On the Athabaska, 16 x 12, pastelmat

I did this painting in the CAN studio this week, using a color palette that was inspired by the clothes that I wore to Annapolis last Saturday!!!  I didn’t have any aqua on, but knew that would work too.  So I went looking for a photo that I might use and found this one of the Athabaska River, near Jaspar, Alberta, that I painted  more realistically and sold some years ago.

My color palette was violets (blue and red), greyed reds, and aqua/turquoise. I used the “sienna” Pastelmat, which is a great color as it fit right into the color palette.  And I worked from a black and white photo, of course. Had to make up the foreground.

I just put this painting on Facebook with my new motto: “Life is short, paint with the colors you love”!  It was also fun to work on pastelmat again after working on the textured surface. I’m not giving up on texture, but putting soft pastels on this surface is sooooo seductive!

While doing this painting,  I learned of the sudden death of a librarian from the University of Vermont who was such a lovely, happy, giving person–Birdie McLennan. We never know, do we. So don’t put things off. Do what inspires you now!  Give yourself permission to be happy while you are painting!