Small Paintings

"Maine Marsh", 4"x 6", Oil on Canvas
I've painted a few miniatures over the past couple of weeks and decided to paint another marsh painting because it's such an incredible area.

Schoodic Point Pastel

"Schoodic Point in Fog", 5"x8", Pastel
I finished this pastel landscape of Schoodic Point last night. For those of you who are not from Maine, Schoodic Point is downeast on the coast in the town of Winter Harbor. That whole region is one of my favorite places in the state. The day I visited was foggy but I thought it was beautiful. I'll be working on a landscape in oil today and will get that posted as soon as it's finished.

It's Snowing!

Well, we are getting our first snowfall of the season here in Maine. We're supposed to get 3 to 5 inches with sleet and freezing rain but I don't think it's going to amount to much. This is only the beginning of a very long and cold winter here. I'll try to keep you all posted with wintery pics. Most of us here in the northeast heat our homes with heating oil and at $310.00 for 100 gallons of oil (and rising), I'm afraid it's going to be a very expensive winter. Ok, enough about the cold...I've been working on some pastels, one of which I've already thrown away because I wasn't happy with it. I do have a pastel landscape of Schoodic Point that is almost finished and an oil painting ready to go on the easel. I'll post pics as soon as it's finished.

Pastel Finished

"Fall Drive", 8"x10", Pastel
I was happy to have finished this pastel landscape of rural Maine. Am I happy with it? No! I'm usually never happy with my work because I'm so critical. There is always something in a painting that I could have done differently but there is always next time. If I decide to frame this, I will not spray the pastel with fixative. I don't like fixative on the final layer because it really does alter the final colors. Usually a good tap is all that is needed to get any loose pastel dust off of the surface. When framing a pastel, I also use spacers and a mat with a reverse bevel so if any pastel dust falls it will not end up in the corners of the mat.

Olive Series

"Three Olives", 5x7, Oil on Board
Sorry I haven't posted in a week but I've been taking care of some art related items. Friday I went to the Westbrook gallery to drop off new pastels and an oil landscape. They seemed to like the work. I've also been preparing my entry for a juried show which is always fun. I finished this quick olive painting to go with the series. After I finish posting, I plan on working on my pastel that I had started and working on a new artist statement. There is always so much to do and very little time.

Pastel Continues

The photo of the my pastel came out a little dark but I wanted to give you an idea of how far I've gotten on the piece. I decided to work the piece from top to bottom to eliminate smudging. On some pastels, I'll work on the piece all over. A taped edge is left around the perimeter for ease of handling at the frame shop later. I'll hopefully have this completed soon!

Pastels Again

It's a miracle that I was able to upload these photos because I've been getting error messages every time I try to load a photo. Apparently there is a known issue regarding uploading of photos within Blogger. I hope they get this bug worked out soon. I haven't worked on any pastels within three months so I thought it was about time. I'm using Reeves BFK paper with a pumice ground that I created myself. I usually pick out the pastels I need from my cases and put them in a try etc... so they don't roll off onto the floor. At $3.00 - $4.00 a stick I can't afford to break them on the floor. We'll see how this goes because I've never made my own pastel surface before. I typically use Sennlier La Carte sanded paper. I also have another olive painting started in oils for my olives series.