Another Asheville Urban Landscape Project Work

This pastel was started in last April from a location overlooking Asheville.  Never having done a painting with this much aerial perspective it took an afternoon of color and value adjustment in the studio.

The site is the parking lot of Zealandia Castle which is a great old building which would have made an equally interesting subject.

Shambhala 

Pastel 6 x 8

Asheville Urban Landscape Project

From time to time I have been lucky enough to paint with a group in Asheville.   Lisa Blackshear has organized the Asheville Urban Landscape Project which met last year and again this spring.  There is a schedule for this fall at http://www.wncpap.com/avl-urban-landscape-project-2014.

Meanwhile other painters in this group organized events this summer, the next:

 Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary June 24

Contact Araya Hansen araya-sol@charter.net

This is a pastel from the last spring event at the French Broad River Park.

Hanging On 

Pastel 6 x 7

Plein Air Day

After a long hiatus, got outside today.  A local group, the Blue Ridge Fine Arts Guild is preparing for a show next year.  It's about the new crops, livestock, and farmers reinventing agriculture in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina.  The show's title is "New Pioneers of the Blue Ridge: the Renaissance of the Family Farm".  Today we had our first outing at Mountain Farm which cultivates several breeds of goats and lavender.  Their store sells soaps, lavender teas, goat cheese.

There were more than a dozen painters and photographers at work.

Here's a small pastel sketch, before the wind forced the umbrellas closed.

Running in Place

Here is a series of pink beads made at the Penland Flamework Studio.

Pink and Amber

This is an usual color combination.  I would like to make several more, possibly for earrings.

Below a series of discs made from every pink colored glass that could be found.  Figuring out how to link and arrange them in a necklace is a challenge.

Pink Discs

A Big Pink Honker of a Bead

This one is suitable for a pendant.    Would be great with some more pink pieces on the chain.

Catching Up

Back in North Carolina.  Since not having a computer for a month there's a lot of catching up to do, while trying to stay current.

Yesterday was the Burnsville Paint-Out, wickedly cold for the middle of May, 38 degrees when I started out.

The two pastels are hanging in the Burnsville TRAC gallery, didn't think to photo in the rush to get them framed and driven into town.

But in the spirit of catching up here's a photo from the new Gift Shop artist show in April.

More Beach Time

Heading out tomorrow for Charlotte.  Had a couple hours at the beach today to say goodbye.  Love the breezes and the salt smell.

A couple more pastels from this week:

Early Morning
Pastel 5 x 7

I've been getting up very early to get sunrise images, haven't managed to be set up before sunrise though.  It's also a challenge to see colors in the dim light.  I wanted to convey both the quiet of the morning and the blinding brilliance of the sun.  In the mountains where I live the sun doesn't get over the ridge until 10AM, so the sunrise is special.   The beach has an emptiness and simplicity not present in the tangle and folds of the mountain landscapes.

High Tide
Pastel 5 x 7

Can't set up in one spot for the day, I move up and down the beach with the tide.   Have to be aware of what's happening, not overly involved in painting, so I don't get witlessly .

Back at the Beach

It's been a long time.  My computer's hard drive failed, and there's a whole saga that goes along with it.

But this blog is about painting.   Or in the case plein air pastels.  The grittiness of the sand works better with them than oils.

Nestled Inn
Pastel 8 x 10

As a retired architect it's going to take some doing to get more painterly about buildings.

Windless Day
Patel 5 x 7

Jacksonville Beach has a vast beach at low tide which is filled with shallow pools.  They change size and position with each tide as the sandy bottom shifts.

I leave in a few days for home by way of Charlotte for yet another trip to the Apple Store.  

Next weekend is a Paint-Out in my home town, Burnsville NC.   If you can come join us on the 17th, see http://ncpap.org/events/toe-river-arts-council-8th-annual-paint-out-burnsville-nc

One of my painting groups, the Blue Ridge Fine Arts Guild will be having a show next summer, called 'New Pioneers of the Blue Ridge: the Renaissance of the Family Farm", we're all exciting and just beginning to think about some good plein air sites.