Grandfather Beech

 Behind my school there is a small forgotten tract of forest surrounded by development where some very old beautiful Silver Beech trees can be found.  My purpose was to play around  with a complimentary palette of purples and yellows.  11x14in pastel   

Chilly Peppers

 Finished drawing. While a snowstorm was raging outside I kept warm by working on this large pastel of chili peppers from photographs I took at the Bel Air farmers market last year. I worked on black sanded paper and purposely kept it loose and squiggly up close but seemingly realistic when observed from a distance. While I greatly admire the virtuosity of pastel artists who get in there and blend into hyper- realism, I prefer to let the colors mix optically by layering marks. 18x26in. pastel

Chili Peppers

 On a cold, snowy Monday the only way to keep warm in the studio is to do a hot drawing. I am working on a large 18x26 in pastel on a black sanded board. It's amazing how many colors can be found on a single pepper and I took that as my challenge. I,ll post it when it's finished. Many more layers and squiggles to go,  

Keene Valley Days

 Outside its snowing and cold. It's a snow day and it's time for my annual Keene Valley fire truck painting. I love the bright cadmium red truck that's parked all over town during August celebrations. Every winter I do a little painting  to remind me of those warm summer days. I donate the painting to the firehouse auction when we visit. I think this is the 4th . 10x10in oil on birch panel

Snow Day

 I completed this pastel during a snow day holiday from school last week. It was a clear, crisp and very cold morning walking Maggie through the woods behind school that I stopped to marvel at the  blue shadows cast by the sun. 16x20in pastel

Spring Thaw

 When the snow had finally melted I went walking through the woods and into the lower pasture on the farm behind our house. I came upon a pile of bones from a cow that didn't make it through the winter. The sun was casting low shadows on the bones and I was struck by their beauty. If you don't think of them as a pile of bones they are quite beautiful in terms of shapes and lines and colors.  This painting is my reaction to all of the "pretty" pictures I see in the pastel world. I've gotten so weary of majestic, pastoral scenery. I picked a subject that could be considered quite horrible but I think is very beautiful. It's nature, death, regeneration. Kind of a slap in the face visually. It's ugly but it's not. 18x26in pastel   

Waterboys

 On the coldest day of the year, or decade for that matter, I decided to paint a memory from the warmest day of the summer. Here is a group of friends crabbing along the Severn river at dawn. I remember the river being yellow with morning sunlight. 9x12in oil on birch panel