ILE VERTI

I was looking through old photographs for subject matter for some new art, and found some pictures from a trip we took to Quebec a few years ago. Part of our visit was spent on Ile Verti (Green Island) on the Saint Lawrence Seaway. It is an island that few people know about but it has great history and beautiful views. We were there late in the year and almost had the whole island to ourselves. Ihad already done a couple of acyrlic paintings after our return home, but now I would like to try a pastel or two.

ALMOST FINISHED

I worked (not really the correct word) on my new pastel a bit more yesterday. Now down to adding a little more detail, an area that I can easily screw up!

NEW PASTEL

I started another pastel yesterday. I'm going a bit bigger this time, so should be interesting.

A LITTLE MORE ANNE

These watercolors and pastels are some of my favorite things from Anne's art. The two watercolors are not yet on her web site but are really great. It's her pieces like these that keep me trying to do a watercolor every once in a while.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE

Over forty years ago there was a girl in my life that I was engaged to be married to. As often happens when people are young, our lives took different paths and we drifted apart. At first I thought about her a lot, and then time dampened the memory. After thirty some years of absolutely no contact, we reconnected about ten years ago, and have remained close ever since. One of the things that I have learned about her in our new relationship is that she loves art. She also did when I first knew her but, for some reason, I wasn't aware of it. Anne lives with her husband on beautiful Lopez Island in the Pacific Northwest where she has her own studio which was part of a studio tour last Labor Day weekend. It seems funny to me that when we were younger, I thought I was the art person with my photography and painting, never paying attention to the fact that she is pretty damn good herself. She works in pastels and also paints beautiful watercolors just to annoy me, I'm sure.

http://www.annewhirledgekarp.com/

STARTING TO FINISH SOME THINGS

I am slowly trying to complete some pieces that have been sitting for a while. This is a linocut that I started about two months ago.

TORTURED PAPER

I forgot (probably on purpose) to post the watercolor when I finished it. Nothing seems to change in my watercolor skills...

DRAW, DRAW FAST AS YOU CAN

Summer seems to be leaving quickly from my little community of Big Bear Lake. Cold mornings and chilly evenings. For me, that means getting everything ready for winter. Our boats are now off of the lake and gardening things put away. With all of this activity, I have not found much time to get down to my studio. I did get to do a practice session I read about, that has you just start putting down colors at a quick pace and hope that it looks like something somewhere along the way. Really fun with very little pressure.

BACK TO WHAT I KNOW

The last couple of pastel pieces I have done were floral subjects. They were fun to do and , obviously, pastel colors and flowers go together. The part that doesn't fit quite as well is me! I'm just not much of floral kind of person! I decided to go back to a subject that I'm a little more comfortable with...music. I'm still really enjoying doing things with pastels because they happen so quickly. Haven't stopped the printmaking though. I have linocut and woodblock in process.

PHOTOGRAPHY, BLUES AND ART

I have found myself spending more and more of my time around music and art over the past few years. I guess it's never too late to do the things you enjoy and not just the things you're expected to do! One of the people who follow this blog sent me a link to a great site that shows some wonderful examples in these areas. Brandy Kayzakian Rowe is a photographer and painter who grew up and lived in the south (Memphis). Her photographs of the Delta and it's blues music are simply fantastic. She has recently moved to the Pacific Northwest and continues her work in it's rich jazz scene.

http://www.brandykayzakianrowe.com/

THE YIN AND YANG

I believe that the Yin and Yang are supposed to be opposites that interact with each other at times. Mine seem to have no connection to one another. I'm working on another attempt at a watercolor, and just finished another pastel drawing. As usual, the pastel has turned out the way I planned (except for the leaves) and the watercolor, well.... Actually, the watercolor may turn out better than most if I just try to keep it loose.

NEW LINOCUT

I've put the pastels down for a while (though I really enjoy the speed they allow) and started a new linocut. Reduction technique again with three cuts completed so far.

MIKE LYON REVISITED

One of my favorite websites to visit belongs to Mike Lyons. It is continually updated with really good articles on printmaking (woodblock), drawing, painting and silk screening. Also information on equipment and materials.

http://mlyon.com/

Pen and Ink