Saturday, March 7, 2009

Made it to 100!


This one has an oil wash under-painting and is on Wallis paper that has been toned with yellow ochre.


This is straight pastel on Wallis paper, also toned.


This one has lots of oil wash that wasn't completely dry when I applied some pastel to it. The pastel soaked into the oil paint. I love it!


Here are all 103 on my studio wall. It's great to look at and I'll be sorry when I have to take them down.
Most of the pieces were done at the beginning of my work day. Sometimes one a day, sometimes 2 or 3. They are small, about 10 x10 and are all on paper. Many of them are mixed media and have some kind of under-painting either watercolor or oil wash. I loved using Terry Ludwig pastels because to me, they have a little bit of a grainy texture that was great over the oil wash.It was my time of day to play, to get warmed up to stretch. Most of them were completed relatively quickly, 15 to 30 minutes and were intended to be studies, although I think that some are finished pieces that stand fine by themselves. A friend and fellow artist, (Trisha), told me that I'd made a quilt and she is right! The pieces together are stronger than the individuals.

Now have to figure out what is next for me.
This has been a great project. In so many ways, it's been positive. I'm sure I'll be weaving the lessons learned into my work for a very long time. I'm writing on an article about the series for pastel journal. It will come out in the September issue, so I hope you'll take a look.

I've posted more of these on my website .




5 comments:

Casey Klahn said...

Cool!

The ochre one really glows, and is very inspiring.

Kathleen Schildmeyer said...

Well Done!!! It is lovely to see all of these varied interpretations of one composition. They are all beautiful, rich and hold depth. Your excellence of quality shows even in play!

Kelly M. said...

Marla -- I've seen your ad in Pastel Journal and just visited today. These variations are heart-stoppers! Congratulations although sometimes after a long project like this, it may be "sad" to move on? I'm sure whatever you do will be superlative!

Unknown said...

This is so inspiring. Congratulations.

Kathleen Schildmeyer said...

Beautiful! Even in play your work speaks loudly of great talent. It is fun to see the many ways one scene can be perceived. Thank you for sharing.