Thursday, January 31, 2008

January 31, 2008 Three Trees in the Fog

8x10, pastel on wallis, $100. plus tax
I do not perform well under pressure. This may need to be my last blog entry until the show opens next Friday. I still have so much to do!
I did this painting on wallis paper that I coated first with red acrylic. I tried to play a light touch of green pastel off the red to get a beautiful gray.
See you on Saturday February 9th!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

January 30, 2008 Flowers near Blue Hill

12x12, pastel on paper, $100.plus tax
OK, so I have the February blues a little early. All I want to paint is warm summer scenes, so I am reverting to my stash of images. I tried to keep to a pre-selected palette.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

January 29, 2008 October's Beginning Changes

approximately 8x10, pastel on wallis
Prime Hook refuge is a favorite place of mine. This one was done from a photo I took in early autumn.
Most of my energy, at the moment, is directed towards my show. Saturday is the day to hang it. The opening is on the following Friday. Come if you can, Waverly Street Gallery, Bethesda, Maryland. More information will be available on my new website. That should be up soon. Till then google the gallery. Thanks!

Monday, January 28, 2008

January 28, 2008 Marsh near Kent Island

4x4 watercolor on wallis, $50.
Today has been hard. I began painting early since I have so much "show stuff" to do, but at this point I am frustrated. I have scraped two and so this is a small watercolor from yesterday's "en plein car" work near Kent Island.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

January 27, 2008 "En Plein Car" Field Dipped in Orange

8x8, pastel on wallis, $100. plus shipping and tax
Today I drove out to Easton. It was a beautiful, sunny day. The ice is almost melted off the ponds. I took many photos; then saw this field. The field was full of Canadian geese who were nibbling at the ground. They flew off as soon as I parked my car. The light was melon colored. It was late afternoon. The colors in the actual painting are much less gray. For some reason blogger grays this one.?.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

January 26, 2008 play, Maine Z

8x8 pastel on board, $100.
Back to playing with color. I took that black and white photo I have of the Maine Z and tried to create a feeling with color. Yes, I have had more successful days. But remember the motto: PEE, or play, experiment and enthusiasm.

Friday, January 25, 2008

January 25, 2008 Quiet Moment (Chincoteague)

7x8 pastel on wallis $100 plus tax and ship
This was done as a study for a bigger painting. I love and struggle with paintings that have "less." As with all paintings they must work as an abstract first, but with "less" it seems the pressure is more. I used a photo that I took this summer. It had a beautiful heron hunting for its breakfast in the foreground. She is gone, for now. Let's see if she appears in the bigger version. This time she was only a distraction.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

January 24, 2008 Sunrise Glow over Canaan

about 15x22 pastel on board
When driving down route 32 in Canaan I saw this. "Quick honey, grab the camera and take a photo for me!" I did a memory study first (Monday) and I have been working on this one all week. Once again I tried to keep to a split complementary palette/ pre- selected. The board I used seemed to have too much marble dust, therefore the crevasses were very deep. I needed to use fixative in many layers to get my desired effect. (Something I normally refuse to use at all..in fact I had to hunt for it in my studio.)
Canaan Valley is a beautiful place.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

January 23, 2008 Kinzilla, Cat of the Universe

5x5, pastel on wallis
Kins, my wonderful black cat, is my muse. She works with me in the studio each day. She is smart, loving and full of spirit. She is also the absolute hardest model. Technically she is a black cat; but as you can see when she is in sunlight she is bathed in colors. Here she is taking a rest from her painting duties. I especially love her tiny white (?) spot on her chin. So much for not being a cat painter!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

January 22, 2008 Mini study


Wow! It feels like a long time since I have been on my blog. My whole family went away for the long MLK weekend to celebrate Joel's (my brother-in-law) big 5-0 birthday. We went skiing in West Virginia and while I had hoped to paint, at least a little, the temperature was so cold (-7 in the valley and -35 on the mountain top) that even the inside windows in my car would frost up in no time. Wow! Here is a mini I did as a memory challenge. Sunrise. Today I began a big one from this. I will post it tomorrow as it develops.

Friday, January 18, 2008

January 18, 2008 Snowy Prayer

8x8, pastel on board, $100. plus tax and ship
Yesterday's beautiful big snow flakes made for great picture taking. Even better still, the photos all appear in gray values. That means fun for me as I strive to paint the beautiful soft feeling that the snow created. I wanted it to seem like it was snowing without placing flakes. I used a pre-selected very limited palette on top of a watercolor under painting. I like this one.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

January 17, 2008 Glutton for Punishment

6x10, pastel on wallis, $100.00 plus tax and ship
It's funny my Mom would have smiled and said to me, "Loriann, you're a glutton for punishment." And I guess she would be right. This time I painted the ground with a magenta watercolor, which differs from yesterday's red/orange oil painted ground. Better or worse??? I don't know. I know I am learning something, I am just not sure what yet. :-)

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

January 16, 2008 Great Falls (a piece)

8x10, pastel on board, $100.00 plus tax and ship

My study in split complementary color palettes has brought up the idea of simultaneous contrast. So that was my focus ( rather than a solid split complementary). Simultaneous contrast (in brief) means that no color is in isolation and the way one color appears depends completely upon which color it touches.. It really is fascinating. I think of it as being about relationships. Think Josef Albers and the work he did with color. So with this one a green might be placed next to a red for vibration or a yellow near a purple. It was hard as can be. I labored it until no more pastel could fit on the board. Still it is not a complete success... except I learned!!!!

January 15, 2008 Prime Hook Refuge Winter

8x11, pastel on wallis, $100. plus ship and tax
I began this one last night. This split complementary color scheme is obsessing me. This time I under painted in orange. I pulled in one forbidden color at the end when I couldn't seem to make it work. If you click on it to enlarge you will see the awesome colors in the water. I am staring to want to paint another huge one. But I wonder if I should revert back to oils since pastels are so challenging to frame (due to the need for glass.) I wonder if I could have as much fun with oil alone.

Monday, January 14, 2008

January 14, 2008 Winter Thaw 2

8x11, pastel on board, $100. plus tax and ship
Last night I dreamed about split complementary color palettes and the river. I woke up knowing what to paint. I began by rubbing the board (already covered with marble dust and binder) with an orangey red (cad red) under painting in oil. After a quick dry (with a blow drier) I added the complementary colors with pastels. Using the Quiller color wheel I have green blue as the direct opposite and viridian green and Windsor blue as its side kicks. It is extremely difficult for me to stay within a restricted palette. My urge is always there to go grab a different, forbidden color. I resisted all urges, this time.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

January 13, 2008 Two Walkers Resting by the River

8x8, pastel on wallis, $100. plus tax and ship
Today my husband Paul and I went for a run by the river. The sun was out and people were walking, taking in the day before the rains come. I just love these winter colors and the way the river sky vibrates with aliveness. (Is that a word?) My focus for the next three weeks is a more controlled palette. Less is more. Today I pre-selected a split complementary orange to blue with the blues side kicks, blue violet and blue green. I like the feel of light.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

January 12, After the Storm

6x12, pastel on board
This is a plein air work I did this summer. It has been hanging around my studio and suddenly I finally knew how to finish it.

Friday, January 11, 2008

January 11, 2008 Potomac River, Early Morning

10x10 pastel on board, buy it at the show
Today was crazy! Not only did I have work, but I spent the remainder of time preparing for the show (logistics, framing.) Thank goodness for the "illegal spares." You know those very productive days when I do more than one and save it for crazy days. This is only the 2nd "illegal spare." I actually did arrive home at 8:00, but after sitting down to paint I realized I am useless and that I should just go to bed!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

January 10, 2008 California Dreaming

8x8 pastel on board, $100 plus tax and ship
It's late and I have worked this one to death. I am very busy preparing everything for my show so I feel a little crazy. I created this from a B&W photo. I want to go back to California in the spring time to paint. I wish......

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

January 9, 2008 Path to the Field, Violet Light

7x7, pastel on board, $100. plus tax and ship
I LOVE the light at this time of year. This is another memory exercise. The sun had just set and I looked out to the field and this is what I saw. By the time I ran back to get my camera, it was too late. Good excuse to play the memory game. The violet light came after the big light show. Cool, eh?

Monday, January 7, 2008

January 8, 2008 Winter Thaw on the River

6x6, pastel on board, $100. plus tax and ship
January thaw is one of the best times of the year. The light is low and glowing and the air is warm. The landscape is still winter. This was today..... glorious.

January 7, 2008 Children Painting by the Stream (LowellSchool)


7.5x 9 pastel on board, $100. plus tax and shipping
Inspiration: outdoor light, contrast, figures in space. This beautiful warm morning reminded me of another beautiful warm day at school. Now it's off to the river!

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Jaunary 6, 2008 Round Tree in a Square

8x8,pastel on board, $100.plus tax and ship
Decide to play with round on square today. Tried to keep good control on my "runaway" palette. Worked on it this morning, disgusted. Then I went for a walk and during that walk my brain solved the dilemma. Now I like the color and light.
News: I received my new camera in the mail yesterday. (Remember my old one finally gave out and I had been borrowing a camera?) This one is a Canon S3IS and I can't say enough good things about it.. The barrel distortion insignificant and it has a great macro and zoom. I took it out to the river today and zoomed into everything. Cool.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

January 5, 2007 Self Portrait in Sweet Peas

9x7, pastel, I think it may go to the show
This week in school we worked on self portraits. And of course it was my young friend Hugh, who on his regular lunch visits said, "Loriann when are you going to do a self- portrait? This weekend?" So first thing this morning I got out a photo of me, painting in the San Juan Islands (Washington state.) I have been meaning to use this as a reference for two years... but other ideas always came first. I began will an under painting of intense purple and yellow watercolors. I paid close attention to big shapes of light and dark and not getting seduced by the idea of a figure in space. Simply paint the color notations and make sure to bunch them. I like the reflected light pieces. Can you feel the warm sun? Thanks for the photo Barbara!

Friday, January 4, 2008

January 4, 2008 Crescent Moon over Snow

7 1/12 x 10 pastel on board, $100.
The crescent moon was out again today. I was thinking about the trees. Don't you love those bare skeletons and their beautiful colors?

Thursday, January 3, 2008

January 3, 2008 Crescent Moon

I told myself that I needed to focus ONLY on big paintings since I have 1 1/2 more weeks till everything needs to go to the framer. So this morning on my freezing cold, daybreak walk I saw this. There goes my idea of no small paintings for now.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

January 2, 2008 Theme in Gold and Purple

17x22 pastel on board, Will be in the gallery, buy it there!

Yesterday I went to visit the Whistler landscapes at the Freer Gallery. His landscapes are all so subtle and abstract. I love the way he names his work by colors and music references. So thinking of him and Carl Sandburg's poem, Theme in Yellow, the title was born.
Theme in Yellow by Carl Sandburg
I SPOT the hills
With yellow balls in autumn.
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters (segment)

I like this one. The light is radiant.

January 1, 2008 Christmas Full Moon

9.5x11.5, pastel on board, $100. plus tax/shipping

This is one is for my niece, Agne (or Agneezille as we say.)
When we were in California she wanted me to paint palm trees. I must admit I didn't find them too interesting at first, until I began to see the negative shapes they formed. Well, on Christmas morning, daybreak was inspiring. A huge full moon was setting as the sun was rising. What more can you ask for? I did a quick sketch as a color reference and finally (in my studio) created a painting from it.
My new year resolution is to post my paintings, each day, with mention of size, medium and price. Next (sometime in January), I will subscribe to Paypal so that they can be easily purchased . Some may not be for sale because they are slated to go in my February show. You can buy them at the gallery instead.
It has been a wonderful year and I am looking forward to more painting in 2008. Happy New Year and thanks to everyone for your interest and support in my work in 2007! A special thank you to Paul(my loving husband), Toni ( my sister), Leah(my best friend), Mary Taylor/ Michael Moncavage (friend/patrons), Melissa and Dan Moncavage and my wonderful friends and family, all who have supported me in many ways to make my dream come true! Kisses and hugs to all of you!
All the best,
Loriann