The Last Leaves To Fall

 

The Last Leaves To Fall

6x6, gouache and pastel

My ability to keep a poinsettia alive is nonexistent. I admire them, but I don’t try and keep them as a live plant throughout the year.  So, today’s painting was an experiment using the last leaves to dry up and drop off. The substrate I used is a canvas board and the underpainting is gouache with each subsequent layer applied in soft pastel.  The soft pastel layers were sprayed with fixative (true to form, each layer of fixative darkened the pastel pigment (which I really don’t like). So, the final top layer is fresh soft pastel unfixed by fixative.  Once again confirming to myself, I simply don’t like to use fixatives.  However, I do like the end result of this one.  Have a joyful New Years Day! Today is day 1 of my very own 30in30. For me, 2024 will be the year of no rules…just paint!  I’m already breathing a bit easier 😂

Poinsettia - Perfectly Peachy

Poinsettia - Perfectly Peachy

10x8, soft pastel

This is my final poinsettia for this season and one of my favorite color varieties. She’s so dramatic! I painted this one 99% on location in Edwards Greenhouse (our favorite plein air location during the winter months). When I finished all the other artists were long gone. I guess I was truly “in the zone”. This particular pot of poinsettias was massive and the unique color just drew me in.  I hope you like it too…it will be sold unframed, but it sure looks great in a gold frame. 

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The Last Bloom of 2020

The Last Bloom of 2020

6x8, oil

Day 1 of the Strada Easel Challenge:  2021 Is Here!

I'm not sure the world has ever been happier to start a New Year as it is this year. Of course, we are certainly not out of the woods when it comes to the pandemic in which we have all found ourselves. In fact, the pandemic rages on...it's never been worse. Our hospitals are full and struggling still to help all those who are in need of medical attention...whether COVID related or not. I heard a statistic today that 1 in 11 Americans have it or have had it. My grandson Tyler had a mild case from attending college. My grandsons Zack and Brian currently have mild cases, thank the Lord. And, we suspect my daughter's farm family in Washington state had early cases of it last spring...before testing was widespread.

The world has lost countless lives whether from the virus itself or as a result of it and it's impact on our healthcare system, our mental wellbeing, and the world's economy. Mankind is reluctantly united in a way we have never (in my lifetime) been united...to fight the virus, to get an effective vaccine, and to recover economically. But, most importantly, too recover our sense of freedom. 

Oh how we took for granted the simple things in life! Now, we have to stop and consider whether we can visit our families and friends, go out to restaurants, movies, concerts, sporting events or fly on a plane. Even though our odds of surviving are quite good, most people are doing what it takes to both bolster our economy while at the same time staying healthy so we don't inadvertently spread the virus and further burden our healthcare system.  

COVID19 has by now touched every family I know. Fortunately most have gotten mild or moderate cases and slowly recovered. Some have been in ICU yet thankfully survived. Several friends have lost loved ones and a few of my virtual friends have lost their lives. 

Mankind has weirdly adapted to the uncertainty and heartbreaking reality of COVID19...yet we all yearn for the day we can return to the world we once had. So, in a way, we celebrate from afar, a new year...with new hope that 2021 will be better than 2020. 

May God bless us all and help guide us to healthier and happier days ahead!