Photo of the Barn at Shepherd’s Corner

Most of my paintings this summer have been scenes at two environmental centers – Shepherd’s Corner, in Backlick, operated by the Dominican Sisters of Peace, and The Brown Family Environmental Center at Kenyon College.  This post will focus on Shepherd’s Corner.

I painted at Shepherd’s Corner one Friday last fall and spoke briefly with the gardener there.  This spring, the center’s director, Sister Rose Ann Van Buren followed up to see if I would help recruit other artists to paint there and donate the artwork to be sold at the center’s 25th anniversary celebration on September 16th.

A.J. the Shepherd

Inspiration for painting is everywhere you turn.  Shepherd’s Corner has a flock of sheep kept in line by A.J., the resident llama. He’s really quite vain and seemed to pose for photos.  He was once a show animal, so he’s got the modeling thing down pat.  This is an 8″x8″ pastel done from a photo.  While A.J. is an experienced model, I’m not skilled enough to paint a moving target.

Wild Ones

The farmer and volunteers raise vegetables sold at a farm stand, with massive amounts being donated to local food pantries.  While they are not certified organic, they do use organic practices.  This oil painting of the wild flowers was done plein air near the garden fence.

This painting was done from a photo taken on a day when the sky looked like rain at any minute.  I took the photo from a low angle looking up under the porch roof on the barn.

Reflections in the Vernal Pool

Part of the area is wild with meandering meditation trails and a labyrinth.  There’s a vernal pool with a bridge over the wetland.  There are surprising little spaces with benches or interesting views.

I really enjoyed painting there. I have so many more photos that I want to work into paintings.   I hope these paintings sell for a good price during the Shepherd’s Corner anniversary celebration in September.  It really is a worthy cause.

I posted an invitation to artists on three art organizations’ Facebook pages, but  I don’t think there was much response.  I understand why many artists aren’t keen on donating work. Sometimes charities sell it below market value which can have an impact on the rest of the artists portfolio.  Also, most people who request donations don’t know that artists can only use the cost of materials as a tax deduction, not the value of the artwork.  I’m very fortunate that neither of those considerations has a big personal impact, so off these paintings go to Shepherd’s Corner.  May they turn into dollars which in turn become vegetables for hungry people.

I’ve been wanting to do a picture of Lucy for quite a while.  She’s the faithful sidekick who nestles under my desk chair when I’m blogging.  While most of February was warm, we did have one snowy morning where I sat in my rocker reading and drinking tea while  Lucy watched robins in the snow.  She’s pretty vigilant about any activity outside that door.  I didn’t get any good pictures of the robins, but I did get a few of Lucy.

I’ve found that my oils and pastels turn out much better if I do a detailed pencil sketch to really study the composition and work out the shapes and values.  Overall I liked the sketch  but there was too much foreground.  I was going for a feeling of coziness with snow and cold outside the door, so I decided to leave in the rocking chair and granny square afghan (made by my granny, better known as Baba).  I let those details sink into the shadows so that Lucy could remain the starring attraction.

I had just watched a DVD by Richard McKinley about the stages in creating a pastel.  I wanted to experiment with Pastelmat but wasn’t sure if I could do a watercolor underpainting like McKinley sometimes does. Some pastel paper will buckle  or get too soggy if you wet it.  My ace advisor, Nancy Vance, said she thought it would work but backed up her advice with a reference to Karen Margulis’s blog.

http://kemstudios.blogspot.com/2012/01/have-you-tried-pastelmat-yet-6-reasons.html

(Sometimes I need a village to get the job done.)

So I transferred the basics from the sketch to the Pastelmat and did the watercolor underpainting.  The paper reacted differently than the UART paper that I’m used to, just as Karen said it would.

With a solid underpainting it seemed like the pastel painted itself.  I started with the darks and worked from large areas to smaller ones.  Usually I’m in too big of a hurry, but I did this painting in increments over several days, taking my time and leaving details until the end.  Here’s “Lucy on the Lookout” or “Watching Robins in the Snow”.

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