Botanical Garden -1

Botanical Garden - 1

10x8, soft pastel

Last week I attended my very first plein air "paint out" with the Plein Air Painters of Idaho aka PAPI along with my friend Tina.   I should say we attempted to paint out....but mostly, we got soaking wet and cold each day...freezing cold.   Since we are both pastelist we didn't paint much but took quite a few reference photos and attended a short workshop.  This is my one and only painting for that event.  I was going to "finish it" when I got home but decided to leave it "as is" so I can consider it a 100% plein air painting...a benchmark for future plein air paintings.

Oh yes....I didn't mention that I also broke my camera because of all the rain (guess I need a waterproof one).   And then THIS happened...(note to self...don't take your very best pastels outside to paint).  It was a very expensive plein air event for me...but fun anyway!

Hyde Park - 13th Street Pub & Grill

Hyde Park 13th St. Pub & Grill

2.5' x 4', acrylic on canvas

Nothing feels better than to finish a challenging painting that became a "beast" along the way but was ultimately tamed.  Three weeks later I can now declare it finished!!  This was the case with Hyde Park.  A 2.5' x 4' triptych acrylic painting on canvas. 

Having  focused for the past year on learning to paint with soft pastels, I was far FAR outside my comfort zone switching to acrylic paints...especially for a painting this large.  Picking up paint brushes and struggling through this painting wasn't easy.  However, it was a labor of love for a dear friend.  In the long run it was well worth the agony it bestowed upon me (even though I will always wish it was just a little bit better).  At least it's finished!  Yay!!  I'll post a couple progress shots.  Then I'm going to enjoy a beer and salsa on the back patio.  Ahhhh, life is good! 

The first step was to complete the sketch...then outline it with a fine tip marker.

This stage was a mono-toned under painting.

The finished piece:

Cherry Blossom Canopy

Cherry Blossom Canopy

8x10, soft pastel

On the way to breakfast with a friend the other day, I couldn't help but pull the car over to take pictures of the flowering cherry and plum trees. It's that time of year when the weather is cool one day and warm the next.  The spring colors are so fresh and vibrant...the trees and flowers just scream "paint me!".   It was quite warm and sunny this particular morning.  I met a wonderful gentleman who allowed me to snap a few photos of him as he enjoyed a quiet reading spot under the flowering trees.

Sunrise At River's Edge and several others

I'm one who never sits still for long and I've been crazy busy these past few weeks.  It's not that I haven't had time to paint...but I've been trying to embrace the word "balance".  I've been balancing my time between family, friends, the dreaded housework and my love of painting.  Balancing one's time is not as easy as it might sound.  My passion to paint is always tugging at my heartstrings.  It seems I can easily spend every waking hour painting or scoping out new places and subject matter to paint.  The more I paint...the more my passion awakens.

Following are a few of the studies I've done in the past 2-3 weeks (disclaimer...I don't think they're in the finished state but this is where I left off with each of them).  These paintings were squeezed in around family gatherings, lunch dates, painting with friends, and a massive spring cleaning of the house.  In conjunction with those things...I also found the perfect tray at TJMaxx to organize and hold the entire set of Terry Ludwig pastels I recently purchased....I so love TJMaxx!  I'm in heaven.

Sunrise At River's Edge

8x10, soft pastel

Redbud Amigos

5x7.5, soft pastel

Julia Davis Park

6x8, soft pastel

Grazing

6x8, soft pastel

Among The Wheat

8x4, soft pastel

Demo 2 with Karen Margulis

6x8, soft pastel

Demo 1 with Karen Margulis

4x6, soft pastel

Roadside Church

4x6, soft pastel

My new pastel tray with all the Terry Ludwig pastels 

nice and neatly put away (for now)..love it!

After The Game

After The Game

8x8, soft pastel

Flushed cheeks, tossled hair....oh, the sweet face of a young boy after a baseball game!  This is Jake after a game on the Fourth of July.  Pure sweetness...and a bit of sweat-ness too!  

Mini Pastel Travel Case

In the spirit of sharing info, today I want to share My Little Travel Buddy.

Small Survivor Dry Box:
It's a sturdy watertight dry box (I found it on Amazon for $16.).  I think it will really fit the bill while traveling light and for kayaking trips.  It measures approx. 6.5x9.75 inches...5x8 inside.

The box has sturdy closures and four holes on the top and sides for adding a lock, lanyard, carabiner or shoulder strap.  It even had a metallic sticker on the bottom for signaling (or maybe starting a fire...I don't know) and a small compass on the topside (should I get lost while plein air painting). Hmmm, I don't plan on getting lost.

The following are items I have been able to fit inside:

• 48 half sticks of soft pastels (I repurposed foam from my Rembrandt pastel box and cut them to size, then glued the foam to heavy mat boards for support)
• 33 partial pieces of Nupastels (inside a 12 piece Nupastel box)
• Foam core and several pastel papers cut to various sizes (up to 5x8) inside a clear bag
• A clear bag for storing finished paintings
• A few business cards
• View finder
• Inside the BandAid box are a couple wet wipes (I'll replace this with wet wipe packets when I get a chance)
• Doggy bags to hold trash (more than I need...but they fit so nicely I threw the whole roll in)
• A red cylinder that once housed a pair of reading glasses.  Inside the cylinder I placed 8-10 finger cots, a small pencil, eraser and sharpener (I was quite tickled finding this little storage item in my hall closet).

In any event, I hope you enjoy my little travel buddy...just in time for a quick trip to try it out!!!

White Iris

White Iris

9x9, soft pastel

It's always amazing to paint a "white" flower and end up using so very little white paint.  This crazy flower was every shade of gray, blue, and purple imaginable. Of course with a dollup of my favorite red/orange thrown in.

I'm pretty excited these days...paintings are selling well and I ordered a full set of new Terry Ludwig pastels that arrive tomorrow!   I am very thankful...and very humbled to be in a position to paint every day.