Artistic Inspiration ~ Breathtaking Glencoe and Glen Etiv

Wherever I wander,

Wherever I rove,

The hills of the Highlands

Forever I love.

~Robert Burns

The Weeping Glen

pastel on sanded paper

9 x 12"

300.00 (Unframed)

Glencoe was one of the places I was most excited to see in Scotland and it did not disappoint! Neither did Buachaille Etive Mòr or Glen Etive. They are all right in the same vicinity and I had to have taken at least a thousand photographs that day, knowing they would eventually become studies for paintings and drawings.

Here's some beautiful Gaelic music, by the lovely Julie Fowlis, for the journey. Press play!

We took off from our little place in Onich and headed East for Glencoe ...

The Three Sisters of Glencoe

It was gorgeous! This lovely piper was there playing which made it all the more incredible. It didn't matter that there were cars parked up to the view and people all around. We were all under the spell of the "Weeping Glen." 

There was a little girl in plaid with the piper selling tiny bunches of heather. It was so darling. My dad got one for my mom, of course. He does sweet things like that. :)

You can see many streams of water making their way down through the rocks and lushness of the landscape. I suppose it is one reason for calling it the Weeping Glen. There is also sad history of one clan slaughtering another at the behest of the British Crown. But, the earth in its beauty is healing and this place has a mystical beauty and energy that transports you.

My Travel Journal

Around the bend is a lovely waterfall.

And just a 10 or so minutes East of Glencoe is ...

Buachaille Etive Mòr 

Glen Etive

Then just another 3 minutes East on the A82 is the road to Glen Etive. It is a one lane road that seems to go on forever. Perhaps because we stopped every couple of hundred yards to take photos!

Above, is a little demo I did for my private student Parker. Below, is my demo with his large watercolor painting of Glen Etive. He was 12 at the time! 

It wouldn't be difficult to convince me that this place is what heaven looks like. It is truly magnificent.

After our Scottish photo safari we headed South to Kilchurn Castle, which will be in my next post. Check back for that, it's coming up soon!

Later in the day we drove back past Glen Etive and Buachaille Etive Mòr and through Glencoe. You can see how different it looks when the weather changes, and sometimes quickly!

Let the rain kiss you.

Let the rain beat upon

your head with silver liquid drops.

Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

~Langston Hughes

The Weeping Glen in the rain ...

Saint John

Scottish Episcopal Church

Ballachulish 

1842

For my solo show in December, I had three paintings of Scotland. One was Edinburgh, another was from the Isle of Skye, and the third was of Glencoe, the Weeping Glen.

All the paintings were done on wood panels. You can see how loose I start the painting with only washes of color. I begin by mixing the paint with a lot of mineral spirits. The tape you see peeling off is to protect the sides of the panel from getting messy which, only occasionally, works.

Another layer and a a lot thicker ...

Adding in more light and contrast. At this point I was getting ready to add the silver leaf, which all the Scotland paintings had.

Only a touch of silver on the horizon.

Glencoe, 2017

9 X 12"

Oil on wood panel

550.00

I love this gentleman. He does videos of his walks around Scotland. They are not a high tech, masterpiece, extravaganza but very charming and I love his voice! In this video he walks around Glencoe in very early spring before things turn green.

I am leaving on another trip soon and my boyfriend suggested I should probably finish Scotland  because I haven't even gotten to the part of the trip where we went to Italy. Alas, it was a slow year for posting. I got so busy with various things, including my solo show and now training for my Via Di Francesco Cammino of which I am doing a 165 km section.

Anyway, stay tuned!

I ran across this young lady, Claire Hastings, on YouTube and just adore her voice and spirit when she sings. Enjoy!

Blessings and light!

Santa Monica Mountains Plein Air Day

There is only one true thing: 

instantly paint what you see.

~Edouard Manet

Previously, I posted a bunch of photos I took at the King Gillette Ranch and the Santa Monica Mountains. This is what I did after the hike and my little picnic lunch.

I really like the refurbished building that was the old 1924 horse stables, so I found a spot behind it, with a nice view, and no one was around.

First I did a little field sketch to see what I wanted in the picture. All the dimensions and perspective were off, but it gave me a bit of a clue on how to go forward on my sanded pastel paper. (Uart paper on board.)

You can see, below, the Uart paper is sort of pale, sand color. I used a sanguine colored pastel pencil, or conte to start loosely sketching in my composition. Then I went in with the watercolor underpainting, trying to think ahead what colors would go over the top and how they colors would react to each other.

My tripod broke, which is what I usually screw my pastel box into (there is a little easel attachment,) but thankfully there were a couple of picnic tables, so I still had a way to set up!

Painting outdoors is a distillation of time, 

a capturing of the essence of existence during a specific

period in the artist's experience.

~Charles Muench

I love having the watercolor underpainting to work off of, with the pastels. I like letting the color show through, but sometimes it's not in the cards, and you end up covering all the watercolor. Nice not to start with a a white/beige sheet of paper though!

While waiting for the watercolor to dry, I did a little watercolor sketch of the same subject, trying out some different colors.

The clouds started to roll in. So then, the shadows were totally different, at that point, and the cool air was keeping the underpainting from drying. I went ahead and cleaned up.

I had a photo with the shadows from earlier in the day, so I knew I would resolve the painting later, with pastels, back in the studio. (Or at least try to!)

I don't often work in plain air (outside) but I do enjoy it! I don't know if I'm all that crazy about my final work outdoors but it makes for a great recording of a day and time.

When you're an artist -

especially a plain-air artist,

where you're working outside -

you see the best of life all the time.

~Tom Nichols

Finished piece ~

Happy February!

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!

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!