Twilight at Pismo Lagoon

Pismo has been a getaway place for our family for a number of years. When our children were in their teens we used to go camping at Pismo Dunes RV park or Pismo Dunes State Beach. For the past five years we have had our trailer permanently stored in Pismo, and whenever we want to go down we make a reservation at the Pismo Dunes RV park. It usually takes a six month in advance reservation to make that a week in summer. We try to go down several times a year especially during the hot months.

This past August we had a full week and were joined by our Son Colin and his new wife Maria. They flew out from Virginia to be with us on Cindy's birthday. That was her present this year. Having our son and his wife with us made the week special.  It is a cool respite from summers heat inland, and its beaches are a source of wonder from morning to night. Waking early in the morning and making a fresh pot of coffee always sets the day off the right way. It is usually col and foggy in the early hours, and a perfect time to walk up on the top of the barrier dune and survey the lagoon that is usually filled with both sea birds and marsh dwellers.

It is relaxing to enjoy the antics of the duck's bobbing up and down for breakfast on the bottom of the lagoon, or see pelicans dive down and grab a snack of fresh fish. Shore birds such as the Great White Egret and the Lesser Egret, as well as Blue Herons wade along the marshy sides spearing anything that comes within reach. Cormorants sit on floating logs washed down by winters rains, spreading their wings to dry them in the air. It is a bird sanctuary, a natural wonder of natures bounty for beach lovers and birders to enjoy.

I got up early as I have many times, only this time I took my sketch book along with my cup of coffee, and began drawing some notans for a painting of the lagoon with the somber morning fog. I decided on a painting, and went back to the campsite to break out my pastels. I began that painting while I had the low natural light and also took a few photos so I could have the right lighting in case the weather changed before I finished. I did end up finishing that painting at home sitting on our deck a week later.

Since my Colin and Maria were with us and it was her first time to California, there was not a lot of time to just sit and ponder the beauty and sketch or paint. We did need to show her the area and some of the beautiful places that are so near. I did take quite a few photos though, and one special evening my son and his wife  and I all sat on the top of the dune, overlooking the lagoon, and watched the sun go down. It was a beautiful evening, with wonderful clouds and lots of color. Unfortunately my camera battery died at the time when the sun was providing such a beautiful palette of color. Fortunately my son reminded me I still had a camera in my I-Phone and I took several pictures of the beautiful twilight sunset that dappled the sand and lagoon in pinks, and shades of purple. The light was mesmerizing and very beautiful. I wanted to paint this wonderful scene. I sent them to my Gmail address so I could look at them on my computer.

With family emergencies requiring several trips south and a full calendar of work for my old employer, it was not possible to paint that scene until this month. I selected a piece of Kitty Wallis Belgian sanded paper that was 12" X 18" and taped it to a board and placed it on my easel. I began the painting with a sketch of the lagoon, and then used Prismacolor pastels to block in the different color masses. Once I had that done, I brushed the colored areas with Turpenoid to provide a good base. I followed up with soft pastels from my palette of Rembrands, Sennelier, Winsor and Newton and Great American Art pastels.  The painting gradually came to life on my easel but the lighting in the room I use as a studio is terrible. When I took the painting outside to get a sense of the balance and color, I was disappointed, and not at all happy with the way it looked.  The colors were just not right at all. The warmth was not there.

Today, there was no rain and it was bright and a cool 51 degrees. Since there was a breeze, I decided to put on a warm coat and I took my table top easel outside and put it on the patio table. It was there on the deck in natural light that I finished the painting. The light on this cloudy day allowed me to get the right hues on the sand and capture the reflections in the water. I hope you enjoy the final product which is called, "Twilight on Pismo Lagoon".

A Gift From Gifted Pastel Artist Deborah Secor

Deborah Secor is an amazing accomplished pastel artist. I believe her greatest attribute however; is her strong faith and commitment to her Lord Jesus Christ, whom she credits unabashedly as her personal savior. Her faith is strong, clear and lived daily, shared by and with her husband. 

Perhaps it is her faith that gives Deborah the ability to see beauty so clearly and capture and transmit the beauty to her Wallis sanded paper for others to enjoy. Her strong sense of well being and completeness also makes her a fine teacher. She seems to enjoy sharing her gifts and insights from years of painting with her students. Her reward comes from seeing students become better artists as they soak in her demonstrated techniques to achieve paintings that catch the eye of the viewer.  We are very fortunate to have some outstanding pastel artists who are also amazing teachers. In my book, she is right there with Richard McKinley, Margot Schulzke and Maggie Price in her ability to clearly state how she accomplishes various techniques she has learned over the years through trial and error.

She has no smugness, or snobbery about her work, she is genuine and wants to share her God given gifts and what she has learned through trial and error. A good case in point is the book she has taken a long time to write, "Landscape Painting in Pastels." She is giving it to any who wants to read it free. She has published it on the web at http://landscapesinpastel.blogspot.com/ where it can be read or downloaded by anyone interested in bettering their knowledge of pastel painting.  So much knowledge that goes beyond just knowing how to use pastels, or what process to use, but a greater understanding of how to use color and how too determine the values of that color. Her book is an invaluable resource for any serious artist. I thank her for her generously sharing her talent and knowledge.

Great American Pastels

Since I became enamored with the pastel medium, I have been trying various pastels made in different countries of the world. There are many wonderful old names like Sennelier, Rembrandt, Schminke,Winsor Newton and of course many other brands that artists love and revere. I have quite a few softer pastels  by Rembrandt, Sennelier and Winsor Newton and even a few buttery soft by American pastel maker Terry Ludwig.  I have a full set of Prismacolor hard pastels that I use a lot for under colors but I did not have any Great American Art Works Pastels that I have heard so many positive things about. These wonderful pastels are made in the USA.

Since I am always griping about buying American products, I ordered a small selection of Great American pastels from Jerry's ArtArama.com a  few months ago, and really found them to be soft, and not subject to crumbling like some of my Winsor Newtons. I was very impressed with how smoothly they applied to my Wallis paper with a light stroke. They had one pastel I purchased that said silver and so had to check it out. It really was silver and I have used it on several paintings that required a touch of silver. I wanted to have more of these beauties! They have 468 different colors and are always adding more selections. They also have fun names, like, Church Mouse Grey, Zest, Paris, Atmosphere, Merlot, don't wine, you get the picture.

A few weeks ago I saw a Thunderstorm set on sale by FineArt.com for a low and impossible to refuse price. I have coveted this set for some time and so I ordered them. They came in the mail and I could not wait to use them on a pastel I was working on that had wonderful sky colors. How I wish I had them when I worked on my Desert Storm piece.

Last Saturday, I had attended a demonstration put on by Bob Strohsahl, Head Honcho of Great American Art Works pastel company, at University Art in Sacramento, California.  This was a reserve your seat event, and also the quarterly meeting for the Pastel Society of the West Coast. I had no idea that Bob would brings such a huge selection of wonderful wooden boxed selections of 78 pastels each by so many well known pastel artist like Margo Schultzke, Richard McKinley, Paul Murray, Judith Carducci and others, as well as 60 half stick sets. I think everyone in the room was salivating looking at the many colorful boxes that were saying take me home!

Bob made a delightful and informative presentation about the company and where they purchase many of the minerals used in their pastels. He showed many wonderful color pictures of places we all would love to visit and paint. Margo Schultzke was at that presentation and said that she has been delighted with the pastels and the variety of colors.  One very lucky member won a door prize in a drawing of 78 pastels of a set of his choosing. I know David, you are probably still smiling!  Many of us bought various sets of our choosing at that event because we were given a great price with no shipping charges. I purchased a Richard McKinley selection since I liked the color selection and know I do not have some of the colors in my palette.  I cannot wait to beak them out and incorporate them into my palette and enjoy using them.

I encourage you to buy some and test them out. I am sold on this companies wonderful pastels, and know that I don't need to look anywhere else to find what I want.  The best part is, like the Terry Ludwig Pastels,  they are made right here in America!

Catching Up

I cannot believe how many months have gone by since I posted any blogs. I have been busy and have painted quite a few new pieces. I have also been enjoying trying out under paintings beneath my pastels, and am still experimenting with the effects.

A month ago I had a rather disturbing and life shaking event occur that gave me cause to realize my mortality. It was a Saturday morning and I got up around 7:23 to put our old dog Chica outside. I walked her down the hall and into the kitchen. I usually give her treats in the morning and so I reached into a drawer and pulled out the bag of Duck strips. As I pulled them out and started to open the bag, I had an overwhelming feeling of being very nauseated, and felt terribly weak and disoriented. I realized I could not even open the bag to get the treats out and simply leaned back and slid open the sliding glass door and let Chica outside

The next thing I realized was I was lying on the kitchen floor, my head hurt and two of our kitchen chairs were lying on their sides. I thought, what on earth am I doing on the floor. I set one of the chairs upright and tried to get up and passed out again. The next thin I realized is my wife Cindy is slapping my face and saying stay awake, don't go out, stay with me. She had apparently called my daughter who was out running and told her I had passed out and then called 911.  My daughter made a beeline back home and was home before the ambulance arrived. My wife and daughter helped me into a chair and I felt very disoriented and was perpsiring profusely and shaking. When the paramedics arrived, they took my vital signs and put oxygen on me. They could apparently tell that my heart and was behaving erratically and my blood pressure was way out of wack. I was soon loaded into an ambulance and rushed to Auburn Faith hospital.

I had wonderful care and attention at the hospital and they hooked me up to monitors and did an EKG realizing that I was in a condition called atrial fibrillation, where the heart chambers get off sync and beat erratically depriving ones body of life giving oxygen. That is why I had passed out and become so disoriented. I was admitted into intensive care for a day and a half until the medication the doctors had given me brought my heart back in control, and it began beating normally once again. I was seen by a cardiologist and asked him whether anything I had been doing the day before had contributed to my situation. He said no, not at all. Your heart has performed well for 68 years and just decided it isn't going to continue to beat as it had. From now on, you will just need to take a prescription medication that will keep your heart on track. I remained there overnight for observation and tests and was released after lunch the following day to go home.  The doctor said I could resume my normal routine, but my wife was very concerned and did not want me doing much of anything until we could see the cardiologist we had been referred to.

We had planned on leaving on vacation for Pismo Beach the following day prior to this happening, and my son and his new wife Maria were planning on flying out from Lynchburg, Virginia to join us in Pismo Beach. First thing Monday morning, I called the Cardilologists office and asked if it was possible for them to squeeze me in that day. I explained our situation and they said they would see what they could do. Several hours later I received confirmation that Dr Berte could see us at 3:45 that afternoon. Once I arrived at the doctors office we were ushered into a room and his nurse Diana administered an EKG to let the doctor see how my heart was performing at that moment. When the doctor came in, he reviewed it and said we were free to go to Pismo Beach and he would see me when I got back to wear a monitor for 24 hours and also to take a stress test.   Cindy was concerned but the Doctor allied her fears and we went home to pack.

It was great to be hitting the road early in the morning and we had an uneventful and pleasant drive over Pacheco Pass and on down Highway 101 to Pismo Beach. We got there about an hour and a half after our son and his bride Maria. They had set the trailer up and then gone for a walk on the beach.  Unfortunately our trailer had leaked over the past two years and water had ruined the bedding and blankets and sleeping bags in the trailer. It was a mess to clean up and Cindy went to buy all new bedding and blankets. It was her birthday that day and we celebrated by going to dinner at the Old Port Inn on the pier in Avila Beach. We had a wonderful meal and afterwards went back to the trailer, made up fresh beds with the new linens and went to sleep for a good nights rest. Our week in Pismo was wonderful and relaxing. I started painting a scene of the lagoon in front of the sand dunes while we were there. I finished it this past week. I hope you like this one. It was started on a cool foggy morning and it was a joy to enjoy the solitude and see all of the waterfowl activity in the lagoon. 

Over a week ago I took my stress test and passed it with flying colors. Dr. Berte told me I have no restrictions and can do anything I want. He doesn't need to see me for six months. God is good, and I feel grateful and blessed to be alive to enjoy my family and continue to paint. Life is too short, so don't forget to do the things you really wan to and enjoy each and every day.

Getting Organized - Part II

One is always happy to make some painting sales, because it puts money in the bank for more art products. My goal has been to make sure that I have everything organized and in a place I can get to immediately when I paint in my studio. That being said, I have more work to do to continually improve the studio set up but that will come with time.

I also wanted to make sure that I had everything I needed for plein aire painting, so that when I go out, I have a good set up. Initially I had my full French Easel, with my pastels packed in plastic boxes filled with rice so that they would not break.  Although this method worked for awhile, I found it to be less than desirable over time.  The other thing was, the plastic boxes took all of the space in the French easel drawer and left very little room for stumps, wipes, some pastel pencils and charcoal.

I also decided that

I would follow Richard McKinley's suggestion and make sure that I separated all of my pastels into values in a new Dakota Art portable pastel box that I purchased. This box is well designed, and has memory foam that the pastels rest on, and memory foam on the two wood inserts that fasten over the pastels to keep them from moving when you are traveling. I purchased the smaller box that is 13" X 14" and it holds a huge amount of half stick pastels. This box sits comfortably on the drawer of my French Easel.  My current pastel count is almost 300, with available space for more. That provides me with a varied pallet of both hard and soft pastels that are with me when I am painting outdoors in some beautiful locale. I am no longer frustrated by not having the color I want to use and making do with something that really is not adequate.

The second item I purchased was an umbrella to shade both me and my work when I am outdoors painting plein aire. After reading all the reviews, I bought the Better Brella canopy, and am very pleased with its design, and vented canopy. The great thing is, it will clamp onto a square or round leg and has well engineered clamps. Someone put a great deal of thought into the design of this product. After roasting in the sun a few times, this will be super, plus it will help by providing me shade for my work so I can actually realize the appropriate color I am putting on my paper.

The third item I purchased was some Dakota Art Boards with Wallis paper already mounted on a foam core so they provide a nice sturdy surface for plein aire work. Thanks Dakota Art for providing this great product premounted, it saves me the hassle, and is light and portable. I had purchased some Courfix Boards also for plein aire work, and they too are a good product. Every artist seems to like a different surface to work on and it has a lot to do with their style, their pastel strokes on the paper, the way they have been taught to work or just personal preference.  With all these nice additions to my plein aire kit, one can see I am already to go out this week with my new tools to paint in the high sierras. Happy painting, and do get organized.

Painting Acceptance and Sales

Well this has been a wonderful two week for news of acceptance into shows and painting sales.  Two weeks ago I received my acceptance letter into the Pastels in Light show. This is a juried show that is being put on by the West Coast Pastel Society at The Gallery, 48 Natomas Street in Folsom. I will enter two paintings, one of the wine country called "Kiss of Spring on the Vineyard" and the other " Morning Sun on Monument Valley." This Wednesday I also received my acceptance email from KVIE Television for my painting, "Where Eagles Soar", that I donated as an entry into their juried Art Auction to be held September 19th.  2011. We will receive two tickets for the black tie event, and also a years membership with KVIE Television.

I made the decision a few weeks ago to have new business cards made professionally. I went down to talk to Drew Lord at Printmasters here in Auburn. He was friendly and helpful and said he could make several samples for me on the photos I provided. He said he would call me when the designs were ready then I could choose the one I liked.  Several days later I had terrific samples and chose one with a vertical format of one of my recent wine country paintings. Drew did not flinch when I asked if it was possible to have some the next day for the Artwalk. He said they would be ready at 3:30 PM, and so I was able to go by and pick them up. They were very nicely done and I was pleased would have them for the Auburn Artwalk that evening. While I was at Tsudas in Old Town Auburn I handed out several cards to interested people who liked my work.

Now that I have the cards, I carry them with me, and when I went to the dentist on Tuesday for a teeth cleaning I handed one to my oral surgeon who had just checked my teeth, and said "Doctor Hakima, when you have time check out my new website." To my surprise, she went to her office computer and pulled my site up right away. The next thing I know, she is calling to me, asking me how much this painting or that painting is while I am still in the chair with the hygenist working on my teeth.  Then she said, "Oh, I love this one called Afternoon's glow on the Vineyard, I want this one, how much is it?" I told her the size and the price and said it was matted and framed and she said, oh great, I'll have a check for you tomorrow if you want to bring it to the office." I happily delivered the painting the next day and collected my check. I took it home and copied it, and then took it to the bank and deposited it in my art account.

Today I went by Tsudas to check on my paintings and to see if I needed to replace my business cards and immediately saw that one painting was gone. Alexandra, the owner saw me and said, "Hi Paul, I sold one of your paintings the other day and the buyer used a Mastercard for the purchase. I waited for it to clear, which it did today, so I can pay you since you are here. " I was delighted with this good news, and will have to take a new painting down to Tsudas to replace the vacancy. My art account finally has some cash flow and I can purchase more supplies and some items I have wanted for some time. It is such a good feeling to paint things I love painting and have people purchasing them because they like the finished product. Life really could not get any better.

Another Milestone

This past week I bit the bullet and took advantage of an offer through Go-Daddy to use one of their many hundreds of template styles to build my Website for the name domain I purchased last year. My son is a very good graphic designer and knows a lot about building websites however; he has been too busy to help put something together. I have had the name domain for almost a year and felt it was time to get something going that looked more professional for my art. After all, the link is available with several professional pastel society organizations and galleries, and did not look very good at all.

Building a website myself, now how hard could that be? I am not what you would call a techy or a computer geek. I have stayed active with computers since I retired and do know my way around a little. Just enough to get myself in trouble from time to time. Well Go-Daddy, show me what you've got! There are not idiot instructions for building a website, but there are enough drop dons on various pages that one can research a question and figure out how to use their product. I did run into several problems when I chose a ready made site, that one could change the printed words but changing the pictures was a lot more difficult.

I switched to a template style and color that I liked and started over. Fortunately it was fairly simple and I was able to make changes in the templates and upload photos and size them correctly to work on the various pages. My biggest challenge came when I decided to upload some of my art pictures. Getting the painting titles in and also the paintings was a huge issue and I ran into a few snags, and deleted it all deciding I would try that another day when I was fresh. The wait helped and I methodically worked out the way I wanted them to appear and managed with some setbacks to design the page the way I wanted. I would have liked to put borders around the pictures but that would take more knowledge than I have to know how to do that.

The template level that I chose only includes 5 pages for their $2.99 per month hosting charge for three years. If I was a more prosperous artist I would have elected to get a bigger package, but this is a good way to start out, and perhaps I can add to what I have started in the future. Yes, okay, I know I am cheap, but artist supplies are a more important concern right now. I also would have liked to change the name of one of the pages that says services, however the page names are locked in and not changeable  from what I can figure out. I really do not need a page by this title, I would rather have had another gallery page. The last page is a contact sheet that allows interested persons to email me. I tested this feature and was pleased to see that it does work.

Now that I am finished and have uploaded my Website, please feel free to visit and let me know what you think of my it. You can find the site at http://www.paulmharman.com

A Pastel Paper Review

I have been reading comments on Flickr of persons who are new to pastel painting and enjoying the medium very much. I have seen several very bad pieces of advice from novices who have said things like, "I just use computer paper and it works fine for me", or I just use a piece of clean cardboard." Some of these kinds of bad advice motivated me to do a short synopsis of pastel papers for people who have not tried them or cannot access them at their local art store. So below is a list of those I have tried, and my preferences and those I will not likely use again. 

I will go ahead an number the different papers to keep them separated. They are not in any particular order: 

1. Ampersand pastel board - museum series panel - I bought several of these for plein aire work. They have a sanded surface hand applied with Kaolin clay ground textured with fine marble dust granules. My pastel mentor uses these a lot and likes them. I used one for a plein aire painting last month and found the surface to be quite fine. I did not like it nearly as much as the Colourfix Board, but it is okay. I will probably not buy any more, I prefer the Colourfix or the Rtistx boards.

2. Canson MI-Tientes - assorted colors a 98 lb paper that has a smooth side and a rough side. It is my least favorite, the smooth side, which I prefer does not take a lot of pastel, but is okay for quick in the field sketches. The rough side is difficult to cover the pattern in the paper unless of course you like to paint fast and loose, and use very soft pastels. Then it will probably be fine.

3. There are two types of Art Spectrum Colourfix pastel paper.

(a.) Art Spectrum, Colourfix sanded paper - Comes in 20 different colors. I like the texture, but the paper is not very heavy. It does take pastel quite well. It will more likely curl if it gets damp because of the light weight.

(b). Art Spectrum, Colourfix Plein Aire Painting Board -  I purchased some     12" X 16" boards and really liked the surface. The Boards come in a selection of 17 colors including white. The cost was around $8.60 per board.  It does come in larger sizes for example 14" X 18" boards. It takes pastel well, is heavy enough to use without a backing board and will drop in a frame if you want to. I painted my "Water, Life Blood of the Range" painting with this board. This one is first rate.

4. Sennelier "La Carte" pastel paper. This is an excellent paper and the tooth is made from a vegetable substance and takes pastel really well. I have used it a lot and really like it. The only warning I have is be extremely careful to never get it damp or try a water color wash on it, it will destroy the paper surface completely. This is an excellent paper for studio work, and for plein aire if there is no chance of rain! 

5. Pastel Mat pastel paper - I found this to be a very smooth surface almost like a velour. It does not hold a lot of pastel and so I was disappointed with it and frustrated because I could not blend on this surface and get the effect without the tooth filling completely. It is not a paper I am likely to buy again. In fairness to those who love this surface I am glad you like it. 

6. Richardson sanded pastel paper - I have just purchased three large sheets of 18 X 24 in three different colors, I believe there are seven choices of color. It has a more course surface than Colourfix paper, and the paper is a little heavier. I am painting a pastel with it now and while it takes multiple layers of pastel well, it is more difficult to do fine detail because of the coarse surface. For those of you who are not into detail, you will love it. 

7. RTISTX 280- I purchased several of their boards which are heavy enough to use for plein aire work. I really liked the sanded surface which comes in Taupe or white. It is tough, heavier than the Colourfix Board , takes a lot of pastel, and will take water color washes, Turpenoid washes, oils, acrylic or charcoal. Do not use alcohol or acetone with this board, it will dissolve the tooth. The largest size it comes in is the 18" X 24" which I used for my Bald Eagle pastel.  It is acid, lead and Barium free and 100% archival quality. The man who designed it is a roofer and a pastel artist who was not happy with the products on the market and decided to design his own. He is trying to get it marked with some of the larger suppliers. His product is a little pricey but very good quality and you can find RTISTX in a web search. 

8. Wallis paper - I just received my order of several 8 pad books of this paper in 9" x 12" and 12" X 16" sizes after buying some larger 18" X 24" and 24" x 36" sheets of this linen based paper. It is strong, a rag based paper, heavier and will take water or turps washes if that is what you like to do before starting your drawing. This is a professional archival surface and comes in museum or professional grades. It is available in Belgian Mist or White.  I am planning on using it for my next painting and it is already to go on my easel. I like the feel, and it seems to have a really good tooth. Many pastel artists I have spoken to with the Pastel Society of the West Coast  love this paper the most of all they have tried. I have a similar response based on its texture. It does take a lot of pastel and one can blend on this paper. A word of caution though, if you blend with your fingers, it will take layers of skin off before you know it. 

There are other papers out there, I have not yet tried. I would be interested in hearing from any other pastel artists who like other papers and why. Keep painting and share your tips to help other artists improve their art.

A Fogggy Day on Lion Creek

Cindy and I were out for a ride on this particular foggy day just exploring the area between Ojai and Santa Paula . We had just climbed over some hills shortly after leaving Ojai and were descending down the hill on the old Ojai to Santa Paula road when I saw a lovely oak covered swale that might be a good painting.  I stopped the car to have a look and took a few pictures. I took a few different shots and noted the colors and the light and overcast sky with the fog creeping over the distant hills.  I got back in the car and we continued down the road and drove over this lovely gorge, but could not stop because there was no safe place to pull over. I drove a little further and found a place wide enough to turn around and went back across the bridge and did a u-turn into a turnout just a short distance above the bridge and parked the car.

Our navigation unit in the car indicated the gorge was Lion Creek. Lion Creek flows through a gorge that it has cut in the sandstone rock of the beautiful valley that it cuts through. Like many streams in southern California, it likely drys up in the summer, but during the rainy season it flows fast and furious carrying runoff all the way to the sea. Where the bridge crosses over the little gorge that Lion Creek has cut it is probably 20 feet deep. 

I walked down the hill to the bridge and looked at the gorge from the bridge and was amazed at the rocks and trees, and color I saw.  There were so many shades of green, ochre colored and rust red stained rocks, dark green water and some water worn granite boulders.  I decided to climb down into the gorge and see what it looked like from below. My painter senses were on high awareness, and my eyes were filled with this beautiful scene I was seeing for the first time. My ears tuned into the sound of the water rushing through the rocks, tumbling and twisting over and around obstacles it had gradually worn down over many centuries of time. I could hear birds tweeting and talking to one another in the trees. I stood on a rocky sandstone outcrop above the stream and drank in the beauty of this place. The fog creeping over the distant hills, the stillness of the place, different songs of the many birds and the sound of rushing water. The oak trees and vines that dangled down the walls had fresh green leaves, broken here and there by dappled sun. Contrasting colors everywhere, and even emerald green grass on a sloping hill the stream had cut through. This scene spoke to me and cried out to be painted.  

I made mental notes of the colors, the lighting, and took several pictures with my Canon camera so that I would have some good reference photos to use when I got back home. My easel was in the car, but there wasn't time nor a safe place to set up and paint right there. 

A week and a half later I had cleared time to begin the painting of Lion Creek. I chose a  20" X 16" RTISTX board for the painting. I also decided that I would block in some basic undercolor areas using some of my Nupastels. I did a rough sketch of the scene on the board and then carefully laid down the undercolorss of blue where the mountains would go, green for some of the tree areas, brown for the ground under the trees and maroon for some of the rock undercolor. Once these colors were in place I brushed them with Turpenoid and allowed the colors to run a little. This was a new effort for me, I had wanted to try this technique on one of my pastels after watching a Richard McKinley DVD. I was very pleased with the result and it took about ten minutes for the Turpenoid to dry. I had a nice even color distribution over the areas and then began to apply the sky, clouds and some of the mountain detail with both Rembrandt and Winsor Newton pastels. Things moved along well in the early stages and I began working on the tree trunks and also the rocks lining the streambed.

The painting seemed extremely busy and detailed and as time went by and I moved further along I got to a point where I just seemed to block. This may surprise you since I am so much of a detail person in most of my paintings. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to complete this painting and get it to look right and capture the wonderful scene I had viewed. My reference photos were good, but I was having difficulty getting the rocks to look realistic. They had such unusual roundness on some of them, they looked like someone had dumped a truck load of cement and smoothed it in humps and swirls, and then covered parts of it with vegetation. The bank on the one side was cut more sheer, and the vines trailed over it, so there was a lot going on there. I was also concerned that there was so much green from so much vegetation, I didn't want it to all blur into one color. I decided after getting to a certain point to just stop, and take a break from this painting, and start another completely different scene. I started another wine country painting, since I had been doing a series of them. I would periodically stop and just stare at my Lion Creek work and wonder if I would ever have the confidence to continue with it.

Taking a break and not forcing the painting was a good idea. One day while we were at lunch with some friends on the patio of Appleby's in Auburn, I had a break through.  I was looking at the trees bordering the patio. I noticed the shadows on the branches, and the many shades of green I could see in the leaves from the sunlight.  Just seeing the trees and the way the light played on them helped me to realize how I could continue the Lion Creek painting.   



A Foggy Day on Lion Creek



When we got home, I set my easel up outside on our back deck and brought my pastel box out and put it on a table. We have many trees that border our deck, and based on the light I saw on them, I knew I could separate the trees and their color values so that they could stand individually, and not all merge into one green mass.  It was a beautiful day, comfortable temperatures and I was charged to dig into the painting. With the new found confidence I was able to complete the canopy of trees by separating the values of different trees. I was also able to work on the shading and colors in the rocks with better light. Being outside in good light was a much better alternative than my poorly lit studio environment. The light helped me to chose a sunlit color for the grass in the meado that bordered the stream so it enhanced the feeling of depth in the painting. Natural light is so important to help one get a good true color value balance.

The last piece I worked on was the water in the stream. Little light filtered through the tree canopy to play on the water. It was deep in shadow, and so I chose to keep it the dark green I had viewed on site, and just put some light blue sky highlights in the ripples and in the froth it kicked up going through sections with rocks under the surface. I was pleased when I got to the point where I could stand back and know that I had captured the little Lion Creek Gorge I enjoyed so much on that visit. I hope you enjoy too.

  

Another Milestone

I believe that the most difficult hurdle to overcome for a new artist is the challenge of breaking into the local art community and being accepted as an artist in one's own right. I addressed that challenge by joining my local arts group, Placer Arts and began attending functions. I also had a very supportive mentor /teacher Reif Erickson, who was pleased that I was following through with my art and going beyond the weekly classes and trying to create my own style. Besides being an excellent teacher and a wonderful pastel artist himself, he has become a good friend and encourager.  He shares his suppliers, and has given me the names of places where I can reduce my costs to purchase art supplies. Becoming known locally in our own city or town, and having a venue to show paintings where friends, neighbors and others will see them is not easy because there are limited venues to show paintings publicly. There is no guidebook that tells one how to overcome all of the obstacles that one faces, but what I knew it would take was persistence.

I began checking with the local Old Town Gallery in old town Auburn. It is a beautiful gallery and member artists volunteer time to man the store, and pay rent for space to hang their art. This beautiful gallery is independent of the Placer Arts Group. Being new at this and working on a tight budget, paying a monthly rental was not something I could afford. I did decide to also join the Roseville Arts group at the Blue Line Gallery and paid my membership fee so that I would have access to enter gallery shows. I began exploring other venues as well like the Auburn Faith Hospital that has an Art Can Heal program, and they invite local artists to hang paintings in a hallway and rotate the art every month or so. I have not received any response as to how long that list is yet, but I suspect it has quite a waiting list I checked with several local restaurants that had artwork hanging on their walls, and was told that it is all managed by the Placer Arts Association. They schedule art programs and include art from local high schools, and select the artists that will participate in the monthly art walk program that starts in May and runs through September. I am scheduled to be in the August Art Walk.

Find in a venue to show paintings though takes a lot more work. Tsuda Market, a landmark  that had been operated in Old Town Auburn by the Tsuda family for over 80 years finally closed last year. This little grocery store had provided many local Japanese and American food products to local families in town. Once it closed however; the building had to be brought into compliance with earthquake safety building codes before a new business could occupy the premises. After many months of renovation a new Cafe also called Tsuda occupied the site and became very popular with its excellent sandwiches, salads and bakery products. When we were eating lunch there one day, I asked the owner if I could have an opportunity to display some of my paintings on the walls there. Very modern bright colored acrylic paintings occupied 2/3 of the available space already. Alexandra took my card and said, as a matter of fact, I am planning on clearing the area behind the coffee bar and moving some things around, and using that as a rotating space for artists. I'll have a look at your art and we can talk again.  One thing led to another and their were very many events on their calendar, and another meeting just did not happen. I just figured that the owner thought that my art would be too conservative compared to the really modern paintings already in the eating area.

In the meantime, I was contacted by a local Chiropractic Doctor, Heather Perry through Placer Arts forward of her email. She asked me if I would be interested in hanging some of my paintings in her offices that had been recently remodeled. She said an artist that knew me had referred me and I replied I would definitely be interested, and would come by to look at the offices. I went by and met Dr Perry and could see that this would be a nice place to hang paintings. Her practice offered a number of healing services and my friend Jeanie said she had sold three paintings when hers had been on display there over a three month period. Dr Perry has scheduled me to hang my paintings there in April.

Last week I dropped by Tsuda's early in the morning to buy some bakery products to take home to have with coffee. After purchasing them I saw Alexandra meeting with a supplier and just waived as I walked by. She called out to me and said, "Paul wait!" I turned around and walked back and she said, "That wall over there by the coffee bar is all yours to decorate with your paintings whenever you are ready." I said, thank you, that would be great. Needless to say, I was quite taken aback by this sudden turn of events and bubbling with enthusiasm when I got back home to tell my wife.

I went back the next day and measured the wall space and Alexandra said that I had to use existing nails in the old brick, or use existing holes. Since it was a historical building and the wall was brick, I needed to make sure to be very careful even using what was there. We can even hang things from the support beam if necessary she said. It looked like it would be a significant challenge and I went home and grabbed some paper, and began figuring out an arrangement and also deciding what paintings to hang there. I also gathered what I thought would be the necessary tools to take with me. Since the weekend is a very busy time with lots of tourist traffic, I decided to wait until Monday to hang my paintings.

Monday morning, I loaded up my car with my tools and paintings and set off for Tsuda's. I was excited and also a little concerned, not knowing what obstacles would confront me once I began. My luck was good for a parking space was available right in front of the Cafe. I carried in my paintings and tools, and asked one of the food staff if Alexandra was in today. She said, yes she is, but she just left on an errand. I told her I was going to hang my paintings on the wall above the coffee bar. She said, "Oh yes, Alexandra said you would be in, let me take some of the things down and get them out of the way."

There was only one lonely old large headed nail in the uneven brick wall, and it was off center. and midway up the wall. I decided to hang the larger painting I had brought on that nail, once I checked it to make sure it was secure. Then I began searching the wall for existing holes that I could put proper hooks in to hang my paintings. None looked very promising, so I had to get creative. The nails I had with the hooks were slim, so I could gently tap them into cracks in the mortar and eventually managed to get all of the paintings hung.  I had to shorten some wires and extend others to at least balance the paintings as best I could. As I was cleaning up and packing up my things to leave Alexandra came back in the Cafe and said, "Oh wow, that looks great Paul!"

I stopped in again yesterday to drop off some cards and Alexandra said, "Well I have to tell you, your paintings are a big hit. Everyone likes them, and every time someone asks about the one on the top right, I tell them it is sold already. I want that one! My brother wants the one with the old Chevy truck." That is great news, I said thank you for giving me the opportunity to hang them in your cafe.

I am so delighted to have this kind of visibility in a busy cafe in our old town section. It is a major tourist haunt, and very busy on weekends. Locals frequent the area during the week. It is also just across the street from the art gallery. I told Alexandra I would pay her a commission on any painting I sell and replace them as vacancies provide that opportunity.  She said that is fine, that is what she does with the other artist. That is more reasonable than the forty percent that galleries charge, and I don't have to pay monthly rental on the space. This means I will have money from sales to buy more supplies to continue painting. Now that is a real milestone.



            

Last Night We Lost a Dear Friend

Rich and Sharlyn Goss have been good friends for almost nine years. We have attended the same church and been in small group together for six years. Several years ago Sharlyn a retired elementary school teacher got pretty sick and her doctor treated her for pneumonia. Unfortunately, after she failed to respond to treatments, it turned out to be far worse, and a diagnosis of very advanced lung cancer. The news was devastating, how could it be lung cancer, Sharlyn never smoked.

She and Rich cried but got over the initial shock and saw a very good encologist at Kaiser hospital. Sharlyn went through extensive chemotherapy and lost her hair. She was always upbeat and positive. She was always chipper, always more concerned about her friends than the battle she was fighting. Everyone who knows her and Rich, knew her strength came from above. She knew, no matter what, and when her time came, she would be home with Him. She was given eighteen months to live over two and a half years ago and she lived each day with a smile and a laugh. Getting as much visiting with friends and family in as she could cram into every day of every week.

She lived to see her second granddaughter born and both of her grand daughters were the joy that lit her face whenever they were around. I am sure that when she was a teacher for all those many years, she had the same joy in her face with her charges. She lived to share a big Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family, and she enjoyed another great Christmas with her grandchildren, and family.

Cindy and I went over to say goodbye  to Sharlyn on Sunday afternoon. The Morhpine she was given allowed her to relax and breath the oxygen she was on and though it made her drowsy, she could still respond "I love you too" when we talked to her. We hugged Rich and spent some special moments with him before we left.  Last night Rich called to let us know that Sharlyn had a peaceful passing while the pastor was visiting and praying with the family at her bedside.  Those were words we didn't want to hear, but we know she is no longer gasping for breath, and she is whole again in heaven. Happy to be with her heavenly Father. Rest in peace dear friend, we know you have added to the joyful voices in heaven.

Getting Organized

One of the things I was determined to do after I became thoroughly besotted with pastel painting was to make sure that I got organized. I am into my third year painting now and while I do not have a huge number of paintings to catalog, I surprised myself as to the number I had painted when I began to take inventory.  My first year in only a few months as I began my journey, I painted thirteen paintings. The second year when my interest began to build, and my desire to challenge myself outside the classes, I painted 51 paintings.  If this year is anything like last year, it will be a similar number.

Thanks to a very organized pastel painter whom I respect tremendously I received a lot of insight and guidance from his new book. Richard McKinley has written an excellent book for pastel painters describing his techniques, how he sorts and organizes his pastels by colors and value, what paper he uses, how he uses washes, and how he catalogs his paintings.  The book in case you are interested, is called "Pastel Pointers" and even has a DVD in the back to demonstrate some of Richards techniques. There are many more good chapters than the ones I listed, but you get the idea. Richard really shared every aspect of his art.

One of the chapters that really caught my interest was a chapter devoted to cataloging pastels, developing an artist bio sheet for use in shows, and also a sheet to affix to the back of framed pastels that gives their catalog number, title, the artists copyright signature and also a nice little bio about what he hopes to achieve with his paintings.

That chapter resonated with me, so I made the decision to get more organized and look more professional. I developed my own Bio that I can now use at a show, or future shows. I also made up my own log in Microsoft Excel, to list my paintings by their number in order of completion, whether they are a pastel or some other medium, the month painted, the year, the size, type of paper used, what size the framed piece is and whether they have been sold, given as a gift, or entered in a show.   It took me a quite a few hours to create this log and then enter all of the data into it. However, I am now up to date and all of my paintings are cataloged. When I go to deliver my four entries into the Vistas show next month, each painting will be readily identified with my personal sheet on the back providing all of the necessary information to the gallery, or to a buyer.  If a painting sells, I can indicate the name of the buyer in my log in case there is some reason I need to contact them in the future. If there was a worst case scenario and I had a fire that destroyed my inventory, I would have a complete record of everything lost.

Another wonderful aid to organization was a Christmas gift from my wife, a Degas pastel carrying case that has straps and will hold 196 whole pastel sticks, or three times that number broken in thirds.  I have organized my pastels by color and value in this wonderful case and can close it up and take it with me if I want to go out and paint on a location somewhere. The pastels are packed individually in foam slots, and foam goes over them to keep them from moving when you are ready to close them up. The other nice addition was four separate extra pastel box inserts that fit into the pastel case and I can store a back-up inventory of every pastel I have acquired, so that when I run out of a color in my portable easel box, or my working easel and carrier , I know exactly what color to replace it with.

These little first steps will go a long way to helping me stay organized with my art. My next goal is to gradually reorganize my home studio so that everything in it is functional, useful and easy to find. One of my first goals is to build a new easel that will be so much more functional and practical than the old aluminum one I am using currently.  I hope this behavior on my part motivates you to think about organizing your studio, inventory or reference library. If you have some great tips you use, or some other ideas, please share them. We all get better when we share our passion our techniques, and those little things that help make it all come together.

Painting an Evening Beyond Compare

I joined the Pastel Society of the West Coast (PSWC), a very prestigious and talented group of successful artists last August. Unfortunately, I joined just after the deadline and missed the opportunity to enter a painting in their summer show at our own Placer Arts Gallery on Lincoln Way in uptown Auburn.  I was very impressed with the talent and quality of art that was displayed at the show. Some of the paintings in the show were quite large and very beautiful.  The PSWC show is going to be in Stockton this year at the Haggin Museum.  The call for entries has already gone out and the deadline is February 18^th.

This show will be my first opportunity to enter paintings in the PSWC show and so I made a decision to paint Southwest paintings of various sizes for my entries.  While one can submit three or five paintings in the show depending upon the fee of $40.00 or $55.00, each member will only have two maximum in the show.  Since this is to be a juried show, and an important opportunity I thought three paintings of various sizes would be an excellent way to show my artistic ability.  The jurors will examine the digital images we submit and select two from those submitted and notify members of their selection choices. 

In my previous blog, I displayed the other two paintings I have painted for this show, and the pencil sketch of the third one, a scene of the Mittens in Monument Valley. As I mentioned, I visited Monument Valley in early June 1964 as a young man, with my younger brother and have been enthralled with the beauty and wonderful colors of the buttes in and around the Navajo Tribal Parklands ever since. The particular scene I have chosen to paint has thunderheads rolling across the valley above the Mittens.  That first night we had pitched our camp at the campground and were treated to the rolling and crashing of thunder bouncing off the buttes and canyon walls surrounding us. At times we would be in the middle of a heavy rain shower that managed to soak everything down in a matter of minutes as the storm clouds swept overhead.   The rain made the valley sparkle with bright color because it deepened the hues. The sun was hidden behind the canyons to the west, but its light was illuminating the clouds and beginning to make them turn shades of pink and lavender.  My challenge was going to be to capture the magic of that incredible evening I had experienced.

The Kitty Wallis paper I was using for the painting was the Belgian shade, almost the color of red violet so it is a help to have that shade.  When pastel painters are painting a picture as in other mediums, it is necessary to put in some under darker colors first in some of the major areas of the painting, those will be overlain with medium and lighter colors as the painting progresses. Here is an example of the first stage of adding under colors of darker pastel to my painting. 

When I began this painting, the first priority was to  work on the sky and the clouds so that I could make sure that I could capture the intensity of the thunderstorms and also the beautiful soft tints that the clouds picked up from the setting sun.  One of the very fortunate things for me with this painting is there were no visible shadows since the sun was hidden. The rain had made it so bright and colorful, even though the sun was going down. One could see for miles, and there was no haze to obscure the distant canyons or valleys.  Getting the clouds right was going to take layering of colors, and also some blending.  It took quite a while to get the right feel of the billowing cloud formations, and the various shades. Darker underneath where it was raining, lighter where the sun was highlighting them, and softer where the tints were reflected.  Eventually I accomplished the right feel by adding the rain showers and then it was time to work on the buttes themselves.

The three buttes or Mittens in this painting are north of the old Trading Post established by Harry Goulding and his wife Mike in 1923.  While it is called Monument Valley, it really isn’t a valley at all, it is a vast plain with large buttes and mesas that have been eroded over thousands of years by wind and water. It is a very dry area at the 5400 foot elevation with very few trees and a lot of the famous purple sage. Some of the land is rough, jumbled with rocks from collapsing buttes, but much of it is sandy soil with washes that cut it up by water seeking a lower elevation.   The tough part was to make the buttes look much like they do with all of the layers and weathering, and also to portray the uneven and irregular landscape with all of its colors in a realistic way.  There is not a lot of vegetation in this beautiful arid area because of sandy soil and low amount of rainfall.

I had done one version of the landscape under the Mittens with a purple area to the left because it seemed more shaded by the clouds, but it just did not look natural even though it was a very pretty contrast. I went over the purple with various shades and values of Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber, and a little Quinacridone Magenta  in Rembrandt and Winsor Newton pastels to get the right mix of color. The I spent several more days paying attention to various areas on the buttes and landscape to tweak it until I was satisfied. 

An Evening Beyond Compare

I found that while I am a detail person, a painting this large could drive one crazy with detail, and I realized that I could get away with less, and it would look just fine.  I put my signature on the piece and decided it was time to be done. All that was left was to photographed it and frame it.  As large as this piece is, I will frame it without mats and use a spacer to give it some space from the glass. I am pleased with the results and hope you enjoy my efforts. I believe you will understand my selection of the title now that you understand the background.  

Painting a Series

Over the last year I have painted a lot of paintings and it dawned on me that I was painting things all over the map. I know I have painted some of these paintings just because they were subjects I liked and wanted to challenge myself to paint. I do have a several paintings of the ocean, done at different times, and of mountains, or rivers, but I really didn't have a series of paintings from any one place, or with any one theme.  I had entered three very different pieces in a Masterpiece Medley Show at the Blue Line Gallery. I was very fortunate to have secured a spot as one of ten artists to show their works in the Vista Gallery next month. Perhaps for this show it will be good to show very different kinds of scenes, but perhaps for the next show, I will enter several with the same theme.

Flash Flood!

The Pastel Society of the West Coast is calling for entries for a show in May June of this year at the Haggin Museum in Stockton. I thought for this years show that I would go with entries from one locale, and I chose a series of paintings on the Southwest. I have been enjoying a number of artists paintings in Southwest Magazine and perhaps that is what sparked my desire to do a series on the Southwest. I finished one a couple of months ago, a 12" X 16" pastel of a flash flood in the desert that would be a good entry. It was a scene I witnessed when I was 21 years old and driving across the desert in north eastern Arizona, on my way to Monument Valley.  The skies in the distance were a dark purplish black, and one could see the lightning flash and hear the thunder rumbling even though it was a long way away.  As I was crossing a wash, I saw water coming down in a big wave, so I pulled over to get a picture. I missed the initial wall of water, but did get a shot shortly after that I used as a reference for this painting.

Morning Sun on Monument Valley

Last month I completed a second painting that was a larger format, 18" X 24" I have called "Morning Sun in Monument Valley" that should also be a good entry for the PSWC show. This painting is from reference photos I took when my brother and I were exploring Monument Valley Tribal Park in my brothers old Triumph convertible sports car. We had camped there under the stars, and got to drive far into the interior of the valley on the dirt roads.  Today tourists must take a tour on one of the Tribal touring buses to venture into the park. That takes away the ability to stop whenever one wants to to take photographs. I am fortunate to have over 100 that I took on slide film that still have their bright colors. 

I feel good about these paintings, and thought I would also paint one of the beautiful buttes one can see from the old Trading Post, near the park entrance. These buttes are magnificent, and one feels awed by their size and colors. For this painting I thought I would do my first large format pastel, a 24" X 36" painting on a sheet of Wallis Belgium Mist that I had purchased. I recently tried the Wallis paper, and really like this texture to work on with pastels because it has a lot of tooth.  I drew the scene I wanted to paint on the paper in charcoal so I would have a guide to follow for laying my under painting colors. I used a lot of purple for this one because it will work so well with the reds and browns one sees everywhere.    

I have included the initial sketch so you can see the scene that I wanted to paint. I can tell you right now, it is very daunting to paint a pastel painting this large for the first time, but it is also very exciting. I have to tell you about the scene, and why I wan to paint it. While the memory is from over forty years ago, the moment comes back to me like magic when I look at some of my slides that I took that evening.   The scene I want to capture is at sundown, when the sun has dropped below the canyon rim but is still lighting the clouds in the sky with soft pastel colors of pink and mauve. There are big thunderheads everywhere, and the thunder is rolling and echoing through the valley and bouncing off the canyon walls and the buttes. Periodically there have been torrential rains and so the colors in the valley are so bright and vibrant. The sweet smell of fresh rain and wet earth is in the air. The colors are overwhelmingly bright now in the soft evening air. There are no shadows because the sun is hidden behind the canyon, but its light is shining brightly in the clouds and reflecting down on the land below. One can see for miles, there is no haze only more thunderheads many miles away. The landscape looks like a painters palette of colors all running together. I hope that you can visualize this scene. On my next blog, you will see be able to view the completed painting and learn all about my journey to capture this marvelous homeland of the Navajo Indians.

Gaining Confidence as an Artist

We all seem to have insecurities of one kind or another. Some of them are passed on by our parents anxiety, but most of them are a result of our own inability to throw ourselves into the world with abandon and make our mark. If we were to share how terribly insecure we felt at moments in our lives when we wanted to try something new, and just didn't have the moxie to take that step, some people would be incredulous. That is only because they have a self confidence that some of us lack.  Some folks are paralyzed by insecurity and let it rule their very lives, too afraid to take little steps that would help them grow. Overcoming those anxieties is all about growing up and gaining confidence through our trials and good experiences. We all deal with it in a different way.

I have had a good life and although I started out somewhat timidly, I gained confidence gradually through some successes in employment that gave me responsibilities. The event that changed my confidence tremendously and level of maturity was being inducted into the U. S. Army and going through intensive training to prepare me for combat in Vietnam. The training helped mature me, and let me know how to behave in a combat situation. However; until I was actually faced with that life and death struggle, I had no idea of how I would actually respond. When my platoon was confronted with a major ambush that felled some of our ranks and wounded others, I found myself performing confidently and almost methodically the way I had been trained. Yes, it was a frightening, horrible time, but I lived to fight another day, and each day thereafter I got stronger inside. That is true for every journey if you keep going.

After the Vietnam war I chose law enforcement as a career and successfully went up the ranks through my career, retiring as a lieutenant 25 years later. I had a second career with another State agency that oversees law enforcement training and retired from that also. I resolved to do something different when I retired, and while I did some consulting for awhile, it was not the direction I wanted to pursue really and the economy was not cooperating.

My wife had a brilliant idea, and one I will always be grateful for. She gave me the gift of pastel lessons with a local award winning artist and I realized when I went to classes that I really wanted to get back into art. It had been my first love as a teenager, and I felt on fire with the desire to paint again. Getting over those first jitters was the hard part. Going into a field where one has had no formal training and knows very little about color, or design makes one gulp with in trepidation. Having our own cheering section to boost our confidence is a necessary and a very critical part to assuring a modicum of success.

My second encourager after my wife (She was first) was my pastel teacher and mentor, Reif Erickson.  He is an exceptional painter, a natural teacher and the author of a number of books on pastel painting techniques. He guided me, taught me and I watched him, listened and learned so much from him about various techniques that would make me a better painter. Each week we would assemble in his studio, only four or five students at a time, to watch in awe as he would demonstrate the painting of the day. He would begin by sketching it and then painting the entire landscape scene in about 45 minutes explaining what he was doing and why he was using a particular dark color as an under painting. Once he was satisfied with his painting, he would set his pastels down, stand back and look for a moment and then say, "There, now its your turn." With that he would take a sheaf of photos and pass one out to each student to use for "their" painting. 

Those weekly challenges in his studio helped me gain confidence. While I would get a pretty good rendition done in class, I would always take them home to work on them until they met my personal level of satisfaction for being finished. Cindy was very complimentary as was my daughter Amber who was living with us at the time. Early on it was just personally satisfying to create a pretty landscape. Then the bug bit me deeper and I began going out looking for scenes I wanted to paint, so that I had something that was original and all my own. For a while, I was painting two scenes a week, one in class and one on my time that I would take in to have Reif give me feedback on. As my confidence grew, I got better. I gave a landscape painting to my brother for his birthday of Half Dome, because the two of us had gone to Yosemite for a weekend photo shoot like we used to do when we were young and single.

My son Colin a successful Graphic Designer encouraged me to get a Flickr site on the web and put my paintings on it. He sent me the link and I enrolled in their free program and began uploading my paintings to an artists pastel site. The feedback from other artists on my paintings helped my confidence tremendously. Eventually I chatted with some of those that became friends, just like the Face Book Network allows people all over the world to connect.  It was another source of knowledge, learning and most importantly, peer support. It has also given me the opportunity to encourage other artists to keep creating beautiful things for others to enjoy.

I began getting different kinds of paper to experiment with different surfaces, and also added to my pastel collection. I had started with the list Reif had wanted us each to have in class, but was now expanding my color spectrum so I had more greens, blue and browns to use in my landscapes. I tackled more difficult subjects to push myself.  A good friend who liked my painting style came to me and asked me if he could commission me to paint four paintings of places that he and his wife loved.  I jumped at the chance and threw myself into the challenge, determined that they would get paintings that would indeed remind them of their favorite places. I found that painting scenes that others liked was very difficult. The scenes were not ones I would necessarily have chosen to paint, but since I wanted to make sure they were pleased, it pushed me further and I gained more confidence as I finished each one.

By this time, I was buying frames and cutting my own mats with a professional C&H mat cutter I had purchased from a shop that was down sizing their framing section. Once I had matted and framed all four of these paintings in two foot square custom frames, they were all ready to hang. I went to my friends home, and we carefully measured and hung the grouping on a wall of their newly decorated living room and they looked wonderful. My clients were delighted, and I was beaming with satisfaction that I had accomplished a major hurdle in my newest career as a fledgling artist. I joined our local Placer Arts Council and also the Blue Line Gallery in Roseville to meet other artists, and to open other art opportunities.

As my technique and knowledge increased, so did my desire to paint bigger and better paintings. I finally began entering national contests with some of my paintings that I felt confident about. While I have not won any, it has not dissuaded me from continuing to try. I have been reading many books by different successful pastel artists, Richard McKinley, Barbara Secor, Maggie Price, Margot Schulzke and others including my mentor Reif Erickson's, to learn more of other techniques and wisdom. I also began some self promotion attempts with my art with some local places taking my portfolio around to show merchants. I was successful in having a meeting with a local restaurant owner and will have an opportunity to hang some of my paintings in her business establishment next month. I was also contacted by a local doctor who asked me if I would be interested in hanging some of my paintings in her remodeled offices beginning in March. I entered a juried show at the Roseville's Blue Line Gallery where I am a member, and received a huge break. I was notified I was one of ten finalists invited to show their paintings on a Masterpiece Medley Show at the Vista Gallery in February.

This has been over a year's journey and the ride is wonderful. It has filled me with a desire to succeed in a completely different field.  It has also given me a wonderful sense of fulfillment and satisfaction at this time in my life. The best part is that it has fueled my creative side and given me new confidence as well as new goals to work toward. Whatever your journey is, it is up to you to strive, and struggle to get there. Reach for that goal, work for that confidence and satisfaction that comes from the journey. Nothing is impossible if you keep going and want it badly enough.