Escape Day Spa

Artists are always looking for new ways to share their art, and to merge the message of their art with the right location. Recently, I have taken some of my art to Escape Day Spa, a peaceful new spa located in a quiet house-turned-buisiness just off the main street in Crestline Village, Mountain Brook, Alabama. I like to convey a sense of peace and stillness in many of my pieces, so such a relaxing location seems a perfect fit. Below are a few of the paintings currently displayed (and for sale!) at the spa.

Waterlilies, 4x4 and 5x7 Soft Pastels

Joy, 8x10 Soft Pastel

Ocean Cliffs, 14x18 Soft Pastel

The Empty Tub, 18x24 Soft Pastel

Thistle

About a week ago, while running errands with my family, on a persistent whim I decided I wanted one of the several thistles scattered along the shoulder of the road. As with most "whims," there was not much reason for it...I just saw a tall, spiky, blooming thistle and became briefly obsessed with pulling one out of the ground. Partly driven by nostalgia, remembering a trip from my youth when my parents pulled over and showed my sister and I a thistle, partly driven by an "educational opportunity" for my own children (and humor at hearing my daughter say "thithle" with her slight lisp), and partly driven by an artistic impetus, I cajoled my husband into making two loops on a busy road so I could pop out of the car and pull up my coveted thistle.

It was one of my finer moments: dressed in nice clothes, climbing out of a little mini van, carrying a brightly striped child's pullover (for spike-protection), dashing down a weed covered hill, watched by a whole intersection of onlookers merging off and onto the interstate, I quickly yanked up a thistle before scurrying back to the car with my strange prize. I'm sure I looked totally normal...

When I got close to my chosen thistle, which was much larger than I expected, I had a moment of panic that after all this trouble, in front of all these anonymous commuters, I wouldn't be able to pull it up, and there I would be tugging in vain before retreating to the car in shameful surrender. To my relief, it came up with a quick snap.

My thistle has been blooming steadily all week in it's little jar of water and giving me lots of opportunity to draw it, observe it, and reflect upon why I am fascinated by this odd plant.

At once both soft and jagged, with downy coverings and serrated thorns; both beautiful and dangerous, with soft red tufts of flower tempting the touch, while fingers must weave cautiously through the plentiful thorns. Strikingly harsh with it's stiff, sharp leaves, and artistically intriguing with it's curving, striated stems and colorful urns of flower. An unlikely place to find beauty, grace found among thorns.

Here are my impressions/studies of the thistle; I plan on trying it again soon with some different techniques.

3 Studies of a Thistle, 5x7 soft pastel on card coated with pastelground

Spot the difference! A lesson in pastel corrections

Many times, especially at art shows, I am asked about the fragility of pastels. True, if you wipe your hand across an unframed picture, you will smear it. True, if it rains on a picture, it will mess it up. BUT...you can fix it! There have been several big "accidents" in my 3 years of pastel-painting:

1) when spraying a fixative on a 4x4 portrait with a can of spray that was clearly running out, I gave it a test and decided to go for it and ignore the omen of splatters. I gave it a quick spray...um, make that a big splatter. After chunking the can across the yard and kicking a newspaper (to my neighbors' amusement, I am sure), I took my darkened and spotty picture inside and touched it right up with some light layers of flesh tones and any needed details. Frustrating, yes; big deal to correct, not so much.

2) After delivering a finished pastel to a client, the piece fell victim to a big drip of rain water off of her porch. She brought it by and it was quite a drip-- a big, dark circle right in the center of the subject. I took it in the art room while she waited, and in a matter of minutes it was repaired. I just covered the dried spot right up with the same color blue.

3) One of my "precious" (note sarcasm here) cats decided it would be a fabulous idea to jump on my art table, walk on a very large pastel painting, put black footprints in the sky, scratch down the middle as the picture slid, and slide right down off the side. Awesome. I found the culprit by inspecting dirty, furry feet. In this case, I blew off the excess dust outside, then went to work layering the appropriate color pastel to cover up the paw-prints and smears. Good as new (but maybe not my mood)!

I've gotten a bit more careful, especially when spraying. I steer clear of rainy days and keep my pastels inside or covered; I make sure to seal them up to keep fingers (and cats) off of them.

Recently, I have used this comfortable knowledge of pastel's ability to cover mistakes to make some alterations to a commissioned piece. Before I began the Spanish Steps (30x30 pastel), the decision over whether or not to include flowers on the steps was not firm. I told my clients that I could add them later if they wanted, after they saw the finished piece. We did decide to add some red flowers, and while doing so I made a few other corrections. Below is the piece with alterations, and the piece before the additions. Pastel covers well, and is not as fragile as you may think! How many differences can you spot?

Bees!

In preparation for the Mountain Brook Art Association's Spring Show at the Crestline Elementary field in Mountain Brook, I have been drawing some little bees. I usually don't photograph my art after framing, but the bees, which are about 3x3 inches, look so cute in their frames! The bees are a fun subject, especially when drawn while enjoying a beautiful Spring day!

Waterlilies

In a departure from my usual livestock and landscapes, I spent an especially artistically-energetic evening drawing a series of waterlilies, obviously inspired by Monet and my affinity for Impressionism. The pieces range in size from 4x4 to 8x10, and these are two examples.

To me the simple floating flowers seem almost meditative...tranquil, pleasant and serene. Like a lingering hug or a lazy overcast morning, an invitation to pause and breathe slowly and deeply. A quiet moment of stillness when all the world seems good, safe, happy and wrapped in peace, soothing worries and calming the spirit. I enjoyed drawing the waterlilies so much, I had to force myself to stop before I had a dozen!

Au Naturel

Au Naturel, 5x7 Pastel on Board

My favorite first sign of Spring is when the Daffodils appear; we have some that pop up around a tree in the front yard. I especially love the simple, small yellow version...the kind without the frills and elaborate coloring. Just a little yellow flower, with its six delicate petals, its fragile trumpet, and its softly colored green stem. Simple, basic, au naturel.

In this small piece, I tried to work quickly, getting down the basic shapes and colors without overworking, to capture the warm simplicity of the image...two little flowers in an old honey jar. I used a board painted with pastel ground in varying textures.