I Will Light Candles…
Morning Vigil, 6×12″ pastel on card
Candles of joy, despite all sadness,
Candles of hope where despair keeps watch.
Candles of courage where fear is ever present,
Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days,
Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens.
Candles of love to inspire all my living.
Candles that will burn all the year long.
-Howard Thurman
Chalk on a blackboard. What images pop into your mind? Math class, handwriting lessons, doodling in the corner when the teacher wasn’t looking….
Well allow me to introduce a new image: creating a pastel painting on a black board. If you know me at all, or follow my blog, you will know I love, love, love a good black base for my pastels. Up until today, this only meant that I start with black pastel.
But today, (drum roll please…) I created my own black pastel board!
Let me walk you through the process, and show you my results: Continue Reading…
Last weekend was a doozie. Sunday night about pushed me over the edge.
The curtain is raised. The stage is set:
Our story begins in a small house in southern suburbia. Alas, the sweet and ever-helpful husband is out of town on business, leaving a young working mother outnumbered 3 to 1 with the children. Friday night, darkness falls Continue Reading…
George
Tonight we lost our 11-year old cat George. He was our first pet, discovered as a tiny kitten in a bush in Piedmont, Alabama the February before my husband and I were married. He leaves behind his best friend Sam, and his human family. I drew this pastel of him as a kitten several years ago, and thought it was a fitting piece to share. We will miss our sweet George!
I go on and on about the glories of textured pastel paper-which I love and prefer-but sometimes, I do use a piece of “regular” pastel paper…with a twist. While I mostly use Ampersand Pastelbords and Sennelier La Carte pastel card, I often choose a sheet of pastel paper for soft subjects, like a baby’s face. However, I do NOT like the little dots that show up on most papers.
So, I just flip it over and use the back! Continue Reading…
“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” -Picasso
Over the years, I have become adept at spinning plates. I can hold several sticks at once, get the plates spinning and keep them all going at the same time without crashing. Okay, maybe only metaphorically…but that would be a cool party trick…
I do however, keep a lot of things in motion as I live each day: 3 kids, 5-day a week job, and an art career are the main events, amongst all the other important and enjoyable parts of my life. People often ask, “How (and possibly why) do you do it all?”
I want to be a good mom. I want to be a successful artist. I want to do well at my day job. I want to keep things in order. I want to be involved in the art community. I want to enjoy life.
So I take Picasso’s advice and “vigorously act” to reach my goals.
Here’s an example of how that plays out in real life:
Painting with a baby
Yep. I put the baby next to me and go with it…I may have to paint or draw while singing silly songs and making ridiculous faces to keep her happy, but it works.
I draw during baby’s nap time, or on weekends while the family’s chilling. I have been known to draw with a little boy on my back at my art desk, because I was determined to finish up a piece.
I take a deep breath, try to reduce the inevitable stress of drawing with a kid on my back and tattle-talers in my ear, and remember why I do what I do: because I believe that it matters.
Because art is important to me, I find a way to make it happen along with motherhood, work, marriage and life.
I aim to never let the busy-ness of life overtake what is important to my life.
What is important to your life? What dreams are waiting for action?
The first step may be the hardest, and if your life is anything like mine, the subsequent steps to stay the course require effort and passion as well. In my opinion, each step is worth it.
“I want first of all… to be at peace with myself. I want a singleness of eye, a purity of intention, a central core to my life that will enable me to carry out these obligations and activities as well as I can.” –Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea
A field of cotton ready for harvest, lit brightly by the sun on a crisp November afternoon, rimmed by a string of trees in the distance with a Southern blue sky above.
I drool.
This is a sight often viewed enviously from my car window as we speed down the interstate; but not this day. This lucky lady was able to bask in the glory of an Alabama cotton field and snap as many photos as I wished.
I’ve been itching to put my pastels to work capturing this exquisite afternoon.
Lately I’ve been busying myself with commissions and small pastels, and I decided it’s about time for a big one.
I compiled 5 of my photos into a sketch, making sure to have everything just how I wanted it.
Using vine charcoal, I loosely recreated my sketch onto a 24×36″ Ampersand Pastelbord (I always choose gray!)
I’ll begin the color soon…right now, my sketch is resting and I’m contemplating. Check back soon and join me as we progress!
Since my previous post about SpectraFix Pastel Fixative, I’ve had some questions from readers and new developments on my own. I want to take a moment to add to the discussion, so we as artists can have the most information to create the best results possible! Continue Reading…
Ah, pastels…so vibrant, so soft, so many possibilities. And so SMEARABLE!! After working for hours on a fine portrait, the last thing you want to have happen is someone come swipe it with their fingers.
Trust me. This has happened…
Little fingers have swiped right across the eyes of one of my completed pastel portraits. I’ve also had a big bouncy ball bounce off a portrait, a cat walk on and slide down (using claws!) a big commission, the wind catch a finished piece and slide it face down across a parking lot, a child’s jacket thrown on top of a piece while waiting to frame it, and on separate occasions, several customers at a frame shop come over and (for some reason) rub their fingers right on my pastel painting (???).
These pastels need protection!!!! Continue Reading…
The Dawn of Grace, charcoal & conte sketch on paper
On the twelfth and final day of Christmas sketches…
The corner: It’s in the kitchen by the hallway. It is a terrible place of dread and woe. Sitting in this horrible place elicits tears, the stomping of feet and the gnashing of teeth. It’s where we put the naughty children.
In the corner, you have to think about how you can act better: how should you treat your brother? Why don’t we yell and scream at mommy? Why do we not cheat at Candyland? The hard questions in life…
Throughout these 12 days of Christmas sketches, I’ve worked to be “better”…to live in greater peace, to show more kindness, to daily recognize the treasure of my family and the life I am so lucky to live.
The chance to begin anew, second chances in small moments and in great mistakes. Grace to me is the recognition of our humanity, that we are a mess, but it’s just part of it. We get the wonderful gift of making innumerable changes, of “making it better.”
We aren’t perfect; we yell at our mommies and push our brothers. We ignore the hungry, and harbor hatred. We are selfish, and angry and ungrateful; impatient, intolerant and rude.
But we are also capable of great love, of profound kindness; of making peace, of helping others, of always improving; of living in response to the dawn of grace, and using our one small and precious life to make this world a better place. To bring peace on earth, goodwill to men.
-Clarence, It’s a Wonderful Life
Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth
12 Drummers Drumming
I'm a self-taught pastel & watercolor artist and instructor, raised and based in Birmingham, Alabama. I constantly collect stories and pieces of the world around me, turning them into works of art. Inspired by nature, I love to share what I've learned and build connections and community. I invite you to browse and join my site. I hope you find something that inspires you!
Voted one of Birmingham's Best Local Artists 2013, Birmingham News & al.com
Featured in Birmingham Magazine, March 2018
Visit the Commissions page on the top menu to find out more about my pastel & watercolor portraits. Portraits are drawn from photographs in a timely manner with the highest quality materials to ensure they will be enjoyed for generations!
Thanks for visiting my site! I am an awarded pastel artist and instructor based in Birmingham, Alabama. A self-taught artist, I have been working with pastels for over 6 years, selling in shops, galleries, shows and by commission. I teach pastel workshops for adults, and love to help emerging artists on their journey into the art community.
