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)

summer

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Progress on Rocky Mountain Vista

Wednesday, April 9th, 2008


 
Rocky Mountain Vista, 48 x 24 inches acrylics on canvas, work in progress. 

Rocky Mountain Vista, 48H x 24W inches acrylics on canvas after one more day of work, still in progress and almost finished.

Northern Delights 02, finished

Saturday, April 5th, 2008


 

Northern Delights 02, 24 x 36 inches Acrylics on wrapped canvas

Northern Delights 02, 24H x 36W inches acrylics on wrapped canvas, finished this morning.

Northern Delights 02

Friday, April 4th, 2008


 

Northern Delights 02 started, Quaking Aspen, 24H x 36W inches acrylics on canvas  Northern Delights 02, Quaking Aspen, 24H x 36W inches acrylics on canvas, phase 02

Northern Delights 02, Quaking Aspen, 24H x 36W inches acrylics on canvas, started this morning (left) – work in progress – above: after a few more hours…hope to keep brushstrokes and colors fresh and uncomplicated in this one.

Eastern White Pine

Friday, February 1st, 2008


 

Eastern White Pine, 18H x 24W inches oil pastels on paper

Eastern White Pine 18 x 24 inches oil pastels on paper, professionally framed, total size 21 x 27 inches. Sold.

Finished today, and the first drawing in a long time that I didn’t stop to document along the way…that breaks the momentum of work sometimes. This one kind of flew out for a change! It can be viewed in Arlington, Texas at AVAA’s 32nd Annual Regional Juried Art Exhibit, February 15 – March 28, 2008.

Nature Insists

Sunday, January 13th, 2008


 

Nature Insists, growth through rock, North Carolina - 9 x 12 inches Graphite, W/C pencils, Dry Pastel

Nature Insists, growth through rock, North Carolina – 9H x 12W inches graphite, watercolor and graphite on 40lb cold-pressed premium watercolor paper. Framed size 26H x 22W inches.

Polypore Fungi finished

Thursday, November 1st, 2007


 

Polypore Fungi, 58H x 41W x 2D inches acryilcs, modeling paste on canvas, wrapped sides painted, narrow frame

Polypore Fungi  finished – 58H x 41W x 1.5D inches, acrylics, modeling paste, plaster on canvas, wrapped sides painted, narrow frame

One of the goals for this painting was to see if a composition could remain balanced with the main subject offset to the right. With Petra’s suggestion there is more contrast, also scrubbed some paint away for more background to show through.
Mushrooms, bacteria, molds, lichen and other non-flowering plants are lesser appreciated life forms that help maintain the healthy life cycles of forests by aiding the decay and conversion of plant and animal matter into nutrient-rich soil.

Polypore Fungi, detail #1 - fungi are carved modeling paste, plaster

Polypore Fungi, detail #2 - fungi are carved modeling paste, plaster

Changes to Polypore Fungi

Monday, October 29th, 2007


 

Polypore Fungi created with modeling paste, sanding, scrubbing, scraping and carving

 
Polypore Fungi - detail 02The 3D fungi idea was fun to try. The canvas absorbed moisture from the modeling paste, so the faux fungi are permanently incorporated and will not fall off. It was carved after drying, being too goopy to manage while wet. The paste was applied then built gradually, dried before applying more, sanded, scraped and carved to define areas. Commercial modeling paste does not sand well, so a tiny bit of plaster helped to tidy it.

Polypore Fungi, work in progress

Monday, October 22nd, 2007


 

Modeling paste creating 3D effects

Polypore Fungi, 59H x 41W x 2D, acrylics on canvas, work in progress. Started in June, hung and studied in the loose-phase state; cautious about overworking it. Plans this week: most everything will stay out of focus, with details only on the fungi using a little modeling paste to sculpt. Modeling paste is applied in layers, drying in between, becoming permanent and adhered well to the canvas. Applying too thick at once creates cracks and unstable structures.

Milkweed Melody

Thursday, September 20th, 2007


 

Milkweed Melody finished, 27H x 33W inches oil pastels on 140 lb cold pressed premium watercolor paper, brassy-gold frame

  Frame detail images:      
         
  Milkweed Melody, upper left frame detail   Milkweed Melody, upper right frame detail  
  Milkweed Melody, lower left frame detail   Milkweed Melody, lower right frame detail  

Milkweed Melody finished. Oh, the joy of color! 27H x 33W inches Oil Pastels on 140 lb cold pressed premium on WC paper. Has brassy-gold frame painted with an extension of the drawing, frame detail images above. Below: work as it was in progress.


 

Milkweed Melody - stage 1 Milkweed Melody - stage 2

Milkweed Melody - 22 x 30 oil pastels on watercolor paper - in progress

It’s the sky’s turn

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007


 
Sky detail, Dancing With Trees

It’s the sky’s turn to dance! White glaze will attach itself to the varnish I dripped on the other day.

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