Always Learning...

"Blue Hue"  Pastel  12 x 12 

It was time for a lesson.  So today I dialed into one of my online tutorials by my teacher and master pastelist, Marla Baggetta.  You can find a treasure trove of pastel painting demonstrations, lessons, and experience from one of the best in the pastel world.

www.pastelpaintinglessons.com

I put my own spin on the composition with a slightly different color choice .  

Hope you enjoy this little colorful landscape!

Making the Most of Dust!

Ground into a fine powder

Little bits of pastel stick

Adding water a little at a time to make a paste

Hello friends and fellow pastelists!!

Here's a handy tip for all those teeny tiny pastel sticks that become to small to handle....

Sometimes I gather the dust in my dust catcher on my easel. This produces usually a dull gray powder .  But gray is very useful as we all know.  However, when there are enough small pastel bits of the same color family ready to be ground up, the results are a lovely mix of the hue! 

It's kind of like baking...put all the ingredients together and then wait and see what you get!!

Let's see....can this be applied to LIFE?  MMMMM....

Got a lot of little annoyances/resentments on your mind?  Imagine grinding them up into a fine powder of beautiful color and luminosity....add a little surrender ( water ) ...and Voilá...

a new ATTITUDE!!  Changed attitudes can make all the difference in life.....

Voilá! New pastel sticks!

My Busy Weekend!!

"Lost and Found"  Pastel  11 x 10 © Donna Gross
Available contact artist

"Waiting to Open"  Pastel  12 x 9  © Donna Gross
Available donnatheresafineart.com

"Girl Power"  Pastel 9 x 12  © Donna Gross
Available contact artist

I'm often unsure of what exactly I am doing when I paint.

I have a photo reference or a vase of tulips...a memory of a special time on vacation with special people...

But the truth is I never know what I'm going to get...I never know the end result...

So it is with this journey we are all on. I mean, you get up every day and tumble out of bed and expect your legs to take you to the bathroom and do the necessary things one does in the morning. 

But really, do we really know if that will happen? When I go to switch the light switch, I expect the electricity to power the light....but again, do I really know that it will go as expected.

Go as expected.

Expectations.

Dangerous territory... wisdom tells me that 

"expectations are resentments waiting to happen"....

When I paint, I just am...So too when I live, I just am. 

A daily practice to keep my life full of joy and 

serenity.

Deep in Production

Elkhorn Slough
Pastel 12 x 9 © Donna Gross
Availabledonnatheresafineart.com

The application is complete. I am committed. This October I will be participating in our county wide Open Studios Tours.  I will open my home and studio for two solid weekends to the public. This is my first venture into the world of capitalism!! I am a working artist and having said that I am deep in production!! Producing daily works of art....pondering tomorrow's work...imagining and anticipating the task ahead to prepare for this event. 

To calm the mind, I go to my easel. It is really magic. I do not think when I paint. I just paint. I put down my mark and then respond to that mark with another mark and so on.  I step back and look...I look outside up to the clouds for inspiration....a sip of coffee...pet the cat...no thought...simple.  

Bliss~

Reflections

"Reflections"  Pastel  9 x 9 © Donna Gross
Available donnatheresafineart.com

My little corner of heaven, my art studio, is housed in my teeny tiny garage....a corner of the garage.  

On beautiful sunny days like today, I open the garage door and go to it.

About 2:00 today I heard a familiar buzz.  Stepping out into the daylight and looking up I spotted him.....my amazing son, a student pilot, solo flying his little light sport aircraft at about 3500 feet ... This isn't the first time I've been lucky enough to spot him up there...living his dream...

The first time I jumped about and shouted with glee and told a few neighbors who happened to be out in the neighborhood..."Look up! That's Gerhard! He's flying!!"

Today, I simply looked up and waved....he wouldn't be able to see me...but that's OK...I could see him....

Reflections....is today's effort at the easel. Reflecting back to when my son was 3 years old...a toy airplane in each hand as he gazed up when an airplane would fly over..his little voice saying, "Small plane..." I would take him to the very airport he now flies out of to see the small planes and watch them land and take off....he was a well known figure at age 3...everyone knew him...

today he's well known there as well at age 20...

Reflections....it's been a great journey so far.

Lillies and Lemons

"Lillies and Lemons"  Pastel 10 x 7 © Donna Gross
Available contact artist

In honor of Easter, Passover, and the Vernal Equinox , I offer this piece of still life for your enjoyment. Wishing you all a joyous season of rebirth and new beginnings!

Happy Spring to all.

Trying a Different Approach

"High Noon in Summer"  Pastel 10 x 7 © Donna Gross
Available contact artist

Feeling stuck?  They say "Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results.."

Thus far my painting process has been to render images from a reference photo or from a still life.

There is a tendency I have to follow the reference photo too much.  We get married in the process of my painting!  If that photo is in front of me, I habitually attempt to render it as seen with little interpretation of my own...This has led to much frustration of late and not much success for me.

So I took a leap.  I created this piece from my imagination.  I used a well worn composition that I have probably either seen many times or rendered many times and I painted it from my memory.  I picked my color palette.  I decided where the light was coming from.  I decided what time of day I wanted to depict...and I went for it.

What a fun and freeing experience. Stepping out of my comfort zone....changing up a frustrating routine....what is there to lose? I could always go back to my usual approach and hope for success.  

This time I went for it and had success and found the session so joyful and enjoyable.

Feeling stuck? Change it up!