Pellicer Creek, Windy and Bright

Pastel on Wallis, 12x9

Plein air painting at Princess Preserve, Flagler County Park.

FCPS, last paint out before summer vacation

This view along the edge of the marsh toward the mouth of Pellicer Creek features an old, abandoned boat shed.  The rusted steel roof intrigued me, but the emphasis for this painting is the windy sky and the broken water of the bay and creek.  The atmosphere I wanted to capture was sun shining on the far bank while the near ground was in partial shadow from the passing clouds.

"Storm Tide, Color on Gray"

Pastel on Wallis, 12x9

When the summer storms come at high tide, the waves push almost into the dunes. The colors among the sea oats are their purest after the rain.

This painting was inspired by a photo of the beach after a summer storm.  The high tide the night before had washed sea weeds into the base of the dunes.  As the sun was starting to come up, the sea oats were awash with color, and the grays of the storm grew muted by purple.