A Year in 60 Seconds

Alter Ego: Grandma Red

Just 2 grandmas per family? Not anymore. I eventually became Grandma Red, named for our special, one-of-a-kind, couldn't ask for better, dog. He's small, handsome, everybody loves him.

So my page, Grandma Red Paints Small, is for small, pretty, everybody-will-love-them, paintings and thoughts. Enjoy.

For our Veterans

Remembrance, Pastel, 24x18

Honoring our veterans and all who serve in the military. Remembrance is a reflection of my personal feeling and those shared by all who visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC.

Except for that

The golf ball flew into the air, really into the air, then landed in the sand. "That was a good shot, except for that."

Did I actually say those words? Does sounds dumb, huh? Yes and no. My fairway shots always just skim the ground, never make that beautiful air lob. This one, the direction was off, but the ball was up. Major accomplishment.

How does this relate to art? "It's a good painting, except for that corner," (or that color or the background or . . . whatever your reoccurring problem is). So, just as I will hit another thousand practice balls to perfect that airborne shot, I will work through my painting problem. I'll question what's wrong? how do I fix it. I'll face my nemesis, eventually having more high flyers--in both art and golf. I WANT to get rid of the "except for that." 

My paintings of golf course

Zoom and fix. Voila!

Pepsi Man, Pastel, 18x24

Pepsi Man was finished and photographed. But something in the face bothered me. I didn't know what, so didn't how to fix it.

As I prepared a CD of Pepsi Man for a competition, my mind wandered: How are jurors looking at the images, now that they are digital. (Remember how all entries used to be slides?) Staring at the image on my monitor, I realized that areas of the image could be enlarged to get a better peek at how the medium and color were handled. Does the juror do that? I don't know, but it became an instant learning tool for me. 

When I zoomed in on the eyes, I got a big shout out as to what was wrong! Fixing it was easy with a few simple swipes of pastel. The eyes now looked away, and in the same direction. As I stepped back, away from the painting, Pepsi Man actually seemed to have changed personality. What little effort it took!  

I hope you can benefit from this "Voila" moment. And that you will be more careful than I, and make sure you photograph that last minute change. I forgot to do it!

I was lazy . . . and that's good.

I love painting with pastels, but pastel dust IS messy. It sifts down; it magically transfers from the hand to a clean stick. So I always try to clean my pastels and work area when a painting is finished. Like starting fresh.

Reflections on the Williams was finished, and I was tired. I dropped the pastels into my Cherry Pastel Cleaner. It would have taken at most five minutes to run the machine, sift the pastels out, and sort them back into the clean ones. But they sat there, dirty, on top of the grits.

Delhi Gaze, Pastel, 10x8

Next day I revisited Evening Song, deciding to paint the focus petals larger. Delhi Gaze came out of hiding and needed a new layer of pastel. Then Pondicherry Beach Nuts chanted, "start me, finish me." All the while, the Reflections pastels sat in the cleaner, dirty, on top of the grits.

Being lazy turned out to be good. Finally giving the Cherry Cleaner a whirl, I realized that not having cleaned the first batch of pastels kept me from using them. And that insured that the next painting would not use the same set of colors. My favorites were captive in the cleaner; I was forced to choose only the colors that were on my clean palette. 

What's with the grits? That good ole southern food is the perfect, mildly abrasive product for the Cherry Pastel Cleaner. The Cleaner tumbles and vibrates the pastels, removing all the dirty residue. Cherry is hosting their First Annual Pastel Classic online, terrific images, terrific product. 

Coincidence, or the right choices?

How do we decide what to paint, and what happens in our art journey? Is it just an accidental choice, or is it kismet? 

I believe that, rather than coincidence, it is a melding of decisions and choices that influence each other. Those "accidental happenings" set us upon a path, maybe a new direction.  

During our time in the Middle East, my husband and I traveled twice to India; first to Delhi and Agra, then Madras and the South Coastline. I love the inlaid marble, the beautiful silk rugs, pashmina shawls and ikat that came home with us. And I love the memory of color and activity. Lately my painting muse seems enchanted again with India: the pastel sticks have found their way to the faces of India, with the Pepsi man and the boy mechanic.

Now, a great movie: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful. Just a glimpse of a commercial had led to, "I want to see the Marigold one," not knowing exactly what that was. Was it another coincidence that this movie was set in India? Nope, I think it was part of the twisting, winding road that leads a certain destination. At this point I do not know what that destination is, but don't I love an adventure! So I think I'll continue to concentrate on painting India, its many sights and people.

And who knows, maybe I'll finally be confident enought to paint the beautiful Taj. 

P.S. the movie was delightful, heartwarming, with a feel good ending. It's not a special effects or exaggerated movie; all the people and scenes depict what we saw for real in our travels in India. Loved it all. 

Remembrance, Pastel, 24x18. Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, DC. 


The Mall in DC is filled with magnificent memorials and structures, but none filled me with a sense of awe and reverence like The Wall. It is stunning in its simplicity and beauty, and reflections. 


I decided to paint this as a solitary figure gently touching a remembered name. Although the reflections are spectators, they seem to embody the soldiers who are honored with their names carved into the marble.

Faces of Kenya

Faces of Kenya, 1996. A long time ago, but the memories and photos of the Maasai and Samburu linger and rewind into an ongoing series of paintings. Enjoy them in my video, pulsing with music and sights, then give me a google +1. Thanks!

Right Brain Left Brain

Lots of people will say they are not creative. But painting does not flow just from the creative side of the brain. True, that's the enjoyable part of painting: stroking the splash of color, not believing you are actually going to use THAT color. Seeing a real emotion materialize on paper as a face comes alive is almost like being outside your body, watching something being created. Sometimes you wonder how the painting came to that point.

But painting also REQUIRES the analytical side of the brain: the whole process from white, blank paper to masterpiece is problem solving and decision making. The nose looks too long; how can I use color or shape to change it? I need the background to sit down; how can I make the flat ground not look like a wall staring at me? The composition is one sided; do I crop the finished work or add content on that side?

Even, as in this painting, my husband took a 30 second look and said, "his face is too young, skin too smooth." So, how could I age him? Or , again this painting, I love this part of the background, but this side isn't working; what to do? And, the right side needs a better negative space, but gosh I really don't want to draw another bottle. Add, or leave it? The thinking, deciding, doing is a constant that, hopefully, brings the painting to a beautiful finish. 

I know I will continue working on this painting. Some parts still bother me, especially the background. But parts of it are good, the result of all those decisions!

View the 30 second video from white paper to all those Pepsi bottles.

Frilly Lily

Frilly Lily, what better name could there be? She's just in time for Easter and painted in her natural colors. Stroll through My Garden and Pick A Flower. $150 easy PayPal purchase on my website.

The pastel painting of this flower did not require any made-up colors; I just wanted to paint the fragile, delicate petals as nature made them. Planted and blooming in the D.C. Museum Mall area, this lily had many friends. Lavishly planted beds of color kept my camera clicking, as I walked from one museum tour to another. It's a wonderful, beautiful part of our nation. 

Flowers and Color Imagination

"Take a look at this." My mentor friend showed me a fantastically colored painting of a flower — oversized, in imagined color, but absolutely as recognizable as if it had been painted in its local color. Seeing the creativeness of that artist in painting a flower was an "aha" moment. I had never wanted to paint flowers before; painting people is my thing. 

But this way of looking at a flower, painting a single bloom rather than a floral arrangement, painting in colors that come solely from imagination, that would be fun. I knew I could use a black and white photo as a value study and translate those values to whatever color scheme I chose.

Kaleidoscope Magnolia was the first, and was a big hit. Many flower paintings have since found their way onto my easel. They become mesmerizing, and looser than my figurative art.

Reading Vanessa Diffenbaugh's book, The Language of Flowers, I realized that all this time I had been telling the language of flowers with my paintings. Instead of using words to describe flowers, I had been using the beautiful range of pastel colors to describe their them.

I've admired Raphael's The Three Graces, and many artists' interpretation of them. It was an easy transition to my version, three magnolia blooms twining and curving into each other. My own Three Graces grace the opening scene in my YouTube Video, Painting the Language of Flowers. Enjoy the pastels, the color, the music, then visit Pick A Flower, to purchase an original for $150.

Pick A Flower

Got 30 seconds? Actually, this video is shorter than that, so .... Pick a Flower.

Pick A Flower

I love golf, just about as much as I love painting. This little story by a golfer brings home a point most of us could apply to our artwork as easily as to any sport or activity we love: Play a game that you want to play.