sweet creek

Today's pastel is "Afternoon at Sweet Creek." A bright scene during these days of wind and rain in the Seattle area.

old painting, new look

Two months ago I washed off and repainted a piece of Wallis for the third time. It became a dark and moody winter pond scene.

Since January, every time I came across it on my new paintings blog it bothered me. Too dark, too moody, something discordant about the colors. Today I unframed it, added two transition colors - a muted pale green color (mostly on the left side) and a dusty blue (mostly across the horizon). 

Also, and most importantly I think, I cropped the work into a little different scene. The red line shows the old parameters of the image, the lighter stroke shows the new crop. Once again, I'm not sure if this piece will survive. Time will tell. To see the before image, CLICK HERE. To see the piece as it is today, CLICK HERE

packing up

Today I'm packing up 30 older pieces for a solo show at Olympic College Art Gallery, Bremerton, Washington. Many of the pieces are from my artist's collection, have been stored away and I haven't seen them for years. Most are colored pencil, from around the time I co-authored "Colored Pencil Solution Book." Each one brings back memories. Some are colored pencil with watercolor as I was trying to let go of colored pencil as my comfort medium. There is one called "Unchain my Heart" (from colored pencil). There are also a couple all watercolor pieces that I truly love. If you are in the area and enjoy colored pencil, please visit this show at the Olympic College Art Gallery during school hours March 29 through April 27, 2010

time to move on

I needed a new pastel for the upcoming Wonder! show at Women Painters of Washington Gallery, Seattle. Completed "A Sense of Place II" today by painting over the original "Sense of Place" from a year ago. Time to move on, time to make room for new dreams.

plums in bloom

Our plum trees are blooming in succession. First, the tree of small round yellow plums was a mass of white, now the large oblong yellow plum is flowering. The Italian prune trees (one of them from my childhood home) are still sleeping. Lots to paint around here as plants and trees awaken.

love the one you're with

This is how it feels to be looking for the perfect retirement property. We have narrowed it down to a location, been hopeful, been discouraged, come up against obstacles, hopeful again. There are bright spots, doubts, confusion, temporary resolution. As in my painting of several days ago, "You are Here," I will appreciate the great parts of where we live now. Good advice: "Love the One You're With."

nothing but blue skies

Another playful mixed media piece for spring. Better bigger, click to enlarge.

you are here

Playful painting days; finding my bearings on the brink of a new season. "You are Here" is much better close up - click on the image to enlarge.

playing by the rules

An old painting from 2005 revisited. The underlying grid work gave me security the first time around. Today, five years later, it just made me want to push it (break it up, skew it) but also to leave enough showing to look back and laugh at my then-self.

springing

Suddenly, it is spring and everything is whacky. Yesterday was spent on a copyright infringement issue - someone copied one of my paintings for their own financial gain. As stress relief, I walk in my flower garden. Not much to see this time of year but I am amazed by the tenacity of green things popping up through heavy wet earth. Springing! Today's mixed media painting is called "Spring Madness;" the view outside my studio window.

small paintings and Dick's

Delivered three small paintings yesterday for a show in Edmonds, WA. A beautiful, sunny day and a quick lunch at my old favorite, Dick's Drive In. Wow! I just found a website for Dick's complete with old music. CLICK HERE.

Robert Frosty?

I wanted this to be another painting from the words of “The Road Not Taken” but it just kept looking like frost. Then, I received a comment on my last post from TJ. She referred to another poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” which fits this better but maybe I was just thinking of Robert Frost(y).

in a yellow wood

 

Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken" has had special meaning for me for many years. Recently, my 10 year old grandson memorized it for school. I was impressed and motivated to remember it for myself. I wondered if an old dog (me) could learn a new trick. I did it! Today, as I was attempting to find my way through this abstracted landscape, the words of the poem came back to me as inspiration.

third time's the charm?

Marshy pond on a dark rainy morning. Also, the third painting on this piece of Wallis paper. The previous two paintings hung around the studio unframed until they bugged me so much I had to hose them off. We'll see if this one survives...
Two months later...about 95% of it survived. A 5% rework and recrop. See my post of 3/30/10.

horse ranch pond

In our search for retirement property, my husband and I visited a 10 acre horse ranch with pond. It isn't the right place for us but I got some good reference photos that rainy morning.

red surprise

Today when I unframed a 2008 pastel painting to shoot a digital image of it, I discovered I had painted on red Canson paper. Now I think the painting is more interesting unframed.

too sweet

This painting has been on my easel for several days while I have been busy with other things. I just want it off. So, though it feels too sweet, I'm calling it done. 

snowscape

A fresh coat of paint over another old painting from the March 2009 series. Below is the original painting of marshland, water, and mountains in the distance. At right is how it looked turned upside down before I started painting over it.

big brush, white paint

Find an old painting, turn it upside down, load your brush with thin white oil paint and paint over the entire surface of the old painting. If the ghosty image that remains suggests anything to you, emphasize it with additional color (or more white). In this case, a water scene became a snow scene. 

blobs of oil paint

Another day of training myself to use more paint. A palette knife helps in applying big blobs - well, they're big to me. Others would laugh. Also finally remembered to clean my metal thinner containers and add fresh Gamsol odorless mineral spirits. Today's painting was more fun than frustration.

paint on, paint off

A year ago I was just beginning to experiment in oil landscapes. When I look at those paintings now, I see a need for more texture. Today I painted over the first of those old images.

For 3 hours I applied paint to the canvas panel, scraped it off, scooped up all the paint blobs on my palette, applied those, scraped them off, squeezed out new paint, mixed color, applied paint...over and over. Frustrating and fun. It took all afternoon to paint "Reason to Believe," a 9 x 12 inch textured impression of a northwest meadow.

shipped today

Today I shipped my painting to the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) 15th Juried Exhibition. This is the first time I've entered this show and to be accepted is an honor. If you're near Brea, California, visit the gallery.

studio tour

I'm always interested to see where other artists work, aren't you? The idea to post photos of my studio motivated me to tidy up for the year of painting ahead. If you post photos of where you make art, please let me know. Happy painting!

My wet-media painting station with Soltek easel.

 

Studio entry.

 

Desk and computer area as well as my collection of art by other artists, family treasures and photos.

 

Flat files for paper storage with framed painting storage below

 

Paintings awaiting framing are hung from pants/skirt hangers

 

Pastel station with my Mabef easel.

 

My cozy gas fire. Paper mache masks were made by my son when he was in grade school.

 

Round oak table top and big work table with mat cutter.

cleaning and shredding

It's that time of year again...studio cleaning and old document shredding. I started yesterday in the southeast corner cupboard/bookshelf behind my paint station and will continue along all walls, then to the big worktable in the middle. When I'm done, I'll post a little Studio Tour.

year end favorites

The Christmas tree is down, excess cookies are in the freezer and I'm looking forward to a new year in my studio. Spent the morning working on 2009 taxes but when Fed Ex brought a studio delivery, it was a good time to stop, have a cup of mocha, and share a few favorite things with you.

• Richard Schmid's new book, "The Landscapes." By page 43 of 268, I was on visual overload. This is a big book to savor.

• Cezanne #72 Champagne Silver Frame, from Art Ready Frames. Beautiful frames at good prices. Owner, Linda, is a pleasure to do business with - and she owns one of my paintings!

• Clairefontaine Pastelmat paper. As I spend more time with my first painting on Pastelmat, my appreciation for the surface grows. Areas are simplified - was it because of the paper? You can order Pastelmat from Dakota Art Pastels.

Happy New Year!