Pastel 100 Competition, Wee Three

I’m happy to share some great news with you. One of my pieces, “Wee Three,” was selected as a finalist in the Wildlife/Animal portion of the Pastel 100 Competition and appears in the April issue of the Pastel Journal. My thanks to the Pastel Journal for including my work alongside some great art! I have to admit, it is really humbling to have my piece be one of only nineteen (in the animal category) selected in an international competition.

You can see a closer view of the painting on my website, by clicking here.

ORIGINAL Pastel Painting, Tuxedo Cat

A reason for the sun

8x14

Sold

partial funds to Animal Dreams

Biscuit never ceases to be inspiration for me at the easel. It is more than her external beauty. It is much more than what you see with her long flowing mane and those beautiful sun-catching eyes of hers. It is really much more than that. She has the sweetest, kindest, most generous little personality I have ever encountered in an animal.

Tuxedo Cat Vintage Rose Pastel Painting

Always B, dry pastel

5 x 7 framed

sold

partial funds to Animal Dreams

Time and distance have little meaning when it comes to matters of the heart. I do know our hearts beat softer when we see a loved one. No matter where I hang my heart, no matter the space or time, Biscuit will hold her own special little key that will always, ALWAYS, get her back where she belongs; next to me.

Ram Pastel Painting

Rings of Honor, dry pastel
11x14
partial funds to Pasado's Safe Haven

Seriously? I almost named this "Wooly Bugger" but it just didn't seem an honorable enough name for this fellow. I met him at one of my favorite hangouts - a local nursery in Skagit Valley. My goal was to show him in a very traditional pose (side profile) and to keep the background fairly simple since there is so much going on with his wooly coat and rings of honor. He's so serious, isn't he? I just feel like telling him the joke about the ewe, the duck and the rooster.

Oil Painting, Peony

Sweet Heart of a Peony, Oil
11 x 14

sold

partial funds to Pasado's Safe Haven

More of my Spring fever series. This is about how close I got to this peony every day as it bloomed. I would wake, have my coffee, get my slippers on and go check on my "Lacey" peonies. Can you smell this one? Oh, wait, that's oil paint! It's probably not even dry yet :).

Pastel Seascape Whidbey Island

Wave Seekers, dry pastel

11 x 14

sold

partial funds for Sarvey Wildlife Care Center

Sunny days, ocean breezes, the lapping of water and just waiting for those two pieces of driftwood to make it out to the waves....Now THAT is a perfect island day in my book!

This piece is done on a panel I prepared myself using pastel ground, gesso, marble dust and Quinacridone Gold acrylic paint. I used broad brushstrokes, leaving a nice thick, layered and textured surface for the pastel to dance upon when sweeping across the tops of the "waves" created by the texture. I am really happy with how this came together, from beginning to end it just seemed to want to "be."