PASTEL ENVY

Reading one of my older art books, I happened upon some pastel paintings by an artist named Dino Paravano. He paints all kinds of subjects in oil, acrylic and pastels. His wildlife work done in pastels is what especially caught my attention. Truly fantastic. He lives in Arizona presently, but grew up in Africa which shows in his work. Time well spent on his website.

http://www.paravanodino.com/

One of my pastels below. Not quite the same!!

GREAT INSTRUCTIONAL SITE

I have purchased a few instructional DVDs over the years and have found them to be very helpful. Seems like it's impossible not to pick up helpful techniques and tips watching other people work. Now I use this site that makes DVDs available to watch by renting them for a period of time and watching them on the computer. Very good artist instruction in watercolor, acrylic, mixed media, oils and other art forms. Well worth a visit.

http://www.artworkshops.tv/

COPPER ETCHING

Spring cleaning time for my studio. I have stacks of art, both finished and unfinished. A quick inventory of all of the half completed paintings, plus lino and wood blocks, confirms that I need to work on staying more focused this year. I found this etching that I did from a beautiful photograph taken by my friend who lives on Lopez Island (how great is that?). She has so many great pictures of Angkor Wat in Cambodia that it was hard to pick just one as a subject.

Angkor Wat is temple complex built for King Suryavarman II in the 12th century. It has become the symbol of Cambodia and appears on its national flag.

On a more humorous note. I found this oil painting on Armand Bartos Fine Art. I think it's called 'Bird Thinking About Clouds'.