Brass Bird on a Pot

Brass Bird on a Pot

6x6, soft pastel

This little guy travelled with me to the local greenhouse for a bit of “Plein air” painting during January.  I placed him on an upside down flower pot in between a few other pots of bright pink flowers where he rested quietly until I was finished. Plein air isn’t necessarily my bag...but it was great fun and good practice painting outside the studio. 

Golden Sunset

Golden Sunset

11x14, soft pastel

I just finished this piece (which is a larger version of a 6x6 painting completed during the September 30in30 Challenge).  It's headed to Arizona but I wanted to share it first, especially since I've been lagging behind in my blog posts this fall.  I guess that's how things go sometimes...never a dull moment!  I've really enjoyed painting skyscapes during the past couple months, hope you like it!

Migraine Morning

Migraine Morning

6x6, soft pastel

I wasn't really going to paint...for the third morning in a row I woke up with a migraine (the weather is about to change drastically).  Then I thought what the heck, I'll try to power through it while I waited for the meds to kick in. 

The toughest part of painting with a migraine is not having any kind of control over the pastel stroke on the page.  The sharp pains can interrupt the most focused of thought making it tough to even see the easel.  Oh well, tomorrow is another day!

Screaming Eagles

Screaming Eagles

6x6, soft pastel

There's no real reason for the title...other than this skyscape reminds me of a couple of eagles swooping down to snatch up fish from the waters below.  Recently while kayaking on a small lake a hawk did just that...diving into the water several feet from me to catch his dinner.  Startled the begeebeez out of me! 

Arizona Sky

Arizona Sky

6x6, soft pastel

On our way to Phoenix we were delighted to view this gorgeous sunset near Kingman, Az.   I especially loved seeing the stars twinkling in the deep dark blue of the early evening.  

Lakeside Sunset

Lakeside Sunset

6x6, soft pastel

Lakeside Sunset is another in a series of sunrises and sunsets I'm working on...practice, practice, paractice!

Sunrise On The Farm

Sunrise On The Farm

6x6, soft pastel

Everytime I visit my daughter, son-in-law, and wonderful grandkids I take sunrise photos.  Why?  Because the land is wide open with few buildings between huge wheatfield farms and the sunrises and sunsets are almost always spectacular!  I have mostly sunrise photos since I'm an early riser...for me, that's the most magical time of day.  That, and I almost always get a chance to visit with my very hardworking son-in-law before his long day begins.

Evening Sky

Evening Sky

6x6, soft pastel

I hope to dig through all my sunset and sunrise pictures to do a few more sky pieces.  I absolutely love this time of year when we seem to get the best sunrises and sunsets.  In the Boise area, we seldom have rain during the summer months so clouds are at a premium...but soon, we'll see more clouds and hopefully a few rain drops too.  Until then, I'll resort to digging up old photos.  

The Clearing -2

The Clearing - 2

9x12, soft pastel

A second take on The Clearing.  This time with a bit more sunlight coming from beneath the clouds. 

The Clearing

The Clearing

6x6, soft pastel

I haven't painted skies before...so this is my first attempt.  This is a shot taken by my grand-daughter recently who requested a sky painting for her birthday.  This is just a little study...I'm hoping to improve on skies and do a bigger one for her soon.   Skies are a foreign subject matter for me...much more to learn!