Ranch Road 17

"Ranch Road 17" (pastel 9x12in)   sold

Here's another from the Richard McKinley workshop. This one had a watercolor underpainting. (I like the splotchy foreground!)

Southwest Sky

"Southwest Sky" (pastel 14x11in)

This was my result from the Liz Haywood-Sullivan hands-on demo at the convention. I very carefully followed all the steps as closely to how she demonstrated as possible -- I think it worked!

I also found a valuable lesson about framing when I got this home. I've been framing a bunch of stuff in preparation for the Rockport Art Fest this weekend. I was searching through my frames for something to put on my two larger landscapes from the foothills, and came across an old still life from '02 in a strange whitewashed frame that (I thought for years) could only look good on that still life (it had onions.) Well, I took the old painting out to see how it looked on the other landscapes -- it didn't work on those either. But then I tried it on this one  -- wow!

Something about the white and gray cloud shapes really worked with those weird gray knots in the wood.  This was a frame I couldn't seem to recycle onto any of my paintings lately, because my palette tends toward warm ivories and golden tones and not very many cool whites and grays. This painting, that I might not have tried outside of that demo, seemed like it was made for this frame!
Just goes to show the benefit of trying new subjects and colors!

Into the Valley

"Into the Valley" (pastel, 5x7in)

Here is the other little 5x7 I was working on when I was distracted by the cloud to my right ("Summer Sky"). I didn't quite get it finished, so just put a few more strokes in it today.

Hill Country Creek

"Hill Country Creek" (pastel, 9x12in)   sold

Speaking of McKinley, here's one I did in his workshop. This was with the oil wash underpainting, and was the last of the three I did there. I think I was finally getting the hang of the communication between the wet and dry mediums!

Sandia Mountain Vista

"Sandia Mountain Vista" (pastel, 12x18in)  click here to bid

This was my first painting the second day of Margaret Evan's workshop. The light was so fantastic in the morning that I didn't want to wait until after her demo, so I set up in a hurry and got going on these mountains, listening and taking peeks at her demo now and then, and working through on this one before the light changed too much.

I'm really happy with the mountains, and I'm really happy with the scrub-land, but I sort of feel like they belong in separate paintings because of the difference in texture. Although this was pretty close to how I saw it all.

Shelter in the Hills

"Shelter in the Hills"  (pastel 12x18in)  click here to bid

This was using a watercolor underpainting on Ersta sanded paper. I like the effect, and I was able to keep some drips showing through the trees (a' la McKinley!)

Foothill Path

"Foothill Path" (pastel, 14x11in.)   click here to bid

Another from the Sandia foothills.

Summer Sky

"Summer Sky" (pastel 5x7in)  available at The Gallery at Round Top

Here's my favorite little 5x7 from the Margaret Evans workshop. I got distracted by this cloud while I was painting the hillside to my left of this view, and took some time out from that scene to capture this one!

"Mountain Tour" and Margaret Evans workshop

"Mountain Tour" (pastel, 8x10in)

This was my first plein aire painting in the Margaret Evans workshop that followed the IAPS Convention earlier this month. It's probably also my second-favorite, after "From the Hillside," my last one from that workshop!
I included the directional sign, inspired by a painting I bought from a friend and amazing pastelist, Jeri Salter.

Since I'm at home on my trusty PC today and have the time, I thought I'd include some pics form Margaret's workshop. Here are some shots of her Monday morning demo.

 Here's where she left us to go start our own paintings. She worked a bit more on this Tuesday, but I didn't get a shot of it done.

The views were absolutely amazing - here's a shot of my view for "Mountain Tour"

Eeyore

"Eeyore" (pastel, 7x5in)

I don't know if it's legal to use Eeyore's name, but the coloring of this burro was just perfect!
   At least, more gray than blue. ...and more happy than sad...

"Eeyore" will be my donation to the silent auction at the Rockport Art Fest in Rockport, TX, July 2&3. Proceeds will benefit the Rockport Center for the Arts and its programs.

Blondie

"Blondie" (pastel, 7x5in)  available at Cactus Jack's

Many people who see my little cow portraits have asked me "Do you do horses?" I don't know why horses don't inspire me like cows do, but since I've always liked slipping a few other animals into the series, I asked myself, Why not?
I enjoyed "Blondie" just as much as any goat, camel or chick. To me though, she still doesn't have as much expression, but she sure is pretty!


(BTW: I'm very proud of my accomplishment in being able to upload, create and finish this blog post directly from my iPad. After several frustrating attempts and loads of research, I finally found a combination of steps that work! I only wish I could have figured this out before I went to Albuquerque -- but at least now I have plenty of artwork to post this week!)

From the Hillside

"From the Hillside" (pastel, approx. 7x11in)   sold

Today and yesterday was the long-awaited workshop in the Sandia foothills with Margaret Evans. Here's my very last painting (well, sketch really) at 2pm today. About 15 minutes into it another artist came to get me to say everyone was heading back to the hotel! I said "Can't I have 5 more minutes?"
So I left this unfinished ... or so I thought at the time, but now I think it's my favorite. I need to 'sketch' the lanscape more often - it didn't have time to get overworked.

When I get home I'll post more!

So You Want a Ride?

"So You Want a Ride?" (pastel, 7x5in)    sold

Yet another in my continuously ongoing series of 5x7 animal portraits. Love the suggestive expression!

My apologies for the lapse in postings. I brought my iPad with me to the International Pastel Convention in Albuquerque, and found out too late that I'm unable to upload images from it. (Probably just some simple plug-in or some function I haven't read up on yet ... but technology can sure be frustrating sometimes! lol)
But I had this cutie's image still in my camera, so was able to use the hotel's computer for at least this ONE post before I come home.

So far I've had 5 days of incredible inspiration, and it continues tomorrow and Tuesday with a plein aire workshop with Margaret Evans in the Sandia Mountain foothills. If I have any successful paintings perhaps I'll post them here before going home!