paintandsimple

I LOVE before and after photos. Pretty much across the board: haircuts, house remodels, people after they have lost weight – all of it. Taking something good and making it better has great appeal to me. Like many artists, I have a stack of paintings that don’t delight me. Picking them up to work through them again is a fun process. I ask myself “what can I do to improve this?” That part is like solving a puzzle. My answers often include: more paint, more values, better composition, and/or adding a focal point.

This is a study for a commission, for a dining room. A dining room of someone who loves to cook. A place where magic, and love, and effort will be presented to bring people together to nourish bodies and souls. I painted the most magical place the world for me. I worked on it at Baylor hospital, and remarkably, people were transported:).

I taught 4 week long workshops this summer at Ghost Ranch. The pastel class had a name that surprised me… “Pastel Groove”. It wasn’t my title, but I decided to do my best to live up to it. We abstracted landscapes, used pan pastels, stencils, and collage! I have always loved to tear up watermedia paintings and collage them into new paintings. This summer was my first time to try it with pastel. It is harder to stick down through the powdery pastel, but I love the effect!