South Falls at Silver Falls ~ original pastel painting

I have been going to the South Falls at Silver Falls Park my whole life.  It is a beautiful place, and I was a bit intimidated to try to paint something that I was so fond of.  I hope a little of the peaceful feeling that it gives me comes through in the painting.

Silver Falls : South Falls, 12x16, pastel on board
Available through Etsy

A quick sketch...

The watercolor underpainting...

Getting in some of the darks...

At this point, I got caught up in the painting and forgot to take any more progress photos!  But I think the watercolor underpainting is the part that is the most fun anyway...

Thanks for looking!  :)

A Rose of Friendship ~ original pastel painting

I had something wonderful happen yesterday when I was photographing this painting.  I took it outside to get the best light, and propped it up on the windowsill.  While I was taking the photos, I heard a hummingbird behind me.  I turned to look at him, and he flew up closer and hovered in front of my painting!  He obviously liked the bright colors, but it made me really happy that it caught his attention, and he looked just like an appreciative art lover at a gallery.  I wish that I would have had the presence of mind to get a photo before he flew away!

This painting was made in honor of my friend +Bruni Steinberger in Germany.  Bruni has been such a great friend who I was lucky to meet not long after joining Google+.  She takes wonderful photographs of the beautiful city that she lives in, and I got the reference photo for this painting from her collection of flower photos.

A Rose of Friendship, pastel on board, 8x10 inches
Available through Etsy

I did something with this painting that I haven't done in a while...  a watercolor underpainting!  I had forgotten how much fun they can be.  I like the random quality of watercolor - it sometimes makes patterns that I wouldn't have expected.  I was happy with the way that the upper right side turned out, and so I decided to leave it as it was, without any pastel.  The underpainting enables me to use a lighter hand with my pastel application, since I don't have to add as many layers in order to cover up every bit of white board that is peeking through, to get the saturated look that I like.

Here are a few progress photos:

Here is what the watercolor underpainting looked like before I started adding pastel.

I started adding the pastel, working in general from upper left to bottom right to keep my hands clean...

Thanks for looking!  

New Pastel Painting of a Plumeria

Today I am posting a painting that was inspired by the beautiful plumeria photos of my friend +Vanida Boonphitak. Vanida lives in Thailand, and she takes wonderful photos of the scenery, flowers, and buildings there.

Plumeria, 8x10 inches, pastel on board
Available through Etsy

Here are a few progress photos....

In my enthusiasm to get started, I made a silly mistake here and put those bright colors in the lower right hand corner...  since I am right handed, I had to cover the lower right hand side with wax paper while I did the rest of the painting.  :)

At this point, I noticed that my colors were getting a bit dull, and I had to brighten them up again!

I had a lot of fun with this background!

Thanks for looking!  :)

Pastel Painting "The Hideaway", of a Cottage in the Lincolnshire Wolds

My most recent cottage painting was inspired by a photograph from my friend Rich who lives in England.  He walks his dog Harvey (I should say his adorable and charming dog Harvey) every day, and on one of his walks he found this thatched cottage.  A big thank you to Rich for letting me use his photo for a painting!!

 "The Hideaway", 11x14 inches, Pastel on Board
Available through Etsy

Here are a few progress photos:

Thanks for looking!  :)

Book Cover for "Briarwood Cottage" by JoAnn Ross

Here is the finished book cover for the upcoming novella "Briarwood Cottage" by JoAnn Ross.  I painted the cover illustration back in October, and now the jacket design has been finalized!  JoAnn, with her usual kindness, has allowed me to post the image before the book has been released - indeed, before she even has it on her own website!

JoAnn Ross is a New York Times bestselling author with around a hundred books to her credit.  She currently has several projects in the works, and you can read all about them on her website.  I can tell you from personal experience though, that she is not only very talented and successful, but she is also an incredibly charming and nice person, with the most beautiful manners.  Working with her was an absolute joy from start to finish, and I still can't believe that I was lucky enough to have her find me, and then actually choose me to illustrate her book!

As I said, Briarwood Cottage has not yet been released, but it revisits a village called Castlelough in Ireland, which was the setting for a previous trilogy of JoAnn's, that begins with the book "A Woman's Heart".

A big thank you to JoAnn for making me a part of something so exciting - and another thank you to all of you who have taken an interest in my art!  :)

Cover Art for JoAnn Ross's Book "Briarwood Cottage"

Many of you know that I was recently commissioned to create the art for the cover of JoAnn Ross's upcoming book "Briarwood Cottage".  This was a huge honor for me, and a very fun and exciting experience.  Here is the finished painting:

"Briarwood Cottage"  Pastel on board, 11x14 inches
NFS
Other paintings available through Etsy

And here are some progress photos:

My initial sketch...

Here are a few closeups of the finished painting...

And the finished painting again:

I will show the finalized book cover and talk a bit about the book on my next post...

Thanks for looking!

:)

An update on the building of my art studio, with progress photos ~and~ my latest painting!

Here is my latest painting of a coreopsis flower and a maple leaf~

Pastel on board, 6x6 inches

Available through Etsy

Also - we have made some good progress on my art studio, and I though it was time to post a few photos!

Just getting started...

Getting ready for the floor...

Sub-floor and heating vents are in...

The first wall goes up...

The view out of one of the windows...  not bad!  :)

Wall number two...

Wall number three is up and number four is on it's way...

Those huge windows (7x7 feet!)  in the front and back were free!  We got them as salvage from my husband's work - they were remodeling and were going to throw them out!  We have been storing them for over a year - and I am happy to see them in place.  They will be wonderful!

Then the rafters for the roof...



After receiving my commission from JoAnn Ross for a book cover, we decided to add a little loft in the back of the studio.  It will be just big enough for a small mattress - perfect for reading art books - or a quick nap!  We have named it "JoAnn's addition".    :)
In the photo above, my husband is standing on the floor of the loft while he works on the roof.

The inside of the studio with my lovely, foggy view!



You can see the floor of the loft and the hole on the right side to climb up into it in this photo.  I am so very excited for it to be done!  My husband has been so wonderful fitting in working on it whenever he has a little time.  I know he will be happy to finish the roof and get out of the rain to start working inside!  :)