Snowman - Chubby Little Cookie Jar

 Snowman Chubby Little Cookie Jar

10x8, soft pastel

This little cookie jar is my favorite snowman. He’s quite old and the paint is full of fine cracks…but he’s still precious.  He’ll stays out on the counter all winter long until the snow stops flying. 

Mables and Perfume

 Marbles and Perfume

6x6, soft pastel

This little one was so much fun to paint…there may be more still life paintings to come this month…while I break all the rules in 2024.  

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 😂

Twiggy - Flowering Plum

 Twiggy - Flowering Plum

6x8, soft pastel

Continuing with my spring flower theme...there’s nothing like seeing all the flowering trees in the spring. I paint a neighborhood scene almost every year because there are so many flowering plum and crabapple trees around. It’s easy to get a jump on spring by forcing the blooms from a few twigs (as this painting depicts). It’s such a fun thing to do in late winter when you simply can’t wait for spring to begin.

The Shot Felt ‘Round The World

 The Shot Felt ‘Round The World

8x8, soft pastel

When I got my second Pfizer vaccine shot I decided to ask if I could take a picture of the metal tray and syringe.  While it’s not necessarily the best composition, it will forever remind me of the momentous occasion. I’m happy to do my part in this pandemic. As an “older” person, the vaccine only makes sense to me. Here’s hoping the vaccines now available will curb this awful virus so it becomes a more manageable and less dangerous virus world-wide.

Spring Is Here

Spring Is Here

6x6, soft pastel

There is a 21n21 challenge this month sponsored by the Pastel Society of the West Coast...so, my main theme will be spring flowers...although knowing me I will most likely deviate as I make my way through the next 3 weeks.  One bit of good news....I won 3rd place for my teapot scene “4am, Comforts of Home” in the PSWC member show. And, along with that, I earned signature status!  Hurray!  

Catching up!

 Well....I painted several paintings in January that I failed to blog about...so in the spirit of catching up, I’ll post them now.  Fortunately, life is getting back to normal lately.  A very good thing indeed!

Footbridge In Snow

8x6, soft pastel

The Final Bloom

8x10, soft pastel

Little Brown Vase

6x6, soft pastel

Little Brass Bird

6x6, soft pastel

Taylor Made

12x12 soft pastel

Indian Spices

 Indian Spices

8x11 soft pastel

This isn’t the best picture of the painting...but, it’s already on its way to a new home. This one was another fun project. My sister-in-law is from India and is a fabulous cook! She uses lots of spices...so it’s a very fitting piece for her kitchen. The actual spoons are warmer in color than this picture shows...more like real wooden spoons but hey, I never claimed to be a great photographer. 😊

Colorful Marbles

 Colorful Marbles

8x12 soft pastel

This piece is very similar to one I did a few years back. I love  all the vibrant colors of the marbles. Some of them are considered “glass balls” and not marbles. But, there are a few large marbles and a few smaller  ones thrown in.  I love the glass ball in the middle because you can see through it.  It was a fun one!

Perseverance

 4am Comforts of Home

“Perseverance”

12x16 pastel

This finished piece will always remind me of the dark days of 2020. The year was so challenging for almost everyone on earth as we battled the COVID19 pandemic. I started the piece as a simple still life. Always waking very early each day, I found the shaft of light hitting my teapot and desktop one morning particularly comforting. The idea for it came early in our first lockdown in March 2020. 

I added a couple summer blooms as the progress on it slowed to an eventual standstill. Later in the fall I added the shawl in the background and while it added to the sense of comfort I was seeking, I would continue to wrestle with it off and on throughout the remainder of the year. 

I guess the struggle with this piece was fitting for the times. It wasn’t until late winter, January 2021 that I was able to resolve this piece and finish it as I intended so many months before. Now looking at it, the faint light reminds me to always keep faith and hope alive. It reminds me of mankind’s perseverance and the eventual light we have found at the end of this long tunnel. The light now representing the vaccines which are being rolled out around the world bringing us hope for a brighter future. May God bless the world’s population as we soldier on through this pandemic and supply us all with faith, hope, goodwill, and most of all perseverance.

Work In Progress

 Work in Progress

Day 23 Strada Easel Challenge

Getting closer....little by little.   Below are days 21 and 22 not included in the blog before because I was out of town when I did them.

Work in Process

 Work in Process

Day 14 Strada Easel.Challenge 

This side is almost done.

I now remember why I sat this one aside. I started with a black background...because that’s what was in my set up. Then, part way through I decided it really needed something to bring the three objects together besides a black background. Fortunately I had a colorful shawl that fit the bill...unfortunately, it added a tremendous amount of work to the piece.  Like 2020, it was dark and overwhelming. As I progressed, the piece became too busy and the folds in the shawl was becoming too distracting. Lesson learned, be sure of your composition before you start. 😊  As painful as it is, I’m planning on cropping the painting into a square format (my favorite format)...and only including the left half of the teapot.  Why, you might ask? Because the focal point is intended to be the shaft of light falling across the shawl and onto the tabletop, highlighting the sugar bowl, edge of the teapot/steam and flowers. The curve in the teapot handle will gently guide the eye from the top right corner of the piece down toward the light (at least that’s the plan).

I don’t know why, but during the winter months I wake very early (like, 3am today) so, I’m done for the day having put in 4-6 hours already). In fact, I see a nap in my near future (after Benny gets his dog walk in).

 

A Work In Progress

 A Work In Progress

Day 13 Strada Easel Challenge

Fortunately, for the challenge we don’t have to complete a painting in one day. This one has been on my “list” to finish for some time.  So, today was the day to work on a portion of it. It’s far more complex, so it’s a pastel this time instead of an oil. It’s a still life that I tried to set back up with the shawl in the background...unfortunately I couldn’t get the patterns lined up like I had it. I’ll have to work around that issue. A long, tedious day!

Silver Creamer With Cuties

 Silver Creamer and Cuties

6x6, oil

Day 12 Strada Easel Challenge

Practice makes perfect right? Well in this case, perhaps it looks like silver a bit more than in previous versions...or maybe not...but it was a fun exercise anyway! 

Jewel Tones

 Jewel Tones6x6, oil

Day 11 Strada Easel Challenge

These little jewel toned liquor glasses are some of my favorite ones (not that I have a lot of liquor glasses)...but, the painting itself didn’t meet expectations. For some reason the oil paint just didn’t want to go onto the canvas...so, like some paintings...I’ll probably paint it again. 

A Bit of Berries

 A Bit of Berrries

6x6, oil

Day 10 Strada Easel Challenge

I purchase grocery items sometimes with a painting in mind (such as these red raspberries).  Often, the food is eaten before a painting is created. This time, there were a few berries left, but only enough to fill this teeny tiny liquor glass. I love it’s deep purpley-red color.  It makes me think of grape jam. I may paint it again. 😊

Avocado Sunrise

 Avacado Sunrise

6x6, oil

Day 9 Strada Easel Challenge 

There’s something about painting this little piece that was so much fun, I wondered why I hadn’t painted one before now. I eat avocado and toast almost every morning and today was no exception. Unfortunately I broke down and ate half of it before I finished the painting. It was delightful!

Silver Sugar Bowl

 Silver Sugar Bowl

6x6, oil

Day 8 Strada Easel Challenge

Once again focusing on reflective surfaces in a super small still life. I purchased this little silver sugar bowl (I think it’s a sugar bowl) in Arizona.  I considered polishing it up before painting it, but the greenish patina was kind of charming. I’ll polish it later and paint it again.

Silver and Fuji

 Silver and Fuji

6x6, oil

Day 7 Strada Easel Challenge

Continuing with still life using a little wooden box...this time again, setting it up on top of the box to accommodate the bowl of fruit and focusing more on adding color.  I just love painting reflections. 😊

Shot of Chocolate

Shot of Chocolate

6x6, soft pastel

It’s fun to paint food...especially sweets. This is the first version of this still life and the second will be a bit more detailed.  I’m enjoying painting a still life loosely and again with more detail.  It’s an interesting process...and I’m always learning something new about my subjects.