Good Times

Freedom and fun out in the salty surf.  Good times are had and the memories last a life time.  We remember and we return with the next generation to enjoy the wonderful sensation all over again.  

There is a beautiful illumination that comes when using pastels on a sanded surface.  I love the richness of the medium.  Simply yummy.

12x16, pastel on ampersand pastelbord

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Carrie

Carrie modeled for the drawing group on Monday. The wonderful thing was she read to us for almost the entire time.  It was a great day.  I added this one to the DPW seated figure challenge this week.

14x11 pastel

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Morning On The Plaza

The challenge of the week on DPW put up by Dana Cooper.  Click on the names and check it out.

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Little Black

16x12 pastel on pastelbord

A day painting, talking and sharing good food is a very fine day in my book.  Sunday was a day I spent with fellow artists Dana Cooper, Julie Hill and Kim Vanderhoek.  Julie turned her kitchen into a lovely place to paint and share thoughts and ideas.  We enjoyed seeing her fabulous studio.  She treated us to a wonderful home cooked meal and lovely ambiance.  It was a mini artist retreat.  This time together was inspiring and fun and much different than the daily life of a painter.  Kelley Sanford from N.C. came a calling and shared some time with us by phone. 

The still life and little black, as I call him, was sitting on Julie's (amazing and spacious) kitchen island.  I was drawn to the red flowers and ended up  loving little black the best.

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Her

Another in the series of figurative pastels.  I love mark making and this was very fun!

Fatigue

Fatigue, 16x12, pastel

Denise is a  regular at my model sessions.  I love setting up the scene.  Hanging fabric from a clothes line and moving furniture around is the fun of the set up.  Denise sat in this very comfortable chair and almost fell asleep.  I thought the glass in her hand suggested a long evening ending in reflection and fatigue.

I once again enjoyed the application of dispersion color as an under painting.  Pastels are always fun.  Love the feeling of dragging the pastel over the surface of the Ampersand, pastel board.  It was a fun day with lots of music and discussion among artists.

She

She, 6x8, pastel

I started this series a few months ago and got to #2 and stopped.  It is a new direction for me.  In the past few weeks I have had a few conversations with artists that has made me want to push in a new direction or just play for a while until I find out where I am going.  Why I start and stop is my own discomfort and maybe a lack of faith in my journey.  I like this little figurative and the fun I had while doing it.  So I put the map down and I think I will cruise along and see where I go.

One of the artists that I enjoyed talking with is Katherine van Schoonhoven.  She lives in the Oregon area and is down in California as part of a very extensive road trip.  We met at a Kitty Wallace workshop in Portland over a year ago and it was so nice to see her again.  Always inspiring to talk art and with Katherine, she also talks music.  Such a treat!  Visit her blog, Art and Music, follow her creative journey. 

She presented me with a blog award.

Part of receiving the award is to recognize a few blogs I enjoy.

Mary Maxam

Marian Fortunati

Julie Hill

Dana Cooper

Kim Vanderhoek

An Apple A Day

I wish that is all it took to stay in good health.  The season of festivities is great until stepping on the scale or not being able to remember the last time I hiked more than once in a week or two.  So the diet begins.   Healthy food and thinking about what is best and not what tastes best.  I did enjoy the season and now it is time to pay for it...OUCH!

$25 starting Bid

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Limited

I always like to start the new year with old things and new information.  Here I used a limited palette of Yellow Ochre, Alizarin, Ivory Black and Titanium White.  For me this allows me to start up portraiture again without being totally overwhelmed.  Every time I do this I am amazed at just how much can be expressed with only 4 tubes of paint.  I think I will keep this as a practice throughout the year.