course, THE LIGHT AND SHADOWS. It seems like it would be easy to recreate this feeling every time, but once I get going I get caught up in minutiae and then…..

This beautiful little river is near Harbor Springs, in the woods at Pond Hill Farm. The farm was one of the nature conservancy areas that I painted for Tvedten Fine Art ’s plein air charity paint out. The bugs were crazy so I couldn’t paint this scene on site, but I took hundreds of photos and used several for reference for this piece.

Plein air pastel landscape painting of Spring Lake near Harbor Springs, Michigan.

Pastel painting 6 inches x 9 inches   $100

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On Friday, I researched all of the nature conservancy areas near Harbor Springs so that I would be ready to paint early Saturday morning, the day of the paint out. Spring Lake is a beautiful little area between Harbor Springs and Petoskey. I painted this pastel landscape about 4 pm when the reflections were strong. The lily pads made a strong, bright focal point for the piece.

I had an unusual and exciting phone call on that day. The set designers on the remake of the movie “Red Dawn” called me and asked if they could use one of my painting notecards (below) in their film! The movie is being shot in Detroit and one of the art directors picked up my card from one of the galleries in the area. They couldn’t promise that it would appear, but it was still a neat request!

Plein air pastel landscape of a sunlit lake near Douglas, Michigan

Pastel painting 9 inches x 6 inches   $100

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Yesterday I drove over to the west side of Michigan to drop off 7 new watercolors to the gallery that represents me in the Saugatuk-Douglas area. Button Gallery has recently taken over the huge gallery space where Petter Gallery operated for years. They have refreshed the art and created a gorgeous space to explore paintings and sculpture. It feels almost like a museum only friendlier. They don’t currently have a website but you can find information on them here: http://saugatuckdouglas.com/button.htm

While I was there, I stopped in the quaint, arty town of Douglas and did this quick plein air pastel landscape of Kalamazoo Lake near the end of Main Street. The sun shining on the water intrigued me and the water lilies and weeds made for some interesting texture.

Watercolor plein air painting of the old houses along Lake Charlevoix, Michigan.

Watercolor painting 9 inches x 6 inches $100

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When we were “Up North” on Memorial Day, I wandered all around Charlevoix and found areas I had never visited before. There was a lovely boulevard of stately old summer homes along Lake Charlevoix that caught my eye. The area was a private association and I hope they didn’t mind that I plopped myself down in the middle of the common area and painted watercolor landscapes of the scene. Nobody requested that I leave, so I took that as permission!

Plein air pastel landscape of the bridge in Charlevoix, Michigan

Pastel painting 11 inches x 8.5 inches   $200

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I painted this pastel landscape from the balcony of our hotel in Charlevoix. The bridge lifts every hour or so to let boats pass between Lake Michigan and Lake Charlevoix. It causes quite the traffic jam but is an important part of the community and facilitates the boating tourists who visit. The psychodelic blue paint and the reflections below caught my interest. A great subject for the strong colors that are possible with pastels!

Watercolor painting of a Victorian cottage in Bay View, Michigan

Watercolor painting 6 inches x 9 inches $100

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Another one of the historic Victorian cottages at Bay View, Michigan. While I was doing this watercolor painting, the owner of the cottage came out to take a look. Turns out she and her husband lived in Ann Arbor for 3 years when they were in college and have many fond memories of their time in our part of the state…

Watercolor plein air painting of a cottage in Bay View, Michigan

Watercolor painting 6 inches x 9 inches $100

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When I was up north last Sunday, I decided to ditch the pastels and concentrate on watercolor landscapes for the day. I visited the small community of Bay View near Petoskey, Michigan. I’d always admired the beautiful Victorian cottages in this gorgeous little enclave, but, as I wandered around I discovered that there was a small, historic campus nestled in among the summer homes. The community was started in the 1880s as a Methodist retreat with educational programs.

I didn’t “get religion” but I did meet some very nice people. And I was more than happy to spend a few quiet hours under the trees painting beautiful, historic architecture!