Snowman - Lighting The Way

 Snowman - Lighting The Way

10x8, soft pastel

30 day challenges are always fun…and a real challenge by the time you get to mid-month. This month is no exception. Yet it’s always good to push yourself. Right?  Below are a few other works I finished since my last post. 

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. 

A Walk Through The Park

 A Walk Through The Park

8x10, soft pastel

It was a gorgeous day in the park right after a rainfall. The colors were amazing and this piece was one of my favorite plein air pieces this year.  The pink tipped green grasses really caught my eye. The colors that morning were amazing.

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 😂

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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A Year In Review

 2023 - A Year In Review

It’s December 2023 and I’m strategizing for 2024. Honestly, creating blog posts has been something I really enjoyed in the past but I fell away from the habit over time (especially during the COVID years). I originally started blogging to track my own progress and did very little to promote it. If you’ve found this blog post…then welcome. I hope you enjoy reading a little bit about each painting.

2024’s strategy is “getting back to basics”. To that end…let’s wrap up 2023 with a few paintings since my last post.