Glimpse of Des Moines River in Late Fall

12"x16" soft pastel on canson paper

It's been awhile since I've worked on landscapes this size. This past year all my landscapes have been under 8"x10". Nice change for me to experiement with my pastels. I took this picture a few weeks ago while driving east on J40 hwy. This hwy isn't far from where we live in Southern Iowa. This view is as you're going into Pittsburg Iowa and you get a glimpse of the Des Moines River. The colors were just about done for this fall when I took this shot. Made it a challenge to create in pastel the same feeling I had when driving.

Sunset

18"x12" soft pastel on canson paper

I'm still having trouble photographing my work. I have made adjustments, and applied the information given online to create better images with my digital.......I still have trouble with the blues being more vibrant then what the original is.

In this painting, there is more going on in the lower dark area then what the camera has picked up. It's ever so slight, but there are shadows among the shadows to help give a feeling of depth to the water tower.

This piece was started at the John Preston Pastel Workshop I attended Sat., Oct. 24th, 2009. I had gotten away from using Canson paper for my pastel work. This reintroduced me to an old friend and something I really didn't do before......the use of the side of my hand to blend with. Yes, something I don't think I would do when using sanded pastel paper.

Last Peppers from the Garden

Click on image to enlarge

9"x12" soft pastel on sanded paper

These were some of the last peppers from our garden. Last month flew and this one (October) seems to be going by just as fast. With harvest, preparing garden for next year, painting, shows and commissions.......life is in high gear at the moment. No complaints here! With all that needs to be done before cold weather sets in here in Iowa, I'm almost feeling like I need a clone. This fall reinforces the fact I need to be very organized to accomplish everything I set out to do. I can hear my friends and family saying "Good luck with that!"