Outer Banks Memory Books

  These are the memory books that I created.  The outside is natural paper with pressed flowers; the binding is decorative wood and the inside contains white paper bags that can be filled with cards, letters and other collectibles. :)

artwork in Duck and flowers :)

  I took photos of the artwork at the Duck location and of the store itself.  There were quite a few reflections, but i did the best I could!  I have been sketching on flowers with dimension and am constantly trying out new ideas.  I like to add a little "flair" to my flowers and try to keep them bright and interesting. :)

Framed pieces ready for sale in Duck

  I have several pieces framed and ready to go hang in the store located in Duck, N.C.  I will post pictures of how they look matted and framed later as it is almost time to leave.  These are two of the pieces I will have there. :)

8x10 pastel

I haven't figured out yet to get all these on one blog.

Charcoal sketches, 5x7 Pastel and 8x10 Pastel

Wow- I must  say that I am not a fan of doing 5x7 pastels.  They take forever and it was extremely difficult to keep the original composition.  The 8x10 however, was a joy to do and more true to my personal style.  As usual, please feel free to leave feed-back and thanks again for viewing my work. :)  Happy Easter!

charcoal sketch of duck and shells

    I am sketching just about anything that captures my interest.   The more sketches I have to use as reference points for pastels, the more options I have.  I have been sketching in the morning before anyone else gets up because my focus is better.  The Pastel for the day will be posted later tonight.  :)

A Lone Elephant in Pastels

This is the first pastel I've completed using my elephant sketch.  Let me know what you think! :)

An Elephant Sketch

  I've always drawn pictures I liked that I saw in books or magazines.  People would often ask me to reproduce a picture they admired and wanted to hang on their wall.  I enjoy being able to copy artwork as I own a variety of pictures that I could never have produced without copying.  I free-hand everything, but I still longed for the ability to create beautiful pictures from my own heart and soul.  I have a huge imagination and a photographic memory when it comes to print, but not when it comes to pictures.  Pastels became my outlet to "original" work.  My husband is a photographer so I decided to try sketching from photographs because these drawings would be originals as well.  I am now at the beginning of my sketching journey and hope to be able to combine the sketching of "real" things with the imagination and originality of my pastel work. :)

A Passion For Pastels

I love working with both hard and soft pastels.  The free-flowing style that I can produce with them brings out the best of me.  I never know what will emerge and am often surprised at the emotions and images that appear on the paper.  As a little girl, I never colored outside the lines.  I never realized how restricting that was until I discovered the feeling of freedom I felt when I allowed myself to cross over lines, smudge areas and just simply enjoy myself. :)

New to blogging

  I am new to the "blogging thing" so I will keep this short and sweet.  I am an artist and will be writing about my journey along the artist's path.  I would appreciate any suggestions on how to improve this page and make it both visually appealing and interesting.