Paint A Scene From Your Daily Life

7:05AM Pastel $135.00 available click here

Today's affirmation:                I am not broken, God is creating stained glass. ~ unknown



In today's world, there are few things that we can be completely sure of.  We are so dependent on others for so many things, and much of the time, we are disappointed or let down.  Not so with the subject matter of this new painting.

I still have one child in high school, and living in the country, we rely on our county school buses.  Now, growing up in the city, like I did, I had to walk to school - you know the old tales of walking miles upon miles in the snow - but in my case, growing up in Ohio, this was the story of my life.

My son, on the other hand, has the luxury of getting picked up right in front of the house.  You can't have much more convenience than this, but WE DO!  With out fail, our school bus driver Ms. Carol arrives at 7:05AM every morning without fail!  Personally, those that know me, know that I am habitually late for everything, but not our trusty driver! I don't know how she does it, but I am in awe of her and appreciate her more than words could possibly convey.  So I thought it would be fun to paint this painting which is a scene I view every morning, Monday - Friday, a piece of my everyday, average life.

I took this picture after one of last year's snow falls.  I was drawn to the reflections of light on the road ahead of the school bus. I was excited to experiment with my Terry Ludwig gray collection in making the background trees and the ground under the snow in the fore-ground.  I always try to repeat the colors I use in the sky and backgrounds in the fore ground as well.  I like the way it ties everything together.

This painting was painted on UArt 400 pastel paper using Terry Ludwig , Unison, Rembrandt and Nu-Pastels. I titled the painting 7:05AM in honor of the time the bus arrives at my house, and has arrived for many, many years.  Thank You Ms. Carol!!

Seasoned 9x12 Pastel available $135.00 click here

Today's affirmation:  What you think, you become.  What you feel, you attract.  What you imagine, you create.  ~Buddha




Our first snow of this season here in Preston, Maryland, happened a few weeks ago and provided great photo opportunities.  The colors were so beautiful - It was a dusting of sorts, and the ground could be seen in places through the snow.
This painting is of what I see looking out of my front door.  There's a funny story that goes with this painting, and I can't help but get lost in the memory when I look at this piece.  When my family first moved into this house back in 1997, there were actually 4 pine trees in this spot.  They were grown so close together, that some sides of the trees didn't have any branches.  My husband got the idea in his head that he was going to cut them down for fear they would fall into the house at some point.  Well up the ladder he went with chain saw in hand.  One by one branches fell to the ground, then little by little the trunk came down in pieces.  It took a couple of days total for the first tree.  Some time had passed before he headed up the ladder again for tree number 2, which took a little longer this time,  he persevered - but.... after that second tree..... He said "I'm too old for this!!" And... then... there... were... two.  They stand huddled together to this day.

A Surprising Tool to Use While Painting with Pastels

Choptank River Lighthouse 12x12 pastel available $155.00

 Ohhhh how beautiful the sunsets reflecting across the water are here in Maryland. My son and I had just finished dinner at a (new-to-us) restaurant in Cambridge which is about 20 minutes from us.  We wanted to try somewhere different and chose this great place right on the water.  When we were finished, we decided to do a little sight seeing and just drove with no real destination in mind - we'd just take a left or a right when we got to stop signs just to see what might be down that road.  What a treat we found at the end of one of those roads.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Wow! the red roof of the lighthouse was almost blinding with the glow of the setting sun. I parked the car and stood at the edge of the water in sheer bliss.  The colors of the boats and lighthouse just danced on the water.  We were hoping to get a tour inside, but unfortunately they were closed for the night.  I see another trip in the near future.

This painting took a tighter drawing than the quick sketch I'm used to, but it's well worth the extra time so you don't run into perspective issues half way through the painting process.  I tend to work back ground to fore ground for what ever reason - I start to paint what's furthest from view and make my way to what's closest to view saving the focal point for last. Here, I began with the sky, then the far trees, the boats, and then the foreground water - saving the lighthouse and the reflections for last.

The foreground water had a dappled texture that I just couldn't seem to recreate with a pastel so I looked around my supplies to see if there was anything I had that would be useful...... and voila! A simple kneaded eraser was just the ticket!

Just a bit of pouncing here and there brought happy results.  These erasers are not only a favorite tool of mine for drawings, but also with pastel painting.  They can lightly lift colors off the paper, they are great to blend, and they can clean up tight areas because you can mold and shape the eraser into what ever shape you need.  Then a little stretch and squeeze and it cleans itself right up.  One eraser will last me for many months before I decide it's time for a new one. 


I'm joining in on a painting challenge..... to create 30 paintings in 30 days for the month of September.  This list was posted on one of my Facebook painting groups page, but I thought if my artist friends that work in other mediums wanted to give it a try they'd appreciate having the list to work from.  This begins tomorrow, September 1st, so today I'll be cutting papers to get ready. I'm thinking of working in a 6x6 inch size.  Wish me luck, and if you'd like to try any of these challenges, I'd love for you to post your results here on the blog.  Have a safe and happy holiday!

Can You Reuse Pastelmat ?

Lime Light 5x7 Pastel available $45.00

I was reading lots of chatter about Alain Picard's painterly apple on You Tube and I had to see what all the talk was about.  His video is a paint along - where you paint along with his instruction.  I have to say... you've got to be quick!

I searched my art supply area and found a 5x7 piece of used pastelmat.  I didn't like the painting that was on it, so I decided to brush it all off and see what would happen.  After taking a stiff brush to brush all the loose pastel off , I sprayed it with water and wiped with paper towels - over and over until nothing more would come off onto the paper towel. 

Now I have to say that I was a bit worried because I no longer could feel any tooth to the surface, although I have heard others having no issue. Maybe I used too much pressure when scrubbing with the brush -   It was smooth with barely noticeable texture, but I figured it would work out great for what I was using it for, and I was pretty sure Alain wouldn't mind my frugalness. I was able to paint on the smooth surface, but I couldn't use much pressure and had to keep the layers to a bare minimum.  What a great video and the way he makes you force yourself create a painterly look is an invaluable lesson to learn no matter what medium you prefer as a painter.

I've enjoyed seeing all the different renderings of Alain's apple on Instagram and Face Book and so I now add mine to the list.  Give it a try -

Oh.... and just a side note..... I titled this painting Lime Light because the ray of color behind the apple is actually a lime color, but for some reason the camera keeps showing it as a yellow. Yes - I need to practice my photography skills - or lack of skills.

Put Something you Love into Your Stillife

The Hymnal 9x11 pastel     available $125.00

It was the perfect day...... Zach and I had just visited the zoo in Salisbury to take photos for a class project he has, although I don't need a reason to go to the zoo. I LOVE the zoo! Well afterward we went out to lunch and while heading home we were about to pass an antique bookstore - and it was OPEN! I've passed this store many times over the years, but it was always closed much to my dismay, but today I was going to finally get to go in! What a treat..... I said ohhhh Zach.....we just have to check this place out. He shook his lowered head trying to prepare himself because he's well seasoned in my love of books and just how long I can spend in a book store.

I reassured him that I would not be TOO long because I had a mission, and was only going to scan for a certain type of book to use in future paintings.  I described to him what I had pictured in my mind and then we entered the store.  WOW! It took my breath away! Wall to wall - piles among piles- of beautiful books! I had hit the motherload!  I don't know exactly how long we searched, but there it was..... a tattered 1911 hymnal.  What a great find!  I set up a couple of still lifes and took some photos for this and future paintings.  Below are the progress photos.

Here are the pastels that I used..... some nupastels, rembrandt, Terry Ludwig, and Sennelier.  A fun fact.... my brother bought me my set of Rembrandts about 30 some years ago if I had to guess.  At the time, I only painted in acrylic.  All that time they sat waiting to be used and I am so very thankful for them.

I decided to use a failed painting - I brushed off the old painting ( you can still see the ghost image behind the charcoal) and I sketched out the new work.

Adding in the darks first

Laying in the darkest areas of the lit areas

Added some purples and greens to the apple on the left

Added reds and golds to the apple on the right

Time to focus on the hymnal and added the highlights

Memories of Fire Island Here in Caroline County

Fire Island 5x7 Pastel available $45.00

Memories, memories, memories........painting this scene today had me thinking back to my days of being a Girl Scout leader and spending lots and lots of time at our Girl Scout camp.  We had the privilege to hold our meetings at the camp so we had access to all the benefits of the camp had to offer.  And what a posh campground it was/is.

We had the most unbelievable, most fantastic ranger that took care of the property - he went above and beyond building zip lines, obstacle courses, art easels for outdoor painting and a ferry that you could ride to cross the lake to Fire Island.  In the center of this island was a firepit complete with benches for smores and singing. 

I hadn't been to the camp for a while, so Zach and I went for a visit.  We hiked from one end to the other taking in the beautiful scenery and talking about all our memories.  And with 13 years of leading a troop I have lots and lots of memories. 

I have just a couple progress photos.......I get into my zone and forget to stop to take a picture.

quick sketch

added in the first layer of color and started filling in the background trees - saving the foreground trees for last.

Underpainting with Watercolor

Thursday Evening 5x7 pastel available $45.00

Watercolor paintings are so beautiful and luminous. They have a transparency about them that just draws you in, but they can be a tricky medium to work with.  When you've trained yourself to paint dark to light in acrylic, oil and pastels, the opposite is the rule when painting in watercolors.  I've wanted to try a watercolor underpainting for quite a while, so when I happened to be walking the aisles in our local Walmart, I spotted this watercolor set and thought no better time than the present to give it a try.  Now truth be told, I'm a bit afraid of watercolor.  In my mind, watercolor is the hardest medium to master - I may be wrong, but back in high school, our art class was given and assignment to do a watercolor painting, and mine came out so awful - and I felt that I just couldn't grasp the concept, so picking up a set of these paints is a giant step for me.  Now I know this particular set is not going to produce artist grade results, but I'm only using it for an underpainting so we'll see how it goes. 

My new watercolor set

Originally, I was going to add a little water feature, but not long after I started laying in the pastels decided against it.  Wow my easel is really needs a scrub down!

Adding in the darks

Next came adding in some pinks and purples and a bit of cream to the clouds and greens to the grasses.  I also added in some wildflowers that grow all along the roadside here.

 After standing back and taking another look, I thought I really over did it with the flowers, so I blended some out ( an advantage with working in pastels) .  


Last night, my son and I took a drive to photograph the sunset at the various rivers around our house and I was a bit frustrated that I could not capture the brilliant colors that were in the clouds with the camera.  Zach said the only way to capture the true colors in the sky would be the paint plein air.  What a great idea!  What if I did a series of the same scene every day for a week......or a month?  Just to capture the ever changing sky? I love the idea! So I've begun cutting some 5x7 sheets of UArt to get ready for this new challenge.