Downy Woodpecker

This morning we finished the Downy Woodpecker. In the right kind of frame, he'll be pretty cute.

New Project

Today I started working with a pastel teacher. I am absolutely thrilled! I was lucky enough to find someone who specializes in animals and works in a realistic style that is a good match for what I am doing and want to do better. We started working on a tiger today based on a photo that my husband took at a zoo. We accomplished a lot in 3 hours. I can't wait to go back again next month.

Bird House for Bike Trail Benefit

I finally finished my bird house for the Bike Trail Benefit Auction. The birdhouses are given to artists to paint and then they are auctioned off during May Mart, Franklin's garden mart held the first weekend in May in Fountain Park. I really struggled to decide how to paint it this year. I finally found a design on the Plaid website that provided my inspiration. I still need to put varnish on it, but it is done and I can meet the end-of-March deadline. This one is much simpler than the one I did last year, but it is sort of cheerful. I hope it does well in the auction.

What's on my easel?

My student and I are working on a Downy Woodpecker in pastel. This is about 7x9 on Colorfix sanded paper. The paper is a sort of greyed lavender color so it helps provide a good base for the sort of wintry looking piece. Last week we just laid in a background and worked on the wood siding. Today we started on the little bird. He is coming along nicely, but still needs a lot of work. The background was scrubbed in and then blended using a soft brush and denatured alcohol. Once the bird is finished, the background will need some additional attention.

More Splashing in Paint

Once again today I played in paint. I had to paint a large raffle item for the retreat. I chose to paint a pair of nesting boxes. The large box is a design by Connie Parkinson. For the smaller box that sits inside, I used a part of the original design. The result is that you see the river and the bridge on the large box and then when you open the box, you are taken down to the river's edge. It turned out pretty well.

Playing in Paint

Today I played in paint for the first time in quite a while. I had a wooden lid for a glass bowl that I had to paint for the Town and Country Decorative Painters retreat in April. This year's theme is Candyland and the bowls are the centerpieces for the banquet on Sunday. For my lid, I used a design by Connie Parkinson. I am very pleased with the piece. I really hate to give it away. Tomorrow I will varnish and then it will be ready to deliver to the banquet chair.

More from the beach

Here is another of the little pieces that I worked on in my free time in Ocean City last week. It is pastel on Mi-Teintes paper, about 6x8.