Beach Studios Exhibits in Newport, RI

Here are photos from 12 Beach Studios Artists exhibiting at Spring Bull Gallery in Newport, RI for the month of September. We work in many different mediums, oil, acrylic, encaustic, pastel, colored pencil, monotype printmaking, origami and paper sculpture.

 Anne Winthrop Cordin (left) and Susan Petree (right).

 Cindy Jordan, origami and paper art.

 Cindy Jordan, paper art.

 Diane Gay

 Helen Woodhouse (left) and Sandra O'Brien (right)

 Kathy Morton (left) and Felicia Touhey (right)

 My work, Turtle triptych, colored pencil boxes and handmade book.

Helen Hadley and Judy Chaves (right)

Anne Winthrop Cordin's painting demo for Gallery Night last week. 

Invitational Pastel Exhibit

 Key Largo Palms

 Scarlet Vista

 Torreone Village, Tuscany

Cortona Hillside, Tuscany

Here are my four pastels that I have put into the invitational pastel exhibit at Spring Bull Gallery in Newport, Rhode Island. The top two abstracts were started in a workshop with Casey Klahn through the Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod last October 2013. I had tucked them away and enjoyed completing them just recently. Casey challenged the class to work abstractly and in shapes and to sometimes change from using local colors.

The second two pastels were painted plein aire while in Tuscany, and also finished in the studio. I've learned to make good color notes because when I come back to the studio and try to finish from a photo, the colors and values have changed from working on location.

The exhibit is on through the month of November and includes nine other pastel artists: Rick Cardoza, Shelly Eager,  Sarah Fielding-Gunn, Janet Gendreau, Diane L’Heureux, Priscilla Malone, Kelly Milukas, Evelyn Rhodes, and Jeanne Tangney.

Teaching Pastel and Selling Work

Felicia and I are continuing on with our 8-week session of our Art Boot Camp and so today was my turn to teach pastel to our students. I was a bit nervous because I love working in pastel (it is my first choice when working en plein air) but I have never taught it before. I wanted to be sure I could give good instructions to my students and help them choose shapes, hues and values which can sometimes become confusing when picking up so many pieces of pastel to create a vibrant drawing. We're working from a large fall still life set up, which can be seen somewhat in the background of my photos. I encouraged each person to take a small part of the still life this week in order to become familiar with the medium, not try to tackle too much and get really confused. I started the class with a short demo and then ran around the table for 3 hours helping each person! Time went by quickly and they all really enjoyed it, I saw a lot of smiles at the end of class. Including me! I'm thinking about teaching a pastel course. If anyone local is reading this and is interested, please let me know. You can email me through my website or send me a message on FaceBook.

My exhibit at the Providence Art Club has ended and I picked up my work today, minus these four pieces. I am saying goodbye to Fragments of Time, Well Worn, Uplifted and Keepers of Mystery. They have all found a new home. Uplifted is going to live in Brazil and I have to admit I was sad when I heard it had sold, it was my favorite and much of my soul is in that drawing.

Tuscan Vista

I entered my pastel into South County Art Association's All Media Open Juried Exhibit II (No. Kingston, RI) and won an honorable mention. That excites me, its my first pastel to receive an award. The exhibit runs from Oct 28 - Nov 13 and the opening reception is Thurs, Oct 28, 7-9 p.m.

Autumn Apples

Here is a quick, colorful still life I drew in pastels for Spring Bull Gallery's October exhibit titled "Step into Fall". Sometimes I feel like I have two completely different sides, one that likes to take lots of time with intricate colored pencil pieces and the other that likes to complete quick and loose pastel drawings. Hmmm.

Pasteling in New York City

I'm jumping around again. Quite a while ago, I signed up for Richard McKinley's pastel & oil workshop through the Salmagundi Club in NYC so here I am. Unfortunately, its been cold and gray but we've been having fun. Here I am on Tuesday with my painting of Washington Square and NYU buildings in the background. Working in pastel on white Wallis paper. We painted in the square all day and what lively day it was. I've never met so many friendly people while out painting. Passers by were constantly coming up to us and asking questions. Today it rained so we painted inside from photos. It was helpful learning from Richard how to bring the photos to life on the canvas or paper. Tomorrow we go to Central Park and hoping its warmer and sunny.

Tuscany Pastels Completed!

I have finally completed the five pastel pieces that I began in Tuscany last October. I can't believe it took me this long but I am really happy with the results and the struggle was worth it. Why was it a struggle? First of all my life has somehow become so busy with commitments that I just found a short block of time here and there. Secondly, I learned that trying to come home and work from photos when the originals were started in plein aire is so difficult. I think I mentioned before how the photos flatten and darken the images. When you are working from life, the scene is all around you and in 3D so to speak. Although, you are "chasing the light" and have to work quickly, its easier to see color and value. While I did make thumbnail sketches at the scene, I didn't make color notes in my sketchbook. Something I'll have to remember for next time. Now its a new year and onto the next project! Back to colored pencil ... for now!

Tuscany Farmhouse

I've completed one of the pastels I started in Tuscany. The bottom photo shows my view and my watercolor underpainting. I use Wallis paper mounted on museum board so it doesn't warp when I apply the washes. When that dries, I apply the pastel. This is a simple farmhouse in the country, the field in front is growing grapes for a local winery. I was enticed by the rows leading up and down the hill as well as the tall cypress trees. I also love the warm stone colors of the buildings and tile roofs. They lend themselves to such bright color. One finished .... four more to go!

Pastel Workshop

These are two pieces I worked on in a pastel workshop last weekend. We worked in the studio from still life setups and I came home and finished them up. The top piece is done on Wallis Paper (white) and the tulips are done on Sennelier La Carte in a terra cotta color. Looking at these drawings, I realizek that as an artist I am a colorist. I love bright bold color! I tend to render objects in brighter hues than they actually are.