9″x12″ pastel on sanded paper
Here is an example of my painting process. Doing value, and color studies often make the painting go faster, and the result has better energy and freshness than when I fail to plan.
Last Light Texas, Hill Country
10″x8″ oil on canvas panel
It was fun to use a few brushstrokes of light and dark to hint at the prickly pears that were quickly fading into the hills.
Sunrise, Bandera, TX – imagined
The 100K race just closed. Our last runner came in just after midnight, so we were all warm and snug this morning. I painted the sunrise from memories of what I have seen in Bandera, and what I imagined could have been. The temperature was between 29 and 32 all day and night. It rained on and off. Trail running is the only place in my life where people voluntarily push themselves to the limit, and then willing accept help from strangers when they are vulnerable. It is crazy and beautiful all mixed together. So we are headed home with a car of wet, muddy gear and family and friends that grew closer making it so.
Sunrise Bandera, Texas
To all the brave souls running the Bandera 25, 50, and 100k races today, good luck and stay warm!
Sunset, Bandera Texas 5:54pm
8″x8″ oil on canvas panel
We have made an annual camping trip to Bandera, TX the second weekend in January for the last dozen years. My trail running/backpacking husband says there is no such thing as bad weather, only improper gear.
Those funny little plus marks under the cloud are ICE! Perhaps there is such this as bad weather.
My sons are running the 25k trail run…AND I can’t bear the idea of them finishing tired, alone, and cold. So I am becoming a plein air painter that has dealt with some pretty tough painting conditions. Anyone know where to buy a paint brush with a heated handle?
Is Spring Coming?
12″x12″ oil on panel
Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”…
“It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…
-Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
Morning Walk
I have loved watching the way the early morning light hits this field of wildflowers. My little flower girl grabbed one today.
Texas Pond: Mid Morning, Mid Spring
18″x6″ oil on canvas.
I spent a delightful morning plein air painting with a friend. Good weather, good company, good suggestions.
Spring Blooms Red Orange
18″x24″ pastel on sanded board
I found this great poem on a packet of Indian Paint seeds: “A strange little flower with a sun-kissed nose, without perfume yet red as a rose. Did some Indian maiden plant you here in the footprint left by the hoof of a deer?” -A.V. Hudson
Reflection on a Tx Pond
10″x8″ pastel on sanded paper.
This painting was a demo for a women’s group my mom has been part of since I was a little girl. After I painted the demo, they all got their hands dirty and discovered the artist inside of them. It was special for me to listen to their conversations formed by a lifetime of friendship.
paintandsimple 