Sole Survivor

Sole Survivor
8x6, soft pastel

Sole Survivor was just that...the very last sunflower on my small little pot of sunflowers growing in the front yard.  I like these sunflowers since they stayed small and didn't overtake their space.  I also loved that the all the blooms lasted throughout the summer (I'm used to having to deadhead flowers but not these)...they didn't dry out even a little bit until September.

Frontyard Bouquet

Front Yard Bouquet 

12x9, soft pastel

Day 3 of the Challenge.  I had to resort to picking the few flowers left in the front yard to get the variety of flowers. The red-orange flowers are from a Canna plant and because of the long stalks with flowers along the entire stalk I actually had blooms fully submerged in the water casting all kinds of delicious colorful reflections.  At first I wasn't sure I liked the finished painting but looking over some of Van Gogh's florals, I decided what the heck, the blue background could stay. 

Jumped Ship

Jumped Ship

6x6, soft pastel

Day 2 of the 30in30 Challenge is a still life with three of my garden tomatoes.  My tomatoes are typically imperfect in appearance but otherwise delicious.  The larger one kept falling out of the too small bowl I selected and dropped to the floor on more than one occasion.   So I left it on the tabletop (which proved to be a better composition anyway) and then thought "jumped ship" would be just the right title for this one.

Backyard Bouquet

Backyard Bouquet 

12x9, soft pastel

For the past couple years I focused on learning all I could about the use of soft pastels and (for the past twelve months) kept working at landscapes using a traditional realism style.  There are so many great artists (past and present) and I wanted to follow in their footsteps.  So, I tried like heck to temper my use of color over the past year...but I just couldn't achieve what was in my mind's eye.  

I often got bored painting trees, fields, mountains and lakes in realistic colors.  So for the next little while I'll try embracing my weakness for vibrant saturated color.  This style is reminiscent of Fauvism, the Colorists, and reminds me a bit of some of VanGogh's use of over simplification (as in his "Bedroom in Arles") and vibrant use of colors (such as "Starry Night" and "Cafe Terrace at Night"). 

Backyard Bouquet was a gorgeous vase of flowers from my yard sitting next to my favorite oval blue vase sometimes used to hold pens and pencils...all I had to do was add three oranges and I was all set with a colorful still life.  Yum!

Little Brown Eyed Girl

Little Brown Eyed Girl

8x6, soft pastel

Here we are, Sept. 1st once again and the 30in30 Challenge has begun.  The summer rushed by and I didn't accomplish half of what I thought I would.  As I told my oldest daughter recently, "The best laid plans of mice and men, often go astray."   You know how it is.  So many times in life we think we know what our immediate day/week/month will entail only to be cast off in another direction, reminding us that we are simply not in control of our lives.  

Less than a month ago my sweet mother passed away.  She had a full life and at 87 was ready to go.  Ironically, that's about what she weighed (87) when she fell and broke her hip.  With dementia in full control of her mind for the past several years and her body weakened, she sometimes had thoughts of heaven and asked just days before the fall, "When I get to heaven, do you think I'll get a new coat?".   "Oh yes mom!" I told her.  "You can pick out any color you want.  What color will you chose?".  "Oh my!" she exclaimed with sheer glee and a twinkle in her eyes.  "I always wanted a RED coat!".  As a child she lived an impoverished life during The Depression Era and was often hungry...and certainly never had a new coat.  So this thought of what heaven would be like for her simply delighted her.  

Since her passing, I told myself I would someday paint a picture of her with a new red coat and maybe someday I will. The painting above is my mother at the age of six years old wearing her very best clothes for her first grade picture.  Not a new red coat for this little brown eyed girl...but her very best clothes none-the-less.

I had resigned myself to passing on this month's 30in30 Challenge.  I have a lot of things I still want to paint but I just haven't had much inspiration lately.  We'll see.  I have no plans or expectations of how this month will unfold.  I'll take it a day at a time and see where it takes me.  After all, isn't that all we really have anyway?

Dancing Reflections

Dancing Reflections

9x12, soft pastel 

I so enjoyed the 2016 Plein Air Festival in Door County, Wi.  Unfortunately, my trip was cut short...but not before I could visit Gordon Lodge for a second time at sunrise.  On this morning, the featured artists weren't there...just me...and a gentleman quietly fishing from the shoreline.  It was so very quiet and peaceful as the sun rose and reflections danced across the water.   I hope to return to this magical place someday.

Hanging Out In Door County

Hanging Out In Door County

8x6, soft pastel

There are many homes and cottages around Kangaroo Lake near Bailey's Harbor, Wi.  A nearby neighbor's laundry provided a great little scene to paint.  With five brothers and sisters, hanging laundry on the clothesline was a frequent activity and fond childhood memory.