Plein air pastel landscape painting of a woodland stream lit by golden sunlight.

Pastel painting 8 inches x 11 inches

Another pastel painting from our second plein air trip to Parker Mill. I chose to paint the river again because the sparkling water was just too scrumptious to refuse. The sunlight cast a warm yellow reflection in the stream that really attracted me. It creates a natural pathway that leads you through the pastel landscape.

Plein air pastel landscape painting of a sunlit creek and bridge in Michigan

Pastel painting 8 inches x 11 inches

I managed to loosen up a bit on this second pastel painting at Parker Mill. The sunlight created a sparkling effect that really caught my eye. Our plein air group is going to meet there again soon and I can’t wait to explore some more of the grounds. It really is cool to see what view inspires each of us and how we capture that feeling in pastel landscapes.

Plein air pastel painting of a winding, colorful river in Bellaire, Michigan

Pastel painting 8 inches x 11 inches

The last of my pastel landscapes from Northern Michigan. I stopped in Bellaire, at an old dam site, and saw this beautiful river scene. Like many other plein air pastel painters I’m a sucker for dramatic water views. But they can be somewhat difficult to capture on paper. The light and shadows on the water are constantly changing and creating interesting areas to paint. I find that if I stare at the scene for a bit and solidify in my mind what really attracted me to the view, I have a better chance of succeeding. In this case, the striations of color rippling through the water really stood out for me…

The Ann Arbor Women Artists have a wonderful exhibit showing now at the Riverside Arts Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan. I was honored to have 2 pieces accepted. The artist reception is July 9th from 7-9pm. Please stop by if you can!

Plein air pastel landscape painting of light streaming through the woods near a river in Saline, Michigan

Pastel painting 6 inches x 9 inches     $100

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

Another one of my pastel landscapes from Wellers a couple of days ago. The light bursting through the trees was almost psychodelic and had to be captured in pastel! Linda and Karen were out at the mill painting too, each working on a different scene. Its nice to have some buds to create art with. I really enjoy watching how other plein air artists approach their subject and how they use their chosen medium. There are always so many new things to learn!

Spring Cleaning Sale through June 15th! Any small blog painting (under $300) on sale for 30% off! Please contact me directly for your special piece of art.

Plein air pastel painting of a bridge in midday sun at Island Park in Ann Arbor.

Pastel painting 12 inches x 19 inches     $300

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

I stopped by Island Park in Ann Arbor the other day to look for a good scene for a pastel painting I go there often to shoot research photos from my RiverStone Series, but this time I wanted to set up and paint plein air. There is a beautiful little Greek temple on the island, but I couldn’t get situated for a good view of it. I decided instead to do a pastel landscape of the main bridge. It was near midday and the shadow under the bridge was dark and dramatic compared to the light hitting the stonework.

Pastel painting 17 inches x 11 inches     $650

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

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

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

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 landscape painting of a winter river through the trees.

Pastel painting 10 inches x 10 inches     $450

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

I’m continuing on with my winter river obsession in my current pastel paintings. Last weekend, John and I traveled west and south of Saline, shooting good research photos that I could work from back in the studio. We stopped at every little stream and creek and now I am flush with new ideas!

I am working on putting together a series pastel landscapes which all have Michigan rivers, streams and lakes as their subject. Hopefully later next year, I will mount a solo show of these artworks. Stay tuned!

Pastel landscape painting of a wandering creek in a grassy field in Michigan.

Pastel painting 11 inches x 14 inches    SOLD  (Giclee prints are available)

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

A couple of weeks ago, I found this small, meandering little creek while I was out walking. It just called out to be captured on paper.

I’m really excited about the pastel landscape painting of it that I finished last night. It closely approaches the original vision I had of the piece when I started out. Sometimes I have a very strong idea of how I want a completed artwork to look and yet it comes out totally different. Sometimes my ideas change midstream and I spark off that, other times I just can’t reach the original dream and have to hope for a better outcome on the next piece. On this pastel, I feel that all my artistic intuitions “played well together” and we came to a good conclusion!

Pastel painting of trees reflected in a river deep in the woods.

Pastel painting 10 inches x 10 inches   SOLD

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

I have been crazy busy the last few days between work at our ann arbor advertising agency, studio work and GrandBaby time. I now have 5 of my planned 9 family portraits done for a project I am  calling my “portrait quilt”. I am hoping to have it finished and hung for Thanksgiving so the whole fam damily can critique it!

This pastel landscape above is part of the “Michigan Reflections” series I am currently painting. I am so drawn to light and shadow and, if you throw a couple reflections in, I am a real goner. I liked playing with the heightened color in this piece. I wanted to evoke the feeling of an early morning walk and coming upon a gorgeous treasure of a place, deep in the woods, that no one else knew about…

Pastel painting of rocks and reflections in a Michigan river

Pastel painting 12.5 inches x 25.5 inches    SOLD  (Giclee prints are available)

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

This is my 27th RiverStone pastel painting. I keep coming back to this subject because it speaks to me in a very special way. I originally started this series because my art mentor, Mary Beth Koeze, suggested that I paint one subject over and over, and that I “paint bigger.” These scenes speak to me of a quiet moment in time, away from the hub bub of everyday life. They become almost abstract in their composition, yet I think each one of these pastel paintings has its own, unique personality. The series has been very popular with corporate art clients, especially health care institutions.

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

Pastel painting 10 inches x 10 inches   $450

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

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.