4’x3′ mixed media
Walking to School series No• 15
“Friendship is the shadow of the evening, which increases with the setting sun of life.” -Jean de La Fontaine
I count the friendship between these two among my biggest blessings.
Prairie in a Park
10″x8″ pastel on sanded paper
Thank you Texas State Park pass.
Early Morning Mirror
18″x12″
This painting captures beautiful morning light on my pond. Below are my studies. I tried toning the paper with 3 different colors and doing small studies to see which color I preferred. I went with the lavender, which was I interesting because I would have guessed the orange or yellow orange would have been my preference.
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.
The Road to Ghost Ranch
If you are in need of a fall retreat, throw your wool socks and yellow paint in a bag and come along with me to Northern New Mexico. The Cottonwood trees are so beautiful, they seem to glow from within.
Flowers Shall Grow
This is a field of yellow flowers. I didn’t note which species on my photo, but I know enough about yellow composites to know each flower is not that remarkable on its own. It probably had a woody stem, perhaps even slightly prickly, and they usually have a fragrance that is…well, stinky. As I painted, I thought of the thousands and thousands of acts we go through as mothers – the small things that alone don’t amount to much, honestly, they too might be just a wee bit stinky. However, if you can get a bit of perspective, by climbing a tree, standing on your car, or perhaps a stack of calendars and yearbooks the big picture can take your breath away.
From My Rotting Body, Flowers Shall Grow, and I Am in Them, and That Is Eternity
—Edvard Munch
Single Child
I have never wished that I was a single child, but I know some single mothers with one child who have really special relationships. I love how this little bud is peeking around.
Three buds
28 Minute Rose
Today I realized I had 30 minutes until basketball practice, so I picked something I could paint fast, abstract the details.
Here is what it looked like at 28 minutes
Two minutes left…I darkened the background, and changed the orientation.
Cloudcroft Afternoon
I love the grey days we have been having in North Texas lately, the atmosphere has a quiet quality. As I have been running around the last few days, I have been color mixing in my head…dappled yellow and gold foliage against a warm grey sky. I haven’t gotten out to paint it yet, wet weather is tricky with pastels in plein air, perhaps next week. In the meantime I went through my photos, this one is from Cloudcroft New Mexico, it was late summer and the trees were green, but the wildflowers and overcast sky satisfied my immediate desire to paint yellow and grey.
paintandsimple 