Neskowin Beach

Heading off to visit kiddos in Wisconsin for a week, but I squeezed out time to do one last pastel of Neskowin Beach, and now my pastels will sit idle for a while. Who knows...maybe Elsie and I will do some crayon art this week and we'll post it on Grandma DeeDee's art blog. That would actually be fun. :)

Neskowin Beach, 8x11 pastel on Canson

Winter Maples Study

I wasn't planning to do a finished painting today. After Church I gazed outside watching the rain/hail/snowy-slushy stuff come down and noticed all the layers of color in the meadow below my tall maple trees in the backyard. I wondered how I would render those layers in pastel, and headed into my art room to do some color scribbling. This is what happened. A little fun experimenting and then the whole paper was covered in layers of color. The maples are rough looking, but that's because it's just an interperative "study", remember?

Winter Maples Study, 6x6 pastel on Canson

Springtime Walk

Every beginning artist needs one good friend to push them along lovingly, who manages to find positive things to say about every effort. Here's mine...on a lovely early spring walk a few years ago. Thanks for the memories, Kathy!

Early Spring Walk, 8x8 pastel on Canson

Paulene's Hellebore

Another busy day. I thought I'd try something easy and paint a hellebore blossom from a photo taken in Paulene's garden last spring. Turns out it wasn't so easy after all. I almost decided to trash it entirely, but then I changed my mind. I'll keep it for the record of progress...(as in, learn from my mistakes!). Some days are better than others. Next time I attempt a giant blossom, I'll approach it in a different way. I'm kind of looking forward to it. :)

Paulene's Hellebore, 6x6 pastel on Canson

Seniority Rights

Another scene from our summer travels. I only spent 20 minutes on this small painting, so maybe I should call it a "study". :)

Seniority Rights, 6x6 pastel on Canson

Forest Lights #2

These lights were spotted on the Mt Talbert trail in Clackamas again. What fun! Almost like being there again. :)

Forest Lights #2, 6x8 pastel on Canson

Forest Lights

Ever walk a forest path and marvel at the sparkling lights through the trees? Me, too. Today I tried to put that vision to paper. Here is attempt #1.

Forest Lights, 6x6 pastel on Canson

Clouds over Appalachia

Today's image comes from a photo taken while we were driving through the Appalachian mountains. Actually, I think we were in Shenandoah National Park at the time, but I'm not really sure. Anyway, we stopped the car to get out and observe the sky and the scenery here. It looks like a cool day, but it was quite warm. I bet the showers that come from this cloud will be refreshing!

Clouds over Appalachia, 6x6 pastel on Canson

Mt Talbert Daisy Fields

A couple years ago in July we went for a hike at Mt Talbert in the Clackamas area. It's within earshot of city noise, but the couple miles of winding, woodsy trails are very pretty and quite pleasant for an afternoon outing. We followed a trail up to the summit and discovered this field of blooming daisies which nearly took my breath away. What a delightful hidden paradise! Today I felt up to the challenge of trying to paint a picture from one of my reference photos. I'm happy with how it turned out!

Mt Talbert Daisy Fields, 6x6 pastel on Canson

Not a Shortcut

We were headed for the south entrance of Badlands National Park in South Dakota. There was a little road on the map that seemed to be a shorter route, so we headed that way. After a few more miles it became a dirt and gravel road, but our GPS indicated we were going in the right direction, and we had a full tank of gas, so on we went. For a long, LONG drive in the country. When we finally arrived at an out of the way Visitor's Center, and explained which way we had come, the ranger was surprised, and said that we had traveled through a part of the country not very many people get to see. I think I would have enjoyed the drive better with more certainty of the outcome. Today's pastel is from a photo reference taken from the front seat of the car as we journeyed.

Not a Shortcut, 6x6 pastel on blue Canson

Roadside Wave

We drove around 10,000 miles last summer, whizzing by some of the most delightful scenery. Sometimes I had my camera out taking pictures as we hurried past to whatever our destination of the day would be. Even the farmlands were awesome. The reference for today's pastel was taken somewhere in the great lakes area. I'm thinking it might have been Michigan, but at this point I can't be sure. All I know is, it's a long way from home. This lone tree seemed to be waving as we drove past, so I'm calling it the "Roadside Wave".

Roadside Wave, 6x6 pastel on blue Canson

My Cup Runneth Over

Dedicated to my Sweetheart for Valentines Day!

My Cup Runneth Over, 6x6 pastel on Canson

My Cup Runneth Over
by Ed Ames

Sometimes in the mornin' when shadows are deep
I lie here beside you just watching you sleep
And sometimes I whisper what I'm thinking of
My cup runneth over with love

Sometimes in the evening when you do not see
I study the small things you do constantly
I memorize moments that I'm fondest of
My cup runneth over with love

In only a moment we both will be old
We won't even notice the world turning cold
And so, in these moments with sunlight above
My cup runneth over with love
My cup runneth over with love
With love

Garden Rocks

My yard has several different areas for gardening. There the front lawn, the backyard upper lawn, and the backyard lower lawn, plus we have terraces, and lots of different beds for growing things. It gets complicated sometimes trying to tell one another where we saw a particular thing in the yard. Today's pastel is from a photo reference in what I call the "triangle bed", which is in the backyard upper lawn. The previous owner placed this interesting pile of rocks into that bed, so I get to garden around them. I like them, so they are staying.

Garden Rocks, 6x6 pastel on grey Canson

In this picture the rocks are surrounded by tall white and purple statice, burgandy rudbeckias, and little lemon gem marigolds. The deer don't eat these plants, but the slugs absolutely LOVE the marigolds, so I have to watch over them carefully.

Anyway, I had fun with this pastel. I layered soft over hard and it was a lovely tactile experience. Sweet.

White on White challenge

Sewing Room White on White,    6x6 on Canson paper

Coming Soon

Coming Soon,   5x5 pastel on grey Canson

Apples on a Red Box

Apples on a Red Box 5x6 pastel

Nature's Matinee

Nature's Matinee: Sunset           6x6 pastel

Nature's Matinee: Cloud formations          6x6 pastel

The Rose Bowls

I spent a fair amount of time in my "studio" today trying to work out some difficulties with a still life arrangement I called the Rose Bowl. My first attempt was a rather quick sketch on blue paper. I kind of liked the colors, even though the drawing was a little weak. Actually, I didn't draw it ahead of time at all...I just started adding colors and shapes to see what would come of it.

Next I used some of the new white "pearlized" paper and got the drawing down right before applying color. Yech. I didn't like the colors at all. I'm discovering that using white takes a great deal of skill. A toned paper has the ability to unify colors in a painting, whereas with a white ground each color stands on it's own. It takes a great artist with a keen color sense to work well with white.

Lastly, I switched over to an orange paper and brought the composition in a little tighter. I am pleased with some of the elements here, but it's still not quite what I'm looking for, and it got a bit over-worked.

Funny, when I look at all three together, the one I like the best is the hasty sketch that I did to begin with. I like the fresher marks of the pastel and the assortment of colors. What do you think?