"Sunlight on Center Stage"

Pastel on Sanded Arches - 21.5x14.5

Every now and then a painting starts as one subject and "morphs" into something entirely different.  I assembled the composition for this piece from several photos and previous paintings of the salt marsh.  What I originally envisioned was an emphasis on pine trees across the marsh, but as I worked on the lighting and values, the cord grass took center stage.  I believe this was an exercise in values and color that really stretched my experience and imagination.

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"Mayo Marsh" - Work In Progress

Pastel on sanded Arches - 21x14.5

I completely wiped out the bottom 2/3 of the picture and started over.  Actually, I came really close to putting this one aside and starting something new, but there were parts of this and the vision I wanted to present that drew me back.  Here is the revised design and plan.  We will see where this leads.  It's still to cool in temp and "green" in hue.

Not much time to work today - I've had better days....

Added more color and definition.  Added trees as the center of interest.  My vision is to have the foreground in shadow from clouds with sunlight on the center middle distance.

At this stage, it looks a little ThomasHartBenton-esque.

Added the basic color for the marsh grasses using mostly NuPastels and Rembrandts. The harder pastels seem to cover and blend well at this stage of painting. I'm thinking of a title - "Pink and Green"... not!

Added deep purple for the basic shapes of the darkest values and blocked them in with denatured alcohol. The sky is roughed in with NuPastels and a few Rembrandts - yellows, ultramarine, and lavender

Initial sketch - orange pastel outline, sprayed with fixative.
Started a larger painting, and I'll document the work as it progresses. I'm falling in love all over again with NuPastels.

"The Stairs of St. Barnabas"

Pastel on UArt - 8.5x5.5

Whenever Barnabas is mentioned, he is helping or accompanying another in the work of the gospel.  These are called the “the Stairs of St. Barnabas” because the pathway leads from the fields, and the stairs aid the weary laborers up the last steep slope to the level road beyond.  So it is in life – when weary with the work we must do, how welcome it is to have a Barnabas to come and help or just to walk beside us.

This piece was done on UArt using only NuPastels.  I like the combination of the hard pastels with the texture of the UArt paper.  I planned this painting to work out the design, values, and colors for a larger work.

I am debating how to offer this painting for sale.  If you are interested, contact me

"Tide Water Afternoon II"

Pastel on UArt, 8x5.5

SOLD

This is an image I have done before.  The view is from the board walk over the marsh at Tide View Park.  Looking north in the late afternoon, with the tide going out, the marsh puts on a great display of oranges and purple.  The heat of the day begins to fall, the moving tide and wind ruffle the water.  What more could I want?