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I am happy and proud to announce that I was invited to share 16 of my pastel, charcoal and colored pencil paintings at

Lifelong Senior Center in Ithaca.  

The show is now hanging and will be up in the smaller of the two main back rooms through late May.

You are invited to my opening on Friday, March 1 from 5-8. We’ll have refreshments and time to look and talk.  

Any paintings purchased at the opening are 20% off.

 10% of all sales are being donated to LifeLong.

I was thrilled when Pam Monk asked for a portrait of her ‘dog boys’.  They are delightful happy scamps.

I asked for and she sent me many photos.  Some were of just one or the other pup and some were of details I needed while others were of them together with the house in the background.

After careful consideration I decided to place the dogs closer together for a better composition and use some of the house walls as background.

I started with a board of the collection of pics

Then went on to sketch the dogs main features.

And contemplate how to go from there.  I decided to work the background up first which gave me a good idea of the balance and tones.

Then the dogs started taking shape.  Notice I like to get the noses and eyes somewhat detailed before the rest of their faces.

And then we were off and running.

Many thanks to Jim and Carl for their input and crit abilities. Couldn’t have done it so well without my guys.

I’m happy to announce that Karen Chimento won the auction bid.

Our local Senior Center is conducting their first online silent auction.

One can bid on a myriad of items: quilts, boat rides, nature walks, CSA Membership, Grocery Store Cards, pottery, etc

AND

a pet portrait painted by me.

I believe in giving back and paying it forward.

This is a wonderful opportunity for me to do a new pet portrait and, at the same time, donate the proceeds to Seniors in need.

I am donating an 8” x 10” unframed pastel portrait of a single pet.  The winner can supply her own photos or, if they live locally and need better photos, I can take some myself to work from.    Anyone, from anywhere, can bid on these items.

The Auction is open until June 21.

https://www.32auctions.com/organizations/85558/auctions/105270

I am absolutely thrilled to not only have my painting accepted,

but also to be awarded a prize in this year’s 35th Annual CT Pastel Society’s Online Members’ Exhibit.

The show runs from Sunday, March 21 to Sunday, April 25.

https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/4826839/2021-members-exhibition

Only 77 paintings were juried into the show.  And only 6 contain animals or birds.

Marla Baggetta, a renowned pastel artist, was the Awards Judge.

Her comment on my painting is:

”This image has a strong design with an unequal division of space and an overall high Key with strong darks.  The kitty is sweet and nicely painted.

My Award is a set of Landscape and a set of Portrait Pastels from HK Holbein.

Jumping up and down excited as this is the very first award I have ever received for my artwork short of a prize when I was a preteen at summer camp. 

Spending 3 days watching the snow fall was exciting at first, with occasional peeks at a sky, but eventually I felt as though I might as well live in Alaska.  One way to get through this was to paint it.   

We keep our DR window bird feeder filled so we get to see lots of birds and squirrels right up close.  Some birds, like Blue Jays, Mourning Doves and Chickadees are braver than others, like Cardinals, Juncos and Titmice.  However, the spot of color that a male cardinal holds shines through even during a snow storm.

I got so involved in the painting I forgot to take more than one process photo. I began with some dark rust and dark greens and wetted them with alcohol.  Then started adding background greys, pinks and blues.  Once it was all dry I added the snow covered weeds, then the branches and then the bird.  The snow was sprayed on last.  

Below you see the original color of the Pastelmat and the fact that I try out colors sometimes before I use them.

I also gathered the pastels and pencils and tools I used to share with you.

And you may say, “What was I doing with a toothbrush?”. That’s what I used to make the snow.   Wet the brush in alcohol and then rub it on some pastel and then spritz!!!  Fun!

A friend in Kentucky who has a sheep and horse farm sent me some photos of a Barred Owl making her nest in a dead Oak tree cavity.  I became fascinated not only with how Barred Owls nest and reproduce but also with the textures of the soft feathers as compared to the rough bark and moss on the tree.

I started with a sketch of the bark and the owl and got so caught up in the work I forgot to take a photo of just the drawing.

Since I am right handed I start from left to right and top to bottom.

I like to work for a while and then when I find myself judging too much I take a break.

I decided the background would remain impressionistic and the tree and owl realistic.

Since pastel is very ephemeral, I use a folded sheet of glassine to lean on.

While studying the photos I saw the variety of colors bark is composed of.

This section gave me the greatest trouble as the texture changes and so doesthe light.

And here she is!  Queen of everything she surveys.

Rarely does anyone not living with the artist (and often not then either) get to see a painting in process.  Most of us see it when it’s ‘ready for prime time’.  On a private forum on fb called “How to Pastel” we often show process pics plus the final painting and folks appreciate it very much.  So I thought my general audience might like to be ‘insiders’ too.

I often start with a drawing, and did this time as well, but got so involved that I forgot to take a pic until I had worked the top sheets for a while.

You can still see the cat drawing and some indication of where the bottom sheets will go.

I am a righty so I work my pastel, charcoal and pencil drawings from the top down and often from the left to the right to help avoid smudges.

I next worked on the sweet kitty.

 And completed the dark area on the left under the top sheets. I made sure her sweet cheeks and nose were in good shape before moving on to her eyes and the rest of her face.

Then I completed the top sheets and added the darks, on the right of the kitty, under them.

Then I spent some time creating the bottom sheet and making sure my shadows were properly done to create hills and valleys. And then waited a bit, sent it to my favorite crit person and photographed it this morning in natural light.