Blog Archives
Q: What’s on the easel today?
Preliminary sketch
A: I’m working on a preliminary charcoal drawing for my next large pastel painting. It will be number seven in the “Bolivianos” series.
Comments are welcome!
Q: What’s on the easel today?
Ready to begin
A: I’m ready to begin a large – 38” x 58” – pastel-on-sandpaper painting, the sixth in my “Bolivianos” series. I love beginnings because I am looking at something new on my easel and there are so many possibilities!
Comments are welcome!
Q: What’s on the easel today?
Work in progress
A: I continue slowly working on “Shaman,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 26” x 20”. A long-time aficionado of psychological thrillers, horror, and sci-fi films, I have a high tolerance for the macabre. However, I admit that this one is a little creepy, considering those are snakes curling around the eyes. On a deep level this piece is about facing my own fears. The snakes have become metaphors.
Comments are welcome!
Q: What’s on the easel today?
Work in progress
A. I have just started working on a small pastel painting. Although the mask looks Tibetan, surprisingly, it is from Bolivia. It’s one I encountered at a mask exhibition at the Museum of Ethnography and Folklore in La Paz. This is another in my “Bolivianos” series.
Comments are welcome!
Q: What’s on the easel today?
Finished and signed
A: I have finally finished “Oracle,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 26” x 20.” It’s the third piece in my “Bolivianos” series.
Comments are welcome!
Q: What’s on the easel today?
Work in progress
A: I’m trying to finish “Oracle,” but every time I think I’m getting close, I see there are plenty of unresolved areas and/or things I can still improve.
Comments are welcome!
Q: What’s on the easel today?
Work in progress
A: This is the first day – with only one layer of soft pastel in most places – of a 38″ x 58″ pastel painting. It’s based on a photo I composed at the National Museum of Ethnography and Folklore in La Paz, Bolivia. This is the fourth work in my “Bolivianos” series.
Comments are welcome!
Q: Do you lose yourself in your work?
Barbara at work
A: Of course! When I am having a productive day in the studio, I am completely present and focused, fully immersed in solving technical problems and trying to improve the painting on my easel. I barely notice the time and have to remind myself to take a break or stop for lunch. Nothing else exists except the painting and my relationship with it. The rest of life completely falls away from my consciousness.
I believe most artists regularly experience this feeling of ‘flow.’ It is a state of being that is inherent and necessary to creative work of all kinds.
Comments are welcome!
Q: What’s on the easel today?
Work in progress
“The Orator,” soft pastel on sandpaper, 38” x 58”
A: Having finally finished “The Orator” (bottom), I continue working on a small pastel painting that does not have a title yet (top). The latter is the third piece in my “Bolivianos” series.
Comments are welcome!
Q: What’s on the easel today?
Work in progress
A: I’m working on the third pastel painting in my new “Bolivianos” series. This one is only a few days old and has no title yet.
Comments are welcome!
