Where Am I..?

Wow. No new art to share. Sorry.

I haven't even been making any jewelry! There are several factors on which I would like to place blame (after all, it's only human to place the blame elsewhere besides yourself!).

First, Facebook. That is an evil, evil place. When I left home all those years ago, I RAN as fast as I could. Now I've reconnected with high school and college friends, and it's been really comforting to learn that our lives are a lot different, yet we are still friends after decades of not talking.

Second, New Job. Being an Assistant Principal has a steep learning curve, one that I'm trying my best not to fall off. The take home work isn't so bad, but the extra time a school sure is!

Third, Lack of Desire. I just haven't been motivated. I think it may be that I'm actually happy with my job now, and not trying to start a second career while still in my first.

I do have a Plan, however. It involves a solo canoe trip this summer. Just me, the wilderness, and some art supplies for a week. It's not a fully formed plan, but I'm thinking a journal of some sort. Pastels may not be practical, so I may dust off my watercolors...

If anyone has some good ideas, please let me know!

PastelGuy

Summer Rhythms

Summer Rhythms

14" x 11" pastel on paper

Whew! With the new job of Assistant Principal, my quantity of free time over the summer plummeted. Thanks to all of you who have kept on, occaisionally asking where I am...

The above painting is the third one I've done in 2009. And since I've decided to keep the focus of my blog on my art, well, that's why posts are a little far and few between. The motivation for this work came from the gallery in St. Louis where I show my work, Gallery M. Susan, the nice owner over there decided for a juried show this fall called 'Beauty Is...'. I needed to get her some new work, so I went over to Tower Grove Park in St. Louis where they have gorgeous tropical waterlily ponds, and I took a bunch of pictures. One photo ended up on my laptop as wallpaper. Perhaps that can be a future post. We can put it up as a sort of challenge. What do you think?

This is actually a small part of a much larger picture of white waterlilies. When i went to print off the whole file, it only showed this much. I was just about to delete the print job, when the composition struck me, and I was intrigued by the water, the curves of the pads offset by the straight lines of the stems. One person told me that it was too dark, but I like using my darkest pastels, sometimes.

This was the first painting where I used Mineral Spirits to create an underpainting. I painted the water a very dark green/brown, and the leaves a yellow ochre. If i were to do it again, I think I would choose complementary colors instead. I think some red or orange showing through the leaves would be striking.

Until next time, when I'll let you know how the Gallery Opening does this Friday evening...

Pastel Guy

Finally Finished!

OK, so it's not a painting, but it's what's been consuming my life for the past week. Literally. Picture this same room with dark teal green carpet and ugly peachy walls, and a ceiling that wasn't quite white. Now look at the white ceiling, the 'Plateau' walls, and the *new* bamboo wood floor installed by yours truly.

I know the paintings are off center, but we moved the sofa and chairs around after the move-back-in, and I haven't re-moved the pictures. Besides, I think they'll go to my office after I paint a 30 x 80-inch painting for over the sofa.

Until next time...

Pastel Guy

I Did It!

Morning Work pastel on panel 16" x 20"

Wow! It's been forever since I've posted. A lot has gone on... a new job for me and my wife for the 2009 - 2010 school year. I'll be the Assistant Principal for my building,, and she'll be Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment for her district.

And I've done one painting in the last month and a half. It started out as a challenge photo for the Yahoo! pastel group I joined:

photo by Marilyn Witt

The black and white sketch that drew in my notebook turned out much better than the finished painting, I think. Once I had the daffodils drawn in, the vase looked to big for the flowers. I think it was the distance between the bottom of the bouquet and the place on the counter where i wanted it to sit was too far, so I had to change the style of vase. OK. Then it looked really blank, so I added my favorite coffee mug. It still looked empty, so I added the scissors. Then I made the mug bigger, since I really don't drink out of demitasse. All in all, it was intended to be a quickie, so the proportions aren't quite right, but I do like the lightness and airiness that it has.

Comments?

Pastel Guy

OK, OK Already!

Sunrise on St. Mary's - 24 x 18" pastel on paper

I can tell everyone is getting antsy for a new painting. I've lost subscribers to my blog, and no one is emailing me anymore.

Well, here y'go. After a rather length vacation (yes, the project is finished - thank goodness!), I'm back at my easel.

The photo for this picture came from a fellow Etsy artist's blog. This picture presented some challenges. The biggest hurdle was keeping the waterfall and the surrounding rocks in a dark enough value range that the sunshine would be dominant. The original photo only had a hint of sun at the very top (and hardly any of the trees), so I had to make up the rest.

This painting is a good example of how a color can look differently depending on what it's background is. The sun highlights on the rocks to the right are actually a light orange color, but on the purple, they, too, take on a purple color - weird, huh?

I'm going to let it sit on my mantelpiece downstairs for a few days until I sign it. If you see anything that needs adjusting, let me know!

Thanks,

Pastel Guy

www.matthewweld.com - pastel paintings

www.studio206.etsy.com - handmade jewelry for sale

Oh Yeah...

It's done!

The bath/bedroom project is officially complete! Last night was our first night back in our bedroom. It felt like we had moved into a new house. It turned out so well that I am so proud of myself I can hardly stand it! I figure I spent 28 long days (divided into weekends and days off) on the project. I can understand now why Habitat for Humanity requires the future inhabitants to work on their homes. All of a sudden I have a vested interest in my abode, and and am even more proud to be its inhabitant.

The picture above is of the bamboo floor before we started moving everything back in. At first the color variation in the wood was a tad disturbing, but as the pieces started accumulating, the overall effect was very pleasing.

Now that we have moved back into the bedroom and out of the dining room, my life should return to (somewhat) normal, and I can start posting more often again. I also plan to get back into the pastel quite heavily again. It's all a matter of priorities, and now that my shelter (one of man's 'needs') is back to normal, the rest of my life can continue as before.

Until next time!
Pastel Guy
www.matthewweld.com - pastel paintings
www.studio206.etsy.com - handmade jewelry

Sorry Folks!

OK, gotta put up a couple more of the bathroom remodel project. I know the trim isn't up and all, but the floor is grouted and finished, and the plumbing back in.

Here's the vanity and the light fixture - oh, and me taking the picture from our closet. We ended up putting in 4 medicine cabinets in place of one big mirror. We had a big mirror with two medicine cabinets (one on each side), but it was a pain to shave by going from close to far and back again. Besides, now we have all kinds of storage! The glass on the top of the vanity is the stack of shelves for inside the cabinets. Needless to say, we haven't moved in yet.

I have the equipment to put in the bamboo flooring reserved for the three-day weekend coming up. Then - finally - it's move-back-in time!

Cheers!

Pastel Guy

www.matthewweld.com - pastels

www.studio206.etsy.com - handmade jewelry