Sarah Pollock Studio - This Week in the Pastel Artist's Studio

Battling out of Artist's Block

2012-01-26T18:20:00.000-05:00

Study, Chill 8 x 12 pastel on board.

If you're like me, then you may have been raised never to talk about money, politics, or sex in public.

Well, one thing that I've noticed in nearly a decade of working as an artist is that very few of us artists ever talk about the routine challenges we encounter during the normal ebb and flow of our creative processes. With this post, I'm going to touch that volatile third rail about which few dare speak out loud: Artist's block.

Why? Well, because I've had quite a bad case of it for a couple of months now.

I come by it honestly: Although I enjoyed a great year professionally last year, the personal end of things really stunk. I won't bore you with the gory details because the reality is that I have a LOT for which to be thankful. Nonetheless, I suffered some bruising personal losses in late 2011, and I think it left me running on empty with my creative reservoir. As I recently told a friend, it's hard to paint pretty pictures when you're pissed off.

Although the beginning of this new year has marked a real struggle for me to get things rolling again in my studio, I'm pleased to write that I am starting to break through the block.

The most helpful thing in breaking my malaise was a fresh snowfall here in central Pennsylvania late last week. After that system cleared out, my husband and I took advantage of a bright, sunny afternoon to visit Black Moshannon State Park with our new studio mascot, Maple.

Tim and our studio mascot, Maple on the ice of Black Moshannon Lake.

The beautiful scenery and fresh air did wonders for my spirit, particularly after I was felled by the flu for a while earlier this month. It felt great to get out, and I immediately returned and translated that energy into a new piece. This is familiar territory for me, but I needed this to kick start my creative flow. I assure you that you'll see some unexpected things from me in the coming months.

In the meantime, pictured here is that brand new landscape piece entitled, "Study, Chill," done in my studio, and a gorgeous view of the park with my husband, Tim, and our dog, Maple. Enjoy!

Happy New Year

2012-01-04T10:02:00.001-05:00

2012 is off to a slow start as I battle a whopper head cold, so I don't have a nice image to share with you right now. But I wanted to write a brief post to wish you a great upcoming year. I appreciate your continued interest in my artwork and I'm excited about some plans already in place for this year. I'd like to share with you some of the upcoming events that are on my calendar.

As in the past, I will exhibit in summer and fall outdoor art shows. As they say, the "jury is still out," so I don't have a firm schedule yet, but you can check my web site for schedule updates beginning in March. In addition, I will exhibit brand new works beginning in February and through the month of March at the Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College, Pennsylvania. I'm also working on securing dates for an exhibition of my artwork at Zola New World Bistro in State College for late this year.

Throughout this spring, I have a fair amount of travel scheduled to some new locations. The most exciting will be northern Italy, where I will join my husband while he teaches a workshop at Bocconi University (Being the "portable artist spouse" has its benefits). In addition, I'm venturing to the southwest United States, with destinations including Austin, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona. I anticipate that these places will be the perfect antidote to the winter blahs and I'm looking forward to gathering inspiration for my cityscapes.

Late this spring, on Saturday afternoon, May 12, I will teach "Painting in the Outdoors" at Pennsylvania's Black Moshannon State Park. I love this location, and this will be my second year of offering this mini workshop and it's part of a larger weekend of events entitled "Women in the Wilds."

This weekend offers an opportunity for women of all backgrounds to come out and see one of Pennsylvania's premier state parks while enjoying seminars on a variety of topics from bird watching, kayaking, fishing, trap shooting, gardening, and much more.

My seminar is open to aspiring artists in all media. We'll talk about choice of subject, composition, and materials to help you get started in the outdoors. Depending upon the interest, I may teach another workshop in the park later this year. To learn more and to register for the Women in the Wilds event in Black Moshannon State Park, please contact the park office in Philipsburg by phone at (814) 342-5960 or email blackmoshannonsp@state.pa.us.

Once I kick this head cold (phooey!), I'll be back in the studio painting at my easel. Expect to see some new Pennsylvania landscapes as well as some European cityscapes inspired by my time in France late this past fall.

An Infusion of Inspiration

2011-12-02T10:31:00.002-05:00

Last week, I returned from a month-long stay in France. It was an amazing visit and I'm so delighted to have had the opportunity to spend that much time there. And the food was pretty good, too!

The Notre Dame Cathedral I am drawn to the vibrant colors of stained glass. I think this is part of what appeals to me when it comes to nighttime cityscapes.

My French language skills are not where I wish they would be, but without fail my friend, Lynn, and I found the French people to be accommodating and kind. If you make the effort, they will meet you halfway.

Speaking of "effort," it's been a very busy year for me with my artwork and it's also been my most successful. Although I missed Thanksgiving here, I want to express my gratitude for everyone who has supported my artwork. I love what I do and I couldn't do it without your support.

The Musée du Louvre Throngs of visitors gather in the corridor near the room for the famed Mona Lisa. For me, the works of Caravaggio were a bigger draw.

Over just these past 10 days, I've had the privilege of visiting several world class art museums ranging from the Musée du Louvre and the newly-renovated Musée d'Orsay to the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. Although I haven't painted much since my departure in late October, I've been able to use this time to recharge my creative batteries after a fast-paced year.

I'll get back into the studio beginning this month. I have lots of ideas from my travels and the incredible infusion of inspiration from my museum visits as well as my time spent quietly collecting my thoughts in the French countryside. Stay tuned...

Enjoying Sunshine in France

2011-11-15T11:39:00.002-05:00

Y'know, after a rainy start to this month, November has really picked up its pace with beautifully sunny days. The atmosphere is clear and the ever-changing clouds are wispy and fun in this part of Brittany.

Indeed, we ventured out this past week to gather photographic reference material. I'm embarrassed to admit this: I have no idea what these purple flowers are, pictured below. But there are vast fields of them in bloom right now, and they just sparkle on these gorgeous days.

This week also brought a car trip to the far west coast of France, near Crozone, with an overnight stay in Brest. Thereafter, we ventured up north to the Pink Granite Cliffs. The sun joined us en route, and I'm excited about some of the new subjects that I'm discovering.

A bientot!

In Dinan, France

2011-11-06T11:27:00.001-05:00

Wi fi access has been a little bit of a challenge, but I want to take this opportunity to let you know that I am really enjoying my time in France this month.

I'm staying in Dinan, which is located in Brittany. Its tagline is "City of Art and History," and it's just a beautiful place. If anyone wants to film a new "3 Musketeers" movie, this is the place to do it.

I brought my easel and watercolors for this trip, because this is a much more portable set up. Unfortunately, the weather this past week has not cooperated. Often rainy, very windy and overcast. But I anticipate that there will be some future opportunities to get out and work. I'm not worried. And I'm totally enjoying the pastries!

A Trip to France

2011-10-28T13:08:00.000-04:00

Well, the 2011 art show season is done as of a couple of weeks ago. Pictured above is a snapshot from my display during one of my final shows in Philadelphia earlier this fall.

Depending upon my mastery of technology while abroad, you may or may not hear much from me over the next month because I'm about to embark upon a trip to France. I'll spend this November in Dinan, located in northwest France in Brittany.

A dear friend of mine and fellow artist, Lynn Goldstein, was named an artist-in-residence through the prestigious l’Atelier d’Artiste de Grande Vigne. This program was founded by the artist Yvonne Jean-Haffen started in 1993. The purpose of the Atelier is to perpetuate a tradition that goes back to the end of the 18th century, whereby artists from around the world are invited for a one-month stay.

Upon acceptance, an artist receives the use of a studio and housing in Dinan for 1 month in exchange for a painting, created while in Dinan, chosen by the selection committee. The painting is then put into the permanent collection of La Grande Vigne and will be used in exhibitions by the association.

Lynn and I have known each other for almost a decade now. We first met as members of the Maryland Pastel Society when I lived in Maryland years ago. We've retained a close friendship since that time, traveling to art workshops together and visiting museums in D.C. whenever we have the chance.

For this upcoming trip, I am Lynn's partner in crime! We'll both be painting, visiting beautiful sites including Giverny (Claude Monet's home), and spending several days in Paris visiting museums and gathering inspiration for our artwork.

I'm honored to have the chance to share this opportunity with Lynn and I'm looking forward to sharing new inspiration and ideas with you in the months to come.

Au revoir et à bientôt!

Plein Air Painting in Pennsylvania

2011-10-13T21:20:00.000-04:00

The most magical time of year is here: Peak fall foliage in Pennsylvania!

Maple and me at the easel.

This past week, my new, trusty studio mascot, Maple, accompanied me on our first plein air painting outing together. My husband, Tim, came with us, too, to celebrate his birthday and to help corral our lively new dog.

Maple is a world apart from our last dog. It's going to be quite a while before I can have her alone in the field with me; at this point, she's prone to wrapping her leash around one of my easel legs and then mischievously scampering off at Mach I through the woods.

Black Moshannon, No. 33. 8 x 16 original pastel on board.

We had a completely perfect day to enjoy together up in Black Moshannon State Park. I added to my ongoing series of pieces from this delightful location with this latest work, pictured above. This landscape is subtitled "Cerulean" in honor of the gorgeous blue of the bog as it reflected the cloudless sky.

Watch for more new autumn-themed works in the weeks and months to come. This is absolutely the best time of year to live in Pennsylvania.

My Interview with Sunshine Artist Magazine

2011-10-06T09:18:00.000-04:00

Earlier this year, Sunshine Artist Magazine interviewed me for an article about how professional artists use computers.

Sunshine Artist is a business magazine for visual artists and crafts people who exhibit their work at outdoor art shows. The interview appears in print in their current October, 2011 edition.

The article, entitled "Computing the Art Show Equation: The Digital Revolution and Your Business," explores the pros and cons of the transition to computer and online technologies within the art show world and how this evolution affects working artists.

As you'll see from the excerpt provided here, I am firmly in the "pro" camp of computer technology. I use it for editing digital imagery, acquiring source material, and creating self promotional materials.

I'll post a PDF of the full article in the future when I obtain a copy from the magazine. In the meantime, here's the excerpt that features my thoughts:

Sarah Pollock, who creates soft pastel cityscapes and landscapes and lives in Port Matilda, Pennsylvania, takes the opposite view. "I have no problem with artwork that incorporates computers," she says. "Computers are just another tool for creation. To me, the stigma currently attached to computers is much like the skepticism that photographers encountered over a century ago. As more time passes, this stigma will fade, and then will all wonder what the big stink was about."

Pollock has a great many computer skills, which she credits to her experience in the workaday world. "I'm fortunate because prior to becoming a full-time artist, I worked as a webmaster for a large public university," she says. "I also worked for Walt Disney Feature Animation, where I used computers and their proprietary software to set the color on their animated feature films. So technology is not intimidating to me. It's another tool, like a Swiss army knife, and I regard it as both a cost-and time-saver for all aspects of what I do."

How exactly does Pollock's experience at Disney and the like help her in her art exhibitor life?

"Having digital fluency in techniques like color management and printer profiles saves me money," says Pollock, "because I can send files to online printing services for postcards, business cards, flyers, etc. that are all set to go. I do not need to pay someone to adjust contrast or color of the images, and I have a much greater degree of control over the final appearance of my publicity materials."

Familiarity with the digital world also helps Pollock to market herself online. "I've had a website for my business since Day One of my transition to being a full-time artist back in 2004," she says.

And that web site has been a great avenue to sales. "My collectors and interested patrons reference my website to see what I'm working on and to check out new works," she says. "Sometimes I've had collectors email me within hours of me posting a new piece online."

Still, these types of online connections are the exception. "The website is less of a sales tool for me than a way to show my collectors that I'm vibrant and that I'm continuing to grow artistically," she says. "For the price points of the artwork that I sell, customers usually still want to see things in person before committing to the purchase."

Memories of her mother's business make Pollock appreciate how a computer can save a small business time and money. "My mom was the sole proprietor of a flower shop throughout my childhood," she says. "After watching what she had to do manually...hand draft invoices and pay exorbitant sums to printers for small runs of labels, business cards, etc., I firmly believe that the efficiencies home computers offer to us small business people today allow us to do much more than what was possible just 10 or 20 years ago."

Among its many other assets, a computer's ability to store images is paramount to Pollock. "I keep images of all my artworks in digital format," she says. "I jettisoned slides and traditional film years ago and was almost giddy to do so because I find digital so much easier."

New Works During a Busy Fall

2011-09-21T17:47:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, I exhibited new works in Philadelphia at the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show. The weather was perfect and it ended up being a very successful show. Thank you to everyone who stopped by my booth and supported my artwork. It was a great experience and I appreciate your patronage!

This weekend, I'm off to Armonk, New York. Unlike last weekend's ideal weather conditions, the forecast looks less than stellar, but I've done this show in rainy conditions in the past, too, and have found that New Yorkers are a very determined lot who will brave a lot to come check out this consistently excellent show. I'm also looking forward to getting my Indian food fix at Malabar Hill, a favorite restaurant in Elmsford, New York. Hooray!

Pittsburgh Afternoon 8 x 12 original pastel on board.

I want to share a couple of new works that I will debut in Armonk this weekend. The first piece, above, is my very first cityscape inspired by Pittsburgh. Entitled "Pittsburgh Afternoon," this small format work captures a sunny afternoon in the heart of the city. My brother and his family moved to Pittsburgh late last year, so I'm finally exploring this new source of inspiration. The city is only a few hours away from our home in central Pennsylvania, but it took until I had family living there before I finally made the effort to explore it. You will definitely see more Pittsburgh pieces in the future.

City Lights, No. 11 - Lone Wolf 8 x 12 original pastel on board.

The second work is a continuation of my ongoing "City Lights" series. This is now number 11 in the series and it's subtitled "Lone Wolf" because I was drawn to the solo figure jaywalking in the foreground. Nothing screams "Rebellious nonconformist" like a backpack-toting jaywalker. This was in midtown Manhattan.

After the show in Armonk this weekend, I will catch a little breather before my last show of the season in Bethesda, Maryland in mid-October. In upcoming posts, you'll see some new landscapes inspired by our beautiful fall foliage, which is beginning to bloom in earnest here as I type.

Welcoming a New Studio Mascot

2011-09-13T09:17:00.001-04:00

Although this is a bit off topic for my Studio Blog, I want to share that last month we adopted a new dog from Centre County PAWS in central Pennsylvania.

Maple and me.

Someone abandoned her in the town of Mapleton Depot, Pennsylvania earlier this summer, so she is named Maple.

Maple is a Rottweiler / Lab mix and she's still very much a puppy. We are delighted to have a new life in our home, although she's putting us through our paces with her energy and never-ending quest for things to chew (our shoes, socks, pillows, electrical cords, and the list could go on, but you get the point). It's exhausting!

Miss Maple.

Maple is scary smart. She's learning her commands rapidly and she will be a great companion for me when I venture out to paint in our area parks. I've been in such a funk this summer following the loss of my sweet Annie, and I am just thrilled to have a new little buddy in my studio.

Welcome, Maple!

On Labor Day

2011-09-05T17:47:00.000-04:00

Well, it's Labor Day, and I guess it's only fitting that on this day I finally feel as though I'm starting to get my swing back following our loss of Annie last month. You'll be pleased to know that we have a new addition to our family. I'll post more about her in the near future.

In the meantime, I'd like to share a brand new cityscape with you. It's called "Workaday," and, naturally, I thought it would be a perfect piece to celebrate this day.

Workaday 8 x 12 original pastel

I caught this subject near the Meatpacking District of Manhattan earlier this spring while on my way to check out the High Line. The High Line, though only partially opened at that time, was super cool. It's definitely worth exploring the next time you go to New York City.

In Loving Memory of My Studio Mascot, Annie

2011-08-12T10:08:00.003-04:00

My beautiful Annie. I will love her forever.

Two days ago, on August 10, my husband and I said goodbye to our sweet, gentle dog, Annie. We shared over 9 years with her after adopting her in Maryland when she was approximately a year and a half old.

I am completely heartbroken right now.

Annie was diagnosed with bone cancer late last year. Since that time, it's been a slow motion nightmare for me to watch her inevitable decline. We did the best we could to manage her pain, but given her age and other conditions, we chose not to resort to more drastic (and likely futile) measures such as limb amputation or radiation therapy.

We were lucky. Annie survived with a good quality of life for over 10 months, far exceeding her original prognosis of just 3-6 months.

In this post, I want to highlight how much Annie meant to me.

Annie was my first dog. When we first brought her into our home in Maryland in June of 2002, I was still working as a web development professional. I also taught evening community college classes on web design in the city of Baltimore.

On the surface, I was a totally different person than who I am today. But as I transitioned to becoming a full time artist, Annie also helped me change on the inside, too.

Like so many people with stories to tell about their lives, I came from a difficult home environment. Indeed, for a variety of reasons related to my upbringing, I am "childless by choice." I like to half-jokingly tell patrons that my artworks are my children, and there is perhaps more truth in this than most people realize.

Annie was my constant companion as I became a full time artist, a vocation that I consider my "true calling" in life. She accompanied us on trips up and down the east coast from Florida to Connecticut, and even along on family visits from Wisconsin to Illinois and Michigan. In more recent years, she was always with me as I explored new Pennsylvania state parks and pitched my easel for wonderful sessions of plein air painting.

Annie came to us with extreme dog aggression issues and it took several professional dog trainers and a lot of patience to help her overcome those problems. As we earned her trust in overcoming these problems, she earned our love and devotion.

Annie was a gentle soul who helped little kids in our neighborhood to overcome their fear of dogs. And she helped me realize that I could love a little being more than I would have thought possible.

We made the decision to have Annie put down in our home after she stopped eating the day before. Thanks to our extraordinary vet from Metzger's Animal Hospital who made a final house call for us, Annie passed away on our kitchen floor, with both my husband and me petting her and telling her how much we loved her.

Since the news of her death, several of our neighbors have cried along with us. We appreciate all of the support. We will eventually get another dog, but there will never be another one like Annie, my sweet studio mascot.

A Focus on Small Format Pieces

2011-08-08T19:57:00.001-04:00

As we melt into the dog days of summer, I'm focused upon the creation of some new, small format cityscapes. Working with these small pieces forces me to distill my idea into its purest essence. It's a bit of a discipline, but I actually find it kind of liberating.

Renovation 8 x 12 original pastel on board.

Featured here are a couple of new pieces. The first, Renovate, is a scene that I caught earlier this year in Brooklyn, near the "Dumbo" area.

The second piece, "Red Light District," was from a different trip to New York City. This artwork captures a scene just outside of Central Park, on the upper west side.

Enjoy!

Red Light District 8 x 12 original pastel on board.

I Hardly Knew Ye

2011-07-25T13:25:00.001-04:00

Uff dah. Most of July has already flown past, highlighted by my annual participation in the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. In preparing for a long show like that, it seems like there's never enough that one person can do. Everything from printing labels for individual limited prints to patching the mitered corners on frames right down to checking the tire pressure on my van before I load it down.

This year's show went smoothly. No overly hot weather, no violent storms, and good sales. It was not our best show, but not our worst, either, and in this economic climate I'm happy with the results. Thank you to everyone who stopped by my booth to see my new artwork. I appreciate your interest in my artwork!

Following the Arts Fest, I took most of this past week off to rest and recover a bit. I visited with an old high school friend who I hadn't seen in 20 years and spent some time in my long-neglected garden. It's slightly less weedy now, hooray.

Jade, 8 x 12 plein air pastel, private collection.

As I get geared up for my fall slate of art shows in Philadelphia, Armonk, and Bethesda, I thought I'd share a couple of recently-sold pieces with you. These two zipped out of my booth at this year's Arts Fest before I had them posted on my web site.

The first is "Jade," a plein air landscape from central Pennsylvania's Reeds Gap State Park. You can see how this painting developed in the field by checking my last blog post. The second piece is "Urban Tapestry, No.2," an addition to a brand new series of cityscapes that I started this summer. Enjoy!

Urban Tapestry, No. 2, 8 x 12 pastel, private collection.

Evolution of a Plein Air Painting

2011-07-12T10:54:00.001-04:00

Two weeks ago, I spent some time working in central Pennsylvania's Reeds Gap State Park. This is one of my favorite summertime retreats because it's secluded and generally a bit cooler than other areas during the hot days of summer.

The following series of photos illustrate a small landscape painting in progress as it evolves from initial concept to (almost) finished piece. Enjoy!

Step One: I use vine charcoal to sketch in a rough "armature" of the motif.

Step Two: This is the initial block-in, where I establish my darkest darks and lightest lights. Note that I use a metal easel. This permits me to set up right in the water, although I usually stand on dry land so as to minimize disruption to my aquatic friends.

Step Three: Continuing to build up the piece and fill out the blank areas of the paper. I always work on a pre-tinted piece of paper...Starting on pure white would be too overwhelming.

Step Four: Nearing completion. This is where I fuss budget with edges and small details.

Step Five: Pretty much done. I will polish this up in my studio to tighten some edges and add some small details because I'm not one of those plein air purist zealots who won't tweak a piece back in the studio. To me, the ultimate goal is always to get a good quality piece, so I don't limit myself arbitrarily.

Gone Painting

2011-07-01T09:51:00.002-04:00

Me, working at my field easel in Black Moshannon State Park

I've spent these first weeks of summer traveling and painting as I prepare for the upcoming Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.

Last week, I visited a friend in the Washington, DC area where we took in some wonderful exhibitions at the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery and at the National Gallery of Art. My new discovery on that trip was the artwork of John Taylor Arms. Just magnificent!

Close up, with the work in progress. My pastel painting mentor, Jack Pardue, always yells at me for wearing sunglasses when I work. But I argue back that these are my 20+ year old Ray Bans, with neutral grey density lenses, so no color distortion. We have to agree to disagree.

I also enjoyed many of the masterpieces featured in the Chester Dale Collection. These works are part of the National Gallery's permanent collection, so they allowed non-flash photography and I got some instructive close ups of works by George Bellows and William Meritt Chase. The opportunity to soak in these works always inspires me in my own work.

This week, a couple of artist friends visited me from the Baltimore area and I toured them around the gorgeous scenery that we have here in central Pennsylvania. Of course, this included a trip to Black Moshannon State Park where one of my friends snapped a few photos of me in action at my easel.

Finally, I'm pleased to report that we're nearly to month 9 of Annie's time since her cancer diagnosis last October. She's slowing down and I know that we won't have much more time to share with her, but we've certainly enjoyed the "bonus" months beyond her original 3-6 month prognosis. She's pictured here, too, as she wades into the lake in Black Moshannon Park.

Back on Track

2011-06-13T10:06:00.001-04:00

Philly Rain 8 x 8 pastel on paper.

It's been home repair-palooza here at our home for the past couple of weeks. Following the discovery of a construction defect, we're now into the final stretch of recovery. Just some sanding of drywall and painting remain. Hooray!

Meanwhile, I have been back in my studio in preparation for the upcoming Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts next month. Here are a couple of new pieces that you will see in my booth during the art show in 4 weeks.

The first, pictured above, is "Philly Rain," a small format cityscape inspired by a vista along Broad Street near City Hall in the heart of Philadelphia. I liked this subject because of the over-the-shoulder composition. Believe it or not, when I studied video production in college we spent a lot of time on the stylistic traits and narrative devices of televised daytime soap operas. A couple of the most most memorable devices included the prolonged, held shot as the show cuts to commercial or the overuse of names to help new viewers come up to speed quickly if they join the program midstream.

To me, this piece sort of conjures up the elevated drama found in those programs. Who is this person? Where is he going? How did we, the omniscient viewers, get to see over his shoulder? And so on.

Indigo 8 x 24 pastel on paper.

The second piece is "Indigo," a panoramic landscape of a winter vista, albeit sans snow, just outside of State College, Pennsylvania. I'm a big fan of Frederic Remington's night paintings. (In my opinion, there is no more affecting piece out there than his "Last March" oil painting of 1906) So, when I have a chance to capture a moonlit scene of my own, I'm all in.

The parade of subcontractors and workmen over the past couple of weeks have made it difficult for me to work, but the good news is that I now have a schedule that will allow me to concentrate more fully.

In addition, I've been out riding my bike a fair bit. Yesterday, I ventured out with a group of local riders and enjoyed a great 45-mile ride up to Yarnell, Pennsylvania. I discovered a couple of new vistas that I will paint en plein air in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

A Change in Art Show Schedule

2011-05-27T10:36:00.000-04:00

I will not exhibit at this summer's Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show in Philadelphia.

Unfortunately, all of the rain in our area this spring revealed a construction defect in the attic and roof of our 8-year old home. Our wonderful builder, who is the largest in the State College, Pennsylvania area and who operates under the slogan of "a builder who cares," left us with an improperly installed venting system for our plumbing and the pipes in our attic have been leaking -- apparently -- since day one of our occupancy. The problem became manifest to me this past week when the ceiling in my office showed water damage.

So, instead of framing artwork in preparation for this next show, I've been in our attic for the past two days and will be up there again trying to clean out the wet insulation and mitigate the damage until we can get a contractor out here following the Memorial Day weekend holiday. As it happens, my husband, Tim, is out of the country on business right now, so this has pretty severely derailed my studio time.

I will be at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in July and hope to do the Rittenhouse Show this fall. Until then, wish me luck in our attic.

Artwork Out of Season

2011-05-18T20:58:00.001-04:00

Moshannon Twilight 16 x 24 Pastel on board.

It's been so rainy here in the northeast that I haven't had much opportunity to paint outside even though the temperatures have warmed over the past month.

And, to be honest, I haven't been inclined to work outside without my little studio mascot, who's still fighting bone cancer valiantly (We are into our 7th month despite a 3-6 month initial prognosis), but she's no longer able to accompany me outdoors. And she recognizes my plein air painting kit, which means that I don't dare start to load my vehicle with those items and without her. Sounds ridiculous, but it's true.

So, I'm mining reference material taken during other seasons to sustain my studio work right now. That's OK. I'm happy to be home with Annie when I'm not exhibiting at weekend art shows these days.

Here are a couple of new landscape pieces inspired by Pennsylvania's gorgeous fall foliage. One piece was right in our neighborhood (shown below) and the other (shown above) was from the Moss Hanne hiking trail in central Pennsylvania's Black Moshannon State Park. Enjoy!

Suncatcher No. 5 - Ruby 8 x 16 Pastel on board.

A Work a Year in the Making

2011-05-11T21:43:00.000-04:00

One of the reasons that I enjoy working in the medium of pastel is that I don't have to wait around for paint to dry, nor do I have to mix any of my colors. Any hue that I need is literally at my fingertips.

Thus, it's highly unusual for me to spend great lengths of time on a piece. For commissions, I may spend a month or two of time in my studio perfecting studies before committing to the larger format work for a client. That's about as long as I'll devote to a piece. Unlike artists who work in other media that may necessitate a slower pace of creation, I just don't have the patience to labor over something for months on end. At most, my biggest cityscapes take a few weeks in my studio.

The Queensboro Bridge 20 x 30 original pastel on board.

This piece, "The Queensboro Bridge," is an exception. I gathered the photographic reference material for it over a year ago when I first rode in the "5 Boros" bike ride through New York City. On the cityscape section of my web site, I relate a humorous story about the context of when I first encountered this view. But it took me a long time to turn this composition over in my mind and settle upon an approach to such a monumental subject.

This is the "solution" at which I arrived. I always like to lead the viewer's eye into a piece, so it was helpful to have the city street in the foreground to provide an entree into the subject of the bridge. And I also enjoy combining a natural element (fluffy clouds) with a hard-edged urban theme like this, so in the end, all of the deliberations were well worth it. Enjoy!

50 Miles by Bike Through NYC

2011-05-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

I just returned from the 5 Boros Bike Ride in New York City this past weekend. Although it's been a cool and rainy spring throughout our region, we caught a break and threaded the needle this past weekend with absolutely perfect weather. Sunny, mid-60s and just gorgeous.

My brother, Chris, and me in lower Manhattan at the start of the ride on Sunday. My trusty, underpaid art assistant husband, Tim, took this photo. I apologize for the super stylish sunglasses...What can I say? They were on sale.

This year, I went with my oldest brother, who traveled over from lower Michigan. We coasted down Broadway to start the ride early on Sunday morning, and after we rode back across on the Staten Island Ferry we left the Financial District and rode back up to midtown on our bikes. All told, it was about a 50-mile day. But it really wasn't that difficult with the temperate weather.

I'm excited about the source material that I gathered on this trip. I'm looking forward to incorporating these new ideas in my work in the coming months. For now, I am off to my studio to finish final preparations for my first show in less than 2 weeks down in Bethesda, Maryland. Ciao!

A Trio of New Works, and an Announcement

2011-04-26T09:44:00.001-04:00

Yellow, Red, Go. 12 x 36 pastel on board.

It's been a very busy spring. And the pace only accelerates from here.

Last night, I finished teaching my class "Composition for 2-D Artists" at the Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania. And just last Friday evening, I returned from a full week oil painting workshop in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with nationally-known artist Kenn Backhaus.

Yes, you read that correctly: Oil painting.

Within the next 12-18 months, I plan to add oil paintings to my body of artwork. Currently, I'm still taking baby steps in this new medium (If there's one thing I learned following last week's workshop, it's that I still have a LOT to learn. Gah!).

With this humble pie in mind, I don't anticipate having any works suitable for public viewing until after this winter, following my 2011 summer art show season. Even then, it will be slow going. I reckon it will take me several years to come up to speed, just as it has with the medium of pastel.

I want to emphasize that this new medium will be an addition to my artistic offerings. I am not abandoning the medium of pastel and you will continue to see my interpretations of landscapes and cityscapes within pastel.

So, why the decision to add oil painting?

It's something that I've thought about for a number of years. Unfortunately, when I was a college art student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I did not receive good instruction in the medium. In fact, I found the whole affair rather frustrating and pretty much swore off it to work with other media that were more accessible to me.

But after years of exhibiting my pastels at art shows and having patrons either confuse my works with oils or inquire about whether I ever do work in oils, I started to give this idea more serious thought. Many other artists work successfully in both media and I believe that I can achieve this competence, too. I'm optimistic that this diversification will open some new opportunities for me to market my artwork.

Field Study. This is a small, 8 x 8 study of stream water from this past week's workshop. Unfortunately, we had fairly cloudy and uncooperative weather throughout the week, but I liked the dynamic contrast and composition of this subject.

There are also some plain, practical reasons. Here in central Pennsylvania, we don't always get the most ideal weather conditions. And it can be difficult to execute plein air pastel works on paper under rainy, drizzly or frigid conditions. Being able to take my oils outside on those subpar days will open up some new doors for my growth artistically.

In addition, I can travel lighter. I have an opportunity to spend a month in Normandy, France with a dear friend late this year, and I'm planning to take my oils across the Atlantic with me.

So, for right now, I'm taking my first, tentative steps. Keep checking this blog for updates. Indeed, pictured above you will see a "Postcard from the Easel" of my oil painting set up during last week's workshop. For the record, Kenn Backhaus is an excellent instructor and I would recommend him without reservation to anyone interested in further developing their painting skills.

City Lights, No. 8 - Scarlet. 8 x 12 pastel on board.

Meanwhile, I've also been busy working in my studio on some new pastel cityscapes in anticipation of a busy summer art show season. Pictured here are several new pieces. All of these are from the city of New York. Enjoy!

Morning, Noon, and Night. 8 x 12 pastel on paper.

My Centre Daily Times Opinion Piece

2011-04-05T10:25:00.000-04:00

In my previous post, I mentioned how concerned I am about the growth of the Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling industry within Pennsylvania.

For about the past 18 months, our local newspaper, The Centre Daily Times, has featured almost daily articles about this topic with coverage about issues related to environmental problems, regulatory enforcement, and the human impact of lease monies.

These are not remote, abstract issues happening "somewhere else." As someone who lives here and whose job it is to observe the granular details of everyday life, I can tell you that the tidal wave of this industry's growth is already very conspicuous.

Last fall, I visited Sinnemahoning State Park in the northwest region of the state to gather source material for fall landscapes. Early on a Saturday morning, heavy industrial trucks were rumbling through the main streets of rural communities, no doubt jarring residents as they transported machinery and drilling equipment to various sites.

I made up my mind at that time that I would voice my concerns about what's happening to my lovely Pennsylvania. This is my first effort, published in today's Centre Daily Times:

Drilling Paints an Ugly Picture of the State

Pennsylvania is beautiful.

As a professional artist who moved here in 2004, I have grown to love this state for its spectacular scenery. When I exhibit my artwork at shows around the country, I tell patrons that using Pennsylvania’s gorgeous landscapes for inspiration is like “painting for dummies.”

However, the rapid growth of the Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling industry leads me to wonder how much longer I will be able to praise the unspoiled beauty of Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests.

As Pennsylvania confronts a $4.1 billion budget shortfall, sacrifices have to be made. Indeed, 35 of our state parks were threatened with outright closure due to a lack of financial resources in 2009.

With this in mind, Governor Corbett’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2011-12 initially looks pretty good. He refrains, for now, from leasing additional state forests for natural gas drilling. He also keeps all 117 of our state parks open.

But according to the nonpartisan Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, Governor Corbett’s proposed budget cuts General Fund support for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) as well as state parks and forests by approximately a third from 2010.

In addition, $15 million in new funding proposed for our state parks comes from the Oil and Gas Lease Fund. This perpetuates an unfortunate trend begun in 2009, when – for the first time in the fund’s 55-year history – money was diverted from conservation efforts to general fund purposes.

Despite these budget issues, Governor Corbett steadfastly refuses to enact a severance tax on natural gas. This has been well documented in recent news coverage. What’s lesser known is that a 2002 Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision exempts natural gas companies from property taxes, too.

Furthermore, Pennsylvania does not own 80% of the mineral rights in 60 state parks with gas deposits. Following a 2009 Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling in favor of Texas-based energy company Belden & Blake, this lack of subsurface rights means that the best the DCNR can do to protect our public lands from drilling is to sue after damage is done.

The risks are real. With a whopping 2,021 violations amassed at Marcellus Shale wells in less than two years, Pennsylvania faces hazards ranging from radioactive wastewater to significant air pollution.

And it’s only going to get worse.

Just weeks ago, during a now infamous presentation in Neffsville, where DCNR’s chief oil and gas geologist, Teddy Borawski, compared critics of the natural gas industry to Nazis, he also predicted, "This thing is going to go on for 50 years." He estimated that the number of wells drilled in Pennsylvania will grow from about 6,400 today to 120,000, perhaps up to 180,000 wells.

The concerns go beyond mere aesthetics and public health:
• Pennsylvania state forests support 90,000 jobs in the forest products industry
• Our state parks support more than 10,500 local jobs, returning $9 to local economies for every dollar invested by the state and generating more than $928 million in local expenditures
• Tourism, the state’s second largest industry, provides $32 billion in annual impact to Pennsylvania’s economy

Unfortunately, Pennsylvania is no stranger to the exploitation of its natural resources and the inevitable busts that follow these booms.

During the 1800s, the lumber industry clear-cut Pennsylvania to such an extent that the northern tier of the state earned the unflattering moniker of the “Pennsylvania Desert.” Without a severance tax to adequately maintain our state while the natural gas drilling industry profits from our public lands, soon it will be said that living in Pennsylvania is “for dummies.”

Just back from NYC

2011-03-28T14:02:00.005-04:00

Did you hear that ((whoosh)) sound?

That's the sound of this past week zipping away in my rear view mirrow. Wow, what a busy time!

I kicked off last week with a phone interview of John Quigley, former Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. He now works as a consultant for PennFuture, a statewide environmental advocacy organization based in Harrisburg.

I'm writing a profile about Mr. Quigley for an English class that I'm taking as an adult continuing education student at Penn State this spring. He was gracious enough to give me almost an hour of his time and I sincerely appreciate it.

As an artist who enjoys the beautiful scenery and pristine state parks of Pennsylvania, I am very concerned about the Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling now gaining momentum throughout our state. This industrial activity occurs on Pennsylvania's state forest lands as well as areas bordering and beneath our state parks.

Forecasts for massive growth combined with recent news accounts about environmental violations, risks associated with toxic frack wastewater, and the lack of a state severance tax for this industry threaten to affect the quality of life of Pennsylvania residents for generations to come.

I am so concerned about this topic that in the coming weeks you will see me add a special section to my web site, SarahPollock.com, to share information about hydraulic fracturing for natural gas within Pennsylvania.

Stay tuned.

After my interview, I spent a couple of days in Pittsburgh helping to take care of the world's cutest niece and nephew (No, I am NOT biased). We weathered a hail storm and successfully avoided a tornado while building many pillow forts in the house.

Then it was off to New York City, where my husband gave a talk at the Graduate School of Business at Fordham University. Naturally, I had to tag along to gather some source material for new cityscapes.

Columbus Night 20" x 30" Original pastel.

Pictured here, you see a new piece fresh off of my easel entitled Columbus Night. As the title implies, this was in midtown Manhattan, just off of Columbus Circle.

Finally, this week I will kick off a new class about artistic composition for 2D artists at the Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania. It should be a fun refresher for me and I look forward to incorporating some old fundamentals into my new pieces in the coming weeks.

Outside 39A

2011-03-15T09:03:00.002-04:00

I have a theory that there are some people we meet in our adult lives who are exactly like the notable personalities we knew decades ago in high school. You know how it goes, you meet someone and you immediately sense that she was a popular cheerleader or that he was the unfortunate soul who got stuffed into the hallway locker a few times.

Outside 39A Original pastel, 12 x 24.

This latest piece, entitled Outside 39A, is a cityscape based upon a subject I discovered in the Notting Hill neighborhood of London. I thoroughly enjoy creating portraits of anonymous individuals and I was drawn to these two women because of the strong geometric shapes, colors, and shadows that surrounded them.

For whatever reason, the two women in this piece conjured up memories of the nefarious clique of smokers who occasionally deigned to show up to class in my high school. I was drawn to them because of their almost conspiratorial posture and their brooding outlook at passersby.

Figurative works are fun pieces for me to create because they represent a bit of a departure from my city street scenes. These works are much more intimate in feel and they suggest myriad stories in explanation of who these folks are and what they are going to do next.

Brightening the Heart of Winter

2011-02-25T16:03:00.000-05:00

We had a brief taste of spring in central Pennsylvania last week when temperatures bolted to the mid-60s and the sun shone brightly. Naturally, I snuck out of my studio during those days and took my bicycle out for a spin. Those outings were way better than riding my bike in a stationary trainer in our dreary basement.

(However, I did get this ultra dorky and super cool book holder for my bike handlebars, and I've been devouring books about American history on my Kindle e-book reader as I pound the pedals. Not bad, really. I'm winding my way through Pauline Maier's excellent volume "Ratification" right now.)

In my studio during the month of February with Autumn Splendor, a brand new landscape.

Anyways, as a rebuttal to the grey days of winter (the end is almost in sight!), I have Autumn Splendor fresh off of my easel. I liked this piece so well that I decided it was finally time to take a new photo of myself in my studio and I chose this piece as the backdrop for the portrait.

Autumn Splendor and its little sibling study, Suncatcher No. 4 - Splendor, were both inspired by an October visit to Whipple Dam State Park.

In the past, I've used the analogy that working with these vibrant colors is like being able to drive your car fast when no one is looking. It's so exhilarating, and the perfect antidote to winter. Enjoy!

An Ending and a Beginning

2011-02-08T14:44:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday, the Washington Post published the obituary of Ross Merrill, a plein air artist and a conservator for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

I happened to be paging through the newspaper this weekend when I came across his photo, a view of him standing by his easel, and the article brought back some fond memories for me. I did not know Mr. Merrill nor did he know me, but he was the featured speaker at the very first Maryland Pastel Society meeting that I attended back in 2003.

At that time, I was just beginning my career as an artist. I hadn't even settled upon a medium, still fighting tenaciously to make watercolor obey my will. And I was a resolute introvert. My husband very nearly had to shove me between my shoulder blades to get me to attend the meeting (just a 20 minute drive from our home).

During that meeting, Mr. Merrill gave an illuminating presentation about the history of the pastel medium and answered questions about materials and techniques. It was extremely informative, and I came away intrigued. With a little more prodding from my husband, I asked questions and even managed to introduce myself to a few members of the society.

To this day, I retain friendships with many of the artists I met during that first meeting. Through them, I got a jumpstart on working in the medium of pastel as well as ample inspiration to show me what is possible. I regard that first meeting as a beginning that lead to where I am today.

I was sad to see Mr. Merrill's obituary this past weekend. I knew he had been ill for a while. But as the article shows, he found a way to express himself artistically in this world, and it seems to me that his was a life well lived.

A Little Behind Season, but...

2011-02-03T14:16:00.002-05:00

We have about a foot of crusty, hard frozen snow on the ground here in central Pennsylvania. Per usual, my artwork lags a bit behind the actual season. This newest piece, pictured here, is called "Autumnwood." This was from an early October scene that I discovered south of State College, along Marengo Road.

Autumnwood 16 x 24 original pastel on board.

Successful hip surgery in late 2009 allowed me to get back on my bicycle this past summer. Traversing the rural roads of Pennsylvania on my bike is one of my favorite hobbies. Right up there with gardening in the summer. And catching a scene like this was possible only on a bike, where life slows down and there is enough opportunity to register the beauty of one's surroundings.

This piece was all about the brilliant light at the end of the road, in strong contrast to the shadowed trees along the right of the composition. Of course, the vibrant foliage was also pretty nifty.

"Autumnwood" is currently on display at the Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College, Pennsylvania from now through the end of March. Later this spring, I will offer limited edition prints of this piece. You will find them on the Prints area of my web site soon.

Show Upcoming

2011-01-27T14:20:00.001-05:00

Beginning next week, with the start of a new month (Yikes! Where is 2011 going?), I will exhibit recent works at the Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College, Pennsylvania.

November Rain 12 x 24 original pastel on board.

The piece pictured here, November Rain, will be one of the newest works included in the exhibition. The display will continue through the end of March, and I'll probably rotate in a few new works at the midpoint of the show (start of March) to freshen the show. The hospital is located at 1800 Park Avenue in State College, and I invite you to stop by and check out the works if you happen to be in the area.

The First Work of 2011

2011-01-19T15:58:00.000-05:00

Uff dah! This year got off to a crunchy start for me when I sprained my ankle (badly) several weeks ago. In the midst of that, I was also moving what felt like my entire life from a PC computer to a Mac computer. I'm still in the process of getting everything organized, but I'm slowly surmounting the details. And my ankle is also returning to normal, although it's still sore. Ankle sprains are a bummer, dude.

Anyways, I am back at my easel and back to work. Pictured here is the first new piece for 2011, entitled "Rain Walker." There's no doubt that I enjoy rainy day scenes within our nation's cities, but it never ceases to amuse me how it seems to rain whenever I venture out. The inspiration for this motif came in Philadelphia this past summer, looking down Broad Street with my back to City Hall. I just liked how the reflected headlights framed this figure, and she had such a determined, crisp gait that she made a wonderful subject.

Rain Walker 16x 20 Pastel on board.

I'm currently working on a few new pieces for an exhibition at the Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College, Pennsylvania. I will exhibit there from February through March. And my art show schedule is beginning to take shape already, with a couple of early season acceptances arriving this past week for a show in northern Virginia and a show in Bethesda, Maryland.

The next few months offer relatively quiet, uninterrupted time for me and I'm looking forward to creating more new pieces. I promise to take better care of my ankles as I do (!).

Studies for a Commission

2010-12-07T14:04:00.000-05:00

Pictured here are a couple of small studio studies for a commission client with whom I'm working to create a fall landscape for her home. She wanted something colorful, sunny, and with water in the composition. We met last week and she chose a third option, which is not yet pictured here. The two pieces pictured here are from local state parks, Black Moshannon and Whipple Dam. Ultimately, my client chose a piece inspired by Ricketts Glen State Park. You will see the larger, finished piece in a couple of weeks when I finish that up and post it here.

Study, Whipple Dam State Park, Fall 8 x 12 pastel on paper.

Study, Black Moshannon, Fall 8 x 12 pastel on paper.

Meanwhile, winter arrived in central Pennsylvania in earnest. I was able to ride my bicycle up until about 10 days ago, but now the snow is flying past my office window at warp speed as I write this. On a personal level, this relegates me to swimming laps for exercise. From a professional standpoint, the winter season means a few things for me as an artist. First, I've been taking some time off and working reduced hours in my studio. This past year was one of my most successful years ever and I am extremely grateful for how well everything went. I'm using this time to recharge some depleted batteries because life hit a very fevered pitch for me from late July through the end of October. If there's one thing I've learned over the past several years of creating artwork, it's that "down time" is very valuable to keep my creativity flowing.

Secondly, this quieter time of year is a chance for me to attend to some of the details that will (hopefully) pave the way for continued success in 2011. For example, I've already applied to several 2011 summer art shows. Earlier this week I learned that I'm on the waiting list for admission into a South Carolina show in May. Though not as good as being admitted, it's better than an outright rejection. I shall wait and see with that one.

Next, I'm exploring some new avenues for next year. I'm planning to take a painting workshop and a photography workshop to enhance my skills. Planning these things requires plenty of lead time because I have to stitch things together around my tentative art show schedule as well as studio time to accomplish what I need for 2011.

Finally, this is the time of year when I assume the persona of an office manager and stock up on things like new pastels, paper, business cards, and other materials that I will need for the upcoming year. I'm in the market for a new computer, as well, because everything in the art world has gone digital over the past 5 to 10 years and my old desktop is wheezing to a slow demise. Inevitably, new hardware also means new software together with a steep learning curve, so I take these winter months as a time to re-tool in many ways. This past weekend I even cleaned out my old 35mm slides because no juried shows want those anymore (thankfully). I plan to donate my Kodak slide projector to Goodwill this week. I think I've had that thing since I was an art student back in Wisconsin, so this is quite a momentous change. But a welcome one. I've always been a proponent for computers and digital technology and I'm happy to let go of the old way of doing stuff.

Tomorrow, I'm visiting Pittsburgh to gather some source material and to visit one of my frame suppliers in a quest for a new landscape frame that I will incorporate into my artwork for 2011. If the weather cooperates, I may even scout some galleries. This is helpful for my creative insights to keep a pulse on what's happening in the world outside of central Pennsylvania.

I will post again before the end of this year. But until that time, I hope that you are enjoying a safe and happy holiday season with your family and friends.

Back from New York City

2010-11-17T11:07:00.002-05:00

Early last week I returned from a quick, two day visit to New York City to gather source material for my cityscapes. These brief photo safaris help me accumulate inspiration for the quiet winter months in my studio, when I work to prepare for the next art show season.

Of course, it rained during my visit. It always rains whenever I go to a city. This really is not a complaint, but I have to chuckle when patrons at art shows remark, "Gee, you seem to like reflections and rain." Little do they know that I frequently have no choice (!). Although it makes everything more difficult as I dodge puddles and drips with my camera, I've learned to make the best of it. I enjoy portraying rainy scenes with their brilliant reflections and wet streaks of color throughout.

Simon's Rain 9 x 13 original pastel on paper.

The piece pictured here is the latest off of my easel, entitled "Simon's Rain." It's a non-subtle jeu de mots inspired by the facade of the Neil Simon Theater in midtown. I saw a great contrast between the cool indigo blues and rich maroon reds, and that color chord brought this whole motif to life for me.

But perhaps the best discovery during my trip to the city was an exhibit at the Whitney Museum of Art, which showed the works of Edward Hopper alongside his peers and teachers. Through this exhibit, I discovered the prints and etchings of Australian artist Martin Lewis. His piece, "Shadow Dance," was featured in the show and I was totally smitten. Indeed, if you know my work, then you'll probably understand immediately why there was a connection. I already have the Catalog Raisonne of his works in my hot little mitts, and I've been poring over it this past week, gathering ideas that you will see me employ in the coming months.

Working Behind the Scenes

2010-10-25T15:08:00.000-04:00

Fall, in central Pennsylvania

I wrapped up my last art show in Bethesda, Maryland just over a week ago. Since that time, I've returned home, packed away the materials for my outdoor art shows for this season, and quietly comforted our dog of over eight years, who was recently diagnosed with terminal bone cancer.

I won't lie: I am very sad right now. I spent three hours at the vet's office this past Friday afternoon while she received an intravenous palliative treatment. It is exceptionally difficult for me to work while my little friend is going through this.

Nonetheless, the fall colors have been beautiful yet again this October and this week I will get back into my studio to mine some of the exquisite source material that I've captured over the preceding weeks. Much of it was made possible by outings to the surrounding rural areas on my bicycle, and I think that this slower pace and more intimate view of the fall colors will lead to some interesting pieces in the coming weeks. I'm preparing a few new pieces for an upcoming exhibition at the State College Framing Company and Gallery that will open in mid-November. Stay tuned.

In Maryland This Weekend

2010-10-13T21:41:00.006-04:00

Suncatcher, No. 2 - Effervesce. 8 x 16 pastel on board.

Well, it's finally here: The last art show of the season, in Bethesda, Maryland.

I'm ready for a break. But I'm also excited about this weekend. This is a new venue for me. In the life of the itinerant art show artist, all things are a grand experiment. And so it is with this weekend. The best news is that it looks like the weather will be absolutely stellar. A perfect fall weekend.

I'm looking forward to exploring this new opportunity. And when all is said and done, I'm also looking forward to relaxing with my ailing dog. I'm going to spoil her rotten in the coming weeks, as if it were possible to spoil her any more than she's already been.

A Dark Day in Central PA

2010-10-06T10:00:00.000-04:00

I've cried more in the past 24 hours than I ever thought possible. Yesterday, my husband and I learned that our lovely dog, Annie, has bone cancer. It's a terminal and rapid disease. Right now, the best we will be able to do for her is to offer palliative care.

Annie and I hiking in Blue Knob State Park in central Pennsylvania during last summer.

I'm devastated. We had taken her in to our veterinarian office to repair a torn ACL in her leg when this newer, more serious problem was discovered. It's quite a blind side swipe and we're still coming to grips with the diagnosis.

I've half-jokingly referred to Annie as my "studio mascot" since I began my career as an artist in 2003. But I'd be remiss if I didn't share with you how she's been a wonderful companion to me on many woodland hikes, plein air painting outings, and even during the grey winter days spent in my studio over all of the years we've had her. She's always by my side, and I've grown to love her more than I realized was possible when we first brought her into our home in Maryland. In this era of far flung families and often impersonal relationships with acquaintances, she's been a true companion for me.

Of course I knew that this day would come. But sometimes knowing a fact doesn't make it any easier to accept. Our goal is to help her through these last months in as comfortable and happy a manner as possible. I'll be trying to work in my studio as best as my emotions permit, but it may be a not-so-productive few months here. Please wish us all well.

Recharging

2010-09-28T12:33:00.001-04:00

After two really successful shows in Pennsylvania and New York over the last two weekends, I had to cancel one show for this upcoming weekend. This was a really difficult decision for me. Really difficult. But in the past several weeks, I have been blessed with a lot of sales and the number of my available pieces has diminished to where I just couldn't put my best foot forward to make the most of an opportunity for another show right away this weekend. To maintain the quality of my work, I made this choice.

NYColors, 16 x 32 original pastel on board. As promised in my last blog post, this is the completed city scene from New York City.

So, I'm staying home to do some studio work and to catch my breath. I'm tired and I'll use these extra days to recharge a bit. In addition to the time spent in my studio, I'm currently in the process of beginning applications to 2011 art shows as well as some other plans that I have afoot for next year. I won't elaborate until things firm up a bit more, but I'm looking to push into some new directions with my artwork next year and the groundwork begins already this fall.

In several weeks I will exhibit at my final art show of the season in Bethesda, Maryland. Barring a freak snowstorm (which did happen last year in mid-October), I will be there, confirmed. Until then, I will post some new works in the coming weeks. Thank you for checking in!

Behind the Scenes: A Cityscape in Progress

2010-09-15T10:13:00.001-04:00

The initial drawing of a brand new piece. This is done in vine charcoal. Just a sketch. I do not use projectors. Everything is "freehand."

I'm about to embark upon a busy fall schedule of shows. This is a fun time for me because I spend so many solitary hours in my studio that an opportunity to get out and talk to interested visitors at my shows is a great change of pace.

One of the most frequent questions that I get from patrons at a show is, "How long did it take you to create this (painting)?"

Time is not always a measure of "quality" in a piece of art. Some of my favorite pieces flew off of my easel with a spirited ease, while others that I labored over and had to wrestle to the mat can either be the most satisfying of my works, or the eternal ugly step child. Perhaps I should not admit to that latter alternative, but, hey, it happens. Not every piece will be an artist's favorite.

Nonetheless, the answer to the preceding question is that the time spent on a piece varies. If I'm out in the field painting en plein air, I have to be fast to capture the changing conditions and avoid "chasing the light." I work in small formats for outdoor pieces.

With my cityscapes, I work from my own photo reference materials. Depending upon the size of a work there can be a tremendous amount of detail involved. And larger works can definitely require multiple weeks of steady work in my studio.

Posted below, you can see the initial stages of a new piece based upon Times Square in New York City that I'm currently working on. I thought I would share this progression with you as a peek behind the scenes into how I work and how a large format urban subject comes together. Check back again in about a week to see the finished piece, which will be called "NYColors."

Blocking in. The dark colors go down first.

Adding more colors. Here, I start to introduce some additional colors for the scene.

Building up. More colors and more coverage.

Getting closer. Things are starting to take shape here as more highlights come into the piece.

Almost there. There are still a lot of details to add and I invite you to check back next week when I post the finished piece here.

Laboring on Labor Day? You betcha'

2010-09-06T21:51:00.001-04:00

With apologies to my brethren in Wisconsin, I couldn't resist a little upper midwest colloquialism for the title of this post.

A work in progress in Reeds Gap State Park

On this Labor Day, the weather was outstanding here in central Pennsylvania. I ventured out to one of my favorite places to paint en plein air, Reeds Gap State Park. This photo shows a new piece in progress along the bank of Honey Creek. We've had an unusually dry spell of weather and the creek is about as low as I've ever seen it, but this dry circumstance opens up some new places for me to work. I literally dragged my painting gear down a steep 12 foot embankment today to set up for my morning session. This photo shows my second piece of the day, a work that took shape during the late afternoon.
I'm busy finishing and framing new works for a jam-packed fall art show schedule. You will see new cityscapes and landscapes posted on the main section of my web site later this week. Until then, I hope you had a relaxing weekend and that your summer was an enjoyable one. It's really hard to believe that autumn is already upon us and I'm looking forward to my favorite and most colorful time of year.

One Property, Three Magnificent Views

2010-08-13T13:59:00.001-04:00

Mountain Farm 10 x 20 original pastel on paper

Earlier this week I delivered a commissioned landscape to a client. It is a portrait of their property in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. For this project, I did three different seasonal views of the property and they selected the fall version. Shown here, you see the winter and summer pieces as well. I liked the winter view so well that I already created a larger version of it called "Winter Contours." The smaller study is very nice as well.

I am off to Detroit for the weekend. I'm going to do some photo safari outings in the city as I prepare for a busy fall art show schedule. Have a great weekend!

The Aurand Farm, Autumn 10 x 20 original pastel on paper

Study, Winter Contours 10 x 20 original pastel on paper

Natural Gas Drilling: Beware

2010-08-04T17:56:00.000-04:00

I moved to Pennsylvania six years ago. Since that time, I've celebrated this state's incomparable natural beauty through many plein air landscape paintings, larger studio works, and a recent book that documents the history of Black Moshannon State Park. A history, incidentally, that was shaped largely by exploitation from the lumber industry during the late 1800s and a location that still bears visual evidence of these activities even today.

Wykoff Run in northwestern Pennsylvania.

As an artist, I get to luxuriate in a slower pace of life. A life that is based largely upon observation and an appreciation for details that may escape others' notice. Consequently, I am increasingly concerned about the rush to Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Drilling. Our local newspaper, The Centre Daily Times, has done a wonderful job in recent months of highlighting the pros and cons of this new energy rush.

Believe me: I am all for energy independence and I, too, would love to see this nation less reliant upon dubious regimes in other parts of the world. Nonetheless, I believe that this current rush - much like the dash to clear cut vast swaths of Pennsylvania's forests generations ago - imperils Pennsylvania's water resources and natural beauty.

My husband and I receive the Wall Street Journal each day and in recent editions of the newspaper one finds large, full color advertisements that implore the public to embrace this new form of drilling.

"What are we waiting for?" these ads demand.

These ads are often sponsored by groups that hold ".org" web addresses normally reserved for non-profit organizations. And the groups' names certainly sound cheerful enough, including adjectives such as "clean."

However, the reality on the ground is quite different from the cheerful calls to action in these cleverly worded montages. Today's edition of The Centre Daily Times featured the following front page, above-the-fold headline: "Drillers Rack Up 1400 Violations." This article describes a recent report assembled by the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association, and it documents these violations since the start of 2008. Barely even two and a half years into this rush, and already about two-thirds of those violations posed environmental risks ranging from chemical spills to improperly implemented sludge pits.

If you care about the future of Pennsylvania's natural resources and the fate of its drinking water, I urge you to take the time now to become informed about this issue. Like so many other states right now, Pennsylvania's state budget is tight during this economic recession. This means that fewer resources can be devoted to our state Department of Environmental Protection at precisely the time when they are needed. Moreover, the taxation of firms who extract these resources from state forests and other properties is still up for debate in Harrisburg.

Please educate yourself about this issue and act to make your voice heard.

Finishing Day

2010-08-02T18:48:00.000-04:00

Philly, Red and Green 10 x 14 original pastel on board.

At any given time, I usually have several works in progress simultaneously in my studio. When I first began working almost seven years ago, I focused upon one piece at a time. But in recent years I've gotten far busier with my artwork, and I've found it helpful to have many pieces going at once. Much like a writer is his own worst proof reader, I find that if I spend too much time on one piece alone, then I miss problems within the composition. Perhaps a color is out of balance or there's an issue with the drawing. I won't identify these issues if I'm too consumed with the piece. Thus, it's helpful to set a piece aside for a while, and then come back to it with "fresh eyes." And having a bunch of different works to juggle at once allows me to keep pushing forward on other subjects and ideas.

All of the works featured in today's post are brand new cityscapes that I finished today. All of them have been in progress over the past couple of weeks, and today I resolved that I would put the final touches on each of them. These are so new that they aren't even on my "regular" web site yet, so you're getting a sneak preview. Enjoy!

Cold Queue 8 x 16 original pastel on board.

Iridescence 12 x 18 original pastel on board.

Summer Art Notes

2010-07-26T10:12:00.000-04:00

I just returned from a road trip down to Philadelphia and Stone Harbor, New Jersey. The William Ris Gallery opened a group exhibition featuring some of my new landscapes and cityscapes this past weekend. The exhibition will continue through August 6, 2010.

A road sign along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway highlights the forthcoming arrival of the Barnes Foundation collection.

While making the trip down to the opening reception, my husband and I stopped in Merion, Pennsylvania as well as Philadelphia. It was a record-breaking hot weekend, so we sought shelter indoors. We began our road trip with a visit to the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania.

It blew my mind.

Housed in a grand residence, this collection of post-Impressionist Modern Art is currently valued in the 10s of billions (yes, Billions) of dollars. It was collected and assembled by Dr. Albert Barnes, a man who made his fortune around the turn of the last century in pharmaceuticals. To this day, the artwork is hung and displayed in the sequence and groupings that Dr. Barnes personally chose. The site has served as an educational resource for art students for decades. To see the collection, you must schedule an appointment. Access is limited because the foundation serves primarily as an educational resource, not a tourist destination.

Now, here's the deal: The art collection is being moved to a new location along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia. I believe this new location is set to open in 2012. Regardless, this move represents a gross violation of Albert Barnes last will and estate. He had specifically directed that the collection remain in tact and on the original premises. He never wanted to see it commercially exploited, which is precisely what is happening now.

If you have not already visited this special resource, I strongly encourage you to do so before it is desecrated via the move to the tourist area of Philadelphia. Before you go, be sure to also check out the wonderful documentary film from 2009, "The Art of the Steal," where you'll get a full history of the man, his art, and the unfortunate sequence of events that will forever compromise the experience of viewing this collection for future audiences. Those of you who live in Pennsylvania may or may not be surprised by the instrumental role our current governor, Ed Rendell, played in this fiasco.

Great Press from the Central PA Festival of the Arts

2010-07-14T05:43:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I wrapped up the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in State College and I want to thank everyone who stopped by. It was a good year for us and I appreciate the support of everyone who stopped by my booth. In addition, this past weekend the Centre Daily Times newspaper published a couple of articles that mentioned my work in conjunction with the arts festival.

The first article published on Saturday, "Artist profile: Sarah Pollock, Port Matilda artist celebrates central Pennsylvania," offered a summary about my work and my background. You can read the text of the article here.

The second article published on Sunday, "Art: So What's It Worth To You?", featured an interview with my husband, Tim Pollock. Tim is a professor in the business school at Penn State University and one of his areas of research is the pricing of initial public offerings, and after years of working with me at these shows, he has some interesting insights into the pricing of artwork. You can read the text of this second article here.

Thanks again to everyone who stopped by this past weekend.

Evolution of a Plein Air Painting

2010-07-05T16:57:00.003-04:00

The Beginning of a New Plein Air Landscape. The initial sketch over tinted paper. This is Honey Creek in Pennsylvania's Reeds Gap State Park.

As I wrote in a post earlier this summer, this is the "outdoor season" for me when I frequently work on location with my easel to create small format paintings of central Pennsylvania landscapes. I enjoy these outings because it's shaping up to be a very busy year for me. Last week, I learned that my work was accepted into a couple of new art shows: The Gracie Square Art Show in New York City and the Bethesda Row Art Show in Maryland. I'm enthused about these opportunities and I look forward to sharing Pennsylvania's natural beauty with interested patrons at these venues later this year.

With this post, I want to share with you how a painting done on location evolves. People often ask me, "How long does it take to make a painting?"

It depends upon a couple of factors. First, the size of the piece has a large influence. With my field work, I prefer to focus upon smaller format pieces. In my opinion, an artist has about 2 hours of steady light to work with when painting en plein air. After a 2-3 hour time frame, the angle of the light and the shadows will shift to such a degree that the subject can start to appear quite different. And I do not like to "chase the light."

In some cases, I end up working on pieces over a period of consecutive days. And -- I'll be honest -- I finish pieces in my studio. I'm not one of these radical plein air purists who won't touch a piece after returning from the field. I have fun finishing these pieces in my studio from my mind's eye recollection of the scene. It's a good challenge and discipline for me.

Anyways, the second factor in "how long does it take" is the subject itself. Some pieces are more intricate than others. For example, my landscape, Black Moshannon, No. 27 - Kaleidoscope, was very detailed and required a couple of consecutive visits to the park. On the other hand, a sky scene like this piece can go faster. I just find it easier to dash in clouds than trees, but it varies by the artist.

Included below is a sequence of photos that illustrate the progression of a brand new piece from Pennsylvania's Reeds Gap State Park. You can see how the piece begins with an initial sketch on tinted paper, and then how it develops into the final piece. For this work, I finished the last details of the tree branches back in my studio, but I was able to get most of the work done while standing in the stream bed. If you watch the back drop in these photos, you can see how the lighting conditions fluctuated on this "partly cloudy" day. The complete piece, June Stream, is available for your review on my web site. Enjoy!

Getting Rolling The first strong lines of the composition.

Making Progress More of the piece blocked in.

Getting Closer Much of the piece is in place at this point.

Almost Done All but a few details on the right are on the paper.

Recent Commissions

2010-06-27T10:12:00.003-04:00

This past week my husband, Tim, and I celebrated our 8th "Annie-versary" with our adopted dog, Annie. It hardly seems possible that eight years have flown past with her already.

Annie was originally from the Anne Arundel County Animal Shelter in Maryland, hence, her name. She was found tangled up in barbed wire and some kind soul brought her to the shelter, where she spent months healing from her wounds.

Pete and Cornelia Cheston, extended family members of ours, originally adopted her. They spent lots of time and effort training her because Annie was essentially feral and neglected until she was about 18 months old. Their goal for Annie was to have her become a bomb and drug sniffing dog -- they are ex-military and they own a business training dogs for such purposes. But Annie wanted to be "top dog" and didn't get along with their other females, so when Tim and I moved to Maryland from Wisconsin, we took her in.

I can say without qualification that having Annie as a member of our family for the past eight years has been a total delight. She has never been destructive in our home and she's always been wonderful with people and little kids. For anyone looking for a dog, I highly recommend your local animal shelter. There are tons of gems like Annie awaiting your kindness.

Zildjian. Portrait commission, 12 x 16 pastel on paper.

With these thoughts in mind, it seemed like this would be the appropriate time to share a couple of recent commissions with you. These are portraits of Dr. Fred Metzger's dogs, Sophie and Zildjian. Dr. Metzger owns the Metzger Animal Hospital here in State College, and his staff have been wonderful to Annie over the years that we've lived in this area.

Sophie. Portrait commission, 12 x 16 pastel on paper.

These portraits were a fun departure from my usual subject matter. Sophie has worked as a therapy dog here in Centre County, serving as a source of comfort for young children who have to testify in criminal trials. And Zildgian is 100% sweet labrador, just like our Annie. Enjoy!

The Outdoor Season

2010-06-21T07:03:00.003-04:00

Summer is here, and I can't believe how fast this year is going. I'm currently finishing up some new pieces for the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. I've also been working on some commissions. I will post updates about those projects in the coming weeks, after I've obtained approval from my clients.

The initial stages of a new plein air piece. This is an 8" x 12" original pastel on paper.

Last week I had the opportunity to sneak out of my studio and take advantage of an absolutely stupendous central Pennsylvania day. I ventured down to Mifflin county, about 45 minutes south of where I live, to visit Reeds Gap State Park. I love that state park because the drive to it is gorgeous, it's easily accessible and usually I can go there and have the whole place to myself. My studio mascot, Annie, and I worked together on a delightful summer afternoon and I thought that I would share with you a couple of Postcards from the Easel about our adventure together. Enjoy!

The work further along. Here, almost everything is complete except for the foreground water and some tree branch details.

On Memorial Day

2010-05-31T18:43:00.001-04:00

Curious cows want a piece of the action during a recent visit to a rural farm in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. I'm currently working on a landscape commission for the property owner.

Autumn Study One of the first studies from the property.

It's Memorial Day today and I will partake in some awesome Wisconsin soul food later this evening (brats on the grill!), but at this moment I want to offer my gratitude to our nation's veterans, past and present, for their sacrifice.

I feel extremely blessed to be able to live and work as an artist. And I know that for many women around the world who are not so fortunate to live in the United States, this life would seem purely fanciful. I appreciate the opportunities I have. Thank you to all of our service men and women.

42 Miles and Counting...

2010-05-09T20:31:00.000-04:00

In New York City last weekend, with my trusty steed

Last week I completed the 42 mile Bike the 5 Boros ride in New York City (along with 32,000 other riders). This officially marks my successful rehab and recovery from last November's hip surgery and I couldn't be more pleased.

Being able to ride through the city and cross its beautiful bridges was an experience that I will not soon forget. And it looks like we got the best weather weekend of the past several, so that was very fortunate.

Although I've been spending a lot of time on my bike this spring, I'm also working in my studio. The past month has not been as productive as I would like because we just had ALL of the windows replaced on our home, where my studio is located. Our contractor was efficient and awesome, but it was still an inevitably disruptive process. I'm looking forward to some quieter, more productive studio sessions in the coming weeks. And you can bet that I'll have some new cityscapes based upon my recent bike ride.

A New Print, and a Request for Your Help

2010-04-21T21:42:00.002-04:00

Neon Night A new limited edition print for 2010.

Last year I got so busy that I did not offer a new limited edition print. Well, I'm on top of things a bit better to kick off this year and I'd like to highlight "Neon Night," a new limited edition print for 2010. This print is from an original cityscape that I created earlier this year, inspired by a scene in midtown Manhattan. You can order this online by visiting the Prints section of my web site.

Secondly, I'd like to use this posting as an appeal for your attention regarding Marcellus Shale gas drilling in Pennsylvania. Today, our local newspaper, The Centre Daily Times, printed excerpts from an address given by Secretary of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, John Quigley, to a symposium at Bucknell University this past weekend. As he described the challenges confronting the state with the proper monitoring and supervision of these drill sites, his most startling comment was the following:

"We will see a degradation of Penn's Woods the likes of which is unprecedented in the history of the state."

Keep in mind that Pennsylvania is currently the only state that does not impose an extraction tax for private companies to access these resources. And many of these companies currently run operations within state forest lands. And Pennsylvania continues to use revenues from these companies to plug budget shortfalls.

Meanwhile, the full environmental consequences of these operations are not well understood. Already anecdotal evidence in the northeastern and western regions of the state indicate real risks to well water and streams. Moreover, the hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" procedures involved in these operations use a proprietary mix of chemicals that pose health hazards to first responders in the event of an emergency. And problems do arise: As recently as the first of this month, our newspaper reported on an out-of-control fire at a drilling site in western Pennsylvania.

You can read more about Secretary Quigley's weekend remarks here: http://www.centredaily.com/2010/04/21/1926709/state-dcnr-chief-wants-monitoring.html#ixzz0lmxAH2co.

If you agree that these operations pose potential risks to our land and state forests, please consider contacting our state legislators to express your concerns.

Spring Update

2010-04-14T08:56:00.004-04:00

April Showers 20 x 30 Pastel on board. Learn more...

A lot of things are happening behind the scenes here and I want to share a few items with you. For starters, I hung an exhibition of new landscapes and cityscapes at Zola New World Bistro in downtown State College last week. Featured above, you see "April Showers," a new cityscape inspired by a recent visit to New York City. The exhibition will continue through June 2, 2010.

Artworks in Zola The exhibition continues through June 2.

Secondly, I'm starting to firm up my summer art show calendar. I'm waiting to hear from one additional show and I'm also going to try an application to a couple of new shows this year. It's tough to break into some of these venues as a "newbie," but I think it's worth a shot. Please watch my web site for updates throughout this spring and into early summer.

Next, my artwork is featured in a blog posting today on the Pastel News web site. The site owner highlights interesting pastel artists and their work, and it's nice to get this pat on the back.

In addition, I'm into the final layout phase with my book, From My Easel: A Celebration of Pennsylvania's Black Moshannon State Park. Last night, I met with the Friends of Black Moshannon group to present the text of the book and get their feedback. I still anticipate having the book ready to go within the next few weeks.

Finally, and this is perhaps the most intriguing part of this post: I'm taking an oil painting workshop starting later this week in Maryland. A dear artist friend of mine, Lisa Mitchell, and I are traveling together. She's already quite an accomplished oil painter, so in addition to the content of the workshop I anticipate being able to pick up some great tips and advice from her, too. We are studying with artist Kim English, whose wonderful figurative works are intriguing to both of us.

Now, I want to emphasize that I will continue working in pastels. Forever. But I'm adding oil painting to my repertoire so that I can better avail myself of some business opportunities in the coming years. There are many artists who work in both media, and I want to broaden my horizons as well.

Suffice it to say, I believe that it will take 1-2 years before I start exhibiting any of my oil paintings. I haven't touched the medium since a rather disappointing introduction to it in college (My painting professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison taught us virtually nothing, saying that he didn't want to "hinder our creativity"). I know it will take a while to come up to speed. Nonetheless, I'm excited about this new arena. I will share any early "keepers" with you in the coming months via this blog. And don't worry: Works in this new medium will continue to highlight my favorite subjects of landscapes and cityscapes.

My Blog Has Moved

2010-04-14T08:35:00.003-04:00

The Studio Diary for Sarah Pollock Studio is now located at http://sarahpollockstudio.blogspot.com/.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://sarahpollockstudio.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.

New Works at Zola Bistro

2010-03-30T18:04:00.004-04:00

Well, March totally flew by in a streak. Yikes!

I'm currently in the final stages of preparing for a solo exhibition at Zola New World Bistro in downtown State College, Pennsylvania. The exhibition will begin next Tuesday, April 6 and you will see both new cityscapes and new landscapes on display.

I've been a bit remiss with my updates here, but there are many good reasons. First, I am now finished with the text for my book, From My Easel: A Celebration of Pennsylvania's Black Moshannon State Park. Just this past week I received the final sign off from the park manager and park naturalist, who kindly read the draft to ensure that the information was accurate. It's not a long book, but it does weigh in with over 120 footnotes (!). I learned a lot while working on it and I think it will be an illuminating read for all who are interested in this location. Right now, I'm finishing up the layout and hope to have it ready for sale from this web site within the next month. I regret that it has taken me longer to complete than I would have liked, but I've enjoyed the process and I'm very pleased with the end result.

Secondly, it's springtime and this year I am back on my mountain bike. Those of you who follow this blog regularly know that I had hip surgery late last fall. I'm pleased to report that my newly-refurbished hip is performing admirably. I am training to do the Bike the 5 Boros ride in New York City in early May. This takes a fair bit out of each day because I am also still doing post-op rehab exercises, but everything is going well and I am really happy to be able to ride again. Yippee!

Dusk, Times Square16 x 32 Original pastel on board.

Finally, I want to introduce you to one of my latest cityscapes, "Dusk, Times Square." This was inspired by a visit to the city this past December, when it was bone chillingly cold. But the atmosphere was so clear and magnificent. Beyond the splash of glitzy lights within this location, I melted when I saw this sunset. Anytime that I can combine a favorite landscape theme (dramatic sky) with a city subject, I'm all in. This will be in the exhibition at Zola next week. You can read more about it on my web site. Enjoy!

Town and Country

2010-03-02T12:37:00.004-05:00

I just returned from visiting my parents in the north Georgia Mountains and I'm taking advantage of a few uninterrupted days in my studio before I embark upon my first visit to Charleston, South Carolina. I'm still working on the finishing touches for my new book and I'm not sure if I'll get it done this month....It may have to wait until early next month. Such is life these days, but here are a couple of brand new pieces for you enjoy:

Winter Wisp 8 x 24 Pastel on paper.

"Winter Wisp" captures a February sunset in north Centre county. As I mentioned in one of my recent posts, I'm absolutely reveling in the snow that we've received this winter because it makes gorgeous panoramic compositions like this possible.

New York Blues 8 x 16 Pastel on paper.

The second piece is "New York Blues." I'm finding that I enjoy this smaller format because I can pack a lot of energy into the piece. You can read more about this piece on my web site, where I just added it.

From My Easel: A Celebration of Pennsylvania's Black Moshannon State Park

2010-02-17T13:20:00.004-05:00

The following text is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, From My Easel: A Celebration of Pennsylvania's Black Moshannon State Park. The book features five years (2004-2009) of my plein air paintings from within the park. All of these pieces are small format works done on location with my field easel and a small, portable set of pastel sticks. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each book will be donated to the park.

I'm finishing the book this month with the goal of having it available from my web site later next month. I may get hung up on obtaining an ISBN for it, so please be patient and bear with me. I'll post updates here as I wade through this process (pant, pant). Regardless, I'm having a lot of fun with this project and since we're in the midst of a snowy winter I thought that this excerpt would be "seasonally appropriate." Enjoy!

Black Moshannon, No. 11 9 x 12 Pastel on paper, 2006. Collection of Bette Hostrup and Leo Bostjancic.

Black Moshannon, No. 12 9 x 12 Pastel on paper, 2006. Collection of Barb Pennypacker.

Pastel is a tactile medium and an artist holds the sticks directly in hand to control the application of the color. A multitude of effects can be achieved by varying the sequence of color, pressure of application, and direction of the sticks. Because of these subtleties, wearing bulky winter gloves while working with pastel is impossible. I've tried nipping the thumb and index fingers off of old gloves to work during winter, but pastel sticks take on the ambient air temperature and this approach has not worked well for me. To make matters worse, even during the height of summer I've been known to wield icy cold hands and feet because — as my husband says — I have "circulatory challenges." Thus, it's rare for me to paint outside during the winter.

But in early 2006, the temperature bolted to near 65 degrees for several days. I seized my opportunity and added these two pieces to the series. "Black Moshannon, No. 11" was painted from a location along the Star Mill hiking trail. Its successor captures the same composition featured in the very first piece of this series, a view looking across Black Moshannon Lake from Beaver Road. Although winter often gets a bum rap as a desolate time of year, I regard it as a time of renewal.

In 1895, the Pennsylvania Legislature began restoration of the state's devastated woodlands by establishing the Department of Agriculture with a Division of Forestry. Two years later, the Legislature enacted policies that gave the department the authority and responsibility to extinguish forest fires. In addition, the first state forest reserves were established at the headwaters of the Delaware, Susquehanna, and Ohio Rivers. Five years after the formation of the Division of Forestry, 110,000 acres had been acquired for the state's forest preserves.

Dr. Joseph Trimbel Rothrock was the state's first Commissioner of Forestry. Born in McVeytown, Pennsylvania in 1839, Dr. Rothrock studied botany at Harvard University and subsequently earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1877, he delivered a series of lectures in Philadelphia to highlight the depletion of Pennsylvania's forests and in 1886 he became the first president of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association.

In an effort to educate concerned citizens about the threats to their forest resources, he traveled the deserted woodlands of northern Pennsylvania and took pictures that he made into lantern slides to show at his presentations throughout the state. He also published Forest Leaves, a bi-monthly publication of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, through which he argued for restoration of the state’s natural resources. The February, 1900 edition of this magazine recorded his remarks during a January 24, 1900 address to the New Century Club of Philadelphia where he articulated his philosophy about the recently acquired state forest lands:

"The time will come shortly when a recognized function of the reservations which the State is now acquiring will be to restore to health and usefulness men who otherwise would have ended their lives prematurely by disease, after having become charges upon the bounty of the Commonwealth. Surely, if it is worth the while of the State to lavish its money on hospitals and asylums for the restoration to health of those who are already ailing, it would be a wise and nobler thing to prevent invalidism by providing rest amid healthful surroundings, and restoration to usefulness of those who might be saved or could be saved."

Urban Beat

2010-02-15T21:13:00.002-05:00

Urban Beat 16 x 20 Pastel on board.

Like so much of the country, we've had a fair bit of snow over the past couple of weeks.

I'm delighted.

I've whined for years about how central Pennsylvania does not get enough snow for my taste. I love having a worthwhile amount on the ground so that I don't have to rush out and try to capture landscape source material with only a day or two to use before it all melts.

As the snow either blows horizontally past my studio window or gently floats on down, I've been working this month on a large landscape commission. In between sessions on that piece, I've applied to some summer art shows and completed some other works. Pictured here you see "Urban Beat," a brand new cityscape inspired by my visit to New York City this past summer. I gave it this title because of the rhythm I see in the distant, repeated windows of the city buildings. I like the rich colors in this piece quite a bit. It was genuinely fun to create.

New Works at the Mount Nittany Medical Center

2010-02-01T14:34:00.004-05:00

Neon Night 16 x 24 original pastel. Learn more about this piece...

Each year I exhibit new landscapes and cityscapes at the Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College, Pennsylvania. This is a good time of year for me to get up and running with my ideas as I accumulate an inventory of work before the hectic summer show season.

This exhibition will run through March 31, 2010 and I'll add in a few new works as I finish them during the coming weeks. To view the works on display, visit the Medical Center at 1800 Park Avenue and proceed to Entrance "A" for visitors. Ask at the front desk and they'll direct you to the display.

The First New Works of 2010

2010-01-28T21:36:00.002-05:00

After a long hiatus away from my easel this past fall and early winter, I have to admit that I've found it challenging to settle down into a good rhythm of work this month. Nonetheless, I'm starting to find my groove again. And I'm pleased with the pieces that I've completed so far. It's just been a slower slog than I would have liked.

My intention was to show you two new cityscapes and two new landscapes in this post, but as I was about to photograph one of the new cityscapes, I noticed something that I wanted to tweak.

It happens. Sometimes I take things off my drawing board and only then do I see a detail that is off kilter. For this reason, I'll often march around our home with the pieces still on the drawing board. I try to view works in progress under different circumstances. It's important to review works under different light and at different angles to really evaluate what's working and what isn't going so well (!)

Regardless, here are three new pieces that passed muster for this post. That elusive fourth one, a cityscape, will show up on my web site within the next day or two. I just have some more obsessing to do....

Winter Pines: Glow. 12 x 18 pastel on board. Learn more about this piece....

Black Moshannon, No. 28 - Jewel. 8 x 12 Pastel on paper. The latest addition to my ongoing series of plein air works from this Pennsylvania state park. I got most of this piece finished while working in the park in late October, but I had to dash in the fine details of the bare trees in my studio, which delayed the ultimate completion of this piece until now. With its vibrant colors, this is one of my all time favorites from this series. Learn more about this piece...

Grand Canyon. 12 x 36 Pastel on board. Inspired by my visit to New York City this past December. Learn more about this piece...

For kicks, I included this photo from my studio. This is one of the initial studies / sketches for "Grand Canyon" as well as the pastel sticks that I used to create the actual piece. You can see that what I do is by no means a tidy affair. I joke that I look like the Peanuts comic strip character, Pig Pen, while I'm working.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T13:00:00.004-05:00

A recent sunset down our residential street and a sunset on a decade past

As I look back on the past decade, it's been one of tumult, change, and growth. Ten years ago, I worked as a web site designer and developer in Madison, Wisconsin. I had not yet met my husband, Tim, and I didn't have my faithful studio mascot, Annie. Over the past decade, I've moved to Maryland, worked as a consultant in Washington, DC, taught evening college classes in Baltimore, moved to Pennsylvania, and transitioned to a working as a full time artist.

Looking forward, I'm pleased to report that I'm nearly 100% following my hip surgery this past November. I began swimming laps again a couple of weeks ago (I'm up to 40 minutes a session - yay) and I'm on track to begin training for the Bike the 5 Boros Ride in New York City this May. Just as importantly, I'll be back in my studio starting this month. You can expect to see some new cityscapes from me because I sneaked off to New York City a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed some crisp, cool winter afternoons while re-energizing my mojo at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Incidentally, the Sargent paintings included in their current exhibition, American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, are truly amazing.)

As I close the book on 2009, I want to share a few of my favorite moments from this past year. Everywhere that I travel, I carry my camera and this enables me to capture not only new inspiration for my artwork, but sometimes just magical moments that aren't necessarily intended for any fine art purpose. They're just to be enjoyed, and I hope you will enjoy them, too.

April 2009: Plein air painting in Pennsylvania's Black Moshannon State Park. I love to take our dog, Annie, with me on these outings. At times like this, I feel most blessed to do what I do.

August 2009: Rural route, Mifflin County. I'll spend entire days seeking out new material for my landscapes, and often I will try to get lost on the backroads. On this particular day, I almost succeeded.

July 2009: Midtown, New York City. Just as I spend inordinate amounts of time criss-crossing the rural roads in central Pennsylvania, I'll also take days to pound the pavement on foot in our nation's cities. New York City has become a favorite muse for me over the past couple of years. I loved the reflections in this photo as well as the beautifully illuminated American flag.

August 2009: Sunset, from Skytop Mountain. We live 5 minutes from the top of Skytop Mountain in central Pennsylvania, and I found this beautiful, gauzy sunset following a steamy summer day. I love the gentle blue contours of the land beneath.

January 2009: Annie, straight and tall. Gorgeous golden light that one encounters just before sunset on a cold winter day bathes Annie and the grand stand of white pines and hemlocks behind her. This was in Black Moshannon State Park during a brittle cold afternoon when the snow drifts were belly button deep on me. We had the whole park to ourselves. So peaceful, so wonderful.

August 2009: Annie, in Pennsylvania's Sinnemahoning State Park. OK, OK, I know, I'm way too obsessed with my dog. But just look at those jewel tones in the stream! Amazing!

October 2009: Huckleberries in Black Moshannon State Park. The "golden hour" of light just before sunset imparts an otherworldly amber glow to the bog.

October 2009: Me, in Ricketts Glen State Park. I joke that rocks are Pennsylvania's most abundant natural resource. They also make great compositional devices in self portraits.

In Praise of a Different Kind of Artistry

2009-12-04T12:53:00.002-05:00

I am two and a half weeks post op following my hip surgery and I just wanted to offer a quick update. First of all, I'm doing well. I'm now able to walk without crutches and I'm into some pretty intensive physical therapy with "homework" each day as I regain strength and mobility in that leg. I anticipate getting back in my studio and being able to work in front of my easel within a couple of weeks. All in all, things have gone better than I could have hoped.

Frankly, I'm amazed by what my surgeon, Dr. Wael Barsoum, was able to do. At the risk of sounding like some hypochondriac who prattles on endlessly about her maladies, I want to share a bit about this experience because I'm just so impressed and astounded by how well things have gone. After years of low back pain and stiffness in my leg, I was diagnosed earlier this year with a labral tear in my hip (a hole in the cartilage lining) as well as cysts in the joint.

It was getting so uncomfortable that it was becoming difficult for me to work in my studio or out in the field. So all this past summer, I debated whether to undertake surgery to (hopefully) fix the problem. I sought various medical opinions and got the whole gamut, ranging from "Egads! Don't do it" to "You'll be on crutches for eight weeks."

EIGHT weeks!

As someone who's only had a few dental cavities in her life, this was a big deal. But after the conclusion of my art show season this year, I took the plunge and elected to have arthroscopic surgery because I couldn't stand the pain any more. Now I have just two small incisions on my leg, each of them barely a centimeter in length. But most importantly, I already feel better!

I'm looking forward to getting back to my artwork soon and I appreciate all of the well wishes that I've received. Currently I'm able to work at my computer, so for the first time in my life I can tell you that I'm totally caught up on my bookwork. But more importantly, I invite you to watch for a few cosmetic updates on my web site as I get ready for 2010. In addition, stay tuned for new works beginning in January - I have lots of ideas from this down time.

New Works for November

2009-11-15T11:05:00.003-05:00

Edge 12 x 24 original pastel

This past week I delivered new landscapes and cityscapes to the William Ris Gallery in Stone Harbor, New Jersey. I've included images of these latest pieces for you to browse here. I'm looking forward to working with this gallery and there may be a group show featuring my artwork sometime next year if we can get our schedules to align around my outdoor art shows. Stay tuned.

Autumn Bog 16 x 32 original pastel

Today I leave for Cleveland, where I will have my hip surgery tomorrow. The past couple of weeks have been really busy as I've worked to tie up loose ends with commission clients, retrofit our house for my post-op recovery, and finish other work-related commitments. Heck, I even cleaned my studio so that it will be all set to go after I'm healed.

I still don't know how long I will be on crutches and, therefore, away from my artwork. But I'm cautiously optimistic about this procedure and its outcome. I'm also planning to fill this downtime with lots of reading and re-charging of my creative spirit. We are in the midst of an unusually mild and beautiful late fall here right now, so the good news is that I won't be navigating snow drifts while on crutches. As soon as I'm back at things, I will post here again. Thank you to everyone who has sent well wishes and positive vibes this way – I appreciate it.

Amber Glow 8 x 16 original pastel

Winter Way 12 x 18 original pastel

Fall Update

2009-11-02T11:48:00.006-05:00

I can't believe it's already November. With the conclusion of my art show season, the busiest time of my year has now passed. This means that I'm now working on commissions for several clients, my new book about Pennsylvania's Black Moshannon State Park, as well as some new landscapes and cityscapes.

With the freak snow that we had a few weeks ago, this year's fall foliage was not quite as brilliant as usual. It was almost as if the snow sucked the color right out of the leaves. Nonetheless, I hosted a dear friend and accomplished artist, Lisa Mitchell, a couple of weeks ago. We were blessed with some fabulous fall weather and we painted on location at several of Pennsylvania's beautiful state parks and you'll soon see a few of these new pieces on my web site.

A plein air landscape in progress at Colyer Lake in central Pennsylvania.

When not out in the field, I'm in my studio working on some commissions for several clients. I'm currently working on a large fall mountain vista, a portrait of Victorian home in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, as well as several vistas from a spectacular farm in south central Pennsylvania's Mifflin County.

Cows gaze upon me while I visit a commission client's property in Mifflin County. I am really, really excited about this opportunity because the farm has been in my client's family since her grandfather worked the land. The scenery is just stunning.

Finally, I'm taking advantage of this quieter time to work on my new book, From My Easel: A Celebration of Pennsylvania's Black Moshannon State Park. My goal was to have it available this month. Unfortunately, the final release of this book will be later than I desired because I've been dealing with a fairly significant distraction: I'm undergoing hip surgery in a couple of weeks. And I've been surprised by what the degree of preparation necessary for this type of thing: Obtaining a handicapped permit for my car, getting crutch training, buying new shoes since I won't be able to tie my own for a while, retrofitting our home, etc.

I injured my hip many eons ago when I crashed my bike as a teenager. You can read about the whole story in the archives of this blog - scroll down to the post of "Mountain Biking as Inspiration." I've dealt with chronic pain for decades since then and this year things went from bad to worse to the point of where I don't sleep well and can't comfortably do some of the things I love, like mountain biking and hiking. And there's nothing worse than a sleep-deprived, lethargic artist (!). So I'm taking the plunge and relying upon the expertise of a good surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic to help me so that I can sleep and get back to my usual level of activity.

Of course, this means that I'll be on crutches for many weeks and not in my studio. We'll see how that goes....I'm not well known for sitting quietly. I'll have a sketch book within arm's reach for an outlet. And I've already queued up a bunch of DVDs and books to help get through this time. I'll also use this time to work on my book. Please watch for it early in 2010.

Last Art Show? Snowed Out!

2009-10-16T09:50:00.004-04:00

The wonderful fall colors of one of the red maples in our front yard are obscured by snow

Not since 1901 has our State College, Pennsylvania area seen this amount of measurable snow so early in the season. Beginning yesterday afternoon, we've had a steady onslaught of heavy, wet snow mixed with some sleet. Our electric power has flickered unsteadily and we've lost some branches on the trees in our yard, which always saddens me.

Oops....Didn't get our patio furniture into storage in time.

Driving conditions here in the central Pennsylvania mountains are too treacherous for us to brave the trip across I-80 to our final art show in New York City and it is with deep regret that I have to cancel. Believe it or not, I do these art shows with a minivan (A white Honda Odyssey affectionately referred to as "The Marshmallow" because it's big and it's cushy). But because this vehicle has to serve as my day-to-day car throughout the rest of the year, I lack securely bolted shelves and racks for all of my gear. If we were slide into a ditch along the route, well, that could be pretty catastrophic for both us and the artwork.

Our backyard. If you squint hard, you can still see the fall colors that were just about at their peak when all of this hit.

So we're staying home this weekend and enjoying an early snow day. We plan to watch our recording of last night's episode of Project Runway and perhaps go see the movie, The Informant, tonight. Following the success of my previous two shows -- and let me pause a moment to offer a big thank you to all of my collectors -- I've been running around at 100mph to get ready for this last art show. Now I feel like I've hit a wall and I'm not quite sure what to do with this suddenly open weekend. Well, actually, I do have one idea: I'm going to watch the Wisconsin Badgers beat the Iowa Hawkeyes tomorrow.

Go Badgers!!

It's Fall. Time for Longer Days.

2009-10-13T20:42:00.002-04:00

I'm in the home stretch of my 2009 art show season and this past month has been crazy busy for me. This coming weekend I will exhibit in my final show, the Gracie Square Art Show, in New York City. I'll admit that I'm a little intimidated....I've seen how those New York cabbies drive (!). But I'm resolved to give this a shot. I've been working hard to finish up some new cityscapes and we'll see what happens.

I'm keeping this post brief because, well, about a thousand things are crying out for my attention right now, but I want to give you a quick preview of a couple of new pieces that will be in my booth this weekend. Enjoy!

Fire and Rain 16 x 20 Original pastel.

September, Happy Valley 8 x 24 Original pastel.

Signs of Autumn

2009-09-28T08:39:00.004-04:00

Temperatures are dropping and the trees are beginning to show the first signs of fall color here in central Pennsylvania. I exhibited at the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show in Philadelphia during the last, official weekend of summer and the weather was absolutely beautiful. Since then, things have turned decidedly cooler and rainier and I think I'll be packing my rain gear for my next show in Armonk, New York.

I'm busy right now with visiting area state parks to gather landscape source material. Pictured above is my trusty studio mascot, Annie, in Black Moshannon State Park. You can see the first hints of color in the tree line behind her. Unfortunately, the clouds moved in that afternoon, so it was not the best light for capturing the first red colors in the maples. The real peak of color is not due until the first or second week of October. I'm guessing it will be more like the second week of the month, so I'm looking forward to getting out more as things become more vibrant here.

When I'm not out and about in the parks, I am teaching my class, Color: Its History and Practical Application to adult students at the Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania. I'm also finishing some new cityscapes that I will exhibit at this weekend's Armonk Outdoor Art Show. My last show in Philadelphia was quite successful and many of my new cityscapes found homes, so this has compelled me to buckle down a bit and finish some ideas that were only partially completed in my studio. I still need to photograph these new pieces and you'll see some of them on my web site later this week. Until then, enjoy this cooler weather.

Fall Preview

2009-09-11T14:09:00.002-04:00

Well, suffice it to say that end of my summer zipped past in a whirlwind of travels and I can't believe that it's been so long since I last posted here. I promise to do better during these upcoming months because I'm back in the groove of working both in my studio and in the field now.

August kicked off with a wonderful trip to New York City where I not only collected some fantastic source material for new cityscapes, but I also got my fix of Indian cuisine and fun museum outings. I finally got to the Museum of Arts and Design up near Columbus Circle, where my favorite exhibition was the glass work by Klaus Moje. I always appreciate artwork where creativity and craftsmanship are equal partners.

After the trip to New York, I ventured off to the midwest. Unfortunately, the weather and several commitments to visit old friends didn't really facilitate a lot of plein air painting. I had hoped to post some works here as a log of my travels, but man, oh man, did it ever rain during that trip. Nothing quite like the darkness of night during the middle of the day to signal a heavy rain. For that matter, it rained a fair bit when I was in New York, too. Seems to be the way the summer was. Anyways, the trip to Wisconsin was restorative for my soul even if I didn't get as much artwork completed as I would have liked. Sometimes even artists need a vacation (!).

Since returning to Pennsylvania a few weeks ago, I've visited several new state parks in a quest for the perfect vista for a client who's commissioned me for a large landscape. I've decided that one item on my "bucket list" (things to do before I kick the proverbial bucket) is to visit all of Pennsylvania's state parks. I have a long ways to go toward that goal since there are over 100 state parks here. Only about 90 more to go...

But I've made a good dent in that goal over the past few weeks, with trips to Sinnemahoning, Blue Knob, RB Winter, Leonard Harrison, and Colton Point state parks. Every single one was beautiful. And as an added bonus, the weather was generally fabulous for each outing.

To conclude this long overdue post, I'm offering a preview below of some of the new works I've completed over recent weeks. I'm scheduled for two shows over the next month, the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show in Philadelphia and the Armonk Outdoor Art Show in Armonk, New York, so I've been working on several new cityscapes. My final show this year is tentatively scheduled for mid-October in New York City, but I'm a bit uncommitted because I just don't know if I'll have enough artwork to get me through my schedule. I can't offer a good excuse for this shortfall, other than to say that I needed some downtime this past month. And artwork doesn't magically arise out of downtime (!). But I think you'll see that the previews offered here hint at some exciting things to come. I'll post complete images of these new artworks on this web site next Monday. Stay tuned.

Detail, Crimson Rush 8 x 16 original pastel.

Detail, Long, Cool Reflections 16 x 32 original pastel.

Detail, Ah, Summer 6 x 12 original plein air pastel.

Detail, Midnight Dash 16 x 32 original pastel.

A Change of Scene

2009-07-29T18:58:00.003-04:00

A recent portrait commission. Pastel on board, 18 x 27.

Right after the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts a couple of weeks ago, I got sick. It was a huge bummer because - if you follow this blog - you know that my parents were visiting from Georgia. I wanted to take them to Reeds Gap State Park, but I was not up to it. There's nothing like the frenzy leading up to a multi-day art show and then the crash back to earth after the show.

I'm much better now and I've been quietly going about things. For me, the aftermath of a show usually involves replenishing supplies of frames for new pieces, updating my books, writing thank you notes, and figuring out the next things upon which I will embark in my studio. I've also used this relatively quieter time to complete a portrait commission, shown above. This piece is definitely different from the landscape and cityscape work that I normally do and I really enjoyed working on it. It's so rare that I can pull out my turquoises and go nuts.

Speaking of going nuts, I'm about to start traveling a lot. Tomorrow I will leave for a photo safari in New York City. I plan to pound the pavement for a solid couple of days to gather inspiration for new cityscapes that you'll see later this year and beyond. And next week, I embark upon a long-awaited and highly-anticipated midwest painting excursion. While my husband attends an academic conference in Chicago, I will continue on up to Wisconsin with our studio mascot, Annie, to do some plein air painting.

I'm very enthused about the "change of scene" that these trips will offer for me and the energizing boost that I always get from such variety. Along the way I'll visit some old friends and eat a lot of Wisconsin frozen custard. I'll be waddling back into my studio by mid-August....

Thank You

2009-07-17T14:27:00.002-04:00

In my booth with my parents at this year's Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. Each year, my parents schlep up to Pennsylvania from their home in Georgia to help out my husband and me during the long days of the show and to dog sit for our studio mascot, Annie.

This past weekend I exhibited at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. I didn't know what to expect going into the show with our current economy and the challenges that so many people face right now. Much to my (pleasant) astonishment, this show was our most successful ever. Buoyed by a 50/50 split between new and repeat customers, my husband and I sold an almost equal number of recent landscapes and cityscapes. In addition, I received the Robert and Virginia Mountz Award of Merit for my overall body of work at the show. Thank you to everyone who came out and supported me this past weekend. I truly appreciate your continued enthusiasm for my artwork!

Summer Colors

2009-07-06T10:12:00.003-04:00

I'm busy with final preparations for the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts this week, but I wanted to give a brief update about what I've been doing so far this summer. June flew by in a whirl of travels for both family and professional purposes. Let's see, we went to Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and Cleveland. Too much! After this weekend's art show, I'm looking forward to a much calmer schedule.

Between travels during the month of June, I've spent a lot of time painting on location within Centre County and beyond. Here, our dog and hardworking studio mascot, Annie, keeps me company in Black Moshannon State Park. This is Black Moshannon, No. 27 - Kaleidoscope in progress.

During the second week of August I'm planning a road trip to my home state of Wisconsin, where I plan to paint some of the beautiful farm vistas that I recall so fondly from my childhood. I'll post a few updates to this diary with new pieces as they become available. I'm excited about this trip because it's been many years since I visited Wisconsin and I've never painted the landscape there.

Until then, I'll continue with local plein air adventures to area state parks as well as an upcoming Paint Out and Exhibition on Sunday, July 19 in Lemont, Pennsylvania. This event is sponsored by the Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania and it should be a fun afternoon of historic architecture and artistry.

The Weather is Beautiful...

2009-06-27T18:19:00.003-04:00

...so I haven't been updating my web site lately because I've been out working in the field. And when I haven't been doing that, then I'm busy preparing for my next art show, the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, which is coming up in less than two weeks.

Working in Reeds Gap State Park. I like to set up my easel in the river (thank goodness for Gore Tex boots) because it affords a "down the stream" vantage point that is similar to the "down the street" views that I favor in my cityscapes.

This past week was especially fun because several of my friends from the Maryland Pastel Society came to visit and I toured them to some of my favorite locations for painting in the field. Even though they've returned home, I'm planning to continue working in the field over the coming weeks and months. I simply love working outside at this time of year. During the hottest portions of the day I am in my studio working on some small format cityscapes. I'm also in the midst of a couple of commissions, so there's plenty to keep me out of trouble.

So far, our summer has been very temperate. The lack of blazing hot temperatures has kept the atmosphere remarkably clear, which leads to striking blues in the sky and water. This is my studio mascot, Annie, emerging from the bog in Black Moshannon State Park.

I have to travel to Cleveland this week for an appointment, but shortly thereafter you'll see some new works on my web site. Check back at the end of this coming week (Around the 4th of July) for a preview of the new landscapes and cityscapes that I'll exhibit at this year's show in State College, Pennsylvania. Until then, here are a couple of images from recent painting excursions to central Pennsylvania's gorgeous state parks.

June Update

2009-06-17T10:52:00.002-04:00

A Postcard from the Easel showing a new plein air landscape, Lyric, in progress. This was just east of State College, Pennsylvania during a recent June evening.

I can't seem to get a handle on the pace of life this year. I exhibited in my first outdoor show of the season a couple of weeks ago in downtown Philadelphia. Since that art show I've been up to New York, back to Philadelphia, and now I'm on my way out of town to Illinois for a family event. Meanwhile, I am sorry to say that one of my galleries is closing as a casualty of this rough economy, so I'll be back down to the Philadelphia area within the next week to pick up my artwork. Crazy!

In between all of this tumult, I am painting. In fact, being able to retreat into my studio or out into the field to work is a soothing balm for me. The above Postcard from the Easel shows a new panoramic landscape, Lyric, in progress. Disclaimer: The cloud formation changed from the time that I blocked in this piece to when I took this photograph.

You will see this piece and some new plein air works, including a couple of new pieces from my favorite location of Black Moshannon State Park at the upcoming Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts next month. In the meantime, let's keep our fingers crossed for sunnier and drier weather here in the northeast. It's a murky grey day here, so I'm off to do some bookkeeping.

The Summer Art Show Season is Here

2009-05-29T12:39:00.005-04:00

Summer is already here and that means it's time to hit the road with my artwork. My first show this year will be the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show in Philadelphia. This becomes a very busy time of year when I juxtapose minute details (Do the van tires have enough air? Did I bring the picture hanging hooks?) with bigger concerns (Do I have enough artwork?).

Center City Sunset 18x24 Original pastel.

I can hardly believe that this will be my fourth year of exhibiting in outdoor art shows. I tentatively dipped my toe into this beginning back in 2005 when I participated in just one show, the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. Just one week before the show, my booth finally arrived from the manufacturer via UPS freight. The boxes were enormous and heavy. It was overwhelming to assemble. I literally spent days in our garage trying to figure out how all of the little pieces fit together. My husband steered clear, as if to say, "This is your baby now."

At the show itself, a hurricane moved up the coast that weekend and it ended up being a soggy affair, thus fulfilling my every phobia about doing outdoor shows. But the booth held firm and we came through it alright. In fact, there was a wonderful response to my artwork and I was hooked from that point forward. I now participate in three or four shows each summer. Because I offer originals and only a few limited edition prints, I don't aspire to do many more shows than this each year.

Since starting out a few years ago, my husband (a.k.a. My Underpaid Art Assistant) and I have persevered through more torrential rains, blazing hot temperatures, and other logistical challenges. We've found quick-witted thinking and a sense of humor to be invaluable tools for dealing with ever-changing conditions and myriad personalities. Neither one of us will ever forget the patron who came into our booth and complimented us on the artwork. But he then went on to say that he couldn’t purchase anything because his kids liked to do handstands around his home and they had a habit of throwing their feet up against the walls....Not good for original artwork.

In addition to humorous encounters like that, one unexpected thing that I've found over the past several years is that visitors to my booth often have more eloquent ways of characterizing my work than I do. It's amazing how a fresh set of eyes can identify common themes that I don't even see for myself. A favorite encounter was with a gentleman at a show last year who lamented working within an office environment. After looking at some of my plein air landscapes, he commented, "You’re so lucky. You get to have an outdoor office." I loved that. I think of that phrase now whenever I haul my easel out into the field.

I continue to enjoy interacting with visitors to my booth and I'm looking forward to this upcoming show season. Please stop by and see this year's new landscapes and cityscapes.

May, A Month in Pictures

2009-05-22T15:06:00.003-04:00

I recently returned from a visit to my brother's family in Florida, where I forgot the battery charger to my digital camera. Thus, I am unable to photograph any new artwork until it returns home to me via US mail because my trusty Canon camera is dead right now. Gr-r-r.

Nonetheless, I do have some photos to share with you to chronicle this past month. I'm sorry that I haven't been more diligent with my posts recently....We've had a three-ring circus here between home renovations, travels, and a few doctors' appointments sprinkled in for good measure. I am settling back down into work as our contractors finish up with our new windows and other details around our home. To escape some of the inevitable construction chaos, I've been taking our dog, Annie, out in the field to do some plein air painting. Annie is not a fan of the percussive "thwack" of hydraulic nail guns, so it's been therapeutic for both of us to get outside during these beautiful spring days.

A picture is worth a thousand words and I hope that you will enjoy these images:

A Postcard from the Easel while plein air painting in Pennsylvania's Reeds Gap State Park. This piece will be called "Spring Flow."

Another Postcard from the Easel from within Reeds Gap State Park. I'm not yet sure what I will call this piece.

Annie lounges along the banks of Honey Creek in Reeds Gap State Park while I work.

My 2 year old nephew, Maxwell, reveals the first glimmers of creative artistry with his sister's Fisher Price digital camera.

With my 5 year old niece, Julia, and 2 year old nephew, Maxwell, in Florida.

A final Postcard from the Easel from central Pennsylvania's Mifflin County.

When Life Intrudes

2009-05-09T17:28:00.005-04:00

I'm getting back into the swing of things at my easel after a chaotic couple of weeks.

To start with, I traveled down to Philadelphia to view the Cézanne and Beyond exhibition. It was quite a treat to see the variety of the artists who were influenced by Cézanne, although I believe that the exquisite watercolors of Charles Demuth stole the show. And I always appreciate the opportunity to gaze upon the frenetic works of Alberto Giacometti.

I needed that museum visit to get a creative boost. Because over the past 14 days, I've endured an outpatient surgery to help diagnose what the heck is wrong with my woeful hip (for all of you reading this, I definitely do not recommend injections into the hip joint. Egads), my husband had sinus surgery (he's doing much better now), and we had several windows replaced on our home. Including the windows in my studio. Yippee! No more feeling like an "ant beneath a magnifying glass" on sunny days. Oh, and I built a new 4' x 10' stone raised bed vegetable garden in our backyard with the help of our neighbor's teenage son, who did all of the heavy lifting. Let's hear it for teenagers!

Springtime, Philly 6 x 8 pastel on paper.

Suffice it to say, life has intruded a bit on my artwork. Things should be a bit calmer over the coming weeks. As I settle down into life back at my easel I am jumpstarting my mojo with a couple of "mini" pieces. These smaller format works are a balm for my soul when I need to pick up the rhythm of working.

Sunset Ridge 6 x 8 pastel on paper.

The first piece was inspired by my recent visit to Philadelphia and the second one captures a vista located just a moment from our home. Enjoy!

Spring Fever

2009-04-24T16:02:00.002-04:00

Annie in Reeds Gap State Park during today's hike to gather landscape source material

This month has absolutely flown past me. In addition to a bad case of spring fever, there have been a few distractions that have cut into my easel time. But it's (almost) all good.

To start with, we had some work done on our home. I'm still awaiting the arrival of new windows for my studio, but in the meantime I've completely re-organized our basement following some of the improvements that we made to it. I now have a much better system in place for my picture frames, glass, etc. Hooray! I look forward to leveraging this slick organizational scheme during my upcoming season of art shows, when my life becomes much more chaotic.

In addition, I've nearly finalized my outdoor art show schedule. It will be largely similar to previous years with shows in Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia as well as Armonk, New York. I am just waiting to hear word on one last show in New York City for late this year.

Speaking of New York, I had planned to participate in the Bike the 5 Boros ride this spring, but because I am nursing a bad hip right now, I will not be attending. No, I did not "over train." This bum hip has been bugging me for years, although my training for the ride may have brought it to a fierce crescendo this spring. This is the not-so-good part of my spring because both my schedule and my focus have been distracted by myriad doctors appointments over the past few weeks. I'm disappointed about not doing the bike ride because I wanted to use the outing as an opportunity to gather new cityscape source material from a spoke's perspective. To make up for my city withdrawal, I'm tentatively planning a trip to Philadelphia this week where I plan to take in the Cezanne exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Finally, it is almost warm enough for me to start plein air painting. I'm still waiting for the trees to progress a bit beyond their barren, stick-like state. Today I escaped to Reeds Gap State Park in central Pennsylvania with my husband and our trusty studio mascot, Annie. The trees have not yet leafed out fully, but we're due for some much milder weather this weekend and then I think that spring will have finally sprung.

Over the next month, you will see some new landscapes and cityscapes as I prepare for my first outdoor art show in Philadelphia during the first week of June. Stay tuned.

How I Work: Part II

2009-04-15T13:01:00.003-04:00

Oh, I didn't forget. Earlier this year, I posted a brief introduction to my creative process with the promise of more posts to come. But as I prepared new works for my exhibition, I decided that -- at least for the short term -- it was more important to highlight those new pieces than to pontificate about technique.

In Gettysburg 10x20 pastel on paper

But a recent creative struggle pushed me to return to this thread of "How I Work"...

Last fall my husband and I visited Gettysburg and as I mentioned in this blog, I was completely blown away about the scale and sheer majesty of the battlefield, not to mention the myriad stories of what transpired there. We had beautiful fall weather during that last week in October and, well, you guessed it: I had a bonanza day gathering source material and ideas.

Perhaps the most vexing thing about being an artist is that you never turn it off. Everywhere you turn, there's a visual idea. Something waiting to be explored and amplified. There's really no such thing as a "vacation" or time off. One could debate how healthy this is, but that's another post for another day.

Anyways, I resolved to scamper home and paint a series of fall foliage landscapes inspired by the vistas on the battlefield. But something went wrong: I didn't like any of the resulting pieces. In fact, I floundered miserably. In the worst way, I wanted to make these pieces resonate with the same emotion that I felt when we toured the battlefield and we learned about the Iron Brigade (From my home state of Wisconsin. Go Badgers!) as well as other stories of bravery and sacrifice that shaped who we are today in the months following the election of Barack Obama.

Nothing seemed to measure up to this lofty aspiration. So, I did what came naturally. I got angry, frustrated, and stuffed the little disasters into my studio closet, where I didn't look at them again for many, many weeks.

Finally, about two weeks ago I hit upon a solution. I created a different surface specifically for these works. Over the past couple of years, I've moved away from commercially manufactured pastel papers such as Wallis, Colourfix, or Sennelier LaCarte. These are all great options for the modern pastelist, but they just didn't give me the results that I wanted, especially in my cityscapes. So for the past couple of years, I've created my own surfaces on cotton rag mat board with brushed-on gesso and pumice grit.

Detail: In Gettysburg The watermark of the etching paper visible just to the left of my signature. The unfinished edge of the piece also reveals the nature of the underpainting that was used to tint the paper in preparation for the actual piece.

For this new series of landscapes, I am using Rives BFK etching paper with my pumice ground that I use for my works on board. This allowed me to do an amorphous watercolor painting to tint the paper before creating the piece over the top. Etching paper can withstand the load of wet media and aggressive application of materials such as layers of pastel and on occasions like this, it is ideally suited to the effect that I want to achieve. In the past, I've used Wallis pastel paper with a similar approach in earlier works such as Cloud Play, Study - The Pennsylvania Wilds, or Black Moshannon No. 19 - "Late Summer."

But using the etching paper allows me to customize the toothy texture of the paper. I like how this approach softens edges and allows even the most colorful of scenes to pleasantly gel on the working surface.

Detail: In Gettysburg This detail shows the diagonal textured surface that I favor in my own custom grounds as well as the sparkle of some of the underlying tint that I applied to the paper before creating this piece

In my next post, I'll give you a peek into my studio and discuss the equipment that I find indispensable for my work.

From an Opening Reception into Spring

2009-04-09T10:32:00.003-04:00

Reviewing my portfolio with one of the guests at the opening. Pictured behind me are September Sky and Autumn, Black Moshannon.

This past weekend the Fine Arts People Gallery hosted an opening reception for my solo exhibition of new landscapes and cityscapes. The exhibition will be on display throughout the month of April. The reception was lightly attended - I think I was competing with beautiful spring weather and an appearance by the Villanova men's basketball team in the NCAA Final Four that same night - but I did sell some work and I met some new people interested in my artwork, so overall it was a success.

I've been slow to get back into my stride here this week with my artwork because we've had a contractor doing some improvements on our home. One of those projects has been to augment the insulation around my studio because with my overhead lighting, I tend to cook during the warmer days of the year. So I've had workmen tromping in and out of my studio at sporadic intervals for much of the past week, which has not been conducive to diving into a new piece.

To escape some of this disruption, I've started to venture outside to gather source material for new landscapes. The trees have not yet budded out fully, but we're tantalizingly close to spring. We had snow earlier this week (gasp!), but as soon as our temperatures moderate I'm going to head outside with my easel. This is a good thing, because the next project in my studio will be to upgrade my windows....

Now on Exhibit: New Landscapes and Cityscapes

2009-04-01T14:32:00.003-04:00

Summer, Mifflin County 12 x 16 Pastel on board.
One of the new landscapes that will be featured during my exhibition at the Fine Arts People Gallery. Learn more about this piece

I recently delivered new works to the Fine Arts People Gallery in Exton, Pennsylvania for my solo exhibition during the month of April. You can meet me at the opening reception on Saturday evening, April 4 from 5:00 to 7:00pm. To get driving directions, please refer to my web site.

The new cityscapes include pieces inspired by London, Chicago, and New York City. And the new landscapes were inspired by locations within a two hour radius of our home in central Pennsylvania. I hope to see you at the reception and thank you for your continued interest in my artwork.

More New Works

2009-03-21T17:40:00.002-04:00

It's been a busy week here. I'm working on finishing up pieces for my exhibition beginning next month and I want to take a brief time out to share some more previews of the latest works: Two new cityscapes and one landscape. Enjoy!

Chicago Blues

Detail:Chicago Blues, 12x18 pastel on board

Springtime, Huntingdon County

Detail:Springtime, Huntingdon County, 16x24 pastel on board

London Rush

Detail:London Rush, 16x16 pastel on board

Where are the new works?

2009-03-12T11:49:00.003-04:00

The clock is ticking. My husband and I are attempting to go Internet-free this weekend, so I'm hustling to post this update before we yank the cord on our cable modem. Think of me as I go through withdrawal this weekend....In case you're curious, this came about because we were supposed to be on the beach in the Carolinas this week (it's Penn State's Spring Break week), but due to various maladies and cold, uncooperative weather, we decided to stay home and take it easy. But to ensure that we really are taking it easy and not working on the sly, we both agreed to go without web access.

We'll see how this goes.

Meanwhile, I'm busy finishing many new pieces for my upcoming exhibition at The Fine Arts People Gallery next month. I will not post any new works on the landscapes or cityscapes areas of this web site until April. But I will offer some sneak previews through this blog.

The first piece on preview today is "Notting Hill Blues," a cityscape inspired by my visit to London this past fall. This work continues my exploration of the relationship between casual passersby and the sterile gaze of storefront mannequins. The more I watch these interactions within cities, the more I am amazed by the poses and postures that "live" human beings take in front of these idealized mannequins. The image below is small detail from the overall piece:

Detail: Mannequin from the new cityscape, Notting Hill Blues.

The next piece on preview is "Winter Pines: Golden." This is also a continuation of a new series of works that I began earlier this winter, exploring the pattern of light and shadow within interior woodlands. Thus far, these ideas have been drawn from reference material gathered within central Pennsylvania's Black Moshannon State Park. However, as I continue this series you'll see works from other locations around our home. I'm finding this body of work to be a good challenge for me because they're so different from the broad, panoramic vistas that I tend to favor in my landscape work.

Detail: Tree trunks from the new landscape, Winter Pines: Golden

OK! That's it for now. I'll be back online early next week. At that time, I will post some more morsels for preview, so check back soon.

Have a great weekend!

Squaring Up

2009-03-04T09:08:00.003-05:00

This is shaping up to be another extremely busy year. Yesterday I received an invitation to a relatively new art show in Montauk, New York that is scheduled over Memorial Day weekend. This show location is a greater distance from our home than what I'm accustomed to traveling for a show, so I'm on the fence about whether to participate. My decision is going to require more deliberation.

And making decisions is not my forte these days. I've sort of been in a fog for the last month or so because both my husband and my dog have not been well. I'm pleased to report that our dog, who had been limping so badly that she was almost falling on her face when she walked, is now doing better thanks to laser treatments on her shoulder (yes, you read that correctly). And my husband? Well, he's still suffering with a double sinus infection. He's off to see a specialist tomorrow and we're hoping for a positive outcome.

Meanwhile, I'm working hard to complete brand new pieces for my upcoming solo exhibition at the Fine Arts People Gallery in Exton, Pennsylvania next month. My most recent cityscapes are in a square format, which is somewhat different for me because I often favor very vertical or very horizontal formats. But perhaps these squared up works are my response to the crazy world news out there. Sort of a "squaring up" and effort to recalibrate during these chaotic times.

I'd like to invite all of you who follow this blog to come out to the opening reception of my exhibition and meet me on Saturday, April 4 from 5pm to 7pm. You can access driving directions to the gallery from my web site by checking here. If you have any questions about the works that will be featured, please feel free to contact me.

And here are a couple of new, Chicago-inspired cityscapes that you will see in the exhibition. I have one more square-formatted cityscape in progress on my easel right now and there will be more in the future...

Twilight El, Chicago, 16x16 pastel on board

In Wicker Park, 16x16 pastel on board

Winter and the Genesis of a New Series

2009-02-23T12:26:00.003-05:00

Snow flakes are flying sideways on a howling wind outside my office window as I write. It's been an authentic winter here for the past couple of months and I've found it inspiring despite some distractions in recent weeks.

Winter Pines: Hush
12x18 pastel on board

Unfortunately, my husband, Tim, has been very sick for the past five weeks. He caught a whopper cold on a return trip from Chicago in early January. And after four different courses of antibiotics with two frightening and different allergic reactions, he's still not free of a lingering infection and pesky cough. Thus, I've been spending lots of quality time with our dog, Annie, since he has not been well enough to walk her during these cold days. To boot, Annie developed a mysterious limp about 10 days ago, which is also troubling to me since she is my little baby.

Nonetheless, a couple of weeks ago I got the heck out of Dodge and went up to Black Moshannon State Park to clear my head. This was before Annie developed her limp, so I took her along and the afternoon could not have been more magical. The sky was clear, the wind was calm, and there was at least a foot of pristine white snow throughout the woods. Annie and I hiked along the Moss-Hanne trail within the park and I was captivated by the long, blue shadow patterns of the pine trees on the snow.

I just love the whispering howl of wind through the pines. It soothes me. I took a calculated risk and let Annie off her leash (we adopted her when she was 18 months old and we can never quite trust her completely not to ditch us whenever we're outside). Since the snow was deep enough, I reasoned that if she wanted to make a break for a rodent, she'd be impeded by the snow. I could always make the diving grab, right? Anyways, she had a grand time tromping around and I hit upon an idea for a new series of studio works: "Winter Pines." The first piece is pictured above and the second one is already under way on my easel. As I indicated elsewhere on my web site in its description, if this first piece can help transport the viewer to the same beautiful place that I was, then my mission as an artist has been successful.

How I Work: Process, Part I

2009-01-25T19:59:00.004-05:00

Over the past several years, I've taught a couple of weekend pastel workshops as well as an annual, 6-week long class about color use and theory to local artists. Whether I'm teaching or exhibiting at an art show, I get a lot of questions about how I work. Both patrons and students are often curious about how one gets from the point of inspiration to the finished result of a framed pastel piece.

With this in mind, I'm going to begin a series of posts that will offer some insight into my creative process. Winter is a quieter time of year for me when I can quietly work in my studio as the snow drifts past my window, and this seems like a good time to respond to some of the most frequently asked questions that I've encountered to date.

This first post will offer a step-by-step peek behind the scenes of one of my most recent cityscapes, The Downtown Line.

Because of my background in music theory and performance, I tend to speak in "musical terms" when I describe my art making process. There are so many commonalities between the two disciplines that it just seems like a natural fit to me.

To start with, here was my source photo from this past summer in downtown Chicago. Just prior to beginning my career as an artist, I was -- believe it or not -- a web site programmer and designer. And before that, I worked for Walt Disney Feature Animation doing the color on their animated feature films. Both of those careers gave me a ton of computer skills and these skills have served me very well in my artistic endeavors. I use Adobe Photoshop software extensively in the planning and creation of my artwork. It's extremely useful for cropping, rotating, and salvaging less-than-ideal source material (for example, things that have been underexposed).

There was bad lens distortion in this photo because I had to take a wide angle to capture the scene, so my first instinct with this idea was to crop it because I was most interested in the channel of light and how it framed the individual boarding the bus. After I did that, I began a series of thumbnail sketches to get the picture into my mind. As the name implies, these "thumbnail" sketches are small and simple drawings to help block out the large components and shapes of the piece.

Some of my thumbnail sketches, done in charcoal, together with my initial "color chords" for this piece

It's so important to get the piece into your mind's eye. This is critical to the success of a piece....As I tell my students, if you can't visualize it ahead of time, then how do you expect to create it on your paper? After I'm comfortable with the thumbnails, I then create what I call a "color chord." This consists of the darkest, medium-dark, light-dark, and lightest colors within the piece. I choose a small quantity of pastels that will serve as the main values of the piece and I do my best to stick to just these few pastels to get as much of the piece done as possible. This simplicity in color and value gives works a cohesion that you cannot achieve if you fracture your work into a million little different shades and hues.

My handful of pastels. For simplicity and cohesion, I will ride these as far as I can into a piece before I introduce any new hues or shades. And, yes, that is a cookie sheet. As I work on various pieces, I keep my pastels on a cookie sheet.

The next step is to sketch in the rudimentary armature of the piece. This is not a detailed drawing. Instead, it's a vine charcoal rendering that captures the placement of the major components of the piece. I used to torture myself with grids and precision, but I did not like the resulting tightness in my artwork. It looked strained. Not good.

The initial charcoal drawing on my pastel board

Some artists trace their photos and some use projectors. I do neither. I take a lot of pride in the work that I do, from start to finish, and I never use such mechanical aides. Everything that I create is drawn freehand. To me, the skill of drawing is integral to making art. I find it difficult to respect the work of those who lean on projectors for lack of drafting skill. And the ability to draw well is especially relevant with pastels, which are simultaneously a drawing and a painting medium (A big reason why I enjoy working in the medium).

The first block-in of the main colors

After I'm satisfied with the feel and accuracy of my drawing, I start to block-in the main areas of the piece with my initial and limited selection of pastels.

The piece begins to take shape, with only a few areas of blank surface remaining

The photo above shows the piece at about 80% completion. Sometimes, the initial block-in of colors will go really fast. But the last details of the piece always progress more slowly. This is where I'll start to refine the colors and ensure that the transitions are smooth while sprinkling in highlights that help a nighttime scene such as this to read coherently.

Almost done...

Here, the piece is almost completed. You'll notice that I've signed my name even before it's truly done. I have a funny way of handling this. I'll sign a piece when I think it's "in hand," meaning that I don't think there's any conceivable way for me to mess it up and lose my grasp upon it. So I don't necessarily wait until the piece is complete before I'll sign it.

You can see The Downtown Line in its completed state within the Cityscapes area of my site. In my next post, I'll discuss the pastels that I use and offer a few snapshots of my studio space.

Winter, for Real

2009-01-16T21:30:00.004-05:00

Winter Solstice, 12 x 24 pastel on board. A new piece inspired by our current season.

I'm busy working on new pieces that I will gradually reveal through this web site over the coming weeks. My first exhibition of this year will be at the Mount Nittany Medical Center in mid-February. I've displayed works there over the past few years and it's been a great way for me to kick-start my motivation during these short days of winter.

Like much of the rest of the country, we're currently experiencing colder than usual weather here in central Pennsylvania. For the first time since I moved here four years ago, we've had a prolonged cold spell that has helped to retain a worthwhile amount of snow on the ground. This thrills me because the clarity of the atmosphere at this time of year is unmatched. All four seasons inspire me, but winter is more elusive than other seasons. When things come together on a cold, crisp day the results are often more stunning than what you can see during the more temperate times of year. It just takes patience to recognize the charm of winter.

Shown here is "Winter Solstice," one of my newest landscapes. As its name implies, this was a scene from the shortest day of the year in December. I've had the idea for this piece kicking around in my mind for almost two years now. Ever since I painted Summer Solstice, I wanted to create its opposite counterpart. It took until just a few weeks ago to get the perfect confluence of features: Interesting clouds, a light covering of snow, and a clear atmosphere to enhance the fading daylight.

This piece was inspired by a location near Whitehall Road in State College, Pennsylvania. Although I do a lot pieces on location, these cold days require me to work from my photographic reference material....I've tried painting outside during frigid temperatures, but it's too hard on my hands because there's really no way to work while wearing gloves. Nonetheless, don't assume that it's just a simple matter of "point, click, and paint." I often take ridiculous risks to get The Shot for my ideas, and this scene was no exception. This was an exceptionally cold evening and the wind was howling. Blowing and drifting snow created a glossy veneer of ice on the rural roadways and it was treacherous to be out in such conditions (black ice is the worst). However, I wanted to capture this idea while it presented itself. The good news is that with the weather we've had lately, there will be more opportunities to capture the beauty of these winter days.

New Year, New Easel, New Ideas

2009-01-06T20:08:00.005-05:00

Happy New Year, Everyone!

I was blessed with my most successful year ever in 2008. Before starting with my thoughts for this new year, I'd like to offer a sincere thank you to all of my clients who helped me to achieve so many of my goals this past year. Given the chaotic economic events of these recent months, I may be about the only person in America who was sorry to see the year end. But I already have lots of ideas in the works for the upcoming year.

To start with, I'm getting back into the routine of painting. Other than a few landscapes and some commission work, I took much of the past two months off following my last art show in late September. I needed a break to recharge my creative batteries. During that time, I traveled to many great destinations with my husband and picked up tons of inspiration that I've started to tap as I get back to work. I also spent some time with my family, finishing up a mural for my nephew and hosting the holidays at our home for my family members from out-of-town.

To better balance my life and ensure that I'm giving my best to my art, I started to work with a personal trainer towards the end of 2008. This has already helped me immeasurably. I feel more energized and more at ease mentally. Unlike your stereotypical image of a laissez faire artist, I may be slightly neurotic. Slightly. Just ask my husband. Or my Mom.

OK, I digress. But thanks to my trainer's guidance, I'm working towards a goal of participating in the upcoming Bike the 5 Boros Ride in New York City this May. I plan to make this ride as much about getting artistic inspiration as it is about getting a good workout.

Starting next month, I'm also going to work with a good friend and extremely talented fellow artist, Lisa Mitchell, who will offer guidance to me about painting the human figure. In my cityscapes, I remain interested in exploring the narrative element of people within various urban settings. One of Lisa's specialties is portraiture and I'm very excited to have the opportunity to learn from her. Everyone needs "continuing education" in their profession and although I've taken a few workshops since beginning my career as an artist over five years ago, I'm ready to work with someone individually to advance my skills.

My new easel, partially assembled in the shipment packaging, on my studio floor

Over this past year I made some investments in my studio environment. Everything from better lighting to an air filtration system that mitigates the pastel dust (the only bad thing about working with soft pastel). Most recently, I had to replace my studio easel. My old easel began a slow, inexorable death this past September when it began to wear out and could no longer support large, heavy drawing boards for some of my bigger pieces. I purchased a new easel this past month and it's super-sturdy, so I'll no longer have to deal with the nightmare scenario of a piece-in-progress crashing to the floor.

I'm excited about 2009. I look forward to our new President taking office within the upcoming days. I'm also excited to visit some new locations this year, including Charleston, South Carolina and San Francisco, California. Stay tuned!

A Mural for Maxwell

2008-12-22T22:11:00.006-05:00

Ladies and Gentleman, there's a new man in my life: My two year-old nephew, Maxwell.

If you follow my artwork and this web site closely, then you know that I've been on a brief hiatus from painting this fall and early winter. I've had my most successful year ever, but it's been exhausting and I just needed some down time.

Yet this doesn't mean that I've been completely AWOL from making art....In fact, I was long overdue to finish a series of murals illustrating scenes from the story of Noah's Ark for Max.

I began this project two years ago, before Max was even born. Unfortunately, all of the little animals proved more than what I could conquer in the week's allotment of time for painting. More unfortunate: It took until this past week to return to Florida and finish the project with the final scene of the animals safely disembarking from the boat.

The mural in progress

But now Max has his new murals for his bedroom (four scenes in all) and I have discovered how cute this little guy is. He's a natural dancer and I can't wait to see what the future brings for him.

Max in front of the newest mural

Where I've Been...

2008-11-20T20:36:00.005-05:00

Since returning from London last month, my travels have continued. I've visited a number of great places over the past few weeks and perhaps I haven't spent as much time in front of my easel as I should (blush), but the reality is that I needed this break. And these travels have only augmented my source material and inspiration for this winter.

Beginning in late October, my husband and I spent time in Gettysburg. It's only a 2.5 hour drive from our home, but it took many years of living in Pennsylvania for us to finally make it there.

I was blown away.

Totally blown away.

The scale and the scope of what transpired there are just mind-boggling. Even as someone who's visually "gifted," it was difficult for me to envision the thousands of people who fought and died there.

Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC

The following weekend, we traveled to the Washington, DC to visit some dear friends and to attend a concert by our favorite singer / songwriter, Dar Williams. During that visit, I had the opportunity to peruse the latest exhibitions at the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur Sackler Gallery, where I especially enjoyed an exhibition of Dwight Tryon's pastel seascapes. Dazzling!

This past weekend, my husband and I traveled to Hyde Park, New York to take a "bootcamp" class at the Culinary Institute of America. When he's not doing research, my husband's second passion is cooking. In fact, he does all of the cooking at our house. I'm allowed to chop onions. That's about it. We had great meals at the campus restaurants, we learned a lot, and we'll definitely go back again.

Oh, and two days ago, I ventured off to Indianapolis to pick up some picture framing equipment that I bought off of eBay (Hooray for eBay). It was a quick two-day trip, in and out, but it was fun to gaze upon the midwest farmland along I-70 during these crisp November afternoons.

Now, finally, I'm back to work on some commissioned paintings for the holiday season. It's been a hectic fall / early winter, but these travels have been a great way for me to recharge my creative batteries and I'm pleased to report that I'm now getting back into the groove of painting. Some of the first things that you'll see will be landscapes from Gettysburg, which leapfrogged over London in the queue of my source material. I'm also thrilled with the new lighting in my studio. This is paying huge dividends already because winter has come early this year. The snow is already flying outside my window and I'm wondering with this portends a long winter or -- hopefully -- an early spring.

We shall see....

Back from London

2008-10-28T09:17:00.004-04:00

The London Business School invited my husband to be a visiting scholar for a couple of weeks, and I got to tag along. We recently returned from a wonderful trip to London. It's an expensive city (yikes!), but well worth the journey. Fantastic Indian food! And we did many of the typical tourist things, such as visiting St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and a stroll along the River Thames.

We had delightfully mild weather. In fact, I wish that I would have packed shorts. With very little rain and several days of sunshine, I picked up lots of inspiration for new work that you'll see in the coming months. There was the expected, such as Big Ben, and then there were some unexpected things. I can't wait to get back to work with these ideas.

Tomorrow I'm going to have some additional lighting installed in my studio because the grey days of Pennsylvania's notorious winter are already upon us. Snow is in the forecast already. Ich-h-h-h. But I've taken some time this month to rest and regroup after a busy show season and I'm looking forward to settling back into my work during cozy winter days here at home.

October - Rest and Rejuvenation

2008-10-08T16:47:00.003-04:00

Central Pennsylvania's Black Moshannon State Park kicks butt during the fall

Fall is here. This means two things. First, my summer art show season has concluded. Secondly, the splendor of central Pennsylvania fall foliage is in full swing.

I am grateful for what has already been a very successful year despite the turbulent economy and I want to thank all of my collectors for their support. Although I've made tracks throughout central Pennsylvania to paint on location and gather source material of fall colors for my landscape work, I'm currently preparing for my first visit to London. I anticipate capturing many great cityscape ideas while I'm there as well as taking the time to recharge my creative batteries with museum visits and great Indian cuisine.

Please stay tuned to this web site later this fall to be the first to see the new works that come from this month of rest and rejuvenation.

September in Black Moshannon State Park

2008-09-06T20:30:00.006-04:00

After a very busy summer that saw me working in my studio more than outside -- not my preference during the best season -- I'm pleased to have the opportunity to get out and paint more as my art show season winds down. I'm continuing my plein air painting series of works done in Pennsylvania's Black Moshannon State Park. Yesterday, I ventured out ahead of the arrival of Tropical Storm Hanna and worked on a piece along the Moss Hanne hiking trail during the late afternoon. The weather here yesterday was fairly hot for September, with the high nearly reaching 90 degrees at our home. But the park is located at a significantly higher elevation than our home, so it's always about 5-10 degrees cooler. A welcome relief on such warm days.

A postcard from the easel, showing "Black Moshannon No. 21 - September" in progress

Seen here, you have a sneak peek at "Black Moshannon, No. 21 - September." I've sold all but two pieces out of this series; one of those two I gave to some dear friends of ours as a house warming gift when they moved to New York last year. Regardless, I'm pleased with the reception that this series of paintings has received. Even at a show in the Chicago area a few weeks ago, I sold the predecessor to this piece (Black Moshannon, No. 20 - July Morning) to a couple from Missouri.

I continue to enjoy this venue as one of my favorite sources of inspiration for my landscape work. Yesterday, the first hints of fall colors were beginning to emerge. This is very exciting because the colors can be absolutely breathtaking during the peak season, which usually falls around the first week of October.

Unfortunately, plans are still afoot to put a dump (yes, a garbage dump) in proximity to this state park. You can read more about this debacle in one of my earlier posts as well as by visiting the web site of People Protecting Communities.

Annie relaxes near my easel

Despite vocal public opposition from residents in Snow Shoe Township, plans for this dump persist and have been recirculated in different manners over the past couple of years. People Protecting Communities needs financial help to continue the ongoing legal battle against these plans. Please consider making a contribution if you agree that a trashy dump next to one of Pennsylvania's most beautiful areas is a bad idea.

I got lost, but look at what I found...

2008-08-10T11:07:00.010-04:00

My husband and I moved to central Pennsylvania just over four years ago. Since that time, I've had a lot to learn about where to go when I want to paint out in the field. Each season, I add to my "mental Rolodex" of places....Go here when the sun is bright, go there when the clouds are dramatic, etc. But in order to learn about new places, I play a bit of a perverse game: I intentionally try to get lost while out traversing the rural roads of this area. I almost never succeed. I think my artistic sensibility has cursed / blessed me with a great sense of direction and a good recollection of landmarks.

From Cherokee Lane12 x 24 pastel on board.

But the evening when I caught this view for "From Cherokee Lane" was different. I did indeed get lost. Although I didn't even realize it until after I was done painting that night and I was ready to head home, just as the sun was setting and darkness was arriving. I had crossed into Mifflin County from neighboring Huntingdon County and I stumbled upon this beautiful vista just by chance. I don't even think that I could find my way back here since it was just a small gravel lane in the midst of hundreds of acres of farm country.

My first clue should have come when the owners of the property pictured here approached me while I was working. I was racing the fading daylight and while I tried to be polite and conversant with them, I overlooked a valuable tidbit that they shared while talking to me, "Gosh, we don't get many people up here. Most people who end up 'round here are lost, couldn't find their way around the detour in town."

"Uh-huh," I nodded while trying to add a dash of pink to the undersides of the clouds.

They departed on their way into "town" (wherever that was) and I wrapped up shortly thereafter.

And then the real fun began.

I was supremely confident that I knew how to get back to highway 322, the main highway that crosses central Pennsylvania and leads back home. Wrong. The nearby town had a major construction project underway and the main bridge that would have perhaps gotten me on my way home was out. I followed the detour and then ended up seeing road signs for communities whose names I didn't even recognize. Annoyed and growing more concerned about the impending darkness (I'm not afraid of the dark, but I am afraid of deer on rural roads at twilight), I had to pull a U-turn and head back to the local gas station for assistance.

"Wow! You ARE lost!" exclaimed the customer behind me when I asked the clerk for directions back to State College.

Gee, thanks, I needed that.

Thanks to the assistance of the clerk, I eventually found my way back to highway 322 and was safely on my way by the time total darkness descended.

Nonetheless, I still have fond memories of working on the study for this piece. I may polish up the study and frame it as well, but my favorite part of that night was listening to the "clip clop" of the horses as they passed, towing the Amish carts along the narrow country lanes.

Summer, Summer

2008-07-27T16:10:00.004-04:00

Black Moshannon Creek

My husband and I wrapped up a very successful Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts a couple of weekends ago. Thank you to everyone who stopped by my booth and for making it a great weekend. Since that time, I've been catching up on bookkeeping (one of the less glamorous aspects of being in business for oneself) and relaxing a bit before I gear up for our next show in Highland Park, Illinois.

My parents visited during the arts festival weekend and helped us with taking care of our studio mascot, Annie, during the show hours. We then enjoyed a beautiful summer hike to Pennsylvania's spectacular Ricketts Glen State Park. You can definitely expect to see some new landscapes based upon this recent hike in the coming months.

Right now, I'm getting out and enjoying some plein air painting in Penn's Valley as well as my favorite haunt, Black Moshannon State Park. Earlier today, my husband and I took Annie up to Black Moshannon Creek and hiked during the cool morning hours. All went well, except that Tim lost his glasses in the dense undergrowth along the creek. You wouldn't believe how easily expensive prescription bifocals can disappear in the woods. But it was a beautiful morning, highlighted with a blue heron sighting along the creek as well as amazing stands of blooming rhododendron.

From Philly to Chicago and Home Again

2008-06-20T15:13:00.002-04:00

We wrapped up our first art show of the season earlier this month in Philadelphia. I say "we" because I include my underpaid art assistant, a.k.a. my husband. The show went well despite intense heat and within days of finishing up in Philly, I was off to the Windy City to capture source and material and inspiration as I prepare for a Chicago-area show later this summer.

Dueling cabbies under the El in downtown Chicago

It's been a whirlwind month and I'm also busy preparing for my local show, the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. The weather here at home couldn't be more beautiful right now, so I'm getting out and doing some field work and you can look forward to seeing the fruits of these ventures in the coming weeks as I get new works ready for July.

May - A Month in Pictures

2008-05-26T18:18:00.010-04:00

I've been so busy getting ready for my first art show of the season in Philadelphia that this past month has flown by in one giant blur. Thus, I've been little bit remiss with my postings.

This month was also complicated by the mother of all head colds, which had me out of commission for about eight days....It's never a good time to get a cold, but I was especially peeved because for months I made it to our local swimming pool by 6:30am to swim laps during the black winter mornings without so much as a sniffle. And then when the weather moderated - pow!

The good news is that spring is here in central Pennsylvania. Finally. And I thought it would be nice to share with you some of the pictures that I've caught over the past month during my outdoor excursions. Enjoy!

Annie and I along Honey Creek in central Pennsylvania's Reeds Gap State Park

Annie helps herself to some of the fresh spring melt

A delightful panoramic over the farm country of central Pennsylvania during a May morning. I'm always a fan of "cottonball clouds."

During an outing to the Penn's Valley area, I came across these silos, aglow in the fading evening light

Along the Blue Ridge Parkway

2008-05-01T21:02:00.002-04:00

This morning I made my first foray onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, beginning at the entry point just off of I-64 in Virginia. I drove about 20 miles south and soaked in the wonderful white dogwoods and redbuds, whose blooms seem to be enduring for longer than usual this year with the cool overnights.

I stopped at the "20 Minute Cliff" overlook to paint a study of a gnarled pine tree. The light was absolutely beautiful, but I was swarmed by what the locals refer to as "black flies," which I would unflatteringly characterize as a cross between the common house fly and a gnat. This was not something that I anticipated having a problem with at 3200 feet of elevation!

My easel along the Blue Ridge Parkway, with a work in progress

Nonetheless, I resorted to wearing my coat over my hat and my shoulders to keep them at bay and out of my ears. This worked reasonably well. Oddly enough, my resulting bizarre personal appearance did not deter interested passersby from stopping and approaching me to see the work in progress. I always try to be polite to people when they approach me at my easel (I don't want to perpetuate any negative notions about aloof artists), but it is a challenge to work with someone watching closely over my shoulder. Indeed, I could avoid this altogether by venturing off the beaten path to a remote area, but I try to minimize my risks when I travel alone, so I tend to work in more trafficked locations as a result.

With the distraction from the flies this morning, I'm not sure that the field piece will be what I call a "keeper." When a plein air piece falls short of being a "keeper," it becomes a "study" for something larger in my studio. There's never time wasted in the field; I always learn something, even if it is that there are flies at high elevations.

Following my work this morning, I ventured into Staunton and walked throughout the historic district of the town. It's really very charming, especially at this time of year when residents have colorful tulips throughout their gardens. One of Staunton's claims to fame is that it is the birthplace of President Woodrow Wilson. If time permits tomorrow, I may visit his presidential library.

But the real plan to tomorrow is to get up early (not my strong suit) and venture out before the heat of the day causes the haze to build into the atmosphere. After spending a day and a half here, I have a better sense of where to go to get the kinds of vistas that appeal to me. Stay tuned for more.

In Shenandoah National Park

2008-04-30T21:00:00.009-04:00

Friends and family sometimes jokingly refer to me as "Mario" (Andretti) when characterizing my driving style. But today I just putted along very deliberately through the beautiful scenery that is Virginia in the spring. I've passed through the state numerous times on my way to North Carolina or Georgia, but I've never taken the time to really explore it other than the national monuments around the DC area.

The north entrance to the park, near Front Royal, Virginia

The first leg of my trip began this afternoon with a trip down Shenandoah National Park's Skyline Drive. Although I live in the mountains of central Pennsylvania, the briskness on the high ridges and overlooks along the drive took me by surprise. At elevations of approximately 3200 feet, the temperature dipped a full 15 degrees below where it had been in West Virginia and the foliage still hadn't emerged in many areas. But in the valleys and lower elevations, the white dogwoods and redbuds were absolutely amazing.

One of the many beautiful vistas from along Skyline Drive

Due to construction on Skyline Drive (the roadway dates from the 1930s and they're rehabbing it in the central area of the park this year), I detoured out of the park onto highway 211, which was also stunning in its beauty. I arrived in Staunton early this evening, grabbed a quick dinner, and headed out again to scout some locations for landscape source material.

It's clear, it's crisp, and as soon as the sun disappears it becomes colder than I was anticipating for this location at this time of year, although I realize that this weather is well within the average pattern for this area. Tomorrow I'm going to head over to the Wintergreen / Nellysford area, and as the weather warms I'll set up my easel and see what results. Stay tuned.

In Philadelphia

2008-04-20T08:49:00.003-04:00

Market Street in Center City Philadelphia creates a "river of light"

I took advantage of the unseasonably warm and sunny weather this weekend to dash down to Philadelphia and gather some source material for new cityscape paintings. The more familiar that I become with the center city area of Philadelphia, the more I like it. I regret that I didn't have an opportunity to visit the Museum of Art on this trip, where I like to stock up on books just as much as viewing the current exhibitions. But I had a wonderful time walking the city and admiring the beautiful spring foliage. The city is about 2 weeks ahead of us here in central Pennsylvania in terms of the blooms and buds. It's always fun to watch the scenery change along the Pennsylvania Turnpike as I make the descent out of the mountains. Watch for some new works inspired by this trip over the coming months.

Maple Sugar Season in Pennsylvania

2008-03-30T17:24:00.005-04:00

That's me, next to a sugar maple. Today's latest technology involves plastic jugs and plastic conduit lines for tapping the syrup

Spring is late this year and I'm extremely restless to get out and paint. But it's still a little cool for my fingers to paint outside and the landscape is not quite in bloom yet. Nonetheless, maple sugaring season is well under way and my husband and I took advantage of a bright, sunny afternoon to attend this year's Maple Harvest Festival at Shaver's Creek Environmental Center in central Pennsylvania. I’ve included a few photos from our afternoon to share with you:

The evaporators in the sugar shack

The different stages of refinement as the water within the sap is boiled off to create syrup

Displaced glass marbles illustrate the volume of water that is boiled off and the change in density of the sap as it moves from a watery substance to a more viscous substance

Back from North Carolina

2008-03-13T12:01:00.006-04:00

My husband, Tim, and I in the Sarah P. Duke Garden on the Duke University campus in Durham, North Carolina

We just returned from a great trip to visit our friends down in the Raleigh, North Carolina area. The weather was a bit on the chilly side (I was hoping for shorts weather, but it wasn't quite the season yet). Nonetheless, we had a wonderful time visiting with our friends and even our dog, Annie, managed to get along with their dogs. Annie had *huge* dog aggression issues when we first adopted her in 2002, but she's doing better with each passing year. And we all re-charged our batteries in the North Carolina sunshine, so it was a relaxing trip. We didn't even encounter a single traffic slowdown through the DC metro area. Always a plus.

I'm looking forward the next month because I have no trips planned. It will be a quiet time for me to hunker down in my studio and get some new pieces completed as I build my inventory of paintings for the summer art show season as well as for my galleries and other exhibition opportunities. Things get crazy with my schedule beginning in mid-April, but until then I'm going to enjoy the peace and quiet. I'm also going to keep my fingers crossed for some warmer weather so that I can get outdoors and paint a bit, too.

Work in Progress: "Memory"

2008-03-04T20:12:00.004-05:00

An on-the-easel detail of "Memory"

The image above is a detail of a work currently in progress on my easel. I'm planning to call this piece "Memory" because I was so drawn in by the woman's pensive gaze; it seemed to me that she was mulling over a distant recollection. I caught this at a neighborhood coffee shop in the trendy Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC. I've spent much of the past week working on this piece. It's a bit of a self indulgence because I've devoted a lot of attention to commissions this winter, and this idea represents a change of pace for me. It's somewhat eccentric and 100 percent pure inspiration for me. We're due to travel to visit friends down in North Carolina this weekend, so I'm not sure if I'll finish it before that point, but I'm pleased with how it's progressing thus far.

And just as this work symbolizes a new direction for me, I'm looking forward to the upcoming months because I have some new experiences on tap. In April, I'll participate in a plein air painting event along the Eastern Shore in Maryland. And in May, I'm planning a midwest road trip and painting excursion. My itinerary is still taking shape, but at this time I'm looking forward to visiting the Cuyahoga Valley in Ohio, Detroit, Chicago, and my old hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. I'm totally stoked. Further updates as events warrant...

Artists and Charitable Contributions

2008-02-19T20:05:00.005-05:00

It's a mere two months into the new year and I've already received six different solicitations for charitable contributions of my artwork. All inquiries that I receive are for a good cause and I appreciate the implicit compliment that each request represents.

However, I don't think that many of the well-intentioned people associated with these causes understand what making a donation involves for artists....Most people assume that we can deduct the fair market value of our artwork, but we cannot. Instead, we can only deduct the cost of materials, which is only a fraction of what the work is worth.

For this reason, I donate only to causes that are near and dear to my heart: Animal shelters, environmental organizations, children's educational causes, and women's resource / domestic abuse shelters. This past year, I contributed to Easter Seals of Central Pennsylvania and the Clearwater Conservancy.

Fortunately, change is on the horizon within our nation's Congress in the form of the "Artist Deduction Bill." This proposed legislation will allow artists to deduct the full, fair market value of their works:

"...bipartisan legislation, S. 548 or H.R.1524, which would allow artists to take a fair-market value deduction for works given to and retained by nonprofit institutions. The U.S. tax system accords unequal treatment to creators and collectors who donate tangible works (e.g., paintings or manuscripts) to museums, libraries, educational or other collecting institutions. A collector may take a tax deduction for the fair-market value of the work, but creators may deduct only their 'basis' value—essentially the cost of materials such as paint and canvas."

As a professional artist, I ask that you please consider following this link to sign a petition in support of this legislation:
http://capwiz.com/artsusa/issues/alert/?alertid=9521951