Our Land

'Pasture in Morning Mist', Alice Kelsey, Pastel

I'm so grateful to live in a place where the land around me inspires my artwork, and touches my soul. As I walked on our fifteen acre farm this morning, as I often do, the frost on the hay field refracted slanty sunrise light, creating zillions of gems. The grass crunched underfoot, a distinctive sound, that recalls Fall and adventure.These 'jewels' are the most valuable of all to me. The pastel in the photo was created after a summer morning walk, looking across our pasture and hay field.

Art Alliance 'Fall Colors' Studio Tour

Flowers and pastel at Studio Tour

I enjoyed meeting new people who love art, and sharing my own recent works at last weekend's Art Alliance of Central PA 'Fall Colors ' Studio Tour. I was delighted that many people made the trek to our 1870 farmhouse, where I have my studio and studio gallery. Visitors shared enthusiasm about my framed oil and pastel paintings, as well as the set-up in my studio. Many were interested in how to organize equipment to paint outdoors, and I showed them the backpack and pastel box which I use- maybe I'll post a photo and description of that in an upcoming blog entry. I also enjoyed hearing about others' approaches to art-making, and art appreciation- it was fun to share with so many lively, spirited people! And many, many thanks to my friend Betsy for creating the artful floral arrangements which so nicely complimented my paintings, and to my husband, Tim, for building so many helpful items for my art-making!

Fall Colors

Palette for oil painting

As I stepped in to my studio this morning, and saw the palette of mixed oil paints, I was struck by the shift to fall colors... neutrals, and some bright warms are moving in, and greens quieting. I love the grey blue of the sky on many of these recent days too! I've been out plein air painting on a few crisp mornings just after dawn, and am also working eagerly on a large (3 ft. x 4 ft.!) oil painting of Mt. Nittany in the studio- am enjoying working on this big scale, with lots of room for gesture and texture!