Water Lily

It's January and I'm thinking about summer.  I'm thinking about sitting in a row boat, thinking about Monet painting water lilies.

Water Lily, pastel 18" x 18"

Home Again

A couple of paintings have returned home after traveling to Tacoma, Seattle and Gig Harbor.

Another Place 22" x22" pastel

Narrow Passage 22" x22" pastel

Painting with a Friend

A friend visited the other day and we paint together. Laura's primary medium is acrylic and I was introducing her to pastel. When she left she decided not to take the piece she'd been working on. I wanted to see what would happen if I continued painting a piece someone else had started. Her color palette was different than mine as was her mark making. It was an interesting challenge. The process pushed me to use new color combinations and find a way to incorporate her marks. It's fun having a friend who likes to collaborate.

Duet by Laura Preciado and Kathleen Secrest

This is part of the painting I was working on during that visit. I couldn't seem to resolve the painting and cropped it to the 12" x12" image below.

Fall by Kathleen Secrest

Little Abstract Landscapes

I continue to create small landscapes as a warm up before jumping into a larger project. My favorites are the more abstract paintings. A fun way to start the day.

Storm

I love working with mixed media, working in layers. For this painting I've used graphite, charcoal, acrylic paint applied with both brush and roller, and pastel. The title is Storm. Art reflects life.

Storm, 30" x 22" mixed media with pastel

Little Landscapes

Getting ready for paint out/plein air season. These little landscapes are practice, practice working fast and loose. The small size helps. I'm trying to push the color beyond local color and use up scraps of a variety of pastel papers. So far Wallis paper toned with Burnt Sienna is the winning paper. This is a fun exercise. All paintings are 4" x 6" soft pastel.

The Visit

Working with cruciform compositions. The weather has been gray and I needed some color.

The Visit, 22" x 22" pastel