2016 calendar, anyone?

After a recent vacation in Hermosa Beach, a southern California beach town where my family lived in the 60s and where I spent the happiest years of my youth, an entire new world of painting subjects rolled up on my shore. I never really had an interest in painting seascapes or beach scenes, never even thought I was capable of it. I've become a figure painter for the most part. That's what I'm passionate about.

But when I spent a week in Hermosa Beach ... riding bikes on the Strand, basking in the warm sand, body surfing the waves (okay ... getting knocked down by the waves that I body surfed in my youth) ... I stepped into my young girl's bronze skin again and was reminded of how much I loved it there, how much the beach is a part of me. And then there is that realization that if an artist paints the subjects she is most passionate about, that passion will show up in the painting and the work will be good.

And so I'm painting a series of beach paintings with the idea that I'll put together an artsy-beachy calendar for 2016. This is such a great idea which was suggested by artist extraordinaire, Rita Kirkman,  when she gave a talk to the Austin Pastel Society about how to best market our work. It's brilliant when you think about it ... every month a different painting will be featured on some one's wall for 12 months!

I hope to do about 16 paintings so that I have 12 good ones to choose from, have a 2016 calendar printed by September 2015 and have it ready for holiday sales.

Here are a few beach paintings I've done so far. And yup, I'm combining two favorites ... figures on the beach. Double passion!

Beach calendar, anyone? I'll put your name on my list!

Golden
13 x 17 pastel

Blue Morning
8 x 10 pastel

Paddling Out
8 x 10 pastel