Back in the Saddle

My blog has been ignored lately, and for that I apologize.  It has been a crazy six months as I have a tendency to overcommit myself to non-art.  I've also been focusing on my Facebook page, since I am often on there anyway talking with geographically scattered friends and relatives.  And while Facebook has been attracting a lot of views, this blog seems to be attracting mostly spam.  But Facebook has its limitations; the biggest one being that it is difficult to "follow" if you are not on Facebook.  But I'm willing to try again for those loyal few who are legitimately following this blog and who justifiably have a dislike for social media.

Let's start with some more recent pastels, and then I'll work backwards a bit, interspersed with new works as they come along.

It's common for pastelists to mat their work, which means we often have scraps and bits of mat board just sitting around in a pile.  Another artist whose blog I follow, Karen Margulis, has said that she often uses scraps for quick studies and sketches, so I decided to give that a try.  I had two long narrow pieces in a warm dark grey that would work for panoramic scenes.  Here are the results:

Dormant 5x14 pastel, copyright 2013

End of Summer 6x16 pastel, copyright 2013

Turns out, this shape suits me quite well!  They ended up more as finished pieces than sketches but I am quite pleased with the results.  I'll admit to giving myself a little pat on the back for the snow scene in particular.  It can be a bit of a challenge to work out the composition on unusually shaped pieces, so I played around with cropping the reference photos first, then sketched them in charcoal and dark pastel until I was happy.  After that they almost painted themselves.

The Dayton Society of Painters and Sculptors has an annual invitational for new members each December, I've decided that the snow scene will be one of my entries.  The next challenge will be getting a custom frame!

June Shows

May has been a rather crazy month, and as a result I've been rather negligent with the blog.  My Facebook page seems to be slowly taking over, but I will try to do a better job of keeping up on here.  The "craziness" of this month includes two shows, both with receptions coming up shortly.

The first show is the Dayton Society of Painters and Sculptors annual Spring Open Juried Show, which runs from May 31 (today!) to June 23.  The reception is June 3 from 2-5 pm.  I will be there, at least for a few hours at the beginning.  Three pieces were entered and one, a small pastel, was accepted:

Heading to Grand Central 6x6 pastel, copyright 2013

Cityscapes are not typical for me as there are far too many straight lines, but I decided to give it a try.  And to be honest, it wasn't the straight lines that gave me trouble to much as getting the cars to look right - I had to break out the reading glasses to get the details!

The other show is the Preble County Art Association Annual Juried Show, which is June 4 to June 29. The reception is June 8 from 2-4, and once again I will be there.  I have two pieces in this one:  a pastel, Scout and the Pink Kimono painted last year, and an oil shown below.  It's the first time in a few years that I have entered an oil, but I have been on a bit of a roll since taking the workshop with Steven Walker.  Hopefully I will see some of you at one or both receptions!

Storm on the Horizon 16x20 oil on canvas board, copyright 2013

Three shows in one post

Saturday was pretty hectic one for me as I ran about for two different shows in opposite directions.  The first was the annual show for the Dayton Society of Painters and Sculptors.  It's the first time I've tried this one and it will be another day or two before I find out if my two pieces, Scout and the Pink Kimono and Remnants of an Early Morning Storm will be accepted.  A fellow artist told me that usually only about a third of entered pieces are accepted, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

The second show was the reception for the Annual Juried Art Exhibit at the Preble Fine Arts Center.  Three pieces are in the show, and one, Midsummer Barn, won second place in the pastel category.  Later the chair of the committee of the show told me that the judge really liked it, but gave it second because he didn't like the frame or matting.  Ouch.  That's something I hadn't really considered, but probably should pay more attention to.  I've been trying to frame my pastels without mats - it makes them look more like "paintings" - but this one had a bright white mat.  I'll guess I'll keep that in mind for future reference.

The third show in this post is the Pompeii Art Show at the Cincinnati Museum Center.  I received an email poster for this one, and of course had to post it.  Tickets are still available if you want to come and bid on my painting!