When life gives you lemons, draw them, 11 x 14 inches dry pastels, graphite on paper

"When life gives you lemons, draw them." (Nikki)

"Color! What a deep and mysterious language." (Paul Gauguin)

Conservation

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Leaves and Petals

Saturday, October 5th, 2024


 

Prickly Pear Cactus, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper
Prickly Pear Cactus, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper – 27H x 33W” framed, won Honorable Mention in Fusion Art’s 10th Annual Leaves and Petals Exhibition and competition.

Fusion Art Gallery Leaves and Petals Exhibition, Honorable MentionPrickly Pear Cactus is native to the Americas including Mexico, an important food source for desert animals and for humans, but now threatened to extinction by a cactus moth that has no known natural predators in the US. In 2021, a wasp was exported from South America to Texas to help control the spread of moth devastation.

 

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach OR

Thursday, November 30th, 2023


 

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach OR, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper
Haystack Rock, protected as part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Cannon Beach OR, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Framed size 27H x 33W”.

Kootenay National Park

Friday, June 9th, 2023


 

Kootenay National Park, BC, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper
Kootenay National Park, one of seven provincial parks that form the Rocky Mountains World Heritage site in BC, Canada, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper.

Exhibition: Emptiness

Friday, December 16th, 2022


 

Petrified Forest - Crystal Forest Trail, AZ - 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper
Petrified Forest, showing online Dec. 15 - Jan. 15, 2023, Exhibizones EmptinessShowing online Dec. 15 – Jan. 15, 2023, Exhibizone’s “Emptiness” – Petrified Forest – Crystal Forest Trail, AZ – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. White frame with crackle finish, total size 27H x 33W inches.
This piece also won a merit award in Contemporary Art Room’s exhibition, “Trees and Fields”, showing online in December, 2021.

Douglas Fir

Saturday, July 30th, 2022


 

Douglas Fir, Salt Spring Island, BC - 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper
Douglas Fir, Salt Spring Island, BC – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper

“The Coastal Douglas-fir (CDF) zone describes a unique set of ecosystems found only on southeast Vancouver Island, the islands of the Salish Sea, and the southwest coast of BC. CDF ecosystems are rare and highly endangered. These ecosystems include Douglas-fir forests, as well as Garry oak woodlands, wetlands, estuaries, and other unique communities of plant, animal, and fungi found nowhere else in the world.”  Read more on the Islands Trust website

Camel

Saturday, April 30th, 2022


 

Camel at Gorge Wildlife Park, Australia, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper
Camel at Gorge Wildlife Park, phase 01Camel at Gorge Wildlife Park, Australia, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. During the late 19th century, camels were imported to Australia from India and Afghanistan, so hundreds of thousands now roam ferrell.

Left, how I start most of my work: general shapes are outlined, and composition is roughly established.

The Grandfather Tree

Wednesday, February 16th, 2022


 

The Grandfather Tree, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper
The Grandfather Tree, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Estimated to be 1800 years old, this Redwood is 265 ‘ tall with a 24 ft. diameter, located along the Avenue of the Giants, Hwy 101 CA. Framed size 27H x 33W”.

Red Kangaroos and Wallabies

Sunday, February 28th, 2021


 

Red Kangaroos and Wallabies, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper

Red Kangaroos and Wallabies under a large Eucalyptus tree, Cleland Wildlife Park near Adelaide, Australia, 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper

Petrified Forest

Sunday, January 24th, 2021


 

Crystal Forest Trail, AZ - 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper
Crystal Forest Trail, Petrified Forest National Park, AZ – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper.

Silent reverence for geologic history, Petrified Forest National Park, Crystal Forest Trail AZ USA. Not a whole lot more to draw here! The land is barren except for desert grass and the odd tumbleweed. This was once a lush forest, and dinosaurs roamed here. It was February, but I bet this place looks the same in July. The silence was layered with dry grasses in the breeze, ravens’ calls, and my imagination.

Tumbleweed, Petrified Forest National Park, AZI had never seen a tumbleweed up close before, so since I hadn’t seen any traffic or other people for about an hour, I hopped out of the car to take photos of one in the middle of the road before it blew away. Satisfied with the takes, I got up off the road and a bus was right there 25 ft. away, waiting for me to finish. I don’t know how long the bus was there, but was thankful the driver didn’t honk… and more thankful that he saw me.

Matthiessen State Park, IL

Saturday, November 21st, 2020


 

Matthiessen State Park, IL - 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper

Matthiessen State Park, Illinois US – 18H x 24W inches soft pastels on paper. Framed size 27H x 33W inches, white wood frame, crackle finish.

This park located near Oglesby epitomizes the word “anomaly”. The surrounding landscape is flat for miles and miles, with a lot of farm fields and no hint at all that such pockets of vastly different ecosystems occur side by side, merging so abruptly. In fact, we know a guy who grew up an hour from there and he didn’t even know it existed! There are a few other hiking trails and hidden canyons with waterfalls in the area too.

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