Happy Birthday Gracie!

We finished up our art projects today....It was Grandma Day and Gracie's ninth birthday!

Happy Birthday Gracie!

Trees, Skies, and Water.....

Pastel sky studies on Wallis with an acrylic underpainting

I attended a three day workshop with Marla Baggetta this weekend. It was an artistic adventure that was educational and inspiring! I will continue to explore painting landscapes with a new attitude about Trees and their gesture and movement, about Skies and their layers and sense of depth and mood, and about Water and it's quality of atmosphere and how it flows and shimmers. It was a talented and warm group to create with!

Wild Women 2012

The Crossing

11x17 pastel on Wallis belgian mist with acrylic underpainting

I ventured out today to deliver my painting to River Gallery for the upcoming Wild Women Show. It was a pretty winter drive with the snow coming down.

The River Gallery

Featuring the art of over fifty extablished and emerging artists in historic downtown

Independence Oregon

Gallery hours 11:00am to 5:00pm

Tuesday through Sunday

503-838-6171

www.rivergalleryart.com

Exploring Color and Texture.....

Today was an exploration of color and texture with acrylics and the palette knife....


starting with a coat of acrylic paint, brushed on....

then adding some smooched up art tissue paper with matte medium...

then back to the acrylic and the pallette knife....

and more color........

A wonderful art day shared with friends!

Gems of color....

I spent some time cleaning up my pastel palette, and found alot of little broken and worn down pieces of pastel. I decided it was a good time to combine and make some new pastels out of those precious little gems of color.

Looks like coffee grounds.........

Love these earth tones......

Some of my hand made pastels have turned out to be favorites, but you can't get to attached because they are one of a kind, and will never be created quite the same again.

Grandma Day

We started a new art project on this weeks Grandma Day. We are working in acrylic on 12x12 canvas, and exploring using pallette knives. We are going to continue next week. Lily says it's fun to have an ongoing project....."it gives us something to look forward to".....I totally agree!

"Dreamscape"

"Dreamscape"

17x23 pastel on Wallis sanded paper

This painting was a loose study that involved painting over a another loose study of color, value, and composition. It went through a process of wetting down the original, and turning the painting from horizontal, to vertical, and then back to horizontal format, then going back into it with pastel once again. It was such fun to be loose and let the painting speak for itself and become a "dreamy" sort of landscape,

This painting will be in the silent auction at the 2012 Clay Ball at the Salem Conference Center on February 25. For more information about the event go to

http://salemart.org/?page_id=4787

Vision of Hope

11x17 pastel with acrylic underpainting

In times of uncertainty in life, I find that art and my creative self can help sustain me.

I dropped off a painting this evening for the upcoming

Keizer Art Association

January 2012

Pacific Northwest Artists Show

It has been one of those paintings that has carried me through some uncertain times of

holding on to hope.

May we all have visions of hope

for promise for the future
in this New Year

and in our daily lives.