Autumn creek

Along the Creek, Late November 12x9 pastel, copyright 2012

Not surprisingly, it didn't take long before I returned to pastel landscapes.  This one wasn't really planned, but the weather was so perfect last week that I decided to wander down to the creek and see what I could see.  A couple of tree trunks that had piled up during last spring's flood served as both seat and easel.   It took about an hour to work it out and the details were finished later in the studio.  I might play with it a bit more, perhaps eliminating the grasses since they feel a bit distracting to me.  It can be difficult to filter out what's unnecessary when working plein air - there can be too much too look at sometimes, though I certainly can't complain about the view.

October trees

Trees Study, Early October 12x16 pastel, copyright 2011

This autumn the trees have been unusually colorful; it seems we got the right amount of rain and cool temperatures followed by ten clear, warm days that made the perfect combination for a wonderful show.  I've taken many reference photos to hopefully cheer me up during the dreary wet late autumn that will soon be here.  I spotted this pair of trees about a week ago on the way to Greenville to pick up my artwork from a show and ended up turning around and driving past twice to get the shot.  Thankfully traffic was non-existant at the time.  Today is likely the last clear day and I plan on spending some time getting a few more photos.

The show in Greenville late last month gave me a bit of a birthday surprise: my painting, White Zinnia, won the purchase award.  This means a local business promised to buy a piece from the show, with some of the proceeds going to the Greenville Art Guild.  This is the first time that one of my pieces has been purchased by someone at random, who has never met me and is unfamiliar with my work.  It feels like a big step forward.  A special thanks to Granny's Corner Frame Shop in Greenville.

An update on my plans for etsy:  I have ordered some supplies, which are now on back order.  This is why haven't set anything up yet.  They are pastel supplies, including cut mats that I plan on including with sold pieces.  I'm getting a bit tired of waiting on them, and the date of their availability keeps changing, so I may just go ahead and start putting oil paintings on there and hold off on the pastels until the mats arrive.  I'll post once everything is up and running.