Monday and it’s late afternoon already! How did that happen? Where did my weekend full of luxurious time flitter away to?
Back to work but luckily, my work is my joy. How lucky am I?! Kids already almost all home from school…I like it when they come in full of the smell of the sun, hair rumpled. They flop down in various places in the house. The birds outside are tweeting their Spring love songs…
Morning has Broken – 12×18″ pastel on paper
Bethany Fields, PSA 2017
Tomorrow it will be raining – a wonderful thing here in my dry part of Texas. The spring calves are being born with hardworking rancher’s help and the winter wheat is growing for the farmers. Such a time of life and renewal. Spring is always welcome and thankfully, always perfectly on time. It is springing everywhere and I am ready for the warmth and sun.
No matter how much I love Spring and warm months, I still dearly love to paint snow…those blues just sing to me! It was Cezanne who wrote (in a letter to Emile Bernard):
“Blue gives other colours their vibration, so one must bring a certain about of blue into a painting.”
I began this piece with a very warm magenta underpainting working up to the blues and then the greens. I went slowly, careful to step back throughout the process to adjust my eyes to the entire piece. When we are working closely to the easel, it’s hard for our eyes to take in the effect of the entire painting. I always work standing up and am in and out of my studio as kids need me, or as dogs bark, or as the mailman comes, or as the ever-present laundry pile calls. This helps me work slowly in stages and forces me to slow down. I paint quickly and though this can be great for spontaneous gestures, it can also mean no forethought into marks. It’s a careful dance.
I used Uart sanded paper for this piece along with various pastels. If you haven’t seen my new Resources page, check it out! It lists all the materials I love to use in my work in one handy place. Of course, feel free to ask me any questions as well. You can always email me here or comment below.
Really beautiful painting.
Thank you Jessica! 🙂