Tanner's Ridge at Big Meadow

My son attending camp several hours away in the mountains had the added drudgery of having to drive there and back twice. However, with my love of plein air painting, I turned it into several productive trips.

I painted a hand full of scenes as I came north on the Blue Ridge Parkway from Roanoke. Yet I knew that I wanted to paint the rich yellows of a meadow and drove through onto Skyline Drive to Big Meadow. I fell in love.

This is Tanner's Ridge on the back side of Big Meadow. It delighted me to see sky all the way down to the ground. A very windy day, I made generous use of bunji cords so I wouldn't play Mary Poppins. This is a 12x16 oil, a large size for me. It was completed in the field.

A cyclist came by and visited, calling it, "pretty." A while later, a boy in HS stopped and also called it, "pretty." I find that very charming, especially considering that they were my only company for the day on this brisk ridge.


Tanner's Ridge at Big Meadow
12x16
Oil on canvas
SOLD

Locust Cove

We met at a party in Maryland on a large creek close to the Chesapeake. My son came along to fish and our host provided us with bushels of blue crabs.

I brought my pastels and went early to the event to paint before dinner. Working alone in the midsts of socializing suited me, although I did have to take breaks to thread worms on hooks! Each cast, sprayed us all with water. Pastels are picky, but they recover.

Although it wasn't finished on site, it didn't take much to finish it in my studio. It serves to show one reason I like to paint: as reminders of pleasant days.

PS - Friends entering on this page, please visit the main blog for more eye candy.

Locust Cove
Pastel on Wallis
8x11
SOLD

Waterford Workshop

May 31 and June 1, I attended a Sara Linda Poly workshop near Leesburg, Virginia. I decided to begin in pastels and did them on Saturday. Sunday, I did my first plein air oils - which won't be pictured here!

The residence which housed the workshop was quite scenic and large. The mahogany-floored back porch was large enough to hold close to 30 artists, their easels and supplies. Straight back from the house was a field and hill, often dotted with horses. When the rains did come, the half dozen horses stood still and silent in formation off to the right of this painting.


Storm's a Comin'
Pastel on Pastelboard
8x10
SOLD

Several out buildings were located to the left of the back porch. It was thrilling when the rains did arrive, as the sky had been quite dramatic. I pretend this is an apple tree, as that seems to suit.

Rain Begins
Pastel on Wallis
8x11
SOLD

Lily Pads at Green Spring Gardens

I was in a plein air class with Sarah Linda Poly through The Art League in Alexandria. Everyone else was working in oils; I'd barely begun my journey in oils and was the lone pastelist. The exposure, however, was perfect for my training overall.

Because massive, close in clumps of foliage blind me, I wandered around the pond area and wound up looking down instead for my source. The reflection among the lily pads spoke to me. It was completed on site.


SOLD
Pastel on Wallis Belgian Mist, 14x11

Belle Haven Point

Today's class was on atmospherics, one of Sara Linda Poly's specialties. Early mornings were foggy and, as often happened, it would get hot and humid afterwards.

This vantage is from the far end of Belle Haven, looking down the Potomac toward the Chesapeake.


Pastel on Wallis, 4x11

For starters, this image is available here.

Belle Haven Secrets

Again as the only pastelist in a Sara Linda Poly class, I imparted my own style on the rest of the class. Pastels have been around for a long time, but there are so many misconceptions. It is fun to serve as an educator and advocate for this beautiful medium.

This is the right side of Belle Haven Marina, that which backs to the nature preserve. I found the solitude very tranquil as I tried to make the tangled mess of vegetation in the Potomac charming! (Now you know the secret.)


Pastel on Rust Colorfix, 8x11

Poolesville Stand

A journey over to Poolesville, Maryland is always worth the drive. The area provided me a love of painting rolling yellow fields and stands of trees. Over a couple summers, I coordinated fellow painters for plein air outings, painters to include Paul Reuther and Brenda Sylvia.


Pastel on Wallis, 8x10
SOLD

Nested

Fountainhead Regional Park offers great vistas in an urban area. Here, though, I chose something more close to paint. I was fascinated by how these canoes were bunched up together tumbling around. They lent themselves to a more abstract treatment.


Nwarws
Soft pastel on Wallis
14x18
SOLD

Siamese Duo

These beloved kitties belong to someone who did me a big favor, so I requested doing a favor in return. I'd done other pet portraits as a result of Nancy Freeman's workshop, so I was excited to get working on these two. I documented the journey.

I am a cat fancier. And cats are Bonnie fanciers. It's a great trick when cat owners think their pet will be reluctant to have my company and then the feline mauls me with attention. I just love that...except when I'm trying to take pictures of the subjects!

Although I did get one or two shots of them together, when I got home I realized I had separate pictures of the cats that I could piece together more effectively. The cats look very different. One had a long, refined nose and had vivid violet blue slanted eyes, which were very crossed. The other had a darker, more blunted face with round gray eyes and less crossing.

I played with the height of the rear one and the larger dimensions of the front one to get the proper arrangement.
This is on Belgian Mist Wallis paper and is 12x18. Although there are exceptions, pastels begin dark.
The front cat had a coat that was a little curly and I was grateful for the added interest.

The deep red background was of the owner's choice based on a sample I'd shown her; I scumbled it a bit, so it would blend with her den's paint.

Siamese Duo
Soft Pastel on Wallis Belgian Mist
14x18
SOLD

Before the Dozer

Where I live is ripe with construction. Little houses with land become mega developments with McMansions.

That's what happened here. A little rancher with property on Marion Place was removed, but the vegetation remained. These bushes along what had been the driveway seemed to stand as sentinels to what was, as memories of the busy family that once lived there.

On a walk with a friend, I noticed these remaining bushes from the road, the opposite direction. I'd seen them before, but this time they had a pull. A few days later, I went there to paint them in their steadfast charm.

And I was devastated when only days later they were ripped out in a heap. At least they have this tribute.


Pastel on Wallis, 8x11