Plein air pastel landscape painting of palm trees near a lake.
Pastel painting 11 inches x 8.5 inches
This pastel landscape was painted around 10 in the morning on a bright, sunny day. The patterns and textures of the palms down south are endlessly fascinating to me. Unfortunately, it is easy to get caught up in recording every leaf and shadow. I was pretty happy with this particular pastel painting. because I was able to capture the essence of the scene without getting caught up in minutia.
Plein air pastel landscape painting of two towers against a sunrise.
Pastel painting 12 inches x 9 inches
Early one morning I packed up and headed out to the Everglades. But on the way, I was struck by the sun rising behind two beautiful towers at a high-end resort. I turned the car right around, parked the car down the hill and set up to paint a pastel landscape of the view. Even though the buildings were framed by palm trees, the scene reminded me of Italy. I worked for about an hour in the early morning sun. Suddenly, I noticed a uniformed man getting out of a truck and heading toward me. He was really nice, but there was no doubt about it. He was throwing me off the property. He saw my pastel painting. and knew I wasn’t a threat, but it was his job to keep riff raff off the resort. I felt like I had passed a plein air milestone. ;o)
Another milestone: I was recently notified that I was awarded one of the 4 scholarships that the International Association of Pastel Societies gives to artists biannually. My scholarship will be to work with internationally known pastel artist Terry Ford. I love her work and am looking forward to attending one of her wonderful workshops!
Plein air pastel painting of palms and shadows against a wall.
Pastel painting 5.5 inches x 6.5 inches
John’s back from Florida now too, YEA!! And so are all of my pastel paintings. He drove down and back and carted all of my art supplies with him. I’ve been photographing all of my artwork and adjusting the computer files. There has to be at least 30 or 40 paintings. I’ll be posting some over the coming weeks.
This was a quick study out from our condo lanai. I really liked the shapes and colors of the palms and the shadows they cast against the stucco walls. Whenever I had a spare moment, I was painting, either in pastel or watercolor. The colors down there are amazing!
Plein air watercolor painting of a palm tree against a blue sky.
Plein air watercolor painting 6 inches x 9.5 inches
Hard to believe I was in sunny Florida just days ago. The sky was a bright clear blue that we won’t see here in Michigan for months. All of the colors down there felt so tropical and unfamiliar to me. Very unlike the muted hues of Michigan right now. It always takes me a while to switch gears and feel comfortable with a completely new color palette–especially one that is so bright and vibrant. I painted this watercolor landscape of palm trees sitting in the shade under a canopy to protect myself from the harsh rays and glare. I WISH that was my problem here in the frozen tundra…
Pleinair watercolor painting of a beautiful fountain surrounded by palms in Florida
Watercolor painting 6.5 inches x 10 inches $100
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
When we were on Marco Island I noticed this beautiful fountain in a high-rent shopping area. It was a bit awkward, but i plopped my messy plein air self down on the ground in the middle of the fancy stores and began a watercolor painting. Sometimes you just have to live in your own little art world and not worry what others are saying about you!
Plein air pastel landscape painting of palm trees and their shadows along a resort walk in Florida.
Pastel painting 8 inches x 12 inches $300
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
As a plein air pastel artist, I am always looking for 3 crucial elements when searching out a scene to paint: A dynamic composition, a strong sense of light and shadow, and of course, beautiful color. Sometimes I may find a majestic, monumental view that contains all of those elements. Other times it may be a simple, every day scene such as this shadowed walkway that caught my eye down in Naples. For this pastel landscape, I painted on white art spectrum paper that I had underpainted in various rust and rose tones. You can see the color peeking through all over the painting. I like to do this technique to unify and add some sizzle to the color.
Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a umbrella table next to a pool.
Watercolor painting 6 inches x 9 inches $100
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
Afternoon by the pool. The luscious, dark colors of the pool reflection drew me into this scene. Some people came down and sat at the table halfway through the watercolor painting and I had to recreate that area by memory…
Plein air watercolor landscape of a southern Florida canal.
Watercolor painting 9 inches x 6 inches $100
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
While we were in Florida last December, we drove by this picturesque canal right off a busy highway. The next day, when John was golfing, I returned to capture it in a watercolor painting. The palm trees made a perfect frame for the bridge and slow flowing water.
Pastel painting of palm trees reflecting in a pond on Sanibel Island, Florida
Pastel painting 8 inches x 10.5 inches $200
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
Another “travel” pastel landscape painting from one of our visits down to Florida. Sanibel Island is one of our favorite places down south. This is the view from our back window, right after a fish surfaced in the pond.
We had a wonderful southern vacation and a fantastic holiday. Now it is time to get serious in the studio. I have a whole pile of sketches ready to be made into full-blown pastel paintings and I can’t wait to get at them!
Plein air watercolor landscape of palm trees at Sanibel Island, Floriday
Watercolor painting 4.75 inches x 7.75 inches $80
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
We love to spend time down on Sanibel Island during the frigid winter months. The landscape is SOOOO different there that it often takes me a while to adjust. The different colors, textures and vistas of this pretty island recharge my senses and I tend to paint with a bit of wild abandon. This psychodelic watercolor landscape was painted right outside our condo early in the morning.
This weekend I will be participating in a wonderful plein air event in Harbor Springs, Michigan:
” Wet Paint / Fresh Ink ” Show Saturday • August 8th 2009 • 2nd Annual
Tvedten Fine Art (my new gallery “up north”) holds this invitational event every year in August. They are planning a follow up coffee table book to be published after 5- 7 years. It will depict the best paintings and writings of all of the past shows. 20% of the art sales and proceeds of the book will go toward supporting the local conservancies that work so hard to protect the beauty of Northern Michigan.
There will be an Opening reception August 8, 2009 – 6:30 – 8:30p.m. at Tvedten FIne Arts in Harbor Springs. Please stop by if you are in the vicinity!
Watercolor painting of a dock with boats and palm trees
Watercolor painting 8.5 inches x 6 inches $100
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
The Isle of Capri is less built up than the rest of the Marco Island area and still has some of the original old homes in scenic little coves. I captured this scene in watercolor while sitting in one of the few empty lots in the area. Almost every square foot of space on Marco is filled with hotels, condos or luxury vacation homes–not conducive to the type of landscapes I like to paint–so, as usual, I wandered til I found something that captured my interest.
Watercolor painting of storm clouds gathering over an ocean dock
Watercolor painting 8.5 inches x 6.5 inches $100
Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.
While John was golfing, I sat out at the very tip of the Isle of Capri near Marco Island in Florida. There was a neat old abandoned dock surrounded by palm trees that made a perfect subject for a watercolor sketch. A quick storm seemed to be brewing that lent some drama to the scene.
When I’m painting a watercolor landscape, I always try to find a focal point with a dark and light highlight and subdue the rest of the image back some. It can be difficult because there is so much to look at and appreciate but if you don’t have a center of interest, the composition becomes too busy and cluttered.
