Plein air paintings: sunny and overcast days





In between rain storms and a bad back, I've been painting outside, either on my own or with a small class. I've been twice to Lake Needwood. This first painting was done on a day when the sun was shinging (rare!) and the shadows were distinct. I decided to work more quickly, focusing on shapes, and to use brighter, more saturated pieces of color. I worked on Pastelmat, a relatively smooth pastel surface that allows for beautiful applications of pastel.


Light and Shadow, 11.75 x 16.5, pastelmat

This second painting was done with my class later in the same week. It was an overcast day, with little direct light. The colors were more subtle, but beautiful.

The light of an overcast day, 12 x 11.75, pastelmat

Prague and Budapest

The colors of Prague, 5 x 7 pastel on board

We loved Prague! Had a great room by the river overlooking the cathedral on the hill. A wonderful walking city and so many beautiful buildings. This was a particularly colorful view (of course I took a few liberties with the typical gray building on the right). Also wanted to capture the lovely aqua onion dome.








Side Street, Prague, 5 x 7 pastel on board

Another street scene in a completely different color palette. The streets around our hotel were full of views like this, making it a joy to explore.









Along the Vlatava (Moldau) 5 x 7, pastel on board

I was so excited to see the Moldau for the first time, having fallen in love with Smetana's piece when I first became aquainted with classical music. This view was typical of the beautiful churches, spires, and colorful rooftops.

Back Street View, Budapest, 5 x 7, pastel on board

I loved the color and shape of the spire on this church. Budapest is a fascinating city. We were on the Pest side, in an art nouveau hotel, but, alas, no view of the river, as in Prague.

Note: all miniatures are for sale for $125, including shipping.

Salzburg, Austria and environs.

Alpine vista (view from the Eagle's Nest), 5 x 7, pastel on board

While in Salzburg, we took a trip to the German Alps to the Eagle's Nest, a building atop a mountain peak, built as a 50th birthday present for Hitler. The scenery from there was quite lovely. I tried to ignore the Hitler aspect and focus on the mountains and wildflowers.





Sidestreet in Salzburg, 5 x 7, pastel on board

The city of Salzburg is really lovely. Unfortunately, it was quite hot when we got there. One of my fascinations with our trip was the variety of church steeples and towers, and I tried to focus on these in the miniatures.

Rooftops of Salzburg,

5 x 7 pastel on board


This is a scene from early evening, at a restaurant high on a hill with a lovely view of the roof tops and the dome and spires of the cathedral.

Note: All miniatures are for sale for $125, including shipping.

European miniatures.

Meisenheim am Glan, 5 x 7, pastel on board

In July, John and I traveled to central Europe. One of our first stops was the town of Meisenheim, Germany, where my great-grandfather, Emile Goela was born. It was a lovely, preserved medieval town and we had a wonderful time exploring the village and eating bratwurst and beer.

Our next stop was Strasbourg, in the Alsace area of eastern France. The old city has a waterway surrounding it. The buildings are mainly half-timbered and brightly colored with beautiful reflections in the water.

Strasbourg Reflections, 5 x 7, pastel on board.

Note: all of the miniatues are for sale for $125, including packing and shipping. I'll put up subsequent postings with the remaining 7 paintings.

Seaside Garden (Molly's Cove)

14 x 16 pastel on Pastelmat

We've been in Europe for three weeks and now I'm getting ready to go to Maine to paint for a week. In between, I'm starting to prepare for a show in Mattapoisett next summer. This is a painting of Molly's Cove, off of Mattapoisett Neck where I lived in the 1950's. It was a beautiful, peaceful morning with light infusing everything. I found an area with a lovely garden of various purple flowers . And I couldn't resist adding the cormorant sitting on the rock at far left! Will be back in Mattapoisett briefly this weekend and hope it's as nice.

From Plein Air to Studio

Summer Bog #1 14 x 11, pastel

I recently returned from Massachusetts with a number of plein air pieces and demos done over the past two years. I wasn't sure whether they were salvageable or not and decided to work on them in the studio.

These are two paintings done on the same day at the cranberry bog just up the street from my mother's house. I understand the bogs were recently sold--but purchased by a land trust, thank goodness!

Summer Bog no. 1 was done first and reflects the early morning light that was streaking across the bog. While there is a lot of green on the bogs in the summer, there is still a hint of red.



In Summer bog #2, I was interested in the curve of the road way and the patterns and shapes of color created by the bog. The sun went in and it became quite cool and windy! I can still remember it, even though I painted these a year ago.

In the studio I was able to enhance the color and fill in areas that were left too sketchy for my taste.

Summer Bog #2 14 x 11, pastel

Painting on the Cape

This past Monday I had the joy of painting on Cape Cod with my friend Sherry Rhyno, pictured here with the beginnings of her painting. We painted in the morning on the North River, then took a break for a lobster roll lunch and a visit to her gallery. We returned to painting in Chatham, but the sun went behind the clouds and the no-see-ums came out! Not so pleasant, but a great day. Here is my morning picture: North River Morning, 12 x 16, pastel.

Workshop in Westport, MA

I recently taught a three day workshop in Westport, MA called "From Plein Air to Studio". Two of the three days we were able to paint outside, then return to the studio and assess what needed to be done to improve our pictures (short of hosing them down!!!). The pictures here are from the first day on Gooseneck Island, where we had a lovely non-windy, non-hot, non-buggy day! On Tues. it was cold and rain threatened so we did sketches and painted from those--a challenge for us all. But everyone agreed that it was freeing not to have a photo in front of them.

Spring Lambs 12 x 16, pastel on Pastelbord

Went out to paint today and found this old barn with just a little red still showing, but a crop of new lambs bleating happily! Fortunately, there was a small area of flat, mowed grass where I could park and paint.

I'm continuing my exploration of the areas of Clarksburg still untouched by recent development. I don't know how long this barn will last!

Back to plein air--at last!

Given my show, arm surgery, and a very wet spring, I haven't had a chance to get outside to paint. Yesterday, in between storms, I was finally able to get outside.

I painted two old barns in Clarksburg and focused on shapes and values and capturing the light on the lower roof. It was lovely to be outside again--before it gets too hot!

Clarksburg Barns 11 x 14 pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord

Pitcher with Three Pears, 11 x 14 pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord

I did this still life as a demonstration for a chapter in the book I'm writing on Color Choices in Pastel. The chapter is on observed color. I like the challenge of using black and more neutral colors, and really like the way they set off the greens and reds of the pitcher.

I wasn't sure about this picture at all until I put in the grayed geens in the background and it suddenly came alive. I'm finding this combination of complementary color (cool reds and warm greens) along with the blacks and neutrals to be very pleasing. Now, how to work that into landscape???

Shore Houses

My recent show at Waverly Street Gallery is at last over, after 5 weeks! It's been great, however, and I've met new people, made new fans, and had a wonderful time visiting with friends and sharing my work. Last Friday, some of my friends from the library world, in town for a conference, came to see the show, and this was a special treat.

In top left photo, Hien Nguyen (LC), my husband John Hansman, and Lisa Furubotten (Texas).

In the group photo are Lisa, Hien, Galen Jones (U. of Wales), Kris Lindlan (U. Washington), me, Adolpho Tarango (U. San Diego), and Cynthia Whitaker (OCLC, Ohio).

Now that the show is over, I'm resolving to do more with my blog!!! But first, more arm surgery on Thursday to remove the metal rod and pins that are really bothering me.