Cattail Meditation, new project in development phase

photo credit: R.C. Clingman

cattail meditation

Tundra Swans

I have been thinking about a project centered on my favorite Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. Enya's music always stirs me to think more, feel more, consider differently. The perfect accompaniment for a day of pondering a new project.

Cat Tails: Making it my own

Cat Tails
12 x 18, pastel on Wallis Museum

Today I felt quiet in the studio as I painted and my subject came from my beloved Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. I sketched and observed the wind on the cat tails for a long time last week. I sketched them, looked at them again, looked at the color, took a photo or two, looked at others. Some side-lit, some back-lit, some in full sun, others in shadow.

Today, a quiet painting. Still applying the design ideas, but making them my own.

I've known for a long time that I will paint cat tails, but Marc Hanson's painting, "Fluff," pushed me from 'will paint' to 'must paint.'