I used to live in the Palouse–wheat-growing country spanning northern Idaho and eastern Washington. The Palouse was all rolling hills and curving feminine shapes. In the spring at dawn, you could hear the earth beginning to thaw and the soil opening up to breathe. To me it sounded like Mother Earth waking up after a long winter sleep. Do you see her in this picture?
Original painting. Acrylics on canvas board, 4 x 6 inches. Completed 5-6-2009.
Cloonan Collection.
Posters, prints and greeting cards with this image can be ordered online.
I’m starting to experiment with small paintings as a way to loosen up my work a bit. Some of these paintings will be in acrylics and some in soft pastels. All will be 5 x 7 inches or less. You’ll find these paintings in a category called “Small Wonders”. See the Category select box in the right sidebar.
It is so silent. I can hear the occasional crackle of a crystalline snow flake falling on the shoulder of my coat. There is a low unseen washing sound of the ocean on the beach a quarter mile down the hill. A bird comes to look at me, his mate joining us soon after. They make low gentle beeping sounds to each other as they watch me, and shake the snow off their feathers.
When I enter the trail, the snow makes crunching sounds beneath my feet, as if I walked on a hollow drumskin.
I’ve found the scene I want to paint. I’ll take some photos and return to my warm home to work.
Original painting. Soft pastels on Mi Tientes paper, 5.5 x 5.5 inches. Completed 1-17-2009.
SOLD–Thesen collection.
Posters, prints and greeting cards with this image can be ordered online.
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.
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.
Private collection.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Posters, prints and greeting cards with this image can be ordered online.
