Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Featured book of paintings

I am pleased to say that my book of pastel paintings, "Light and Shadow" is being featured on Shutterfly's gallery page. Please take a look!

Friday, June 17, 2011

New Exhibit

Please stop by Sunflowers, in Jaffrey, NH to see my work which will be on display June 21st-July 26th.  It is a beautiful restaurant, with great food and entertainment!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Anatomy of a painting


Developing a pastel painting involves several stages, some of which are beautiful in themselves, others make me wonder if I should continue, because something just isn't working. But the "teacher voice" in me tells me that I am not done, to take a break, look at it with fresh eyes, and continue with renewed confidence.
 Creating the initial sketch with vine charcoal on gater board, 
painting with toned gesso mixed with pumice
 Choosing what to leave out of the composition, 
and working on the background with hard pastels.
 Continuing to work on the foreground with hard pastels, 
working from dark to light values.
 The finished painting using soft pastel to bring out 
the glow of "Morning Light"
 The fun of watching something 3-dimensional pop out on the 2-D surface,
as values are added to show form. I love the challenge!
The finished product. You can see more in this series in an earlier post.

The sweet scent of fleeting beauty.

My gardens have been bursting with every color of peony, and I have filled my rooms with their lovely fragrance. I wish they would last longer, but their petals and pollen are beginning to decorate the surfaces, leaving a few blossoms to gracefully open with time. Their beauty may be fleeting, but the anticipation of next Spring's display will be worth the wait.

Sunday, June 12, 2011