Blueberries for Breakfast

Canadian Blueberries (pastel on panel 8 x 10)

OK, so I dug up another painting from last summer.

This one is a little more abstract than my usuals. But the subject made such an impression on me in real life that I had to paint it. We were on Russell Lake in the middle of Quetico Provicial Wilderness. The boys I was counselor for were out in the canoes suntanning (burning?!), and I was wandering around just a little bored.

It was our Layover day, which meant we were staying at the same campground for two nights in a row.

On the shore was this little blueberry plant perfectly surrounded by granite boulders. In the foreground was an amazing array of mosses and lichens the likes of which I've only ever seen in the Canadian Wilderness. I made a quick sketch, and then a couple months later, turned it into a painting, based on my memories of the colors.

It ended up being a study of shapes. Many people have trouble with rocks, but if you just keep working on their shapes, and remember how they reflect the light and have substance and shadow, eventually they will emerge as a symphony of shapes which look like rocks.

The upper right hand corner I wanted to leave especially abstract, so the focus of the work would be within the confines of the granite rocks.

Also notice how it takes warm colors to accentuate the cool ones of the lichen in the bottom left. Likewise, it took cool blue accents to fill out the shadows under the rocks (which were colored with the Unison Darks set).

Oh, and nothing beats fresh blueberry pancakes for breakfast in the bush.

Until tomorrow,

Pastel Guy

www.matthewweld.com - pastel paintings

www.studio206.etsy.com - jewelry store

This painting is available for sale at Gallerie M in St. Louis, MO

Finding Subject Matter - in Canada

Blustery Day 16 x 20 pastel on panel

Every summer, for the last 6 years, I have accompanied teenagers into the Canadian Wilderness. We take high school students into Quetico Provincial Wilderness through an ecotour outfitter Voyageur Wilderness Programme. The Savoie family in charge does an amazing job of educating youngsters in environmental stewardship by example, teaching, and practice. For 7 days and 6 nights, we travel through the wilderness practicing no trace camping in an area where motorized anything is banned. What an exhilirating experience for me and a life-altering experience for them!

With so much beautiful scenery, it's hard not to be inspired to paint. This last July when we were there, we went along a mile-long portage (where you have to carry all your gear from one lake to the next) that bordered some amazing rapids. Since I usually miss all the scenery on a portage with my head stuck in a canoe, I had to make a trip back sans gear to catch some of views. The painting above was done from a photo taken along the portage. The energy experienced in the rapids along the ground and in the clouds flying by in the sky was overwhelming on one level, and quite peaceful on another. One minute I felt very small and insignificant, yet the next I felt as though I was a part of the vastness - the oneness - and that I could just sit and close my eyes...

All that is what I tried to capture in this painting. I started the sky and the spruce trees in my grandmother's basement in Montana, and then finished it here at home in Illinois. Yet every time I make a painting from a place I know, it takes me back, and that's just one of the great things about art.

I just hope that other people make a similar connection. I realize it won't be the same, but perhaps they have experienced something similar in a completely different location. Or maybe this scene just reminds them of a place, or perhaps they just connect to the energy.

Peace, and keep doing what you love,

PastelGuy