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Hope Grows

24″x18″ pastel on sanded paper

Today I painted a live demo at the Baylor Sammons Cancer Center. They have an amazing program for cancer patients, and as they say, medical treatment is just a small slice of the pie. I am honored to be part of their arts and medicine program.

Here are some action shots and close ups:

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Listening to Spring

10″x8″ pastel on sanded paper

“I am going to try to pay attention to the spring. I am going to look around at all the flowers, and look up at the hectic trees. I am going to close my eyes and listen.” -Anne Lamott

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My impression of Evening Primrose

10″x8″ pastel on sanded paper

There is beauty all around us, often mixed up in things that are not very beautiful. I paint exactly how the flowers feel, without the power lines, or houses, or cars. As I enjoy this year’s wildflowers I remember this quote from Monet:

“Try to forget what objects you have before you – a tree, a house, a field, or whatever. Merely think, ‘Here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow,’ and paint it just as it looks to you, the exact color and shape, until it gives you your own impression of the scene before you.” -Claude Monet

Appreciate the beauty, ignore, or deemphasize the rest: That might be good advice to apply beyond landscape paintings.

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Towards Dusk

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.