Tuscany

Cypress trees and rolling hills make me immediately think of Tuscany.  And......when I think of Tuscany, I think of relaxing, and wine, and lots of pasta.  No wonder I keep coming back to this as a subject for painting.  I used very little color in this one and kept it simple with very little detail.   That's quite a departure from the norm for me but I'm pretty happy with the result.

This is another pastel on Wallis pastel paper.  I really love that surface.  It can hold many layers without the tooth filling up.  It sure eats up the pastels though.

Morning in the Vineyard

There is something very soothing about vineyards.  I like the repetitious rows so neatly arranged.  Here, the morning sun is peaking over the hills lighting up the vines.  Okay, that's a little too flowery for me.  Let's just say that the sun is shining and it's morning.

This is a pastel on Wallis paper.

Morning in the Vineyard
Pastel
8" x 10"

Another Bird

This is a painting I started while we were in Mexico awhile ago when the only reference photos I had with me were birds of paradise.  I hadn't done much more that draw it and put an initial layer of paint in the sky and it looked like it was going to be way too tight so I attached rice paper to it and continued painting.

I love the effect with the rice paper.  I don't know why I don't do paintings with rice paper more often. It gives a softness and a nice textural quality that I can't get without it.  There are also goobers where the rice paper isn't attached completely so the paint spreads which for some reason, doesn't bother me.  It seems to go with the overall look.

The weather here has been so beautiful since before Christmas with temps in the 70s and 80s and almost balmy so working on a tropical painting seemed fitting.

Another Bird
Image Size 12" x 16"
Watercolor

Big Fish, Small Pond

I've painted koi fish so many times because they are really pretty and fun to paint.  I had this incredible piece of textured mulberry paper that I purchased well over a year ago but I'd never used it because it seemed almost too special.  I thought a watery subject would be perfect for it.  Of course, when I think water, I think koi.  I used acrylics thinned down like watercolor for this.  I knew I wanted some intense darks and didn't think I could achieve them with watercolor because this paper needed to be sealed before painting on it and in the past, when I've used watercolors on sealed paper, my darks are pretty weak.

This paper had no sizing in it at all and it acted like a blotter so I used acrylic matte medium to seal it first.  I guess I didn't seal it enough though because the paint creeped and seeped all over the place.  As I added more layers of paint, that became less of a problem because each layer of acrylic sealed the paper more.

Having so much texture in the paper was fun and frustrating at the same time.  Once I relaxed and let the paint do what it wanted, I enjoyed the process.  Below is a close-up of the paper to show the texture.  I shot this photo in the sun because I thought the texture would show better but because of the shadows, it looks like there are deep grooves in the paper when actually the areas next to the shadows are raised.

Using acrylics very thin like watercolor is really fun.  It's nice that I don't have to worry about disturbing previous layers (because once they dry, they are permanent) and I can still get the interesting effects of glazing.  Watercolors are still prettier and more interesting in my opinion because of the sedimentary qualities of many of the watercolor paints.  Acrylics tend to look a little more flat.

Big Fish, Small Pond
Image Size 22" x 30"
Acrylic

Purple Figs

These don't look so purple because my photo didn't capture the color so well - probably because it's so dark.  This is a an oil that I started awhile ago.  One of my New Year's resolutions is to finish unfinished paintings in my studio.  I'm tired of it always looking so messy even when I clean it up.  There's just too much stuff out there.  I have a lot of oil paintings that I've started and haven't felt like finishing.  I enjoyed finishing this but really, oil isn't my best medium.

I have no patience with any medium but watercolor.  I can spend weeks working on one watercolor painting and enjoy the process, which is usually tedious because of my style of painting but give me oil paints (or pastels, colored pencils etc.) and I feel the need to work quickly so I don't lose interest.  Maybe another resolution should be to become more patient.  Or...maybe I should stick to painting in watercolors.

Purple Figs
Image Size 6" x 12"
Oil
Unframed, gallery wrapped canvas painted on sides, no frame needed

Stressed

I felt the need to throw some paint and this is the result.  I looked back at last year's post at this time and it is very similar.  You can check out that one, "Strained" if you'd like and you'll see that this time of year  is not my favorite but it's my own fault.  I always feel out of control.  Last year, I made plans to do a better job of being organized about the holidays but obviously that didn't happen.  I just don't think I have it in me to get things done in a timely manner and that causes STRESS.

Phew....now it's over for another year.  I know those of you that love Christmas think I'm crazy but I'm really happy that we can get on to the new year.  I'll make the same resolution to be more organized and we'll see what the outcome is for 2012.  Who knows, if I get everything done ahead of time for the holidays next year, Christmas may become my favorite holiday.

This is a watercolor with bits of acrylic which I had to use (the white) because it was getting so dark.  It sure was liberating to throw all of that paint though.

Stressed
Image size 15" x 22"
Watercolor

Skagway

There were so many beautiful places that we visited during our Alaskan cruise last year and I've been looking through all of my photos from that trip.
I found this beautiful scene in Skagway.  It was such a clear, crisp day in June.  I'm not used to seeing snow that time of year so this was a refreshing change.  The temperature high during the day was around 58 degrees F - also a first.  I'm used to our "June Gloom" but even with no sun shining, it's still much, much warmer than that.  I've never worn a jacket and scarf in June before.

This is done in pastels on Sennelier La Carte paper.

Skagway
Image size 6" x 10"
Pastels
Unframed

Silk Wisteria, painting on silk

I had so much fun with this one, I think I will need to do another silk painting really soon.  This one has my favorite color combination - purple and lime green.  Wisterias have such beautiful and showy flowers.  I've always wanted one in our yard but we don't really have a spot for it.  They can get fairly large.  As they get old, their trunk structure is very interesting.  Fortunately, two of our neighbors have them in their front yards so I get to enjoy them each spring when they are blooming.

Silk Wisteria
Image Size 15" x 15.5"
Silk dyes on silk
Stretched on archival board but unframed
$250.00

Breaking Through The Clouds

This was painted from a photo I took while traveling on a bus between Liverno and Lucca in Tuscany.  The sky was so beautiful and the scene was so tranquil that I had to try to capture the feeling.  I really love the Tuscan countryside and you'll probably see many more scenes from this area in the future.

Breaking Through The Clouds
Image Size 6" x 6"
Oil
Unframed
$100.00

Sitka At Dusk

Last year we went on a cruise to Alaska and this is from one of my photos I took as we were leaving Sitka.  I wanted to capture the feeling of cold and the overcast late afternoon light.  I used mostly cool colors with bits of warm colors added in here and there.  I used a deep electric blue suede paper as my surface.  The more I work with the pastels, the more I like them.  The softer pastels are really wonderful on this suede paper.   I wasn't sure about using such a bright color paper but I think it gave an interesting effect.

 One of these days I'm going to really splurge and get some Terry Ludwig pastels.  They make some of the most beautiful, rich darks I've ever seen and they are a very soft pastel.  I was able to try them in a pastel workshop once and I really liked them.  They are a handmade pastel and they offer over 500 colors!

Sitka At Dusk
Image Size 11.5" x 15.5"
Pastels
Unframed
$175.00