Pastels at the Peninsula School of Art

“Cana Island”, a favorite painting completed on the last day of the pastel workshop. I finally made it to the Peninsula school in Door County, Wisconsin. I attended a pastel workshop with Colette Odya-Smith last week. It lasted four days and I am still absorbing so much of what I learned. I wrote an article…

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Revisiting Giverny and Claude Monet

I was in France this past September and one of the highlights of the trip for me was visiting Claude Monet’s home and gardens. Just incredible, to be where Claude Monet lived, where he worked, gardened, painted. I was in awe of the wide variety of flowers in the English Garden, every color imaginable, along…

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Juried Show Acceptances

I am having success in the pastel world, and it feels pretty good! Submitting work to juried shows is always so subjective, a painting that is rejected from one show jury can be accepted by another, such is the case with these two paintings. Having my work accepted into juried shows is one way of…

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Summer at the Lake

I’ve never been much of a beach person, I’ve always preferred swimming in a chlorinated pool! This summer has been different though, I’ve been inspired to be in nature, craving a walk along the beach, looking through the tall grasses and finding art inspiration. These visits to Lake Michigan have led me to a new…

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Gesso and Pastels

Recently I became aware that soft pastel and encaustic aren’t that different! A few characteristic qualities I love about the encaustic medium are the ability to create textures and depth, being able to layer three-dimensional color, and experiencing tactile art making. I feel like using gesso to prepare the pastel surface gives me the same…

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