"Last Snow on the Hudson"

 16x20 - pastel on Richeson board




Well, I call this Last Snow on the Hudson, but I rushed to judgment, since it's snowing today, March 31st, and we've already got about a half inch on the ground!  You never can predict the weather in the Adirondacks.  I took this picture a couple of weeks ago and was just in love with the sky and the mountains against that sky.  Some photos speak to me, "paint me, paint me".    I did manipulate the foreground, though, as I wasn't really happy with the total composition of the photo.  

"Melting Ice on Adirondack Lake"

 11zx14 pastel on Richeson board

At 70 degrees today, you can just imagine how the ice is melting on the lakes around here.  Adirondack Lake is not a very deep lake and usually the ice breaks up a bit faster here.  The water is seeping through and soon the ice will be all gone.  This was the first pastel I did this morning.  I'm eagerly awaiting for my Schminke pastels "English Rose" color to come in the mail.  It's the perfect color for the hills and trees at this time of year.  A very lovely light rose color.  Anyway, without it, this was the best I could do!

Tumbling Clouds

 14x11 pastel on Amerpand board

Today was gorgeous in the north country.   It was at least 70 degrees, maybe warmer, with bright skies and a slight breeze.  The air smelled fresh and wonderful.  I just didn't want to sit inside and paint, so I went to Adirondack Lake and Byron Park and did two plein air paintings.  In the morning, the skies were blue and pink and lavender, but in the afternoon, they were tumbling with clouds.  To be outside painting is the best relief for anything, as far as I can tell. 

 18x12 pastel


I joined a wonderful group of women here in the Adirondacks who meet every Tuesday to make quilts, paint, sew, and create things to benefit the school and fire department in town.  One of those women gave me some photos she took of the sunsets on her lake.  I am absolutely amazed at how beautiful the sunsets are here.  Of course, I've seen many of them, but don't often have my camera with me to preserve them digitally.  I want to thank Loraine for so many great photos.  Here's a pastel of one of them.  This is on canson pastel paper.

"Snow Covered Rocks"

This is some winter in the Adirondacks.  Hardly any snow, but when it comes, it comes in a foot at a time.  I took a photo off the main road a month ago of these rocks, finally covered in snow.  I was intrigued by the colors of the rocks, all bluish and purple against the white of the snow.  Of course, when you really look at the snow, you see that it's not all white, but a reflection of all the colors around it, including the shadows.  I love painting snow.  An instructor once told us that observing is the most important part of an artists life and a relative said to me that she's always painting....in her head first and foremost.

Pastel - 12x20