"FIRE TREE, WATER DAY"
THANK YOU to juror Stan Sperlak for accepting this original pastel painting into the 2014 APS Juried National Exhibition, at the Bascom Center for the Visual Arts in Highlands, NC, from October 4, 2014 through January 4, 2015. Bunzl Gallery.

"The Bascom is honored to host the 2014 APS Juried National Exhibition. It is a biennial events organized by the Appalachian Pastel Society to provide competition opportunities for fine pastelists around the country. The society was formed in 2006 to promote an understanding and appreciation of pastel painting throughout the Appalachian Region. This exhibition brings some of the finest examples of contemporary pastel art to our region. Stan Sperlak is the 2014 juror. Sperlak was trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and continued his development with Patrick Arnold, Pennsylvania Academy, and Patricia Vanaman Witt, Barn Studio of Art. He is a signature member of the Pastel Society of America, the Maryland Pastel Society, the Pastel Society of Colorado, the Mid Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association and The Cape May County Art League. "

I've been working on converting some of my step-by-step pastel demos into short videos.

Here's one, about 45 seconds long. It's made from stills taken with my iPhone, so it's a bit choppy., and the colors are all over the place.

This is the revised version, with captions.

BEST COMMISSION EVER!

This adorable baby, (who belongs to friends of my daughter), has to wear a little plastic helmet 23 hours a day to reshape his head. They brought it to me for a custom paint job. Lots of fun, and very very cute! He's not quite 6 months old. Apparently there are lots of babies wearing these little helmets.

Taken with the iPhone 4 of a large roll of copper being used to replace a roof. It was the blue hour in the evening, and the roll was picking up some light from the door. This is a fairly straight forward photo, but it has become quite large.
From the "Copper Dreams' series.

Starting as a photo
of wet pebbles at the base of a fountain, this one has been through several iterations to get to this point.

This began as a demo in my Exploring Pastels class. The subject was painting rocks in various forms.

I'M PAINTING ON AIR! (In air?)

I got am iPad Air for Christmas from Andy, which is very cool to start with. Then I got a case that has an elastic band to put your hand through, making it easy to hold up for a long time. Some of my "Painting with Pixels" students had brush styluses, (styli?) so I got one, and it's even more sensitive than a regular one, and much better to use for painting. Feels very natural. You can brace it against your side like a palette, and it's so light it feels like a little sketchbook.

I got a red case so I could find it quickly and easily in my generally cluttered studio, but it sure looks like an Etch-a-Sketch!

"Roadside Sentinels"


Accepted to the Chicago International Pastel Competition.
Approx. 16" X 12"
Based on a photograph taken on Skyline Drive one foggy day.

AAAAAaaand finally, the finished product!

A thing of beauty, and at least one small part of my life is organized. Can I count this as a resolution fulfilled?

PAINTING with PIXELS
Workshop

I will be teaching a two-day workshop January 4th and 5th, at The Art League School, in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

It will be covering some excellent apps for painting and drawing. Among others, I'll cover ArtRage, SketchBook Pro, ArtStudio, PhotoShop Touch, and Procreate for the big multiple medium programs, and specialists for ink (Zen Brush), graphite/charcoal (Asketch) , and watercolor (Auryn Ink).

From the catalog:

"This workshop introduces students to tablet and smart phone apps for fine artists. Discover helpful apps to improve traditional drawing and painting experiences, including useful tricks to help composition and visualization. Participants also learn apps that enable drawing or painting directly in various simulated media, such as charcoal, ink on paper, watercolor, pastels, or oils. Other non-traditional media and special effects apps are also covered. Participants must bring their own Apple iPad, iPhone,  or Android tablet."  

 Contact me with Questions, and check out the
APPS for ARTISTS heading.

Come see what you can do with this new medium!

"Early Spring, Early Morning"
Watercolor

This little watercolor painting was accepted into the "Small Works" juried show at the Art League Gallery.

About an hour's drive west there's a place where the Appalachian Trail crosses Rt. 7, near the town of Bluemont. It descends down the side of one mountain, crosses the highway, and climbs back up the next mountain on it's way to Harper's Ferry. There's an old lodge nearby that's a trail center called Bear's Den Lodge. Sometimes I go there for a bit of Nature time. I was on the trail very early one morning, it was still a bit foggy.

The painting is not very big, only a bit larger than 4" X 6".  It was painted with a teeny tiny little set of watercolors, and a brush that stores water in it's handle, (self-watering?).