I'd love to do more pastels. My pastel sets are back home in Ontario though. Weren't the most travel-friendly. So I opted to bring my charcoal and a watercolor set instead.

But pastel's one I'd definitely like to work in more. Before I flew to Cal, I was working on a pastel of a Peruvian Lily. Before that, I did a butterfly pastel.

I have a whole folder of photos on my computer I specifically took for pastel pieces. I hadn't touched pastels in years till the butterfly piece. Forgot how much fun they are. I want to use them more consistently from now on. I stocked up on pastel papers too, so I'm all set!

Going to do a blue rose for my mother, then I have some other floral and insect photos I'd like to do. Some butterflies from a Conservation Area near my house, etc.

Here's a bay roan Breyer Stablemate I customized yesterday. Today I glossed his hooves and eyes and signed him; he's ready for auction.

Handsome! My granddaughter collects Breyer horses...she's been to Breyer Fest several times.

gingin said: Handsome! My granddaughter collects Breyer horses...she's been to Breyer Fest several times.

Thanks!
Does she have a favorite mold? Lucky her, I've never been to the Breyefest; for one thing its too far, and too expensive for me. However, I don't regret never going though, too crowded.
I still have a collection consisting of new and old USA models and add one for keeps only very great now and then. I'm really picky on keepers because Breyers just gone too downhill for me. Too many unicorns and pathetic paint jobs for high prices. I use their models just to make money off of mostly.

Here's the pastel Peruvian lily I was working on. Just need to do the background on it.

One of my favorite flowers! Great job!

Beautiful, TK! You did a lovely job.

Wow, that's beautiful!! Great job!

Aw... thanks everyone.

Calif_Sue said: One of my favorite flowers! Great job!

They're rather cute aren't they? I only just recently got to see some in-person. Hadn't seen them before other than photos. There were a bunch in the SF Botanical Garden.

You are all so skilled thanks for sharing

It's not very interesting yet, but here's the charcoal Leucadendron I started. Decided to do the background all black, so the plant will really stand out. I did a rose and Plumeria with black backgrounds a while back too, so I thought they might look nice as a set together.

really nice! Love the lily. Beautiful pastel work.

Here's some more progress. It's more interesting now.

Its fantastic!

I share my latest project on the GardenBuddies post but found this today.
Enjoy!

It's beautiful!!!

Been playing with granulating paints. Not sure if I like em. They look really pretty on the little swatches I painted out, but once they go on paper, they dont spread nicely. They end up kinda blotchy...


This one's got ground up amethyst in it. Lovely sparkle and color. But couldnt get a smooth background.

I like it, kind of looks like marble.

Found some old Honduras mahogany bookshelves at a salvage sale, from a century-old building. Tapped, they rang like a bell. So I made some dulcimers with sitka spruce tops, fan bracing, and fingerboards of birdseye maple.



The tuning pegs are modern. Ebony violin pegs are prettier, but can be a pain (which is why most violins have those micro-tuners on the tailpiece.



When I finished one, I'd go to the uni and sit at the entrance to the student union and play. It usually took less than an hour to sell. The one pictured, a simple single-bout shape, I made for my mother and reclaimed when she died.