Fluff

Fluff, 8x17 Soft Pastel

In my three years of a "serious" art career, I have drawn my share of sheep. Sheep in fields, sheep by rocks, sheep by walls, sheep by water, sheep on a path. Sometimes you just have to switch it up. These sheep are FLUFFY. I love how the grass and the sheep are the same kind of "puff." Another variance in this piece from my other sheep landscapes, is that the grass has just about every color from the rainbow...lots of greens and golds and rusts as usual, but with strikes of purple and blue and red throughout the tufts. It was a nice challenge to get such a different texture in the grass, and a nice moment to pop in the cotton ball sheep as the finishing touch!

Train Whistle

Train Whistle, 14x18 Soft Pastel

I snapped a quick photo out the window of the car as my family and I were traveling through rural Alabama toward New Orleans. It wasn't really a great shot; pretty boring as a photo. But through the vibrant softness of pastels, I could enhance the moment to show beauty in an average sight...train cars moving steadily beside the interstate, through the thick green trees of my home state, under a sky that evokes wonder and a bit of mystery. Swirling clouds, light and dark; a mixture of moods.

My home is situated near enough to hear train whistles in quiet moments. The sound permeates those moments when I am drifting off to sleep or reading quietly in my room. I hear it as I walk to my car on early winter mornings, its sound crisp and steady. The almost mournful tone speaks to me in almost-understood ways; it lingers and causes me to pause, to catch my breath and soak in the moment in which I find myself. I have heard it in some of my darkest moments...it draws out my sadness as a breath draws air, traveling languidly through the night. I hear it on hopeful mornings and I pause to see the beauty in my life, and the places I am going. It reminds me of journeys taken and journeys that lie ahead. It is a treasured sound I can recall from childhood; a sound that touches my soul.