Light Breezes

Pastel, 9x6 on UArt

The morning begins with calm and quiet.  A soft breeze hardly ripples the water in the bay.  The clouds are rising in tatters, but they will return when the sea breeze begins.

Unsettled

Pastel 9x6 on UArt

One thing I had to relearn with this small piece - be ruthless with things that may be good but don't advance your idea. My initial inspiration was the billowing clouds coming in over the marsh - the unsettled clouds contrasted by the vast, motionless marsh.
To purchase this painting, please contact me via e-mail or comment.

Refining the Idea

Mayo Reprise - 18x12

Sun Streaks - 9x6

Twin Groves - 9x6

Project for the New Year - Refining the Idea

I started with the original painting Mayo Reprise which I had done a few years ago. It was a nice painting, but it seemed to lack a something. I did not find in it a central idea, but many competing elements. At the suggestion of my friend and mentor, Lyn Asselta, I undertook to pull from the old painting the ideas I could explore and do a smaller painting to explore those ideas

These are the first two results.

Sun Streaks - I took as my idea the steaks of light from the broken clouds. In order to emphasize those streaks of light, I eliminated much of the detail of the painting and darkened the sky to support the idea of broken clouds and strong shadows. I punched the colors for emphasis.

Twin Groves - the two clumps of trees standing together but still separate has intrigued me for some time. In order to emphasize the trees, I changed their placement above the underbrush and reduced the definition in the trees and and marsh. I moved the shoreline back to provide space for reasonable and believable reflections. Colors and values were punched while reducing edges and definition.