Fireflies

It still seems magical to me when the fireflies first appear. The other night on a late stroll around my dark garden I was surprised by bright lights - close. It was a real "what the heck ? kind off moment" until I realized what was happening; a lightning bug had gotten caught in my bangs. In trying to free itself it kept flashing and reflecting off my glasses. It was quite disorienting until I realized what it was....not a psychedelic flashback after all.

This painting is a scene I caught out of my side window driving back from town just past dusk; the neighbors' pond turned into a mirror and the fireflies are still low, in the grass.

12 x 16 - latest in the Transitions Series. This nocturne was painted on a red sheet of Art Spectrum pastel paper, using a surprisingly small number of soft pastels; some Giraults, Nupastels and Unison mostly - probably less than 15 colors total, plus the red of the paper. So few colors, but a precision choice nevertheless. To pick the right dozen colors all pastel artists know you need a thousand or so to choose from!

Ragged Ends

SOLD 
A February evening in my neighborhood looks peaceful and quiet. I am certainly taking advantage of this exceptionally snowy winter in both Pennsylvania & Vermont. Often I don't get more than one or two snow scenes done per winter because I have a habit of trying to avoid February and March by traveling to warmer climes. This is another 12 x 16 from the Transitions series.

Lewis Road

Yellow is a color that is found seldom in the background of a landscape. It disappears as it recedes into the distance. Most painters have struggled with trying to make a distant sunlit hillside of yellow fall foliage behave and take its place in the background. There are several ways to deal with the problem. In this painting I have used diminishing parallels (the lines in and on the side of the road) to tell the viewer that those trees catching the warm afternoon rays are the farthest object away from us on the land in this picture. That the moon and clouds are further away is something we all know and don't need convincing of, even if they are sometimes yellow. This is one of the paintings in the Transitions series.