Silverton

Silverton   5" x 7"  Pastel

I don't think there is ever a bad day at the studio.  I don't always create a master piece, but sometimes the discussions and experiments are as important as the master piece I strive for.  Today Cindy and I had a discussion about the difference between rendering a painting and expressing ourselves.  I have created a number of paintings inwhich I have painted what I observed rather than what I feel about the subject matter.  Lately I have been experimenting with my pastels, laying down shapes of color and creating  more tonal paintings.  I feel that these pieces have been more expressive and fresh. Silverton is one of my newest pieces.

The Trio

The Trio      Pastel     9" x 5"

It's the day after Christmas and we walked into the studio and felt like we hadn't been in the studio in ages.  Cindy and I were both cranky and tired.  Thirty minutes of conversation and then it was time to paint.  Neither of us were ready to take on  big and serious compositions.  Cindy did a minature still life and I went for the pears.  As I have mentioned before it is easy for me to take myself too seriously and it often leads to frustration.  The past couple weeks, I have looked at each piece as an experiment and I've attempted different approaches.  The pears are a result of laying broad strokes of color in and playing with the edges.  I was fairly pleased with the results since I came in with a rather poor attitude.  I wonder what tomorrow will bring?