Homestead

Another version of the tucked-away farmhouse we discovered last summer. "Homestead" is available on my Daily Paintworks Gallery.

Speaking of homesteads, this will be our first Christmas in our new home(stead).  I have NEVER put the tree up this early. Big mess, but I'm done! Love the strange warm to cool light in this photo.

Sky View Afternoon II

Instead of Black Friday shopping, my fun for today was a trip to the Post Office to ship four paintings, thanks to collectors in the US and Canada.

NuPastels on Pastelmat is an especially good combination for paintings that need to be shipped because they are not as fragile as softer pastels on paper with more tooth. I have a few more small pastels to post on my Daily Paintworks Gallery but I have new Rosemary brushes that I'm anxious to try so my next series will be in a wet medium instead of pastel.

Meanwhile, from the Sky View series that has gone on for years now, see Sky View Afternoon II on my Daily Paintworks Gallery.

Water Lilies II

Last August I was painting this view of our noxious weeds (water lilies) and sold the painting to an artist-friend who saw it on my easel. Sometimes, when a painting leaves the studio so quickly, I find myself wanting to spend more time with the scene so I paint it again. Here is Water Lilies II, on its way to my Daily Paintworks Gallery for purchase (where you can also see the first version). Happy Thanksgiving.

Dry Spell - the second time around

I don't think I have ever reworked a 6x6 inch pastel before but there's always a first time. I LOVED parts of this painting but not so much on other parts. Much happier with it overall now. Scene of a dry creek bed in the Gold Creek series. Sold

Four little paintings

These four little pastels will be available for purchase online in the next few days.
Visit Barbara's Gallery on Daily Paintworks.

Inspire Yourself

 

Inspire Yourself

Inspiration to try harder

October Sunrise, pastel 16.5 x 23.5 inches

I'm getting ready for a group show at Scott Milo Gallery, Anacortes, WA, December and January. I am scheduled to show pastels and I just finished October Sunrise (above) for that show.

Below is the color study for the larger painting. I painted the study last week when I spent a few hours painting with artists at a local Community Center. Since I don't teach classes anymore, I am usually around painters who are quite accomplished. I had forgotten how HARD it is to make a medium do what you want it to when you are less experienced. My heart hurt for them but I was impressed how hard the artists I met at the Community Center work at their art and I think it made me "try harder"  - as my daughter tells my teenage grandsons.

Study for October Sunrise, pastel, 5 x 7 inches

Winners announced

Leavenworth Pine, 17th Annual Pastel 100 Juror's Image

I recently had the honor and pleasure of judging the Abstract and Non-Objective category for the 17th Annual Pastel 100. Winners names have now been posted! I'm especially pleased that my First Place choice in this category was moved up to the Bronze Award. Take a look at the list. Reproductions of all the prizewinning paintings, as well as artist interviews and juror comments will appear in the March/April 2016 issue of Pastel Journal.

Initially, I was surprised to be invited to judge this category. Though my landscapes have become more abstracted I haven't focused on this genre for a few years. I'm grateful the folks at Pastel Journal remembered my Abstract/Non-Objective period about five years ago and my images that were published in the Pastel Journal and other publications. Below are a few of my paintings from that period.

Foreseeable Future, pastel, 11 x 15 inches

Tuesday's Child, pastel, 17 x 24 inches

From the East unto the West, pastel, 13 x 14 inches

Slow Slide Into Pink, pastel, 13 x 14 inches

Out of the Blue, pastel, 11 x 15 inches

Silver Lining, pastel, 11.25 x 11 inches