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!

Watercolor landscape painting of an old Victorian house.

Watercolor painting 9 inches x 13.5 inches    $400

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I’m really getting excited about my trip to Italy this fall. I will be spending two weeks in a small village in Umbria at a painting workshop. The art school is located in a 15th century monastery and we will use the chapel as our indoor studio. But most of the time we will be traveling to tiny hilltowns throughout the region. Ahhhh….bliss!

I’ve decided to work mostly in watercolor when I’m there, and that inspired me to start painting in the medium again. This watercolor painting is from my many reference photos of old houses in our county. I believe this house is on Main Street in Milan.  I love to doing paintings of architecture especially when the rigid structural forces are contrasted with natural landscape elements.

Plein air pastel painting of a Red Bud tree in full bloom in spring.

Pastel painting 11 inches x 8.5 inches     $200

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Last Wednesday I went back to Wellers one more time to paint a pastel landscape of one of their beautiful flowering Red Bud trees. Along with the Dogwoods, these trees are my favorite signs of spring in Michigan. They are electrifyingly beautiful but very difficult to capture in a pastel painting. The flowers are extremely small and the overall effect is of a sparkling cloud of violet-pink sparkles. I know that sounds weird but its the best description I can come up with. They only last for a few days so you have to catch them quickly!

Pastel painting of an extreme close-up view of ripe apples on a sunny autumn day

Pastel painting 20 inches x 20 inches

Pastel painting number two for the Tvedten Fine Art “20 x 20″ show this summer. The Opening Reception will be July 29th and I am assuming the show will run through August. I’m really excited about this new series and looking forward to exploring new compositions and color combinations within this bright harvest subject matter.

Pastel painting of close-up view of ripe apples on a tree in the fall

Pastel painting 20 inches x 20 inches

The gallery that represents me in Harbor Springs, Michigan, Tvedten Fine Art, is having an intriguing show this summer. Margaret Tvedten requested that all of her artists submit 2 paintings that are 20 x 20 inches. They can be of any subject matter and in any medium. I LOVE working in square formats so I was immediately enthralled. I have been collecting orchard reference photos for years so I decided this might be a good time to start the series.

This piece isn’t really a pastel landscape. I call it a “micro landscape” and continues my fascination with extreme close up views of everyday scenery that we take for granted. Very similar in concept to my RiverStone series. I will post the “partner” pastel painting in a few days.

I’d love to hear what you think…

Gouache plein air painting of a sunlit birch tree.

Gouache painting 4 inches x 6 inches       $80

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I have been experimenting with another watercolor painting medium called gouache. It is similar to watercolor in that it contains a pigment suspended in water, but it is more concentrated and opaque. You can even layer white or pastel colors to highlight and create a thicker texture. In watercolor, it is necessary to leave the white of the paper showing through to create a highlighted area. I find that gouache is a kind of cross between acrylic and watercolor.

I painted this landscape painting in our back yard. When I saw the light hitting the tree limbs against the dark pines in back, I thought it would make an interesting composition. I didn’t really use the qualities of qouache for this piece–its more like a traditional watercolor painting. But stay tuned.  I have plans to take this new medium on our next trip and explore it more fully.

Plein air watercolor painting of a tree and summer fields.

Watercolor painting 4.75 inches x 7.75 inches   SOLD

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I spent a wonderful vacation weekend with my daughter and grandson and didn’t get any painting done. So I thought I would post this plein air watercolor landscape that I painted last year at this time. Its my favorite subject–the fields and farms around Saline, Michigan. This is another piece that I painted on yupo, a plastic-like paper that causes watercolor to pool on the surface instead of seaping in. It really helps me to loosen up and forget about the itty bitty details.

Pastel painting 10 inches x 10 inches $450 + shipping

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I decided to take another look at the beautiful old oak tree that was my subject in the Treescape pastel painting I posted on December 20th.  I love the how strong, yet ancient it looked out there in the field all alone. Instead of focusing on its strength and texture, I wanted to show its “separateness” in this piece so I chose a square format that allowed more of the receding landscape to show. I really find it fascinating how the same subject can inspire different approaches.

Pastel painting 12.5 inches x 25.5 inches $800 + shipping

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I just put the finishing touches on this new pastel painting in my Treescape series. This old oak is down near the pond in our neighborhood. I always notice it when I walk along the water with Roxy, so, early one morning in August, I took a bunch of research photos. It is such an ancient, impressive specimen, I couldn’t resist callling it Forte!

Pastel painting 13 inches x 8 inches $375 + shipping

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I walk by this field almost every night with my Aussie, Roxy, and never thought anything of it. Then one afternoon last week the sun was low and the light coming though the fence looked fantastic. I ran back home and got my pastels and Roxy and I spent a great hour painting together.