I've decided to try oil painting (again after 30+ years!) since I have to "pastel" in the attic (dust problems), and the attic is not air conditioned. I can paint with oils in the bedroom & have some nice colorful smudges on the bedspread. This painting is "break-through" for me in the literal sense since I've been unable to do anything artistically since sometime in 2008. I am hoping to deliver myself from a career that I dreamed I would retire from with great satisfaction, but instead has left me longing to go back and try something else. Oh well, wah waaaah. Who knows where this will lead...
I've been working/not working on this pastel for over almost a year. In fact, it doesn't look like this anymore since I was unhappy with the tree & sort of ERASED! it. This was supposed to be a birthday gift for my friend and voice teacher, founder/conductor of New York Treble Singers & Davidson Singers in NYC, Virginia Davidson...who has moved back to her home town in Florida (but will be back again in May for a 25th anniversary gala performance with NYTS & Davidson Singers). So, unfortunately, this work is far from done...and far from its intended home!
Lots of beautiful scenery along Hunt Road in Brookville, Long Island NY. The owner was very obliging as we captured images of several horses in colorful blankets being led back to the stables. This is a 25 X 19" (approx) soft pastel on sanded paper done from one of the photos...begun shortly after my last entry...and completed after a long bout with bronchitis. It's been a long, cold, strange winter; but the spring holds much promise. Thank you for stopping by.
More sketching from my "beach box". It won't be long before I'm adding to my photo collection. I love the ocean...especially off-season.
Did this just a couple of days ago: pastel on sanded paper approx. 19"x14". I think my work has a whole new "feel" to it since the "threshing" incident, don't you? I know it's put a whole new slant on my perspective of the world. I owe my recovery to all of you! Thank you thank you thank you!
This is a portrait of my voice teacher in NYC. Last year I joined the Great Neck Choral Society, and this is our conductor. She is a remarkable woman who, at 80 years of age, continues to teach, conduct, rehearse and travel with her amateur and professional vocal groups. This portrait will be a gift to her this weekend, honoring her and past conductors and members of GNCS in celebration of it's 50th year. It was the most challenging piece I've ever done, considering it's been nearly a year since I touched my pastels.
I keep a sketch pad and pencils by the bed in case I think this will be a day I need to sketch before getting up & around...much like when I was pregnant and kept saltines on the nightstand. It helps me deal with mental nausea.
It's been a long long hot summer. The oppressive heat and humidity bring out the dullard in me, and the least thing on a dullard's mind is keeping a current sketchblog. Every now and then, however, in order to keep from sinking into a completely vegetative state, I force myself to do something "productive"...ergo this sketch from the beach at Oyster Bay. Why can't it be Fall tomorrow? Why don't I have more than one puny air conditioner?
I did this pastel painting of my Dad last week. My father died on June 2nd after our whole family had gathered, one last time, which is something he had wanted for a long time. I missed the "Dad" he was before his stroke, which left him unable to speak or engage in the activities he enjoyed, but so admired his courage and tenacity in continuing to live the best life he could in his remaining years. It was during this time that I got to see and know him as a vulnerable human being, beyond the "Dad" persona. Happy Father's Day, Dad...I love you.
Another surprise from my attic collection. I found this hand-crafted card made by my mother for her mother on Mother's Day many, many years ago. I posted this for my mother, and for my children. We have some of the best mothers, past and present, in our family. Happy Mother's Day, Mom, with all my love!
I’ve taken a very long break from my work for some major free-lance projects. Too long a break is a bad thing since I am finding it extremely difficult to motivate (climb the stairs to the attic). I spent some time up in the studio rummaging for something ANYTHING! to spark me into starting a new painting. I even taped up a pastel "canvas"...and stared at it for a long time. Then I went back downstairs to sit on the bed and watch TV. And then...I checked my e-mail and found these great sketches my daughter sent me. So here they are. I think I have found my inspiration! (The top picture is of my Dad, her grandpop, painting lines on the lawn for badminton. The bottom, I think, is from one of her life drawing classes) Thanks, Erika!
I had a very small, conservative wedding 26 years ago on April 25th. It was a beautiful ceremony, but I often wonder what it would have been like to have been a traditional bride with a gloriously billowing, tiny bead studded gown; princess for a day with adoring subjects. Come to think of it, since I was a little girl, I've spent hours drawing "what ifs" and "if onlys"...ei. long long hair, skinny legs, many sisters and brothers or a face like Olivia Hussey's in "Romeo and Juliet". So, if I didn't/don't get to experience it in real life, at least I am able to indulge in my dreams while recording them on canvas. I don't know what happened to the dress (Gunny Sack) I was married in...but I have pictures. Maybe next, I'll do a pastel of one of my wedding pics. Soft Pastel on approx. 16 X 19" Colourfix paper.
This pastel is based on several photos taken at Virginia Beach with our daughters (spring break probably around 1990). While painting (pastelling) this, I had the sensation of being there...feeling the salty, misty ocean breeze on my face, and the gentle warmth of the late day sun on my back. The rhythmic thunder of waves and sizzling foam lull me to such a peaceful place, I could stay there forever. Some critics believe that painting from photos is not the "high art" that plein air painting is. I believe that it is different, not less than. When I paint from photos like these, the work is infused with a depth of bittersweet memory and experience that wasn't there at that time. For the record, whenever I use photo reference, I simply tape the photo up on the wall next to the blank "canvas"...and start by sketching with harder pastels to set the composition. Then lay in values and shapes progressing to finer detail. With this particular piece, I deliberately stopped before I thought I was done.
A great big slice of juicy, sweet watermelon in the blazing sunshine. Of course, it helps to be a little kid too. I am still working on this one, but wanted to get something posted before too much time went by. As it is, it looks as if the little girl is sitting on a bench in front of a backdrop a la Olan Mills. I'll repost after refining. I've spent way too much time on it already! Soft pastel on Wallis sanded paper, approximately 19" X 25".
Well, the end of our hallway which is the road between the bathroom and our bedroom. I like this particular spot in the house because it is very sunny. My fig tree likes it too. I bought that plant at a garage sale for $2.50, in the mid 90's. Since then, it has survived 5 moves! I didn't think it was going to survive moving from Cincinnati to New York, especially since it is somewhat fragile. . . .or not, I've learned. Anyway, this work is another practice session in depicting light. Thanks for stopping by!
I shot the reference photo of red trumpet flowers at the Gould Castle on the north shore of Long Island, this past summer. Since I had run out of paper, I did this pastel over the top of another that didn't make the cut, and wound up having to "build up" quite a bit giving it a very painterly look. I love working with soft pastels for that feature, but they are extremely messy. I tend to get overly aggressive, resulting in a very short life for the softer pastels ie. Schminke & Sennelier, and terrible looking fingernails. Never do a pastel like this just before an interview.
