Art Inspiration, Velzyland and Turtle Bay ~ The Last of Hawaii

Nature always wears the colors

of the spirit.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Kevin Surfing Big Sunset Beach 
Pastel on sanded paper
9 x 12"

I can't believe this was a year and a half ago! Both the pastel (above) and my time in Hawaii.

Here's some Hawaiian music to enjoy while visiting this post!

Velzyland

North Shore, O'ahu

The last year and a half has flown by, as time does, but really it is hard to believe! It was such a special time being with Kevin, Shannon and Makena on O'ahu. Velzyland was the first place Kevin took Makena to surf and it was beautiful, as always.

Kevin and Makena putting her fins on her surf board ...

The next photo is of my sarong drying in a tree. It was designed by my Aunt Cheri and handmade by batik artisans in Bali. I love the bamboo design!

Waiting on the beach watching Makena and Kevin surf some fun waves at V Land ...

Come forth into the light of things.

Let nature be your teacher.

~William Wordsworth

Turtle Bay

North Shore, O'ahu

Turtle Bay wasn't too far up the road from Kevin's old place, at Sunset Beach, and maybe a couple of  miles north of Velzyland. It's really the only big resort in the area and it is in a prime location, as you can see!

They also make a great poolside Mai Tai but I suggest limiting it to one! They are tasty but they do pack quite a punch!

I don't know what the name of these trees are, pictured in the photo below, but I love that they look like they are wearing hula skirts!

Kevin took the next couple of photos of me on the beach in my "monkey dress." Difficult to see the monkeys in this photo!

Here, below, you can a monkey! Anyway, it's on the beach to the West of the main part of the resort right by the horse stables.

Turtle Bay has a number of horses on their property. It was fun to photograph my friend's daughter with the horses because they absolutely loved her!

I was so inspired by this moment I decided I had to paint it! Of Course, with some silver leaf and a bit of artistic license!

A Moment in the Grass

12 x 16" 

Oil on Wood Panel

One of my absolute favorite things about the islands is listening to live Hawaiian music, especially at sunset. It is so magical and you feel you have been transported to another world ...

The view out of the car window heading to the airport.

Malama Ka 'Aina

Respect/Care for the land

A little goodbye Hawaii sketch of my lei ...

Hope you enjoyed the Hawaii posts even if they were about a year and a half after the fact!

Lots of art and other adventures coming up.

Hope you're all off to a beautiful fall!

Aloha nui loa!

Blessings and light!

House of the Vestals in Pastel

Accept the things to which fate binds you,

and love the people with whom fate brings you together,

but do so with all your heart.

~Marcus Aurelius 

Staying with the theme of Antiquity (from my last post) I thought I'd share my most recent pastel.

This photo was taken in 2012, at the Roman Forum. I'd just been on the Palatine hill and the sun had begun to set as I made my way off the hill and through the Forum. They were trying to get everyone out but I managed to make my way into the House of the Vestals. Last time I had been there, there was so much excavation going on, you couldn't really see much, but from the other side of a chain. 

The photo I chose for a study was one of those frustrating moments in "point and shoot" photography, where you can get the beautiful sunset sky but everything in the foreground is in silhouette ... or you can photograph the subject matter in front and the sky becomes totally blown out and white!

Solution? Do a painting.

This was mounted, sanded, paper than can take water media. So ... I was covering the surface with water colors, to have a jumping off point for the pastels.

My little setup with my handmade Heilman box, below. It has a little metal easel that sticks into holes drilled into the box, to make it easier for working in plein air (outdoors) ... or in class.

Below, you can see I've started getting the trees, the background Roman structures and sky in, with pastels.

I like doing a pink underpainting in the sky with the watercolor and letting it show through when I go over it with pastel, especially for a painting that's during "magic hour." You can see I've started defining some of the stone of the reflecting pool, as well as some of the other greenery.

Going more into the stonework, and getting the mossy feel, as well as a bit of a reflection ...

And finally, into the statuary ... I kept the  ones in the distance softer and more loose.

And here it is! I am going to lighten the lower left corner slightly so it doesn't match so much with the right ... but there you have it!


House of the Vestals
Pastel on sanded board
9x12
 

For my photographic post of that magic hour I spent at the House of the Vestals and Roman Forum click here.

For the Palatine Hill, click here.

For the pastel demo of The Baths of Caracalla, click here.

When you arise in the morning,

 think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive-

to breathe,

to think,

to enjoy,

to love.

~Marcus Aurelius 

On the Lake (In Pakistan) ~My Little Boat Pastel

This pastel was done from a photo I took in 1997, in Pakistan. I was sure that photo was on our way out to Taxila (where the ruins of one of the world's first Buddhist monasteries lies) but my dad seems to think it was a lake not far outside of Islamabad. 

Either way, I loved the colorful boats and put this piece in my last show.

On the Lake, 2014

Pastel on LaCarte 

8" x 10"

Traveling - 

It leaves you speechless,

then turns you into a storyteller.

~Ibn Battuta

Blessings and light!

Pastel Society Show in Thousand Oaks!

Hi all! My current show is up! It's actually a group show. For those of you who don't know, I am a member of the Pastel Society of the Gold Coast. It's an amazing group of artists that I am very honored to be involved with and included in!

This is my 3rd year in the group, and 3rd year participating in the Thousand Oaks show, which is usually our biggest of the year. This year it benefits the Camarillo Hospice. (See info above.)

One of the pieces I put in the show, is Autumn Reflections. It started with a watercolor underpainting ...

Then little by little, I began to add in my pastels over the top ...

The painting is inspired by this photo (below) from the Yosemite Valley back in 1999, that I took while visiting my grandmother, who lived nearby in Mariposa. 

I changed the season a bit. I nixed the bits of ice/snow around the rocks. I figured it would have to get very "nit-picky" in order for you to really read that it was snow, so I edited as well as cropped the picture. I also changed the light and color of the sky so it would not get too "cartoony" hued.

More detail ... rocks and reflections ...

And then, more rocks in the water, and punching up the lights and darks. 

 And violà!!

It was one of the 3 pieces voted on to be submitted for publicity and it ended up in the little Thousand Oaks paper. :)

This weekend is the reception and it runs until the 27th of July!

By the way, I am the blog administrator for the Pastel Society of the Gold Coast. We post about shows, members' plein air outings, demos and so on. If you want to check it out, click here!

Hope you had a fabulous 4th of July, 

for all you Americans out there! 

And for everyone, I hope

that you are having a perfectly lovely July!

Art enables us to find ourselves

and lose ourselves at the same time.

~Thomas Merton

Blessings and light!

"Courage"

Last fall, I started a new series of portraits, of girls. For now, they are Afghan girls, but that may be expanded. 

I was inspired by a photo I was given, last summer, by an Afghan American friend. The photo was taken on her last trip to Central Asia. It was of her granddaughter, with 3 other Afghani girls, who were headed to school. 

I'm doing separate portrait of each girl from that photo. 

Courage

by Lucinda Keller

Pastel on Uart paper

I don't mind if I have to sit on the floor at school.

All want is education.

And I'm afraid of no one.

~Malala Yousufzai

blessings and light!

Paradiso in Pastel ~ Spectacular Umbria in December

Paradiso, Assisi

Umbria, Italy

December 2012

Villa in Paradiso

Pastel on sanded, mounted Wallace paper

At breakfast, in my cute little hotel in Assisi, I met my new friend Nick. (Nick is the one who joined me for my birthday/cooking lesson dinner.) Well, anyway, Nick and I got to talking over our morning cappuccinos, about how I wanted to take artists to Umbria to do plein air pastels. When I said this, his eyes got big, and he said he knew of what could possibly be the perfect place … in a place called Paradiso.

He introduced me to Valeria, the contessa who owned the place, and the three of us ended up driving out there. It was just North-East of the old town of Assisi. 

Her place was on a hill and upon exiting the car, I felt like I had taken a ride to visit heaven, for the afternoon. There are two main structures on the property. That's Nick, above, in front of the main house. 

A little music for the visit …

The mist on the valley below, made it all the more magical. It made me think of a magical place like Avalon, as we stood there on that glorious December day. It couldn't have been more perfect.

Love is a portion of the soul itself,

and it is of the same nature as the celestial breathing 

of the atmosphere of paradise.

~Victor Hugo

Looking into the studio, workroom area ...

Her master bedroom ...

Paradise is open
to all kind hearts.
~Pierre Jean de Beranger

I loved her ceramic Mary so much, I decided to do a pastel of her …

Our Lady, in Umbria

Pastel on Uart paper

Looking up at the converted barn/farmhouse ...

Look familiar? I recently posted this pastel, below, of this little building. (Little is relative, because I could fit my apartment in there, at least three times!) Love the stonework ...

Umbrian Farmhouse

Pastel on Wallace paper

Looking back at the main house ...

Inside the farmhouse ...

 

Yes, Paradiso is the perfect name for this beautiful place, nestled in magical Umbria.

Life is a paradise

for those who love things

with a passion.

~ Leo Buscalgia

Leaving, I hoped I would return to this piece of heaven. I have since learned from Valeria that she has sold the property. It makes me sad but I'm hoping the new owner will maybe turn it into a place one can visit! 

In this photo, below, you can see the house in the distance. Sigh.

Heading back to Assisi … the Rocca Maggiore, on the hill.

After our visit to Paradiso, we headed to the main piazza for some food.

On Pizza Commune, there is a fantastic little wine and food shop, Bottega dei Sapori, where you can order up these wonderful antipasti of meats, cheeses and mushrooms … Oh my word! So yummy!!! Nick just asked Fabrizio to give us a combination of things, and it was all delicious! 

I have to say, I don't usually eat meats like this, here in the States, but there … it's spectacular.

I still can't believe that, in another week, this will have been a year ago!

Paradise is always
where love dwells.
~Jean Paul Richter


Hope you are enjoying a beautiful December!
Blessings and light!