The Beefeater

Taking the Tower Of London tour, our guide was this army man who was dressed as a Beefeater. He was very funny, knowledgeable and looked the part. The pastel is approximately an 8" X 10", done on Wallis sanded paper. I was there in November, which is a great time to go; not crowded and the weather is nice and cool which makes those hot cups of tea that much more enjoyable.

Back again after computer crash

We have had a problem with the computer so I haven't posted in several weeks. Thanks to my wife who has the patience to persevere through these computer problems we are on again. After 4+ hours talking with the computer gurus in India she was able to get this computer going again. This is way too difficult for me: I'm still trying to master pencil and paper. In addition, I slipped on snow covered ice, landed on my back and was not feeling well for a week. (Remember the Three Stooges joke? "I've had a weak back." "How long?" "Oh, about a week back.") I did that about 6 in the morning walking my two dogs. It wasn't their fault this time; usually they pull me along in their enthusiasm or tangle me in their leashes and I'm lucky to stay on my feet. Despite all that, I have had productive time in the studio doing new work, matting, framing, etc. I took an older pastel which I had done on regular pastel paper and reworked it, which served to show me how much better Wallis sanded paper is. I've made a few jokes in the past about sanded paper, but by my reckoning, it is really the best. The painting shown here is a small (about 5" X 7") pastel from southern Wisconsin.

Sundown -- Worland, Wyoming

This is a pastel, 7"X10", done on Wallis sanded pastel paper. (It's archival paper --- my question is -- is it archival sand?) I was on my 1,300 mile trip home from the workshop I attended in Cody, WY when I had to stop the car and take in this beautiful sky and color over the mountains. This is my second attempt at this. I did one that did not really capture what I wanted, so I bit the bullet and did another and like this one better. No, I am not going to post the other one.

Farmhouse

This is another pastel, 5" X 7", of a farmhouse along Highway 20 in southern Wisconsin. The road wends its way through East Troy, Waterford, Honey Creek and farms along the way. There are many of this style house along the road -- old farmhouses. They look great no matter what season you drive by. In the more than 20 years I have passed through here I can spot one house or farm after another that I have done in an oil painting or pastel. Some of the houses I did many years ago are now obscured by the growth of trees and would no longer look as good as a subject. When I was an art student (although one is always an art student, I guess) I did the portrait and figure every day. After that I still did a good number of portraits and basically had to learn landscape on my own. At some point you wonder, how did I fall into doing this? What makes one artist do a majority of still life and I wind up doing this series of farmhouses and farms? It's Christmas and I'm no psychology major; I'll think about that later. Have a merry Christmas.

Farm house, Walworth County, Wisconsin

When I was taking a class in Cody, WY last summer, one of the painters, Sarah, asked if anyone worked in pastel. Since I had done a few, she told me about Wallis sanded pastel paper which I had never heard of. I ordered some not knowing what to expect. I've done enough woodworking and woodcarving to know sand paper when I see it. This is archival sanded paper, but very nice stuff. It probably takes more off (sands off) your pastel stick than ordinary paper, but it has a very substantial surface to it. The pastel shown is a 9 X 12" work of a farm along the road in Walworth County, WI where I have found many of the farm houses and scenes I've done in the past.

Pastel

This is a 13 X 17" pastel. There's a small farm west of Waterford, Wisconsin that is open to tours and children's groups that these horses call home. I grew up in the city always wishing I had grown up on a farm or ranch -- although I may have watched too many episodes of Roy Rogers and Lassie to appreciate all the hard work I was missing out on. My son is now too old to get the charge out of it that he did visiting Green Meadow Farm when he was 5, but I never get too old.

Three PAs

The plein air work here is really fun now. The trees are changing color and the leaves are falling which leaves a warm color over portions of the ground. The tree paintings are 6 X 8s and the Wyoming painting from my plein air workshop is an 8 X 10. This is the view looking west from the back of Open Box M which hosted the workshop -- and the makers of pochade boxes.