The Wonder of It All

For some months I’ve been wanting to do a painting of our ferry, the Whatcom Chief. It was a difficult subject for me. There were the usual problems of many angles of view to choose from, time of day, lighting and weather, etc. However, it was also difficult because it’s a man-made subject, not a natural one. The Chief is a work boat, and was designed that way. It was not designed for beauty, like a yacht or a sailing sloop. At the same time, I wanted to paint it as attractively as possible, because we Islanders love the Chief. It’s a crucial part of our lives, and–in heavy weather or emergencies–our lives sometimes depend on it.

For these reasons, I spent much more time than usual planning this painting. It’s also the largest pastel painting I’ve done so far. I hope you enjoy it!

Original painting. Soft pastels on Dakota pastel board, 18 x 24 inches. Completed 11-10-2008.

Available $475 (including frame). Contact artist. Visa and Mastercard accepted.

Just after a misting rain on a chilly spring day, these delicate plum blossoms were too beautiful to pass by. I just had to spend some time appreciating their subtle colors. The tree is mostly an ornamental, though the small plums it will bear are edible.

I returned to acrylic paints instead of pastels for this postcard-size piece because I wanted crisp edges on the center flowers. Though the painting is small, I’ve found it takes nearly as much work to get it right as for a larger painting. I just use smaller brushes.

Original painting. Acrylics on canvasboard, 5 x 7 inches. Completed 6-29-2008.

Available $45 including frame. Contact artist. Visa and Mastercard accepted.

Posters, prints and greeting cards with this image can be ordered online.

A friend of mine here on the Island loves beetles of all kinds. She loaned me a beautiful book called An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles by Arthur V. Evans and Charles L. Bellamy. I looked at some photos of beetles online, and thought this Dogbane Leaf Beetle, found throughout the eastern U.S. and Canada, was one of the most beautiful. I just had to try to capture the shiny color effect in a pastel painting.

Original painting. Soft pastel on tobacco Canson Mi Tientes paper (smooth side), 6.5 x 8.5 inches. Completed 6-21-2008.

Available $100 including frame. Contact artist. Visa and Mastercard accepted.

Posters, prints and greeting cards with this image can be ordered online.

I was in Bellingham doing errands one afternoon when a storm was brewing. At one point, I got into my car, looked up, and saw this incredible sky. The clouds were so dark and the sun breaking through was so bright, the contrast was irresistible. Nature also composed the design so beautifully that all I had to do was snap photos of this very fleeting moment. Later, in the studio, when I designed the painting I omitted power lines, the Herald building, and other distracting information that was in the reference photos, and I added the broken fence at the bottom to ground the sky without distracting from it.

Original painting. Soft pastel on Dakota sanded pastel board, 11 x 8.5 inches. Completed 5-18-2008.

Available $265 including matting and frame. Contact artist. Visa and Mastercard accepted.

Posters, prints and greeting cards with this image can be ordered online.

Originally named Mischief, Missy is a beautiful cat who walks with style and is very picky about her food, her surroundings, and the company she keeps. (I am fortunate to be included in her household. It was not a sure thing!) She is marked like cats in the Maine Coon breed. I love looking into her green eyes.

Original painting. Soft pastel on ivory Canson Mi Tientes paper (textured side), 9.25 x 9.5 inches. Completed 5-16-2008.

Private Collection.

Posters, prints and greeting cards with this image can be ordered online.

This old stump is near the front of my house. It’s as tall as I am and too big to put my arms around. When the evening light hits it just right, and the shadows show it’s depth, it is spectacular. I experimented with a looser, more impressionistic style this time, especially on the background.

Original painting. Soft pastel on tobacco Canson Mi Tientes paper (smooth side), 10 x 6.5 inches. Completed 4-28-2008.

Available $115 plus matting and frame. Contact artist. Visa and Mastercard accepted.

Posters, prints and greeting cards with this image can be ordered online.

In the middle of winter, I was taking photos near a pond on a neighbor’s “open space” land and noticed this mysterious old barn in the background of some of the photos. I liked the rhythm of the gaps between the trees, in the grass, and the gap in time since the barn had been built and used.

Original painting. Soft pastel on ivory Canson Mi Tientes paper (smooth side), 6.5 x 10 inches. Completed 4-27-2008.

Available $150 plus matting and frame. Contact artist. Visa and Mastercard accepted.

Posters, prints and greeting cards with this image can be ordered online.

I’m planning a series of paintings with subjects from the nearby Curry Preserve, a 50 acre nature preserve on the Island. This is the first in the series. The Curry property used to be a farm, and this pastel painting shows the old livestock loading ramp. I was attracted by the wonderful textures of the weathered wood.

Original painting. Soft pastel on burgundy Canson Mi Tientes paper (smooth side), 10 x 10 inches. Completed 4-25-2008.

SOLD–McCrory Collection.

Posters, prints and greeting cards with this image can be ordered online.

I had just gone to bed when the clatter started. Something was rummaging through some empty plastic buckets I have stacked behind my house for use in garden work. I suspected raccoons, got up and grabbed my flashlight, but the batteries were dead. There was no moon and it was inky black outside except for stars. Then I heard something on the roof, and branches of the crabapple tree just outside my window were scraping against it. Suddenly there was the sound of a branch breaking, a big thump, a disgruntled growl, and finally silence.

About that time I heard deer approaching, the sound of hooves clear on the cold ground. I still couldn’t see anything, but deer had been coming by every day to see if any of the last crabapples had fallen to the ground.

After a couple of minutes, I heard a loud, “Whoof! Whoof! Whoof!” from something moving from behind my house toward the tree. The deer scrambled a few yards away, as surprised by the sound as I was. I heard something scrambling up the crabapple tree. Gradually the deer began moving back under the tree.

By now my curiosity was overwhelming me. I didn’t want to go outside (it was cold, and the sound of a door sometimes disrupts the wildlife), so I decided to try taking a flash photo. The tree is only a few feet away from my window, so I thought a flash might be enough light to see what was happening there. I put the lens against the window to minimize the reflection from the flash, and clicked to focus. To my delight, the red focus light was enough to show me a little of what was happening. A very large mother raccoon was in the tree, with one, or maybe two, young ones, and I could see the backs of the deer foraging beneath the tree. It was a busy night!

Using the red focus light, I was able to aim the camera and I get a couple of photos with enough detail to use as references for this pastel painting.

Original painting. Soft pastel on gray Velour paper, 11 x 8.5 inches. Completed 2-14-2008.

Private Collection.

Posters, prints and greeting cards with this image can be ordered online.

I’ve been fascinated by the shapes of some dead trees on a point of land south of the mainland ferry landing. This particular day the colors were rich but muted, and the overcast evening light was soft and subtle. Just as I was composing the photo, an eagle flew into the picture. It was a perfect Northwest moment.

Original painting. Soft pastel on St. Armand Sabertooth paper, 8 x 10 inches.
Completed 1-13-2008.

SOLD — Cary Collection.

Posters, prints and greetings cards with this image can be ordered online.