Sisters Mirror Lake Trail

I bought a set of 10 inch canvases the other day and have decided to play around with wet media for a change. Closing the lids on the pastel boxes and moving them out of the way felt a little bit sad, and in it's place I set out paper palettes, tubes of acrylic paint, brushes, paper towels, and a large container of water. Brush, brush, dip, swish, brush, stroke and scumble...it's a whole different technique than searching for the right color and making happy marks on paper. I've done wet media in the past, so it's now just re-remembering a few slumbering skills. Here we go!

First up is my whimsical interpretation of a trail through the wildflowers. The reference photo was taken on a hike last summer to Sisters Mirror Lake.

Sisters Mirror Lake Trail, 10 x 10 acrylic on 3/4" wrapped canvas

North Rim Afternoon

I was looking over some photos from our US trip two summers ago, and stopped on an image of the Grand Canyon. The colors drew me in and almost before I knew what was happening, I was creating my own vision of the scene on my sanded paper. I love it when art happens that way!

North Rim Afternoon, 6 x 6 pastel on Uart sanded paper

Contemporary Florals

I was in the mood for flowers this week, so flowers I did! Daisies and Daffodils. Lots of bright colors and whimsy....very cheerful!

All in Good Fun, 6 x 6 pastel on Uart sanded paper

Daffodil Daydreams, 6 x 6 pastel on Uart sanded paper

Old Red Truck

I wouldn't normally paint an old truck, but that was the project of choice for our bi-weekly meeting of "Time Out for Art". We have decided as a group to work on the DPW challenges, either the current one or one from the past couple years. We take turns hosting and being project leader, and this week Ed chose the Old Truck Challenge. Which explains today's painting. I tried to keep it loose, according to the comfortable style I enjoy, but so many details kept calling my attention! I'm glad to have finished it though. These challenges really get me out of my cozy "box". :)

Old Red Truck, 6 x 6 pastel on Uart sanded paper

Epic Winter and Landscape

My son-in-law works for Epic (medical software) in Wisconsin, so we have to do some traveling occasionally to see my daughter and three of our grandchildren there. We made the trip again last weekend, and while we were there we had (another) tour of the Epic campus. January in Wisconsin means WINTER, in ways that Oregon just can't compete. While walking through the buildings I sometimes stopped to take reference photos out of their massive windows. The snow covered fields and hillsides looked amazing (as long as I was inside where it was warm.)! Here are two paintings based on those photos, looking in different directions from the same window.

 Epic Winter, 6 x 6 pastel on Uart sanded paper

Epic Landscape, 6 x 6 pastel on Uart sanded paper

Max at the Window

Daily painting time for me has been limited these last couple months. My lovely family has had many needs for "Grandma",  and I was very glad to be available enough to help out. We now have two new grandchildren added to the mix, making our total at 13! Now that our families have mostly settled into their "new normals", I am hoping for more time to paint again. :)

This week's challenge at DPW is the creative color challenge. We were provided with a black and white image of a cat looking out of the window and challenged to come up with our own colors while maintaining the value structure. This was my entry.

 

Max at the Window, 5 x 7 pastel on Uart sanded paper

Newest Paintings

I'm behind on my blog posting! The main reason is that blogger wasn't letting me upload photos, so I finally switched to a different browser and it works. But I've been so busy with my family lately that there's only four new paintings to show. So here they are! All of these paintings are available for sale through my Daily Paintworks gallery.

You probably recognize this scene, as I have painted it before. This time it's a smaller format and the overall tone is lighter. My first version had a stormier looking sky. That painting sold at one of the outdoor art shows I attended last summer. The image was so popular, however, that I decided to re-create it, except it's never going to look just like the first one. :)

Beach Trail, 6 x 6 pastel on Uart sanded paper

The photo reference for this painting was from the Paint My Photo website. I loved the shadows in the snow and I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out!

Snow Shadows, 6 x 6 pastel on Uart sanded paper

 I took the photo that inspired this little painting. In West Linn there's this lovely little nature preserve that has beautiful blue Camas flowers blooming profusely in the spring. How could I not be excited about this view on the pathway?

Camassia Trail, 6 x 6 pastel on Uart sanded paper

 This little painting is my entry for the weekly Daily Paintworks Challenge, which was to paint an "interior space". I chose to do a corner in my bedroom that gets beautiful morning light. On my chair is an orange scarf knitted for me by a dear friend, and the window sill has my ten year journal and some dried statice flowers in little vases. I love the contrast the sunlight makes as it stream through the window!

 Relax a Moment, 6 x 6 pastel on Uart sanded paper

In All Its Glory

 

"In All Its Glory"
Pastel and ink on Uart sanded paper - 6x6 in
http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/dorothy-jenson/in-all-its-glory/190648

While driving along unpaved roads in the Mt Hood wilderness looking for a specific trailhead, we turned a corner and came upon this majestic viewpoint with wildflowers blooming profusely. I was glad to have a camera with me! Funny thing, this is not the road we should have been on (my husband said the "map was wrong"), but how lovely to get "lost" and find such beauty! And yes, we did find the correct trail and had a nice hike that day.