Across the Pond

Ever since we decided to move to Tennessee, my pastels have been packed up and my studio cleaned out. I have been frustrated by not being able to get to my easel .... but finally we are in our new house and my wonderful studio has been set up and I was able to get back to this painting which I had half finished. I'm not totally happy with it, but given the circumstances and the fact that I had a big break between starting and finishing, I'm reasonably satisfied. It's 11 x 14 and of course is Pastel.

Butterfly

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This picture has been sitting on my easel for a couple of weeks now, but I have only just got round to taking the photo. I didn't take the original reference photograph, I'm not clever enough (nor is my camera) to take such a great photo, but I loved it and thought it would be challenging for me to paint. Diffusing the background flowers and foliage is something I've not tried before, but it seems to work OK. It's 16" x 20" Pastel.

Country Shadows

I competed this one a couple of weeks ago and like the overall effect. It's from a photo taken by someone else. I painted it specifically to fit in a frame I had purchased which was not a standard size. It's about 15" x 10" Pastel.

Acton Shadows

For a couple of years now I have had a set of Pan Pastels sitting in my studio and I really haven't done anything with them. ( For the uninitiated I should explain that instead of being in stick form, Pan's are more like ladies compressed make up in flat round containers, and the pastel is applied to the surface with a variety of sponges of different shapes and sizes.)

They are very different to work with and the first time I tried I found it very difficult. However, this week I decided to dust them off and try them again, and this picture is the result. It's from a study I did recently when I went out with a friend to paint at a local arboretum, it's about 11 x 14. This time around I found them fun and easier to use.

One day old

When we were first married we decided to raise chickens and had a packing crate in the corner of the living room with a heat light over a dozen eggs. They all hatched and became efficient egg layers (except one, which turned nasty and ended up in the stewpot). I was looking through an old box of photographs this week and came across the photograph of this little one. It inspired me to paint a picture from it and this is the result. The chick was one day old at the time.

EDIT: I have since entered this one in our local Art Show in July and it was awarded a 2nd prize in the category "Art under Glass".

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The Sky's the Limit

The last class I took was teaching how to paint skies. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get a photograph myself....it seemed that every time I had my camera with me the skies were either cloudy or bright blue with no clouds .....so I used a photograph that I had come across recently and was excited about. I very much enjoyed the process of painting this and am pleased with the result.

Falling

For our 25th wedding anniversary my husband and I spent two weeks in Hawaii and I took the photograph from which I painted this picture at that time.  I don't remember the name of this particular waterfall, there are so many of them, and one tends to blend in with another after a while. On close examination you will notice a rainbow at the base of the waterfall.  Hawaii is such a beautiful State I would like to go again one day.

This painting is a pastel measuring 8.5 inches x 14 inches.

This has since been donated as a raffle prize and sold.

Poppies

I recently entered this one into the Westford Regional Art Event and it won 1st place in the Pastels class. It was a great show, and the standard of art work was impressive. I was thrilled to be selected as a winner. 11" x 14" (It also appears a little lower on this blog, but that was before it won!)

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When Life gives you Lemons

Just finished this one today. I enjoyed doing glass so much in the last one, that I wanted to try it again. It's so much fun!  (as a side note, the honey pictured here is from our own bees that we had about 12 years ago and it's still really good.  They do say that honey found in Tutankhamen's tomb was still edible....ours probably won't last that long!)

 This is 11" x 14" Pastel on sanded pastel paper (La Carte).

Wine and Cheese party

I just completed this one during my current pastel class. It's my first attempt at glass and was pleased with the finished result. Keen to try it again. Still 2 weeks left in this class so I have to work on getting another still life together.

Two new ones

These are two winter landscapes that I completed during the recent classes I have been taking. One is called Snowtracks on the Bike Path, and the other is Woodland White.

Poppies

I painted this one last week from a photo provided by someone else. I loved the fact that I could indulge myself by using red in a picture, which I can't usually do - by virtue of the fact that I usually paint landscapes. This is 11" x 14" Pastel.


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Purple Haze

This is actually an update of a picture that I did back in September. I have recently taken some instruction in landscapes and as a result wasn't happy with the original - I feel that this version makes a better picture.

My first one-woman show (Kind of)

Today I took 14 paintings down to the Town Hall in Chelmsford and they are now hanging in the public hallways there and will stay in place for two months. The Chelmsford Art Society of which I am a member, approached me and asked if I would like to do this for the months of January and February - of course I said yes. Some of them are in areas where they get a lot of visibility, others not quite so much, but they are all in sections where the public walk by. It would be so great if someone wanted to buy one.