Sometimes we learn by copying the masters. This originally was done by Mary Cassatt in pastel. This is my version which is as close to hers as I could get it.

I think this is a pretty good rendering but I find myself wishing I had owned a better set of pastels when I did this one.

When we first start learning something, we hesitate to buy the better tools, simply because we don't want to invest a lot of money into something that may or may not work out. I have a lot of cheap pastels now that I loan out to my students when they can't afford to buy some or just need to expand their selection.

When I purchased my Senneliers, the first thing I noticed was better coverage on the paper. It didn't take as many layers to fill those holes. I see a lot of those holes in this one.

You can see in this painting the difference between the cheap pastels and the Senneliers. Not only does it give better coverage on the paper but the colors are richer and more vibrant. I did this painting with far fewer layers and I'm much happier with the results.

By the way, both paintings hang in my daughter's home. She has also been a source of continuous support for my art. Every artist needs their patrons.

This is my grandson playing in Ft. Gibson lake. He loves the water.

I drew the picture of my husband in Drawing I class at NSU. After the class, I wanted to see if I could do this without instruction. Again it's charcoal on Canson Mi Tientes. I'm very pleased with it.

I found the eyes to be the most difficult. They weren't closed but aimed downward at his hand and the photo was taken from above him. It took a while to get the angle just right and I had to erase them more than once.
The hand and the water wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. It took a lot of layers and I ended up wetting the tip of a white charcoal (what is white charcoal made of anyway?) to get the whitest whites.

This is my other half, Rick. He's my biggest fan, best supporter and when it comes to my art, my most often model. I've done so many bad portraits of him, its ridiculous. So it's nice to show off a good portrait of him.

This one is charcoal on Canson Mi Tientes. It was done in class. It is my second time for using Canson Mi Tientes... does anyone ever use the rough side?

White Azalea - pastel on velour paper

White Azalea - pastel on velour paper

This was my first pastel painting and still one of my favorites. I can see the errors in it and things I wish I had done differently. But isn't that how life is? We have the shouldas and couldas haunting our every day. Some things you can go back and correct... I could correct this painting. And some things you have to live with, nothing will undo them. As my pastor says, "You can't unscramble an egg." And some things, we just move on. This is what I've chosen to do with this painting. I could correct it but I've moved on. I've learned from the errors I made (hopefully) and I'll keep going.

I have several azaleas bushes in front of my home. Each one blooms profusely every April.
Each one is a different color. One even has two types of blooms on it.
I don't know how that happened but it is what it is.

The white azalea came from the funeral of a previous owner's mother.
I'm thankful that she shared her story with me and I know that every time she sees this magnificent bush flower, she thinks of her mother.

This is my first post on this blog. As I post more, I'll share some of what brought me here as I begin sharing where I'm going.