Fire Sky

I live on the Colorado prairie. You can see mountains that are 70 miles away. Some evenings the beauty in the sky at sunset is jaw-dropping spectacular and I run around the yard like a crazy person taking photos. This painting is from a photo taken on one of those nights. The two photos above show the painting in process. The one on the left is the underpainting. I put pastel down and then brush over it with alcohol. It becomes like watercolor. The one on the right is after I've started laying in the color with pastel. The bottom is the finished painting, quite different from the start.

The framed 6 x 12 painting is available from Hunter-Wolff Gallery in Colorado Springs, CO. It's priced at $400. Call 719-520-9494 to purchase.

End of the Hunt

This was my weekend project — something I should have done a LONG time ago. I've always kept my pastels in small plastic tubs sorted by color/value. The pastels were stacked 3 deep in the tubs. I'd have to go on a hunt every time I needed a color. The jostling around always made them dirty so I never knew what I was really picking up until I wiped it off. Needless to say this made for a lot of wasted time. Now I can easily compare my options. The thing about color, though, is that it's always affected by what's next to it. The same color will look lighter, darker, brighter, etc. depending on where it's placed in the picture. This arrangement is going to make painting so much easier!

Southwest Sunset - SOLD

A couple years ago I was attending a pastel painting workshop in Santa Fe. My husband and I were staying at an historic pueblo home outside of town. We sat on a deck behind the house every night to watch the sunset. This one was jaw dropping. There is something incredible about a southwest sunset. Pastel is a great medium to attempt to do it justice. This 5 x 7 painting is the third in my Western Skies series. 

House Sparrow - SOLD

I spent the day painting in oil with my portable easel — a paint box mounted on a tripod — at the John Deaux Gallery in Pueblo, CO. I painted another house sparrow. The owner of the gallery, Radeaux, paints birds himself. He does beautiful work that incorporates quilt patterns based on birds along with images of the real bird — a really nice concept. I was surprised and delighted when he told me that he wanted to purchase my sparrow painting shown here. He is a birder as well and told me the story of how the house sparrow came to Colorado. It showed up in the late 1800s at the train depot in Pueblo. Within a couple weeks they were a common sight. They were hitching a ride on the trains carrying grain from the east. Smart little immigrants!

Western Skies 1 and 2 - SOLD

These two 5 x 7 pastel paintings were bought together by a couple at Hunter-Wolff Gallery in Colorado Springs at the May First Friday Artwalk. The first is a Colorado sunset. The second is the view out our back window in Pueblo West in winter. The clouds do amazing things and the variations are infinite.

Spring Sparrow - SOLD

I love birds. We have a big birdbath in the backyard. One of the small joys in my life is to watch birds come get a drink or take a bath. But I don't think I've ever painted a bird especially not in oil. So I am surprised at how well this little guy turned out. I took his photo along with several of his friends while waiting in the car at the Pueblo Chipotle. The tree was just producing leaf buds. This is 6 x 6. I am planning to do a few more. My goal is to spend an hour a day painting in oil to learn to work quickly again with the brush. When you paint quickly you think less and that gives your artistic intuition a chance to engage. I'm sure there will be lots of 'wipers' but when it works it's wonderful!

Inner Light - SOLD

Last week was hectic but in a GOOD way. I was told on Tuesday that I could join the roster of artists at the John Deaux Gallery in Pueblo, Colorado and that I would be featured as a new artist at the Friday night Art Walk. That meant I had to get paintings to the gallery by Thursday. Panic! I also had three paintings juried into the 10th annual Sunny Vista art show in Colorado Springs on Tuesday. This show is a fundraiser for the Sunny Vista Living Center. The Old Colorado City Art Walk was Friday night too which includes the Hunter-Wolff Gallery where I have several paintings. On Friday night my wonderful husband drove me to Colorado Springs so I could be at Hunter-Wolff Gallery for Art Walk and then back to Pueblo so that I could be at the John Deaux Gallery. This pastel painting sold that night at the John Deaux Gallery. And three paintings sold at Hunter-Wolff!