Studio Notes and Reflections

You can have different 'stratas' of ground on your surface to fix problem areas. [...]

Getting Started on Textured Surfaces [...]

(November 1, 2021:  Breaking news, this painting was accepted into the International Association of Pastel Societies 39th Juried Exhibition  as part of the 7th Master's Division.  I was 'over the moon' that it was accepted into this prestigious show.)     Spring this year in central Texas was unusually wet, making sauntering off onto nature paths a bit more of a challenge.  One does not usually associate cactus with rain, but it was after a rainy morning that I captured this scene.  It was very early, and the light was low and faint.   The grass was high from so much rain, the path soggy.   Most of [...]

I was especially surprised and pleased last October when I was notified that I had earned an Honorable Mention in the prestigious 22nd Pastel Journal 100 competition for my painting Sentries to the Sunset.   I began this painting because I thought I could finally use a particular frame I had,  I needed something that would fit into a 20 x 30 format and would go with a silver/gray frame.  I wanted to try and keep my purchases down through the pandemic, so I started off with a vague plan to work in a cool colors for this one particular frame.   A Bad [...]

Weather in the heart of Texas is never what you think it is going to be.  That is why when one November after noon, when it was gloriously warm and sunny, I made the most of the moment and set off in search of more cacti with my good friend Mary along a nature trail in Georgetown.   The Prickly Pear Cactus were bearing their distinctive fruit.  By now most of you know that I love painting cactus.  Their shapes, their thorns, and the superb weird colors they turn depending upon the angle of the light cast a spell on me.  Besides fascinating [...]

I created three boards, showing three stages of painting on a textured ground for my demonstration at the Pastel Society of Southeast Texas  in Houston.  (See November 2nd Blog Entry)   Having drawn the composition over and over, I was pretty sick of it.  I couldn't see exploring it again, but I hated to waste a good 16 x 20 inch piece of gatorboard.   So, nothing ventured, nothing gained, I broke out my ever beloved SpectraFix and fixed the living day lights out of that panel.  I let it dry.  Then I broke out the Golden Fine Pumice Gel and some Golden acrylic paint [...]

I drove down to Houston to give a demonstration this past Saturday, November 2nd at the Pastel Society of Southeast Texas.  I love this pastel society.  Every time I leave a meeting I start asking my husband if we could move to Houston.  Now mind you, the hour BEFORE we get to the meeting I'm complaining in the car how terrorizing it is to navigate the Houston traffic!  All in all, attending a PSST meeting results in a "bi-polar" experience for me.   This was the second time I've ever provided a demonstration.  I'm going to post my pictures of the three phases.  [...]

  Part Plein Air, Part Studio I’m not an experienced plein air painter, but I value the merits of going outside to paint.  I agree with the view that you are never going to learn what light can feel like, what real color and atmosphere is by working from a photograph.  Nothing will force you to ‘get on with it’ than racing against a sinking afternoon sun.  Volume and shape are not distorted by a ‘flattening’ photograph.  Besides, it is great to be outside.   Last fall, full of 'plein-air'  ambition, I set off into the wilds of my central Texas neighborhood green belt to [...]

I never look out onto an open field at sunset without a sense of just how much work farming is.  Ranching too.  I took a lot of liberties with the light of the dirt road.  In fact it is made up of a few strokes of fluorescent pastel.  The photograph does not translate the optical effect of using a fluorescent color.     I'm laying on the pastel here with abandon, I do not have much time.  It was iffy to use such a textured surface for such a small composition, but because the shapes are so simple, I think I got away [...]

October 7, 2019   The much-awaited cold front blew in to central Texas in the wee hours of the morning, and it is finally below 90 degrees.  It was just like this last January when I went out to the Blue Hole in Georgetown to attempt some plein air painting.  I was startled to find kids actually swimming there.  If you have never been to the Blue Hole, it is a park with one side facing limestone cliffs and a good strong stream that cascades over a man-made wall.  The kids were standing on this wall, obviously really enjoying themselves on this rare [...]