Grateful Notices: All Over Sunset, Study, pastel on paper, 13 3/8 x 17 7/8

ALL OVER SUNSET, STUDY
Pastel 13 3/8 x 17 7/8 Private collection, Vancouver, Canada Exhibited: Page Waterman Gallery, Wellesley, MA

A very good friend in Florida sent me a photo of a sunset through the trees while on her walk. I kept coming back to that image and finally, I gave it a shot in pastel. The trees had a nice vertical aspect and they were very close together, a great set up for a more abstracted piece.

As the image progressed it became a playground for different colors. At first, it was all in warm tones and as the pastel moved forward, the blues and reds created more interest and interesting contrasts.

When it was done, I wanted more of that composition so, I started a 4 x 6 canvas and it worked out to be a very successful painting.

My thanks to R. who supplied the inspiration and to the collector in Vancouver that contacted me. It was very satisfying to make the sale and the conversation that followed was remarkable. Many thanks to you as well.

Grateful Notices: Red Wall at the Lake Pastel on paper, 17 5/8 x 23 3/8 inches

Red Wall at the Lake
Pastel on paper, 17 5/8 x 23 3/8  Sold, private collection
Exhibited,: Madelyn Jordan Fine Art, Scarsdale, NY
Also available as a limited edition giclee print

The trees are an excuse to make a red pattern and the pattern is a device for the yellow trees and blues of the lake to to emerge from the background. All the colors and compositional elements work together toward a common goal - to make the reds as bright as possible.

The plan was a simple one, to set up the depth like screens in a stage play and to have horizontal bands of colors dancing across. It was a straightforward enough idea but it took hundreds of pastel strokes to make it come to life. I had a lot of joy in the creation of it and hopefully it comes through in the work.

My thanks to the collector and Madelyn Jordan Fine Art!

Grateful Notices: Lake Sunset, Color Dialog and Cloudswept in Blue, two oils on 24 x 24 panels

Lake Sunset, Color Dialog
Oil on panel, 24 x 24  Private collection
Exhibited: Saks Galleries, Denver

For this painting I wanted to do an evening scene without using the typical sunset colors. So rather than resorting to the use of bright, warmer colors, everything is shifted downward. The light is not intense and the palette is predominately blues and greens. A lot of color is in play here but in a subdued way.

In the last painting session I added the glowing highlights to the water in the foreground. The painting was doing well overall but the water was lacking something. Once the lighter accents were added the water began to glow and I was actually surprised at how much stronger it made the painting overall.… A very satisfying conclusion.

Cloudswept in Blue
Oil on panel, 24 x 24  Private collection
Exhibited: Saks Galleries, Denver

As it was the previous oil, I wanted to do another sunset effect without the usual warm tones. The colors here are severely limited to a number of blues and a couple of purple hues.

The upper part of the painting it is intentionally more opaque and dark. The snow field at the bottom is reflecting the light but it still has just enough density to allow the atmosphere in the center section to retreat backward and set up a glow the permeates the entire scene.

It’s a quiet piece, reminiscent of those silent, snow-covered fields, but if you look carefully, there’s always something a little unexpected and electric in the scene.

My sincere thanks to the collector who purchased these two oils.

New Work: Red Borders, oil on panel, 24 x 24 inches

Red Borders
Oil on panel, 24 x 24 inches     $2150 unframed
Dominique Boisjoli Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

It is always an interesting exercise to paint a piece with one predominant color. In this case, it's these red trees. My original idea was to make the trees fill the entire area, but as the painting moved forward, a different composition presented itself.

A bright stripe emerged and that became the lake or stream. From there, the composition began to move back into the space behind the trees, opening up the opportunity to try out more reds. The sky and blue hill in the far back helped to frame the red trees in the back and it made for a more interesting composition.

Funny how the painting will make demands on the artist and those background trees were very insistent on being more interesting than I had first intended. After 3-4 different experiments and variations, the far trees settled into place and from there, it is was a matter of bringing is more color and light where needed.

Funny how the background ended up taking much more time than the trees in front. The extra effort made for a far better oil with extra complexity and two more reds... it's like the cherry on top!