The hikes are different as the seasons change. The autumn foliage takes on hues of gold, rusty reds, and hints of orange. The skies are grayer and the chilly breeze directs the migrating birds to warmer climates.
September Morning
Tag Archive | 2024
Full Moon
The full moon shortly before daybreak at the edge of a meadow inspired this piece. For me, this one is an autumn moment, in September; shorter days and later sunrises sometimes taking me by surprise, thinking I’ll be hiking, but finding myself waiting for the sun. The subtle violets and cobalt blues are among the delights of the Henri Roche pastels.
Autumn Breeze
Autumn has long been my favorite season. Maybe it’s the colors, or the leaves falling? It could be the crisp air and chilly breezes. This piece recalls an autumn walk on a favorite trail, trees turning, leaves on the breeze, and migrating birds making their journeys to far off places.
Into the Sunset
Reflecting on the recent drive to the coast on my last painting getaway, I worked from the recollection of the drive, similar other sunset drives, and the view of a sunset in-progress from the balcony of my hotel room. It was a fun quick piece that I did while the sunset flared to full vividness, and finished as it faded.
Learning From Mistakes
On a December trip to the coast last year, I saw an amazing sun rise. The sky was infused with hues of bold pink. I managed to get a shot or two, but mostly just watched it quickly evolve. It developed quickly, and quickly faded away.
On my most recent trip to the same favorite location, I found myself trying to capture that moment and the bold pink sun rise in pastels, using a combination of the reference photo I had set aside for the purpose, and also the view from my balcony (for scale and proportion and things of that sort). I found myself faced with what could politely be called “mixed success”. lol
Yeah… no. There are things I like about it. Things I don’t. The “mistakes” shout at me – so I tried again.
Another attempt. Another piece about which I have mixed feelings, and a great deal of criticism. lol I set the idea aside for another attempt on some other day.
There are things about both pieces I greatly enjoy. The colors being one of those, and I admittedly simply enjoy a sunrise, and these both find room in my heart on that basis alone. I’ll try this again, though. There is so much to learn from these attempts, and the image that inspires them. I learn a lot from “failure”, if these can really even be called that. They have beauty of their own.
Morning Mist, Taft
This piece illustrates how very much art is in the eye of the beholder, and how little control over that an artist really has. I painted this from the balcony of my hotel room on a misty morning, watching the mist fill the spaces between distant hills on the other side of Siletz Bay. Shortly before, I’d received a worried phone call from my partner, uneasy about the potential of a tsunami (because I’d earlier messaged at how interesting it was to be able to see the tide coming in so easily from my vantage point, then suddenly stopped replying while I was painting this very piece). When I shared the completed work with my partner, he saw the image as tsunami-like, more than any impression of a misty morning. Funny how that goes.
Drone Strikes
This piece is a war-themed piece, inspired by the terrifying devastation of drone strikes in modern warfare, and specifically the successful attacks by Ukraine which destroyed Russian ammo depots in the summer of 2024. This piece is not for sale.
Taft at Dawn
This piece was inspired by my July visit to the Taft, on Siletz Bay, south of Lincoln City, Oregon. It is the view from the hotel I generally stay at when I take time on the coast to paint, and the early morning sky is often a soft smudgy assortment of pinks, mauves, and pale orange hues. The gulls circle the pier, and above the nearby fisherman, and even at such an early hour there are often people walking the beach at low tide.
This is another piece I photographed immediately after completion although the Pastelmat tends to warp just a bit when I remove the masking tape I use to mask off the border and release it from the surface I’ve secured it to. One reason I recently switched to Ampersand Pastelbord is to avoid this warping (and the time required to press new work flat again, risking smudging or damaging the work).
Stormy Weather
I painted this with stormy weather in mind, and recollections of my July trip to the coast, watching a storm approach from the western horizon, dropping showers as it passed over the ocean and the bay.
I’ve found that one challenge using unmounted Pastelmat is the paper tends to warp just a bit when I remove the masking tape I use to mask off the border and release it from the surface I’ve secured it to. This observation inspired the subsequent (recent) switch to Ampersand Pastelbord, although I’m not firmly committed to one or the other surface; they each have their advantages. This piece was photographed immediately after completion, and before I had pressed it flat again.
Sunrise at the Trailhead
Inspired by a vibrant September sunrise at a local trailhead. A favorite source of inspiration for me is the opportunity to watch the sunrise before a hike.
The Art of M. Elisabeth Howell 