Pastel painting of a sunlit porch of an old house in Saline, Michigan.

Pastel paintings   25.5 inches x 12.5 inches

I know it’s weird, but painting architecture just “flips my switch.” I love the play of nature’s organic forms against man-made structures. It is especially fun to capture old homes when they are lit by sunlight that casts deep, interesting shadows. I created this pastel painting a few years ago. I’ve sold quite a few giclee prints of it, but the original is still looking for a good home…

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

Pastel landscape painting of dramatic evening clouds

Pastel landscape painting   16  inches x 20 inches

When I first started working in pastel, I wanted immediate gratification. I thought I should be able to create the exact effect I wanted on the first pass. It took me a while to understand that pastel painting is an additive process that is dependent on multiple layers of pigment. I thought I would share some work-in-progress examples of my latest pastel landscape to show how the progress occurs. In these snapshots, you can see how I start with a colored paper which is the opposite (or complement) of the the colors that will appear in the final piece. Beginning with the darkest darks, I slowly add medium hues and then build toward the lightest lights.

As you can see, I am lovin playing with skyscapes!

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

Pastel landscape painting of a summer sky filled with cumulus clouds in Michigan.

Pastel paintings   18.5  inches x 15 inches

Ever since I was little I have kept my eyes to the skies and have reveled in the millions of compositions, colors and textures that happen there every day. It has always been a goal of mine to tackle some pastel landscapes where the focus is on clouds and light, not on the land below. This is my first large-scale studio attempt inspired from photos I took last summer when I was painting en plein air. I learned a lot on this one and plan on learning more in the sky studies to come!

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

Pastel landscape painting of a Michigan field in July.

Pastel paintings   14 inches x 10 inches

Another pastel painting from one of our garden sites. Its not your usual garden painting filled with flowers and beds. This home was surrounded with acres of both formal and natural plantings, and fields and woods. I was really drawn to the open fields, rimmed with trees and the lone blue spruce made a nice focal point. I chose a rust-colored Art Spectrum Colourfix paper to start, so that the warm tone could peak through all of the greens and blues in the painting. Doing that helps to create a little interest and vibration between the colors.

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

Pastel landscape painting of a path in the hills of Umbria, Italy.

Pastel painting     6  inches x 6 inches  SOLD

This little pastel painting of Italy is from the front of the La Romita monastery in Umbria. A wonderful, little bus would come and pick us up here every morning to take us out to exciting new explorations. Very good memories for me!

This year marks a real transition for me. After years of a fulfilling career in advertising, I have sold my agency to my partners and am moving on to become a full-time artist. I’ve reached some of my goals during these last 12 months, including winning an award in the Pastel Society of America Show, and organizing, painting and exhibiting over 45 paintings of Italy at a well attended show. (30 of the artworks are off to new homes!) But the best part of this journey for me is the process. I hope to spend many years painting en plein air and in the studio, stretching my skills and finding new joy in art.

During this holiday season, I reflect on how much I have to be thankful for in both my personal and my art life. I especially appreciate the people who take this journey with me and follow my blog. Thanks so much for your continued interest! Happy holidays and may you have wondrous and art-filled New Year!

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

Plein air watercolor painting of the hills around Terni, Italy

Plein air watercolor painting   7  inches x 10.5 inches    SOLD

I painted this plein air watercolor painting, sitting at the monastery at La Romita looking down on the valley near Terni, Italy. Depending on the time of day, the distant mountains would turn completely different colors. Sometimes they were a pinkish-purple color at late afternoon, but in the morning, when I did this particular painting of Italy , they were a beautiful, cool blue…

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper
Medium: DaVinci Watercolors

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 gouache landscape painting of sheds at an Italian Monastery.

Plein air gouache painting   6.25 inches x 9.55 inches  $150

This painting is another experiment with gouache, an opaque watercolor medium, on Yupo paper. I brought a small set of gouache paints with me when I went to Umbria last year, but only did a few paintings of Italy with them. This little scene is in the back of the monastery where we made our home base.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Yupo
Medium: Winsor & Newton’s Designer Gouache

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

Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a winding road in the Umbrian hills of Italy.

Plein air watercolor painting   9.5  inches x 13.5 inches   $300

Perched on our little hillside near Terni, we could view the Italian landscape rolling out into the distance.  This painting of Italy shows the winding road that leads up the 16th century monastery that was our home base. The buildings and surrounding olive orchards were purchased by an artist who has revamped La Romita into a wonderful place to take art workshops and experience the many hill towns in the area. Its been almost a year since my trip there and I am pining to return!

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper
Medium: DaVinci Watercolors

Plein air watercolor landscape of an approaching storm over Montana mountains.

Plein air watercolor painting   9.5 inches x 7 inches     $100

My very last watercolor landscape sketch from Montana this June. Some of the weather was unusually fierce that week and it was fun to try and capture the tumultuous clouds that rolled over the mountains. You have to work quickly in these conditions and watercolor painting is probably as good as any medium for speed. But you have to be willing relinquish a little control and work with the surprises that appear on your paper…

We’ll be going to New Orleans for a visit soon. I am looking forward to doing some watercolor building paintings when I am down there. I’ve always loved NOLA and it’s very, very unique architecture and atmosphere.

This artwork was created with:
Paper: Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper
Medium: DaVinci Watercolors

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