Watercolor landscape painting of an old shed down a monastery lane in Italy.

Watercolor painting   7 x 10 inches   SOLD

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I’m back from 2 1/2 wonderful weeks of painting Italian watercolors in Umbria and Rome. I had the most fabulous time ever at La Romita, a small art school based at a 15c monastery just outside of Terni. The accommodations were quaint, clean and comfortable and every meal was new and delicious. The grounds were so beautiful, I could have painted there each day. But every morning at 8, the bus would pick us up and take us to a new hill town to explore. Assisi, Perugia, Todi, Orvieto, each one amazing in their own unique way. We had two wonderful instructors who encouraged us and helped us grow in new ways. If you every want an all-inclusive art experience in Italy, I highly recommend La Romita!!

I am saving most of the watercolor paintings I created on this trip for a solo show I will be having in the spring. But I sold one La Romita painting to my new friend Liz and have posted it today. This is the path behind the chapel that leads to the olive orchard. The sparkling light and flowers near the shed caught my fancy!

Plein air pastel landscape painting of an old tree casting shadows on a shed.

Pastel painting 11 inches x 8. inches     $200

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“on the road again….”

The other morning I got up early, bundled up my supplies, stuck the dog in the car, and drove to a nearby field. I walk through it often in the mornings with Roxy and I knew the sun cast really interesting shadows on an old shed there. I’d been waiting for the right type of sunny day to do a pastel landscape of the scene. I had to work fast because the sun was rising quickly and I wanted to capture the light falling across the fence and the wall behind it. Architecture pastels can be a challenge, specially when you are speed painting!

Plein air pastel painting of a flower shed in a beautiful garden

Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 11 inches   $200

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We had a wonderful plein air day yesterday, Paintng Around Town in Saline. It started out VERY rainy, but by 10 am the clouds had cleared and more than 30 artists scattered around the city, creating pastels, watercolors, and oil paintings of the local scenes. I managed to get in 3 pastel landscapes. The above painting was done out at Saline Mills, a beautiful old mill site with gorgeous gardens and historic out buildings.

Congratulations to Sandra DiFazio and Toni Stevenson, who won the People’s Choice and Best of Show awards! And thank you to Linda Klenczar for making these fun painting days possible!

Pastel painting 8 inches x 11 inches $200

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Saturday started out fresh and sunny…perfect for a plein air pastel landscape. I drove out south of town and wandered til this little old shed popped up into view. I loved the way the sun hit the side of the building and the trees shadow wrapped around the roof. I painted quickly but it wasn’t long before the sky turned black and it began to rain. I was hoping to paint more but there’s always tomorrow…

Pastel painting 9.5 inches x 13 inches $300 + shipping

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This is a larger plein air piece that I painted during the Saline Paint-Out. Char and Taylor Jacobsen offered us their beautiful Saline Mills as inspiration and I fell in love with this little walk through their flower garden.

Pastel painting 6.5 inches x 9 inches   SOLD

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Nora and I went plein air painting yesterday just south of Saline. The countryside is beautiful, filled with rolling hills and forests. But I was drawn to this lonely old shed. I always wonder about the history of these old farm buildings. Who lived here? Was it a hard life? DId they raise a family and have great memories of the place?

Pastel painting 6.5 inches x 9 inches SOLD

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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!

Pastel painting 6.5 inches x 9 inches SOLD

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

Our Paint-Out at Saline Mills was fantastic! A whole day to paint at a gorgeous location with 40 other artists. This is one of three small pastels I did that afternoon. It sold at the reception Saturday night! I’ll post the others later this week.