Vegetable Still Life

Drew the vegetables that I brought home from the farm stand yesterday. They went out into the field and picked a fresh bunch of aromatic basil for me. Going to the store this morning to pick up some pignolia nuts so that I can make pesto.

Tulips

It's disappointing, of course, to ruin your background, but it is fun to cut out the image and see what it looks like on white. I'm always happy to see the tulips show up in the flower section of my grocery store in February. I guess that now I'll just have to buy a fresh bunch and start again!

September Plein Air

Did this around nine this morning in Meadowbreeze Park, Washington, NJ, near the baseball fields. There is some shade along a wooded pathway that gives me some privacy. I don't deal well with visitors dropping by to see how it's going!

Plein Air in the Park

This is last week in Meadow Breeze Park, Washington Twp, NJ from the baseball field parking lot. Going over to the location this morning to add a bit more detail and soften the colors. Put it in the mat to photograph and will compare it to the edited version.

Plein Air on Mountain View Road

This is right up the road from where I live. It's a spectacular view. I perched on a milk crate with a drawing board in my lap and worked on this early last week in the late afternoon. My order of Mount Vision pastels had arrived and I was trying them out for the first time. They're creamy, but not quite as luxurious as Sennelier pastels.

Plein Air, Mansfield New Jersey

I did this small, pastel last week in a field right off Rt. 57 in Mansfield. The colors look a bit more intense on my screen than the original piece. I put it in the linen mat and thought that it complimented the colors well. I'm going out this afternoon. It's hot, but the humidity is gone.

A Spot of Tea

Here are two more images from my calendar. They are very small still lifes done in pastel. The tea cup is one that belonged to my grandmother.

Cupcake

I love the little paper cups that you pour cupcake batter into, the delicate pastel colors of icing and the shape of the little treat that doesn't even need a plate. They remind me of afternoon tea parties.

2013 Circular Calendar

The Labor Day weekend makes me thoughtful and somewhat sad about the passing of the summer season. I do enjoy the variety of weather that we have here in the Northeast, but summer is really my favorite. Monday will be the last day for taking a swim at the lake that is near my house and savoring that luxurious feel of hot sand beneath my feet as I walk down to the water. The seasons may be divided into "identical" quarters in the calendar, but this one is always the most fleeting for me. Available here.