Yesterday I went to my studio and spent the afternoon doing this painting. I grew up with cranberry bogs  down the street. We used to pick wild blueberries in summer and skate on them in winter when they were flooded. Now they are no longer farmed and belong to the Mattapoisett Land Trust. It’s a great area for walking and I took many pictures in early morning and evening. I thought about painting there but was concerned for ticks and other annoying insects!  But I loved this scene that I filmed early on. What I love is the hint of red still in the bogs that I enhanced. I did the entire underpainting in deep reds and browns, except the sky. Worked with both soft pastels and Giraults. I rather like putting on swatches of soft pastel and working them into the surface with the Giraults.  I expanded the flowers in the foreground and added another clump in the distance. I’m not sure what they are!  They aren’t roses, as I originally thought as the flower heads are too large.

I will be working on sanded surfaces for some time, I think. I have a sad story to tell you! After 10+ years of using Art Spectrum liquid primer and washing the brushes in my sink, the pipes to the studio sink and guest shower are completely clogged. We will be having a very expensive and disruptive plumbing job to replace the pipes and the shower!  Oh dear.

But I also think that people like the look of the sanded surfaces better. It seems to be what I sell anyway.  I really love the feel of the homemade surfaces and may go back to them, using a bucket of water to clean my brushes, but will stick to UART and Pastelbord for the time being.

Evening Light on the Bog, 20 x 16, UART 500