Pastel landscape painting of sunlight shining through the woods.

Pastel paintings   12.5 inches x 25.5 inches each  $850   (giclee prints also available)

I’ve been painting and framing Italy paintings for so long that I started to miss working on some of my other series. For one of my first new works, I decided to delve back into my Treescape pastel paintings. This piece is hot off the easel! I’ve always loved the atmosphere and sparkling light in deep forests…it feels almost magical…and is an enticing challenge to capture in pigment on paper.

My Treescape series has been popular with both individuals and corporations–especially health care organizations. I’m not sure, but I think they have a soothing effect that is beneficial for both harried business people and worried patients. I love that fact that my art has a positive effect on people…. ahhhhh….!

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

Plein air pastel landscape painting of light streaming through a line of trees near a garden.

Pastel painting 9 inches x 12 inches

Our last garden to paint for the Ann Arbor Garden Walk is just down the street from my house. Last weekend I took a break from framing to do a quick pastel landscape of it. I started with a watercolor underpainting using the technique that Marla Bagetta had taught us at her workshop in Ann Arbor this summer. The scene actually included a bee house and several urns. The original plein air painting included them but I felt they made the composition too busy and decided to eliminate them in the final version.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Kitty Wallis White Pastel Paper
Medium: Rembrandt Pastels and Sennelier Pastels

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 landscape painting of light on the Huron River in Ann Arbor

Pastel painting 8.75 inches x 13.5 inches

Some of the plein air buds got together last weekend at Gallup Park along the Huron River in Ann Arbor. We each found a spot along the same riverbank and painted the particular scene that caught our eye. I did a pastel landscape, of the sunlight streaming through a little break in the trees.

I like the way this piece came out, but it’s an absolute miracle that it exists. Halfway through, it was blown off my easel into the weeds, along with a bunch of my pastels. I rescued it and finished it up. I moved to another location and was talking to one of my friends when she started screaming and gesturing to the painting–which was floating in the lake! I rushed right in up to my knees and grabbed it. Luckily it had landed face up and only the back was saturated. It dried perfectly flat in an hour, none the worse for its little dip in the pond!

Plein air pastel landscape painting of the Raisin River behind Weller's in Saline, Michigan.

Pastel painting 13 inches x 5 inches

Both our Ann Arbor Women Artists and our Saline Plein Air Group meet throughout the spring, summer and fall at various beautiful spots in Southeast Michigan. I am so thankful for all the work the organizers do to make these outings possible. There’s nothing like working with fellow artists to improve your own skills. A couple of weeks ago we met at Weller’s in Saline. The sunlight streaming thru the woods by the river at the back of the property was electric and hard to ignore. Four of us set up on the lawn to capture the scene. I did a pastel landscape, and the other artists worked in various other mediums including watercolor, oil, and photography.

Just got back from a fantastic week at Bonanza Creek Ranch! I’ll post the few watercolors I managed to do between riding and pushing cattle in a couple of days. Right now, I’m working on re-entry…

I’ve been working in the studio for months on pastel paintings from my last trip to Italy. Although I am keeping them under wraps til the show at River Gallery in Chelsea, Michigan in November and December, I thought I would post a work-in-progress demonstration of one of the the landscape paintings.

I started out by painting an archival illustration board with Art Spectrum Terra Cotta Pastel Primer. Its my favorite color to work from and painting the gritty surface on myself allows me to add a little texture. The random strokes of the pumice mixture creates high and low areas on the board and gives the pastel a more painterly feel when I apply it. I sketched my rough drawing in Nupastel bottle green and added other basic shapes in. Then I sprayed with a workable fixative.

Slowly adding more colors and elements with Nupastel and Rembrandt pastels. I usually don’t spray anymore after this point.

Really getting into the meat of the piece. Focusing on the center of interest, the highlighted tree and brick wall in the distance. As you can see, I work on all areas of the composition at the same time, as apposed to finishing one area completely and moving on to the next. I feel that the painting is a constant work in progress and every stroke affects the other areas.

Pushing both the lights and darks to create the vision I have in my mind. Although I start with a photograph for reference, the finished piece rarely looks like it. I also work from the memory of the place and what attracted me to it. This scene was behind the monastery where we stayed and I visited it often. The vibrant light in the shaded orchard was electrifying.

Last finishing touches. I often leave some of the Terra cotta color shining through in my pastel landscape paintings. The contrast of the complementary green and reddish orange makes for a vibrating exiting color scheme.

Gouache landscape painting of a fence in front of an old bungalow house.

Gouache painting    6 inches x 6 inches

I’m burning out a bit on pastel paintings of Italy, so I thought I’d give myself a new challenge. I’ve been meaning to explore gouache and for some reason, I never get around to it. This medium entices me because it is similar to watercolor, but much more forgiving because it can be applied opaquely. That means mistakes can be revised instead of thrown in the trash. I’m also hoping it might help me to loosen up a bit.

I started with this small landscape painting (or architecture painting depending on how you view the subject matter.) This little bungalow is right next door to my brother-in-laws house and I’ve always loved the way the light hits it in late afternoon. I only let myself use large brushes to cut down on fussing with details. I think it’s a good start…

Plein air pastel painting of a condominium entry area.

Pastel painting 8.5 inches x 11 inches

Another favorite plein air painting from my trip down south last month. I didn’t have to travel very far to capture this scene. Just plopped myself down right outside our condo entrance. I often drive myself half crazy driving around looking for the “perfect” view to paint. But every once in a while, I get serious and just work with what’s closest to home.

The light and shadow drew me into this scene (again!) and I felt happy with the outcome. I love combining the hard-edged lines of structure with organic, flowing plant shapes in pastel paintings of architecture.

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of an old building in Montana

Plein air Watercolor painting 9 inches x 6.5 inches

Beth worked on a ranch out in western Montana and I visited her a couple of times out there. While she slaved all day trying to sell high-end quarter horses to well-off matrons, I would wander the ranch and paint. This little building was actually some type of water house but it reminded me of an old mission. The bright sunlight and shadows made a nice comp0sition for a watercolor landscape. I especially liked the grasses highlighted against the dark door.

When asked, I always say that a painting like this takes me about an hour to complete….plus 30 years of learning and practice…

Pastel landscape painting of afternoon sunlight streaming through pine trees in winter.

Pastel painting 17 inches x 11 inches

This is Michigan right now. Freezing, brutal, icy — and yet hauntingly beautiful. When the sunlight shines through the trees in my backyard, the snow lights up with color. I’ve been working on very detailed, realistic work lately and I felt like doing a pastel painting with a bit looser feel. My friend Liz’s abstract paintings inspired me. Although this is still very much a recognizable landscape painting, it is moving in a less realistic direction…