art show

I will be exhibiting my work at the Hill Center Galleries on Capitol Hill October 2nd- January 4th.  The show opens tomorrow!  The reception will be Tues, Oct.7th, 6-8pm.
 
The Hill Center Galleries are located at 921 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, in Washington, DC.  They are one block from the Eastern Market Metro.  They are open Monday- Friday 10am-7pm and Saturday, 10am-5pm and Sunday noon-5pm. 

pastel thumbnails

 

I like to start with tiny pastel sketches to work out color and composition and gauge how excited I am about an image before committing to a painting.  They are fun because I can do them so quickly. 

pastel studies

commissions

It has been a while since I've painted animals and even longer since I painted people but this was really fun.  

This was also a lot of fun.  I was commissioned to do a series of pastels of a woman's grandmother's farm near Bealeton, Va.  I drove up and did some sketching and took lots of photos before getting started.  Also fun- having lunch with this wonderful family and learning about the local farming history. 

St. George, Bermuda

     When we visited Bermuda last June, we stayed in a house on a hill overlooking the 400 year old town of St. George.  Most evenings we went for walks along the ridge through a newer neighborhood where locals lived.  The houses were simpler than the old town houses but still very colorful and with amazing views of the ocean. 

     We usually seemed to end our walks in time to watch the sun setting from this hillside cemetery.  
     Here is a pastel of two of the colorful houses along the ridge:

The photo I worked from, I left out the lime house casting a shadow. 

new work

Buena Vista, Colorado, PASTEL

Here is the oil painting from the pastel sketch of the yellow house

St. George, Bermuda, PASTEL

yellow houses in Bermuda

pastel

oil

new work

Here is the painting finally:

Hyacinthe Fields, 30x40

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here are two new pastels:

and here is the finished sketch

     Sometimes I do a more finished sketch to work out how to abstract the design and tune the colors.  The coral colored outline along the bottom and up one side are an important element that I'll need to work into the painting some way other than an outline.  Without that color in the foreground it seems a little too bland.  

sketch

pastel sketch for my next painting

today's pastel- more from Bermuda

 

end of the day in St. George, Bermuda

caribbean days

Finished this pastel today.  Outside my studio it rained cats and dogs but inside I went to a happy, tropical place! 

a painting and a pastel

Finished a large painting today and a small pastel, both inspired by St. George, Bermuda:

two pastels of Bermuda

swans

Here is today's pastel.

tulip fields

today's pastel

cherry blossoms

         A couple years ago I went with my daughter on a nice day to see the cherry blossoms.  We wanted to avoid the crowds at the tidal basin so we went to the National Arboretum.  The trees were in a section labeled "experimental".  We pretty much had the place to ourselves and enjoyed a lovely sketching picnic under the flowers.  In DC a sunny, warm day in late March is rare treat, sliced in between a procession of windy, rainy days and chilly, overcast days.   And under the ethereal pink haze of cherry blossoms it was transcendent.  

Here is the pastel

    

the painting, just finished yesterday

In my new studio I have a wall painted with blackboard paint that I can make full scale sketches- very fun!

on the river

Just finished this little oil painting based on my pastel sketch of the Zaan River.  It's interested how each medium has it's own feeling that emerges as you work.  The oil has a softer, gentler feeling than the pastel but pastels have such intense color and wonderful texture.  I love both mediums!

"on the river" just started

"on the river" in process

on the Zaan River, Netherlands

    

     Finally a new pastel!  My excuse- I have been moving into a new studio space at Liberty Town, more space, more light.  I now have two workstations.  One for painting and one for pastels.   I am sharing the space with Anna Branner, weaver and potter.  Come visit us in studio #22 this Friday for our open house.  http://www.libertytownarts.com