Snow Leopard

"Snow Leopard"

9" x 12"

Kitty Wallis sanded pastel paper

pan pastel, sticks and pencil pastel 

Short process photos follow...

 Source photo used by Kyle Hanson/Unsplash

Gearing up for a Week Full of Plein Air Painting

...and learning, always learning.  It's been awhile since I used my plein air equipment outdoors.  I have been practicing since signing up for Alla Prima Westcliffe - a week long event of painting outdoors, a competition and show at the end and a jolly good Arts Hullabaloo/town event.
Here are a few of my plein air practices these past few weeks.

"Hill with Yucca"

pastel on Canson paper

this is a hill of rocks on my property

left by digging and piling for one reason or another

long before we came here

"Petunias and Zinnias"

oil on canvasboard

9" x 12"

done from the flowers I have

growing on in a pot on my rainbarrel

Tomorrow I will be attending a plein air workshop with Colorado artist, Tim Deibler.

Acrylic practice in the studio - here - this one is large 24" x 30"

I love aspen trees.  Looking for a few young ones to put on our property.

This is being done from my photo from up into the alpine and mountains.

Stay tuned because by the end of next week, I will have lots to show and tell.

Today we are doing our OWN concrete apron pads for our new building - can you

say, 'concrete all over myself'?  Concrete truck is bringing the material, WE are 

doing the finishing after they pour it - 2 yards.

  

Day 4 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Barn Owl"

5" x 7" 

pastel on gatorboard/pumice with Azo Gold tint

Barn Owls and any owls for that matter, represent the NIGHT. I think of their stealth and their night vision and ability to swoop very quickly onto their prey.  They rule the after dark scene in the animal world.

I am more accustomed to Horned Owls and Hoot Owls.  They used to keep me up at night in Kansas.  Oddly enough - our first night at our new place here in Colorado, a GREAT swooped around the deck from the back of the house and landed on our archway over the drive.  It stayed there for quite awhile, as if to welcome us and reminded me that owls are never too far away.  (I have a photo of  it, just need to find it.)

When I would mow the acreage in KS, I would often stop by a familiar fence post or two where I knew the owls often sat while seeking out the next small critter.  There was usually some owl pellets on the ground.  

I thought I would paint this Barn Owl with a more traditional pastel palette - bright vivid colors from all spectrums of the color wheel.  After doing normal/ordinary colors of animals, it's nice to step outside the boundaries of being correct.

You can see more artist's work in little thumbnails and then click on their picture and will usually be taken to their site where they are showing THEIR 30 in 30 pieces.

Go HERE https://www.saetastudio.com/february-30-in-30-blog

You will notice that I mention my materials after the title and size of my piece each day with the word 'pumice'.  I am doing pastel work on gatorboard (a very smooth, but very sturdy/thick surface).  To get the pastel to set down on this surface, it needs a rough plane - a 'tooth' - to be able to not DUST off of the surface.  Pumice is a sanded liquid medium that comes in a jar - it is being mixed with acrylic color, most of the time, AZO GOLD.  I love what this surface does for pastel painting!

A Bird of a Different Color

"Pandora Migrant"

9" x 12"

merging watercolor with pastel

on UART sanded paper

adhered to gatorboard

I am plugging along with the online course I am taking

with Tonja Sell.  Finally hit the part that I will be loving even more.

The underneath of this one is watercolor washes, color mixing, stenciling,

gauze placement, plastic wrap effects and lots of manipulation of the surface.

In such a hurry once it was dry, forgot to take a photo of it.

Once that step is completed, you turn the piece around and around until

you find an object or thing you can embellish into 

a piece of reality - reminds me of when I was a little

girl and would lay for hours looking at the woodgrain

on my closet door and see faces or animals.

I saw a bird..and used a plastic sleeve and marker

to draw it out to refer to

upon adding more watercolor and pastel.

I got carried away with those whispy lines on the pastel.

I saw a bird with fine, shiny, colorful feathers.

The color families you see, were the color families

that were produced in the underpainting...which

if you knew, there is some underpainting showing

through on the end result.  Next time, I will photograph the

watercolor for you to see the process more completely.

BTW, for permanency - gatorboard is my new GO TO strata

for adhering artwork to.  It is good and strong.

  Foamcore usually warps

 when using PVA glue. I order

my gatorboard from

foamboardsource.com

UART comes in lots of different grit and either paper 

or board and

 is available at major art suppliers, 

I got mine from Dick Blick. Dakota Pastel

carries it too.

Painting 30 in 30 - Day 13/Rose

"Singleton"

4" x 6"

pastel,watercolor ink and gouache

on sanded UArt board

Last year I was a resident at Loveland, Colorado's

Independence Gallery.  

Each year, the gallery owner, Billie Colson

sponsors an event that

highlights and benefits

Cystic Fibrosis research.

Here is a poster featuring this

year's annual event.

Thought I would take a day of my 30 in 30

to paint a rose and get it framed.

This rose will be headed to the gallery

as soon as I can cut the glass for

the frame and mat.

The source for this was from a photo

that my florist daughter supplied.

It will be in an 8" x 10" frame.

Mixed Media for Today

"EGG"

6 1/2" x 8"

watercolor, pastel and watercolor pencil

on Arches WC cold pressed

A New Pastel for Today

"Lobster on a Plate"

8" x 12"

pastel on Canson Mi-Tientes paper

My friends often allow me to copy their photos for use 

in my art. This artwork's inspiration comes
from Rich,  my friend of about 30 years.

Thanks!

Day 10 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Kalalau Hiking Trail, Kauai"

6" x 9"

pastel on Kitty Wallis sandpaper

I have an old friend from H.S. who gets to travel to the neatest places, all over the world.

The inspiration for this painting is from one of her photos.

I loved the peachy colored trail, it sure looks inviting to me.

Cold and rainy here today - makes me want to curl up

with my pups and watch movies tonight.

Eclectic mix of Dance/House music on the carousel today -

some of my favorites:

Deadmau5, Ferry Corsten, Morgan Page, Adam K and Soho, 

David Guetta - this is my choice of music

when I travel in the car - makes you move

right on down the road, with a smile 

on your face.

And of course, I had added entertainment from studio kittens ~

today seemed like RACE day.  They were everywhere, 

including in my pastels on the drawing table.

But it's getting easier to paint without them there constantly in my way.

A Work Done in Mixed Media

"Tulips III"

mixed media on Arches watercolor

This painting was first drawn in brown ink, then painted with watercolor and finished with pastel.

I have been enjoying the ink drawing with watercolor but this one needed an extra punch of

strong color - I can usually get that with pastels.

It comes in an 11" x 14" matboard ready for framing.

Thanks for looking!

Be sure to check back often - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

starting SOON!

Clouds - Pastel - WIP

There is a special Moonlight Madness sale in a nearby town each year - Downs, Kansas . In addition to the sale, local merchants host several fine artists who set-up displays of their paintings in hosting storefronts and are encouraged to demonstrate their art.  There was a Halloween party for kids at the Community Center, and a Bake Sale on the street.  I set-up in a store called 'Timeless Treasures' - a really outstanding used furniture and collectibles store on Morgan Ave.  I took my pastels along and started this 'clouds' pastel on Wallis sandpaper.  It rained, but there were shoppers.  All in all, glad I attended.  Lots of interest, got to see several art friends I hadn't seen in a long while and a couple of sales - which is always good!!

The first layer of this painting is almost there...onto more layers - coming soon.

A Pastel of Purple Hydrangeas

"Purple Hydrangeas"

image approx. 6" x 9"

framed 9" x 12"

soft pastel on Art Spectrum (aubergine)

Several years ago, I went to Guatemala with a group of painters and Kaye Franklin.  Kaye painted the hydrangeas in the beautiful gardens at the Hotel Atitlan as an oil painting demonstration.  There wasn't enough time for us to paint them, however, I took a lot of photos, never thinking I would paint them someday.  Just goes to show you, you just never know.

I think that is why so many artists collect things, save a tremendous amount of photos and have lots of art supplies, because "YOU JUST NEVER KNOW - 

when that photo or art material or item will inspire you to paint it!"

This is the mat and frame added today.

A Pastel of Sunflowers

"Illumine"

9 x 12

pastel on Art Spectrum

Both my daughter and step-daughter are
 'floral designers'.
This pastel is done from a photo that my step-daughter shared with me.
She recently relocated from Denver to Boston
and bought these pretty sunflowers to help begin furnishing and decorating her flat in Boston -
looks as though it would feel pretty good with these 'big guys' smiling on the windowsill.
I like the feel of the Art Spectrum paper which I mounted on a piece of matboard.  

A Pastel for Today by Pattie Wall

"Provisions"

14.5" x 19"

pastel on Canson pastel board

Finished this one today - lots of work in that basket...what was I thinking?

Cut the mat for it and have an 18" x 24" frame for it.

Getting ready for 6 to 8 inches of snow tomorrow.

Spring is near, I can tell.

Pastel Work in Progress

Work in progress 

in pastel on Canson pastel board -

large-ish -

haven't measured it yet.

While cleaning out some portfolios and loading things into my flat files, 

I found a piece that I started many, many years ago.  

There was a reason I held onto it.

It had a vision from the 'get-go'.  

I loved that mad chicken.  

It makes the painting.

So, I got 'back to it' a few days ago, 

knowing that I would eventually 

be left with painting that lovely handmade basket.

Not a problem, I know baskets -

my mom taught me how to make them, 

also many moons ago.  

It's just going to take some more days to get it done.

Bad news - I had to almost RE-DO the commission of the drummer -

see a few post ago.

I attempted to varnish it, 

knowing quite well it was not ready for it.

It schmeared some of the lighter colors across the surface.

Not good on that dark background and lighted figure.

Been there, done that - 

mad because I knew it would.

But glad today I fixed it back to it's original colors 

and it's now - even better - than it was.

Now it just needs to dry AGAIN.

Oil paint drying time can be very unpredictable.  

I have started using Liquin mixed with the oil paints

IT HELPS WITH DRYING - 

but hadn't done it on this one ~ but I have now!

Learn by doing - learn from mistakes. 

A Showcase of Pastel Work by Pattie Wall

I have been thinking about pastels lately.

Haven't done any in a LOOONG time.

It may be time for some - coming up soon.

Here is a collection of some I have done.

(Collage made with picmonkey)

Shopping DONE!

Today, I am thankful for the internet. I'm not doing much Christmas shopping this year - grandkids mainly, 

but it's done all the same, on the internet yesterday.

Each morning the internet allows me to be in touch with others - friends, family and new friends - artists who are like minded and not so like minded.  

I start my day being online, for inspiration, ideas, and the gentle nudging it gives me to 'sail on' through the day.

Today I start a new commission.  I am excited!

"Chaco"

charcoal/pastel drawing on black pastel paper

A Pastel for an Upcoming Show

"Chrome, Smoke and Flames" - Art and the Automobile

opens this Sunday, September 2, in Russell, Kansas at the Deines Cultural Center.  Unbelievably, I am ready to go, ahead of schedule.  I have always been a 'last minute' kind of person, but lately I have been working on changing that.  I figure, I need the least amount of stress and that 'hurry-up' feeling, cause these days I can't 'hurry' - it just isn't physically possible. 

This is my last piece, of the total of 4, I am taking to the show.  It is done in pastel - on three separate pieces of Canson pastel paper...

 

 

 

 

  and put into a triple mat opening - and a gold metal 13" x 26" frame.

If I got paid by the hours I spend on framing, I am not asking enough for my work.

This matting and framing took me hours.  The photo below is just the mat and artwork..as once the glass goes on, there is no escaping the glass glare in a photo.

(Click on the photo below to see a larger version of it.)

 

 

 The "Portis Taxi" is located in a nearby town.  It is a 'late 1940's Plymouth fastback',  very clean, a beautiful car.  I loved doing those tedious little black and white checkers...what a neat auto. 

 

This show runs through October 14th.  If you are in the area, hope you can drop by.

Hours are different than above...Tues. - Fri. 12 - 5, Sat. and Sun. 1 - 5.

Where I Stand Sunday and WIP

A lot of times when people have accidents ~ they return to the scene where it happened.  Many people who fall off horses - get back on.  

This is the spot where 107 days ago, I knew my life had changed for awhile.  I wish I had a picture to show you. It all happened so fast.  Slipping on an icy surface where the outdoor mat that was frozen to the surface - broke loose, my ankle contorted the way of those football leg injury video clips, dangling from the end of my left leg bones ~ it was a freakish sight. I was in terrible pain and shock. 

I pass this scene just about EVERY day.  It's right outside the back door. I used to get butterflies in my stomach when I walked over this backstep.  I am much better now and just glad that I can maneuver this area ON MY OWN.  The new ankle brace is so lightweight, but still keeps my ankle stable from inadvertently 'inverting' it.  I can invert it when I want, but the muscles are still rehabbing and not ready to do it free will.  I still gimp sometimes...I will use 1 crutch or a cane when it all gets fatigued.  Physical therapy (and surgery, AND my husband) have saved my life. There are some of the best PT's out there in the town nearby.

So - I am happy!!  I am looking forward to each day being able to 'look and feel' a little better when I walk.  'Heel to toe' it goes.  It still swells quite a bit, but that will probably go on for the next 260 some days.  By this time next year, I intend for this to be all a blur. 

Yesterday, I got back to a piece I started around Thanksgiving.  It is being done from a photo my daughter took of my grandaughter (far right) and her friends standing in the bright sun - trying to catch grasshoppers. I love their little faces...so intent on finding one, pointing at them - or holding one in their closed hands to add to the 'hopper jar'. 

I have some tweaking to do. This one is being done in pastel and is large.  Don't know if I will return to it today or just set it at the top of my table and look at it for awhile before I jump back into it.

Here is where I started from ~ yesterday..

And this is how it started Day ONE..

I always have to get some of the 'lights' in ~ on one like this.  It keeps me going.

P.S. Be sure to stop by Etsy and see My Treasury created with Wild Horses in mind!

Where I Stand Sunday and New Pastels

Just about ready to drop these crutches - maybe by tomorrow.

This isn't easy for me.

I have just a speck of faith in my muscles, which are being exercised several times a day.  PT is great - everyone should have PT in their life. 

When I get all done with this rehab,

I hope to maintain a regimen of daily exercise which includes

bone and muscle strengthening.

This older body of mine, can't take another break like this one.

Tuesday I get to exercise in the Therapy POOL!!

Here is the finished pastel from last week.

"Along the Walkway - Atitlan Gardens"

(seems I like to name everything with the word 'sunshine' lately,

can you believe I was thinking in the "Atitlan Sunshine"?)

8" x 9"

pastel on Canson

I have a new 'grandpuppy' - Wally - who is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever

and lives in Colorado, so I haven't seen him yet. 

From his photos he is a doll and a half and

seems to be growing like a weed.

I couldn't resist capturing his early puppyhood.

Dig those moss colored green eyes?

"Wally"

9" x 12" pastel

on Strathmore pastel paper

Where I Stand Sunday is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing.
Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on.
There are several others who also write this on Sunday, see sidebar.

 

What's ON and OFF the Studio Easel

"Spring Feeding"

8" x 9 1/2"

pastel on burgundy Canson

Gestation for polar bears (ursus maritimus) is 8 months, where the mother slips into a spot beneath the snow in a slowed metabolic state.  Upon birthing her young and emerging from the den, the cubs need to eat often. The mother's milk is rich in fat, provided she is able to catch food and eat for herself. The cubs will stay with their mom until they are about 2 1/2 years old.

Making up for lost studio time, I began another pastel.  These are flower pots that appeared in many places on the garden walkways at Hotel Atitlan, at Lake Atitlan, Guatemala.  More work to do on it..but I needed to let my colors 'fly' a little after the three pieces in the polar bear series.