Bouquet, 9 1/2 x 7 1/2

I feel so bad for not having been updating my blog. April and May are the busiest times of the year for me with so many shows to apply to, prepare for and submit artwork to, and on top of that, framing, working, and trying to get some plein air done when the weather is nice... you get the picture.

I did this painting over a month ago. It was the third one that day, and surprisingly, it worked.
Canson is the simplest of papers there is to work in pastels, and although it was the only paper I used when I started in pastels 10 years ago, nowadays I rarely do so. Being used to working on sanded surfaces, switching to Canson requires a much softer touch and more planing, as it cannot take many layers.

This piece will be for sale at the Onondaga Art Guild Spring Sale on April 24th (10-4) and April 25th (noon-5). If you live in the area, I hope to see you there!

First Plein Air of the Year

Green Lakes in Spring, 9"x12"
A friend recently got a new easel and she wanted to try it outdoors so she suggested we go painting somewhere. I don't think we could have chosen a better place than Green Lakes State Park.

I have painted there before and I'm always fascinated by how fast the water changes on a breeze day. In the hour and a half we stood at the spot I figured I could have painted that scene in at least ten different ways.

On the Way to Cross Lake, 9"x9

I had the intention to try painting outdoors this past winter, but never got around to it. As a matter of fact, I didn't even paint a single winter scene.

Somehow it didn't feel right to let the season go without a reminder of it, so I had to console myself myself by painting from a photo.

This is a late February scene of one of the many roads that lead to Cross Lake (snow-covered in the distance). I find the yellow of the willows very uplifting during that time of year. I used black Canson paper.

Two from One

Sunset by the Pond, 9" x 12" SOLD
I'm planning on taking a workshop with Susan Ogilvie in a few months, and because her style and use of color is so different from mine, I decided to challenge myself color-wise. A blurry photo of a farm pond on Rt 13 near Dryden gave me that opportunity and more. Top one was the first version. I wanted a sunset, so I started with the pink flamingo sky.
Fall Reflections, 8" x 10"

I do not remember the reason behind the second version, but perhaps it was the water and the reflections. Although it's not so wild in color, it gave me the chance to explore color harmonies.
All in all it was a fun exercise, and what I liked the most was playing with the distance and changing shapes.

A Bright November Afternoon, 9" x 12"

When I'm in the mood to paint but do not know exactly what, I take the time and look at my digital photos. I try to name photo folders with titles that can help me find what I'm looking for. Two examples are Just for Inspiration, and Must Paint. The photo for this painting wasn't in either of them. I've studied it before and then have moved to another photo. Last time I looked at it though, it really spoke to me, as if I was seeing it for the first time. I started it right away and it turned out to be a smooth going from beginning to end.

The place is somewhere on Rt 218 before reaching Rt11 N, in the heart of Central New York farmland.

Suggested Landscapes

These two paintings came about by chance. I had this failed painting I had reworked so much that the tooth of the paper was almost gone in some areas. I decided to cut the sheet into four pieces and apply some pumice gel with acrylic paint to restore the tooth.
Because the stain I used was so thin, two of the pieces showed a ghost of a landscape (see pics below), so, with some apprehension, I let my imagination run wild. For me, this means taking great chances because all previous paintings that came out from my head had been real flops. To my surprise, this time I ended up with two small studies in which I had incorporated things learned from direct observation or from other paintings. It's amazing how little successes like these have the power to erase our failures and prepare us to take more chances with our painting.

Padgett Workshop-Last Day

How I wish this workshop had continued for at least two more weeks! I think the reason I have enjoyed it so much is because I have felt very relaxed, with no pressure to produce great pieces.

This time I did more than simple studies. The top one was the last of the two I painted, but it was the more successful. Perhaps that was due to several things: I had a little more than half an hour to work on it before the final critique, and I used a very bumpy watercolor paper, covered with micaceous iron oxide--I was very apprehensive at first, but very soon I realized that the bumpiness kept me from giving too much detail to the daisies.

For the calla lilies I used Colourfix paper brought back to life with yellow green acrylic paint and fine pumice gel.