Ophelia

A pastel study of two year old Ophelia. Doesn't she have the look of an angel? Don't you believe it. She is a fireball, always finding something interesting to, um, explore. Another grandchild who lives too far away to pose-- as if that were actually a possibility even if she were here! This is from a photo I took of her when she was two, a rare moment when she wasn't a blur.

pastel on Tiziano cream, 13x18cm (5x7 in.)

Phlox and beebalm

Soft pastel on Tiziano white, 30x23cm (12x9 in.)

You know that saying "Time is Nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once"? Well, that's true, but the problem is that, like the universe, it is kinda uneven, and sometimes things clump together. That's the way last week was.

Yesterday afternoon, when I came home, I looked at the five-foot-tall mound of snow next to my house, and imagined the flowers that will be blooming there in a few months. I decided to do a quick sketch just to see if I could capture the feeling of those flowers. Though it still needs finishing, as I look across the room from a distance of about 15 feet, it has the sense of light and color I was looking for. And needed. This morning the temperature is minus 6F and the wind is blowing. So, finished or not, here it is.

This is for my friend Lew.

Copper pot

I miss doing my little teeny paintings, so today set one up. This is not actually a copper pot; it is a copper colander. But in such a little painting, the legs and holes were too fussy, so I took them out. These little paintings are not only fun to do, I get to play with trying things out that I can then use in my larger paintings.

Soft pastels on Tiziano cream, 75x75 mm (3x3 in.)

Tea mug

What did I do yesterday? It appears, nothing. Well, I did, actually-- I organized storage for my paintings so they are not taped all over my walls, and figured out how to keep my paper and other oddments safe from my four-footed paper shredders. And swept up masses of Beagle hair. But no painting. Very strange.

Today I took care of some of life's details and worked on a couple of larger paintings. What to do for my daily painting? Aha, my ever-handy tea mug. I started out to make a simple sketch, but I found myself putting in the pears painted on the mug. This is my favorite mug, so of course the pears had to be there!

Pastel and pastel pencil on Tiziano cream, 8x8 cm (3x3 in)

Little copper vase

It's a simple handmade copper vase 6 inches high, made by a village artisan in Mexico. My daughter gave it to me years ago, and I keep it on my bedside table. This afternoon I was looking at it, and saw all the different patinas that have developed. In spots, it is starting to develop a beautiful copper turquoise the exact shade as one of my pastels. Those tiny spots are like a peephole into some other world.

Pastels on Tiziano cream, 120x130 mm (about 4.75x5 inches)

Mad Sam

Mad Sam, soft pastel on Tiziano cream, 180x230mm (7x9 in.)

You know how restless you can be when you are waiting for an important phone call and have to hang around waiting for the phone to ring? I've been a bit under the weather the last week, and was only managing some ink sketches. But this afternoon I HAD to do pastels, waiting for this phone call. Making art keeps me sane. Found a picture of one of my grandsons when he was a toddler, with an expression that mirrored the frustration I was feeling. Got his head done (that face took time), and then I added some surround to frame him. Not sure I'm finished with this one yet.

Still haven't got that phone call. But I have started another painting!