Regina Calton Burchett - Drawings & Pastels » Nature

The Concert of the Trees

Regina — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 22:23:34 +0000

I posted this a while back, and was thinking of it today while I looked at all the green around me right after the wonderful rain we had. Trees give us so much, we can’t help but be grateful.

Bastrop Pines on a Cloudy Day

Regina — Sat, 22 May 2010 21:57:03 +0000

Bastrop Pines on a Cloudy Day

We lived in Bastrop County – in Cedar Creek, Bastrop, and Smithville – for many years and loved the beautiful Loblolly Pines there and the rolling hills. It’s a lovely and friendly area just east of Austin.

Ohio Mornings

Regina — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 03:23:10 +0000

We were able to travel through Ohio and some surrounding states recently and I took over 1200 photos. (Thank you to whomever invented digital cameras!) Of course, a lot of those were a blur of trees shot at 70 miles per hour. But I managed to get photos of at least 50 barns in four states and Canada. These are a few of my favorite photos, barns and other scenes, all taken in Ohio. We were so fortunate to have the beautiful mornings (and weather) that we did. The trees were just beginning to bud – I love the stark beauty of this time of year. I hope to be able to paint some of these soon! (I love taking pictures with the intention to paint the best ones. And I figure if you take over 1200 photos, surely some of them are bound to turn out good.)

LittleLandscape2

Regina — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:48:52 +0000

I like working on these 5×7 landscapes, but need to improve on… so many things. Not over-working a piece, brush type strokes rather than drawing, maintaining my way of painting without copying the current movement toward complete minimalism, while still studying to be a better artist…. practice, practice.

LittleLandscape2 5×7 Pastel

LittleLandscape1

Regina — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:54:47 +0000

I worked a bit more on my first little landscape, and think I like it better. After watching just part of the DVD on composition, I should have known better than to put a row of clouds all the way across the painting, even though that was how they occurred in the sky, as it stops the viewer’s eye from traveling through the painting. Hmmm.

Now I may wait for more inspiration on the trees

LittleLandscape1 5×7 Pastel

A little pastel landscape

Regina — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:49:19 +0000

I woke up at 5am, dreaming about pastels. I hadn’t been able to paint in so long (with the exception of my paintout with Jo almost two weeks ago), so went out to my studio a little before 6am and cleaned some, watched a DVD on composition for a while, went through a bunch of my sky photos to decide which one I wanted to paint. This was a fairly quick one I started – not sure if I am done yet. 5×7, pastel on sanded Art Spectrum paper

Little Landscape, 5x7, pastel

Mike Etie – Pastels and Oils

Regina — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:10:54 +0000

One of my friends from the Austin Pastel Society has a new blog – mikeetieart.blogspot.com – and a very nice art website

www.mikeetie.com

It will be well worth your time to visit and see his great landscapes.

Off the Path (WIP)

Regina — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:30:26 +0000

A fellow artist – Sandy Askey Adams – posted this tonight from “The Business of Art”, and I loved this contemplation of what art is, to artists.

“Do make art; do make good art; and do make it all through your life, because, really, that is the only reward you can expect. Selling your art is nice; public acclaim is nice; but it’s like the warmth of sunburn. It can be superficial and shortlived. Expect a lot from yourself, because finally your relationship with the art you make will be the major source of joy and sorrow in your life.”

I don’t think art could ever be a major source of sorrow for me, but I associate a wide range of feelings with art. The core feeling for me is when I am painting, and I’m starting to like the piece, I get excited… and sometimes, when I really start to like it – I feel like I’m dancing inside.

And since it’s been an extremely busy month for me, I haven’t been able to paint for almost four weeks. But after reading this, I decided a few hours wouldn’t hurt anything, and I worked on this pastel and it made me feel wonderful!

Sky Paintings, Cloud Paintings

Regina — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:18:13 +0000

Clouds, skies and light are very ethereal subjects to attempt to capture on paper or canvas. The expectant atmosphere of an impending storm or the welcome feel of a cool breeze just after sunset don’t easily translate into two dimensions. But I love to attempt that, and now have a large number of sky photos on my computer that I’ve taken over the last five years – and I hope to be able to paint many of them over the next decade or two. Here are some of my sky paintings to this point in time (this blog adjusts the h x w ratio):

(To see larger images in a slide show, go to this FLICKR page.)

Bathing Bunting

Regina — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:19:17 +0000

Back from my nephew’s wedding in North Carolina, and loaded up with work for the next month or two. I don’t know if I’ll find time for painting until September. But I saw a bunting yesterday and couldn’t find a camera in time. I thought they only came in the spring. I did get a camera today, but it wasn’t my husband’s good camera. The photos are a little fuzzy, but I was glad to get them. It’s been so hot here the last couple of weeks – 100 to 106, so I can see why these guys want a cool bath. I’ve been filling up the bird bath every day and saw the bunting out there, drinking and bathing. Then a cardinal came along and the bunting flew out of the bath.