Last night we had quite a turnout for Laura Appleby's opening reception. Nearly all of her pastel studies sold within the first hour as well as one of her large oil paintings of a winter landscape.

Laura demonstrated her process of creating a landscape with pastels. Working from a photograph, she began by sketching in general shapes of the shadows in the landscape with blue and brown pastels on foam core that she had previously prepared with pastel ground. The pastel ground was applied with big textural brushstrokes which gave an overall  painterly surface. After sketching in the shadows, Laura misted the entire piece with odorless mineral spirits and used a large brush to work the color down into the textures of the ground. She then began adding her lighter colors in the sky and worked from background to foreground adding in the colors and details of the scene. 

While she was working, she discussed the importance of a limited palette to create unity within the piece as well as the importance of the golden mean in placing her focal point, a haystack. Laura showed how the stream in the scene led the viewer's eye back into the picture and toward her focal point. She also pointed out all the blues in her tree line and mentioned how few people notice all the blues in the shadows of the woods in the winter.

If you were not able to join us for the reception and demonstration, be sure to stop in soon to see her work. There are some lovely winter landscapes to enjoy now that our snow has melted.