Barn at Night, 9x12"

Barn at Night, 8x10" pastel on board by Adriana Meiss

Last December, I had some paintings on exhibit at a local library and instead of  having a reception I thought that a pastel demonstration on how I approach painting night scenes would be more interesting.

The night before, doubts crept in and in panic mode I felt the need to do a small version of what I planned to paint:

Barns, Study, 5x7" pastel on board

 Next day, feeling more confident, and taking into account that I had just an hour and a half to do the demo, I decided to simplify the scene. This is a far as it got:
 

Barn, Demo

  Back home, I made further changes in color and composition to the demo painting. I had forgotten to leave enough space between the silo and the top edge so in order to make it work I had to reduce the size of the main objects. I'm happy with the result and can even imagine a similar scene with a light in the distant barn...

Distant Pond, 8" x 10"-Sold

This little one was finished last night in preparation for the Finger Lakes Lavender Festival in Skaneateles next month.

I have been on a slump of sorts with respect to painting simply because I've been painting with a wide brush: my house facade is finally getting the TLC it needed and my husband, daughter, and I are doing all the work. It's not easy to stand up in front of your easel when you are physically tired from the morning chores.

The house is looking nice and I'm starting to feel that I can produce new paintings again.