Pounce and Prance

I just spent the most delightful 2 days with my great niece, Regan, a sweet budding artist!  We had a sleep over together with another fellow artist- my daughter, Callie.

Regan is 8 years old and loves painting.   After she painted a picture for me for Christmas, we decided that we needed some time to paint together.  When she visits, she often digs through the collection of old Beanie Babies from my kid's childhood.  She picked out two favorites to take home this time so we decided they would be the subject for our first painting:  "Pounce and Prance".  I worked in pastel and Regan worked with acrylic paint.  Callie also worked with acrylics but didn't have time to finish hers.  We had a ball!

The joy Regan (and Callie) displays while painting brought me such joy as well.   Thank you, Regan!

LEMONS # 2 AND #3

I thought after my first lemon attempt, I would continue to paint a few more.  Not only did I have all the paints mixed up, but I rarely work with yellow!  I also rarely work with fruit!  So it was a great exercise.  I appreciated how the different ground on the canvas really makes a difference.

My second attempt, below was on a salmon colored board. I aborted that attempt as I just didn't like the colors.  For the third attempt above, I went back to a sepia toned canvas, changed the arrangement and threw some blueberries in.  I am attempting to stay loose and not get caught up in the details!  It is a challenge when you are used to focusing on small details on a face!

I just finished this pastel commission.  I so enjoyed painting this darling, bright eyed child.  

#1 Lemons

After focusing on pastel portraits for the past half year- all from photographs,  I want to dig back in to oils.  And I want to begin again painting from life - Ala Prima!  So out came some lemons and a cutting board.  Was it ever fun!  I am rusty for sure but I hope to continue with these studies!

Jo Jo

This little sweetie flashed on the home screen of my friend at work every day. Each time I was drawn into her bright, joyful,  inquisitive eyes!  Finally, one day I announced that I must paint her!  I hadn't done a portrait commission in a while so it was time to jump in again.   I was happy to give it to her daughter as a gift for giving me the pleasure of painting her!

Marsh at Sunrise

I went back to the beautiful morning where Maria and I caught the sunrise. We were given the most glorious golden gift!  A pink fog was burning off in the back ground and the marsh grass caught the first rays of the golden sun.  It was stunning and I would love to become more disciplined to do this more often!   For now, I have a some pictures that help me recreate the moment and I often go back to them!  

Sun Lit Path

I enjoyed being very loose with this small pastel.