De'ja Vu?

I woke up this morning to find this photo of ' Philadelphia Alley' on today's Facebook post from 'Glimpses of Charleston'. It was taken from almost the same spot I sketched my pastel of this well known street.

Its a different time of day so the color palette is different, but I think I nailed the sense of place.

Charleston Series Complete 8 '15

"The Good Life" 10 "w' x 8 "h pastel

I've finally finished all of the paintings of Charleston's landmarks that I started working on at the end of May. My goal when I began this project was to have eight paintings completed, framed and ready to exhibit by the middle of July.

St. Phillips on Church Street 8"w x 10 h pastel

I had four of them completed before we went to our family reunion in Sedona,


Chalmers Charmers 10"w x 8"h pastel

and had plans to paint another four by the first week in July.


The First Red Dot 8"w x 10"h pastel

Add another week in for getting them named, framed, and all the paperwork ready for the gallery and I should have been right on schedule for delivery some fresh new artwork to the gallery right at the peak of the summer tourist season.


Pineapple Fountain 10"w x 8"h pastel

Well you know what they say about the best laid plans. I hadn't thought about what a strong impact the trip to Sedona would have on me. 

The Museum on Meeting and Market

Not only was I terribly homesick for the West, I couldn't get the images of Sedona out of my head.


St Michael's on Broad Street 10"w x 8"h pastel

Five paintings of Sedona later, I've finally worked most of Sedona out of my system. Bruce and I took a day trip to Charleston so I could refill my mind's eye with all of that city's unique charm. It worked.


Midday in Philadelphia Alley 8"w x 10"h pastel

I was able to complete the paintings had begun in June, and added four new ones to complete the set. Of course, I will be delivering them to the gallery a month later than I planned., but the good news is that I have rediscovered how much fun it is to work in pastels.

Stan Sperlak Gogh Box 12'13

STAN SPERLAK GOGH BOX

Guess what arrived on my door step last night.....

 A Happy New Years gift of a Stan Sperlak Gogh Box

from my  wonderful  husband, Bruce.  

He'd seen me struggling to juggle my pastel equipment  out of doors on our last trip, and read my review of what I needed, then decided it would be easier to buy me a full kit with all the components than for me to try to assemble them. 

Resourceful soul that he is,  he checked through my Facebook  friends  for the equipment that other pastel artists were using (and probably checked my Yahoo bookmarks for art supplies) and decided that the Gogh Box looked perfect.

The only issue was whether I would get it in time.  Stan Sperlak's crew rushed it out on the Monday before Christmas so I would get it before the New Years.   A Huge Thank You to  goes out to  Bruce and to Stan and the Sperlak Office  Staff for going over and beyond.

I am so happy.  I can't wait toload it up with my pastels and do some plein air paintings in 2014

St Augustine, Florida - Last Day 12' 13

Florida Lightening Storm 8" x 10" pastel

 We had wanted to visit  Cape Canaveral and tour the Kennedy Space Center on this visit to Florida, but the mother nature had different plans for us.   All started off well enough in the morning when we headed  south on Florida coastal highway A1A, but the further South we went, the rougher the weather got.  By the time we reached the Palm Coast we were hitting heavy rain, lightening and  were being buffeted about by some very strong wind. gusts.  A police car flagged us down.  He said the storm was predicted to get much worse and advised us to turn around.    It was Good Advice..  We heard later on on the news that a tornado had touched down in the area shortly after we left, and had ripped apart 6 or 7 homes and brought down power lines all over the area.  Needless to say I wasn't going to tempt fate by trying to plein air paint in that weather, but once I got home,  I was able to paint this picture from a composite of  several photos I managed to capture from the car.

St Augustine, Florida - Basilica of St Augustine 12'13

St Augustine Basilica

While windy and cold, the weather  looked like it would remain dry through the evening ,so we decided to do a walking tour of the old city of St Augustine.   I took my plein air equipment along ( just in case) . W e got there well before the golden hour so I had plenty of time to scout out a location.  While I got lots of good reference photos  It was the Bell Tower of the Basilica of St Augustine standing proud against the heavens above that really captured my attention.   

Below is my  rendition of St. Augustine Cathedral  (5" x 7" pastel)

St Augustine, Florida: Gypsy Cab Company 12'13

I have been breakfast and lunches every day, but every evening we are eating eaten out.  We've found some really good local restaurants.  Tonight we had some fabulous seafood  at the Gypsy Cab Company.

Loved the neon lighting on their facade

Actually the Gypsy Cab Company is  on the main drag in Anastasia Island just over the Bridge of Lions.  It features what it calls an Urban Fare menu ,with made-from-scratch items throughout the year.  Whatever it is called the food is fabulous.

The restaurant opened its doors in 1983 and has been winning awards for it's excellent cuisine ever since.    Even tat 4 pm, their parking lot was packed.  We arrived just in time to watch the neon lights come on..  That settled it... I just had to paint this little 5" x 7"  nocturne of  the Gypsy Cab Company.

St Augustine, Fl: Swilcan Bridge 12 '13

 This morning, we woke to temperature that were 25 degrees lower than yesterday.  Factor in wind and rain, and golf and out of door site seeing was clearly out of the question.  We decided to explore the World Golf Hall of Fame which is within walking distance of our condo.

The World Golf 's Hall of Fame provides an extensive look at the game of golf through stories, artifacts, videos, art and photography of its members within 75,000 square foot exhibition space. Included in the  museums exhibits is a replica of the famous Swilcan Bridge at St. Andrews.  Of course we had to have our photo taken on the bridge as a souvenir.

Hall of Fame Swilcan Bridge Replica

Needless to say, the Hall of Fame was not going to allow me to set up  inside the museum to paint the bridge, but I did get some photos of the replica to use as the basis for this little study. 

Swilcan Bridge at St Andrews 5"x 7" pastel

 Initially I had painted the background buildings more realistic, but decided that was too much detail for such a small painting.  All I really wanted was  to convey the sense of age and history, so I made the buildings'  shapes more obscure and emphasized the roughness of the bridge.

 

St Augustine, Florida: Salt Water Cowboys 12'13

Salt Water Cowboy 5" x 7" pastel

After a very long 6 hour drive to St Augustine, both of us were ready for something to nourish our stomachs and sooth our weary spirits.  We found both when we picked  Salt Water Cowboys out from the long list of restaurants in the Yellow Pages.  This  hidden gem is a small  seafood shack built out over  the salt marsh at the end of a unpaved residential street.   It's very popular with the locals, and for good reason.  The food is delicious and the views are  breathtaking.  We  got there just before dusk and I was able to grab a couple of photos which I used to paint the 5" x 7"  pastel the next morning.

 

Prepping for painting in St Augustine, Florida 12 '13

As a belated Hanukkah gift to one another, my husband and I are heading to  St Augustine, Florida  tomorrow for a weeks vacation.   Bruce wants to do some golfing at their two famous courses -The Slammer and The Squire, AND The King and the Bear.  I want to find some place warmer than South Carolina and hopefully find something interesting to paint.

Assorted pastels sorted by value and temperature

 I usually bring along  my oil painting equipment on road trips, but often find that it is impossible to fit even a two hour plein air session into our whirl-wind site seeing day schedule,.   So this trip I am taking a cue from the traveling artist guru,  Karen Margulis, on packing light and painting small..

Aceo size, 5" x 7" and 8" x 10" home made pastel paper

After studying  some web cams in the St Augustine area for their current local colors, I chose a small assortment of  pastels that seemed to fit the area.  I snugged the pastels between some foam pads in a cardboard box.  I also took a tiny watercolor kit to use for quick studies or to use as a ground beneath the pastels.  I then cut up some water color paper into 5" x 7" sheets then brushed several coats of clear gesso on the paper  The clear gesso stiffens and waterproofs the paper, while adding some tooth for pastels to grip.  Add a couple of water color brushes, a sheet of foam core and a small role of painters tape ( to attach the  pastel paper to the foam core while painting), a pack of hand wipes, some paper towels and a canvas bag to carry it  all, and I am ready to go.

How to capture a butterfly without a net 9 "13

Once again..We're in the midst of the annual butterfly migration . Thousands of monarchs are headed south for the winter.  They're so beautiful to watch as the float by like little fairies.  This is a quick ( 1 hour) pastel study of a monarch resting on some goldenrod. It was done en plein air at the campsite we are staying in in North Carolina.  When I was a kid, the camp counselors taught us to catalog the smaller wildlife we saw by netting it and pinning it in a box. This little 7" x 5"  study seemed so much better an option for capturing the creature

"Don't Fence Me In" SOLD

"Don't Fence Me In"

My  11" x 14"  pastel painting  " Don't Fence Me In" has a new home..I hope it continues to evoke a sense of how precious out coastal dunes  are in every one who sees it.

New Paintings at CAG Oct 1

Pastel Paintings from Dunes Series

Sunday, Sept 30th was change-out day at the Charleston Artist Guild Gallery.  Here's my new paintings. They show off well against the neutral green wall.

My Studio pastel set organization

My Studio Pastel Sets

A follower wrote to ask how many pastels I have.  To be honest, I've lost count... but it is a lot.  The studio sets are all sorted by value ( 9 different values in the studio set), ( as compared to 6 values in the travel set) .  The full sticks in the studio are also sorted by hue ( see right side of photo).  The broken smaller pieces are also sorted into nine values but all the hues are mixed together in each value pile (You can see the broken set clear plastic organizer on the lower left of the picture).

Whenever I purchase a new pastel stick I immediately decide what hue it falls into then test it against the others in that set until I figure out it's value by making a wide swatch with the side of a known value then dragging the new one through it.  If I can't see the edges  when I squint the value is close... (Sometimes I also use red lens sunglasses to check for value differences.) Once I have decided on the new stick's value, I  label it with its product # and value on a 1/2 " white label which I wrap around one end of the stick.  When a pastel gets used down to that label, I know it is time to order another of that product#, before I move the remainder into the broken pile.

It took me a long time to get this organized but the effort has paid off over and over again in terms of being able to quickly find the hue and value I need.

S/he who has the most Travel Toys wins

My plein air pastel kit ( pastels, paper, easel)

Bruce says he's jealous... my travel toys ( i.e plein air paint kit) wieghs more than his travel toys ( i.e. fishing equipment).    I think he's forgetting the golf, and scuba gear he brings along on our trips.

Alvin B. Glen Exhibition

Last night we attended Charleston Artist Gallery's Opening Reception for Alvin B Glen  Exhibition "Glimpses of the Low Country".  His style could be called Surreal-Realism. Seldom are images in fully recognizable environments. He either includes or takes away some element allowing the viewer to complete the image. Bright colors are used to catch the eye to engage the viewer.

"The images in this exhibit give brief looks into how I grew up and how new experiences affected my view of the familiar, the expected and the new. I prefer not to tell a complete story, but instead allow the viewer to complete the story with the knowledge they bring to the piece."
Visit the Charleston Artist Guild Gallery during the month of July to catch a "Glimpse of the Low Country" and complete a story of your own. Gallery is open Sun through Sat 11am-6pm.

On my Walls

Inspired by the reference photos I've taken at local beaches,  I've been working on a series pastel paintings of of the low- country dunes .  I decided to let them hang on my living-room gallery wall  for a few days before I let the Island Art Gallery sell them all .

I may even have a little gallery showing for the neighbors before I send them off.

( Heh!  Works for me.  Any excuse for a party!)

Introducing My Fine Arts America Website

I have created a website with Fine Art America specifically for those who are interested in purchasing reprints of some of my original artworks.  Check it out at:

http://cecelia-campbell.artistwebsites.com/

Second in the Beach Dunes Series Competed

"Candles in the Wind"

 

 

This pastel was fun to paint.  I started out with large  warm washes of  purples and maroons to add contrast and warmth to what I knew would be a VERY GREEN painting.  That and a walk on the beach this morning to study the shape of the yucca plants really helped the painting.

Beach Dune Series begun

"Beach Palmettos"

Just completed the first of a new series of pastel paintings on beach dunes with sea oats.

More new paintings at Island Art Gallery

 Next I took some of my pastel paintings of  low country clouds over to Island Art Gallery in Pawleys Island

Their white driftwood framed pastels  look lovely against the white walls of the gallery.