Old tree and dunes

Well, this is the last of my dune paintings from Asilomar and surrounding area. I must say, they do captivate me, but also what is around the dunes are very interesting and at times a challenge to paint. Frequently there is an old dead tree, with allot of dead brush and branches, however it is not the easiest subject to conquer(at least for me),and particularly the old dead tree trunks and all of the surrounding little branches. This particular tree has interested me for the last two years, and I finally decided to try and paint it. The dunes also had nice wildflowers growing, thus adding interest and color. This painting was completed the first day of our paint- a- long with Albert Handell. It was a cold and windy day at Asilomar. This is an 12x12 plein air pastel.

Dunes and more driftwood

On the last day of the Mentor program, the wind was still blowing, and it was still cold. I wanted to get at least one more painting, so I went to the sheltered area I had painted the day before "Dunes and driftwood". That day I had ignored the large tree trunk of driftwood, that was to the right of the smaller driftwood I painted in the other painting. So, I decided to tackle the large log. there was beautiful ground cover also growing on the dunes, which had yellow and fuchsia flowers. So this is the painting, it is is 12x14 plein air pastel.

Peek through the tree

Last week we painted at Point Lobos a few times. This day, I decided to concentrate on the trees. I could see the ocean peeking through the trees, and I had to be careful not to stand where the poison oak was growing, but I did love this view of the ocean better than the ordinary ocean scene. This is a 12x12 plein air pastel.

Rocky Hill

I don't just paint dunes, I also like a variety of landscape subjects, one of which are trees. One subject I do have difficulty, is rocks for some reason. Last week at Point Lobos, we had to retreat to a sheltered cove (Whalers cove) to get away from the wind which was much to cold to paint in. Anyway, I decided to tackle a few rocks, so this is one study of the rocks and trees there at Whalers Cove, I called this, Rocky Hill, this is a 12x12 plein air pastel.

Dunes and Driftwood

Well, I thought I'd add, another of this years, dune paintings, from Asilomar. The driftwood up against the dark green Monterrey pines, they looked like either a large spider, or some other strange pipe like contraptions. I do love the contrast between the dark background, and the bright light color of the dunes. This is a 12x12 plein Air Pastel.

First Place Award - Loma Linda University 35th Annual Fine Arts Festival

One of the nice surprises I received upon my return from painting last week, was that I found out I was awarded First Place, at the Loma Linda University 35th Annual Fine Arts Festival. The winning painting "Dunes at Asilomar" was also completed in plein air at Asilomar, last year, while attending the mentor program with Albert Handell. I have discovered I do love to paint dunes, and the Monterrey Bay area has a plentiful supply to paint. This painting is a 12x16 plein air pastel, and has already been sold.

Paint - along with Albert Handell 4/12 -4/19/08

I just completed a fabulous week painting in the splendor of Monterrey Bay area. I was participating in a mentorship program with Master of Pastel, Albert Handell. The weather was mixed, the first few days, were warm and calm but later days were foggy and cold. We never the less had a good time painting each day in a new location. There were 5 other painters, all of which added great companionship and new friendships. I completed 10 paintings, some better than others. I will add one or two at each posting. The meeting place for the paint along, was at the Asilomar Conference center, in Pacific Grave, a paradise in and of itself. This little painting was a view next to the board walk out to the beach. I painted this the day before the paint along started, the weather was almost 80, and it could not have been a more beautiful day. This is a 8x10 plein air pastel "Dunes and wildflowers".

Pastel Society of the West Coast

My big news for this week is that I was accepted into the 22nd "Pastels USA" International Open Exhibition. This is the open exhibition for the Pastel Society of the West Coast. I have never entered a pastel juried show before, so am very excited and honored to be selected. The show will be at the Haggins Museum, 1201 N. Pershing Ave., Stockton, CA from May 18, 2008 to June 28, 2008. The reception & awards ceremony will be on May 31, 2008 from 2:00 - 4:00 pm at the Museum. The painting I entered is " Garripata State Beach" and was painted in "plein air" last year during my week of paint-along with Albert Handell in the Monteray Bay area. This beach was such a beautiful area, I had struggled all morning with another painting that just turned out terrible, but not wanting to leave without a painting, I turned around, and looked in another direction, and painted this little (8x10) in about 30 minutes. I think because I worked fast, and loose, this little painting came out well.