10″x8″ pastel on sanded paper
“Earth Laughs in Flowers” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Salt Pond
10″x8″ pastel on sanded paper. Plein air
Salt Pond Beach – Kauai, Hawaii
Launch on Every Wave
14″x11″ pastel on sanded paper
“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.” -Henry David Thoreau
Rooster Rosey Day
The light made the grass look pink. It was a lovely afternoon.
Sunset on Niihau
Niihau Island is located 18 miles from the island of Kauai across the often-times rough Kaulakahi Channel. The oldest of the inhabited Hawaiian islands, Niihau is also the least changed by modern progress. The Niihauans fish and hunt for their main staples of food, with their diet supplemented by supplies brought in by air and sea by the owners of the island. The residents of Niihau still hunt with ropes and knives and fish with spears and nets. Niihau is called the forbidden Island, and the place where time stands still. Niihau was clearly visible along the horizon as I painted this sunset.
Wake up! Wake up!
The roosters remind me of children on Christmas morning, they are so excited it is ALMOST day that they want to share it with everyone. Note I said ALMOST day. I did some research as to why there are so many roosters in Kauai. Here is what I learned: 1. the chickens have no predators except the occasional feral cat or house dog, all the other islands have a mongoose that keeps their populations in check, 2. Hurricane Iniki (1992) destroyed some chicken farms blowing the chickens out onto the island, and 3. they were fighting cocks (1800s) that were released into the wild because they were female, or injured. The last reason may explain why they are perhaps the most handsome of all the chickens I have seen in my life.
Cock a doodle doo! Get up and hit the trails, it is time…or it least it might be by the time you have made coffee and put on sunscreen, so why not get up anyway?
Take 15 and wake up!
This is a 7″x5″ study. I have been painting a couple of very large oil paintings, and I miss my pastels, and actually finishing something. I took a coffee break, and painted this little guy while my coffee brewed.
Rooster on Teal
I came across this painting today. I didn’t like it, but I hadn’t thrown it away. So I sat down to figure out why it didn’t work. The background had to much contrast, and was perhaps the wrong color. (sorry no before picture). Originally the background had bright green and yellow (which is how the grass really looked), and had a lot of the dark paper showing through. So I took a hard teal pastel and scumbled over the entire background. Ta-da! It works now. Sometimes reality isn’t the best place to base your subjects.
“Beautiful Red”
I love roosters. They remind me of traveling in Central America, and life on the farm. I like the idea of shouting out the greeting of the day. I usually choose some quiet time with coffee, but I smile at the idea of “cock a doodle dooing” at the first hint of change from black to blue.
I had fun stylizing the head….making it like a big map of blended colors; sort of an O’Keefe -enlarge and simplify.
So, top of the morning to you. Whether it be with a cup of coffee, or a “cock a doodle do”, I hope you are off to enjoy a fine new day.
Watching For Whales
If you have even been to Hawaii in the winter, you can watch the Humpback’s from the shore. It is breathtaking.
paintandsimple 