Untitled
10" x 8", pastel
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Coming up with titles for paintings is tough, especially still life paintings. Animals have names, landscapes can have titles of where the area is, but a still life.......??? So there are mums, apples and pottery in this painting......other than that I've got nothing! Oh, well.

Truly loving painting the subject matter. Bringing back my watercolor days, but so much easier to get the depth of color. Plus, that highlight is the last thing added, not saved from the white of the paper! 

Gypsy in Italy Study #2

Gypsy in Italy Study #2

10 x 8, pastel
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My main subject lately has been a commission for a dear friend. I have found  that while enjoying commissions, they can be a double edged sword, at least for me. I stress so much about 'getting it right' and making the person requesting it happy, that I seem to lose the joy in painting.

Sooooo, I decided to take a break from the commissioned portrait and work on another painting. Call me crazy, but I chose another portrait! I just love this lady. She has so much character, so many tales to tell. An additional challenge for this painting is that I am trying a new paper for me, Mi Tiennes. It is smooth which I find unusual, in that pastel needs to stick to the paper and smooth paper doesn't allow for many layers. Normally the substrate I use has grit, to enhance the sticking power of the pastel. This paper has forced me to get it right the first time, because additional layers of pastel do not adhere well.  Good practice, as I have a tendency to have a heavy hand anyway.

May have to create a larger piece of this study!!

Curiosity

Curiosity

10 x 8, pastel

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This painting is my third and final entry in the NBAL show this month. The deer loves to eat the bird feed that the birds flick out on the ground. I took this photo as he was checking out the feeder, as if to see if he could get more out of it.

Boa Baby

Boa Baby!

10 x 8, pastel

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This is Kia, wrapped in a red, white and blue boa on July 4th.  She seemed to be enjoying the frivolity. 

You can see her and other great animal paintings/photos at the NBAL show in New Braunfels. 

Guadalupe Cypress

Guadalupe Cypress

10 x 8, pastel

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My apologies to you who check this blog often to see new pictures. Getting going in Daily Paintworks has taken more time than I imagined it would. Now, my computer skills had absolutely nothing to do with it! 

This is my latest, but I am not going to post it on DPW just yet. I am thinking of entering it in an upcoming show at NBAL. 

News in Italy

News in Italy

10 x 8, Pastel

OK, I did try to paint during the holidays--this one. When I took this picture in Citta Della Pieve, I was struck by the emotion it evoked in me. He just seemed so alone and the news (I imagined from his body language) wasn't good. I have been wanting to paint it for quite some time. I am not happy with this, not getting the emotion. Perhaps it is because I left out the 4 empty benches that were all around him. Whatever it is, I just am not pleased with the results. So chalk it up to another learning experience.

He was wiped off and restarted once. Does he get wiped off again, but this time for good?

The Very First!!!

Bountiful Harvest     (10 x 8, pastel)

I was notified today that this painting has been accepted to The Appalachian Pastel Society's 2012 Juried National Exhibition!!!! This painting was one of 74 paintings out of 230 submitted that was selected by the juror, Richard McKinley, PSA, PSWC-DP, NPS. It will be displayed October 18 - December 14, 2012 at The Asheville School Gallery in Asheville, North Carolina.

This is my first ever acceptance into a juried show!!! I have to thank Rita Kirkman (check out her blog, Rita Kirkman's Daily Paintings) for the workshop that ignited my desire/ability to work in pastel and for encouraging me to enter shows outside of our local gallery. I also have to thank Angie Banta Brown (check out her web site) for years of instruction, encouragement and friendship, helping me to get to this point in my art experience!!!