Upon Closer Inspection
10" x 18"
Pastel on Board
SOLD

Oddball
Pastel on Board
Sold

Having a Ball This Year
24" x 18" 
Pastel on Paper

Good Morning
14" x 11"
Pastel on Paper

Sweet Escape
18 X 24
Pastel on board

I didn't count how many pieces of candy were in the dish before I got to them but I'm pretty sure there were at least 5 more pieces when I started.  I've been known to eat my still life arrangements and this one was no exception.  

There is nothing more fun to paint than the challenges posed by glass, metal, or cellophane.  With pastel painting, it's particularly difficult to get small details like those you see on the candy wrappers above.  Patience and a steady hand are helpful but there is something to be said for having  a butterscotch or peppermint candy to keep you going until you get it right.

The Color of Summer
23 X 18
Pastel on board

After spending much of my career painting people and pets with mostly neutral colors such a browns, tans, red-oranges, and everything else that represents skin tones and fur, I welcomed a change of palette colors for The Color of Summer.  Painting a still life of colorful melting popsicles is not only tempting but also challenging!  It's a race against the appetite and the clock.  I think this painting captures that perfect moment from summertime when the popsicles have reached that "just about to drip of the stick" stage, when they are the juiciest and most delicious.  I assure you that is true because I ate the entire still life arrangement!

All that work in color was rewarded with a lovely article in Pastel Journal's "Food for Thought" feature in their February 2013 issue along with another colorful image titled Sweet Escape.  

Of over 2500 entries from all over the world, this piece received Second Place in the Still Life and Floral category of the 15th Annual Pastel 100 Competition.  I was thrilled!  This was the first time I had entered a serious competition as a professional artist.  Though I had spent decades as a professional, I had never entered my artwork in a competition. There is no particular reason for not doing so; I simply focused my attention in other areas, mainly commissioned work. What a nice way to start!

I work with so many beautiful colors each time I am in the studio and sometimes the tools themselves whisper to be the supporting actors in the painting drama.  I couldn't resist the idea of placing my pastel sticks in this painting featuring pastel tissue paper-colored tissue paper…and it made for a title with a catchy play on words.