Bluebirds

It's been a while since I posted anything on this blog, but I have done two or three lately, and I will get round to posting them one of these days.  This one is obviously of bluebirds on top of a nest box, but although we do have them nesting here in a box on our property, I didn't actually take this photograph.  It's 11 x 14 Pastel on La Carte card.

Autumn Sun

This is from a photo I took myself during a visit to another artist's studio in New Hampshire. I took a look back along the lane we had just walked and was struck by the color of the trees and sun shining through the trees. It's pastel 11 x 14.

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

SOLD
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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