How I Rescue A Failed Painting -What’s On The Easel? Or Puzzle Painting

I was working on a pastel painting en plen air this summer and it just wasn’t coming together so I rinsed off  the  Uart sanded paper I was using, removing the pastel . I’m starting over with an easel painting from a photo . I always feel when I start a painting I’m starting a new puzzle, placing pieces in place . I’m trying to get a basic outline and shape of the puzzle painting ! Here’s a start of my puzzle painting:

Stay tuned for the next pieces in the puzzle! Looks like a jumble of lines right now!

Hi I’m back and busy painting and cooking!

I have been collecting recipes and trying new things this winter and painting in both pastel and acrylic. I will post a recipe and a painting.

I have been baking bread nearly every week as I found a great No Knead Peasant Bread recipe from a fave site Food52

Here’s the Recipe:

Alexandra Stafford's No-Knead Peasant Bread

By Genius Recipes

This is it: the bread recipe so simple and good, it will get you baking bread every week—even if you’ve never made a loaf in your life. It’s the comforting, no-knead peasant bread that’s ready in as little as 2 hours, unlike other no-knead breads that are ready ... tomorrow. Recipe adapted slightly from Makes two 14-ounce loavesPrep time: 2 hrs 45 min 
Cook time: 35 min

• 4 cups (512 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 cups lukewarm water, made by mixing 1/2 cup boiling water with 1 1/2 cups cold water
• Softened unsalted butter, for greasing

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast. Add the water. Using a rubber spatula, mix until the water is absorbed and the ingredients form a sticky dough ball. (If you need to use active dry yeast instead, proof it in the lukewarm water first for about 10 minutes, until foamy, before adding to the other ingredients.)
2. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm spot to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the dough has doubled in bulk. Note: Here's a trick for making the perfect warm spot for the dough to rise. Set the oven to 400° F and let it preheat for 1 minute, then shut it off. The temperature will be between 80° F and 100° F. you should be able to place your hands (carefully) on the oven grates without burning them. 
3. Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 425° F. Grease two 1-quart oven-safe bowls, like Pyrex (see note below), with softened butter—be generous. Using two forks, deflate the dough by releasing it from the sides of the bowl and pulling it toward the center. Rotate the bowl quarter turns as you deflate, turning the mass into a rough ball.
4. Using your two forks and working from the center out, separate the dough into two equal pieces. Use the forks to lift each half of the dough into a prepared bowl. If the dough is too wet to transfer with forks, lightly grease your hands with butter or oil, then transfer half to a bowl. (If your dough drops and breaks apart on the transfer, don't worry, just divvy the dough between the bowls and it will come back together as it rises.) Do not cover the bowls. Let the dough rise on the countertop near the oven (or another warm, draft-free spot) for 10 to 20 minutes, until the top of the dough just crowns the rims of the bowls.
5. Transfer the bowls to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375° F and bake for 17 to 20 minutes more, until evenly golden all around. Remove the bowls from the oven and turn the loaves out onto cooling racks. If the loaves look pale, return them to their bowls and bake for 5 minutes longer. Let the loaves cool for 15 minutes before cutting. 
6. Note: If you don't have 2 one-quart bowls, you may use other vessels, though differences in pan sizes will affect the shape of the final loaves. This recipe can be adapted for 2 loaf pans (preferably 8.5 x 4.5-inch pans) by multiplying the quantities of ingredients by 1.5 (i.e. 6 cups/768g flour, 3 cups water, etc.).
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Mini Pastel

Adirondack Mountain mini pastel. What a vista and fun to

Paint. 3”x 5”.

How I Can Never Make A Stroke And Leave It

Finally finished the painting and I’m on to the next! This just

screamed Summer! 8x10 “Beach Walk”

Make A Stroke And Leave It

I read recently one of my favorite pastel artists,Tony Alain, quote the above words and I try to tell myself to do this. Sadly, I cannot.

It is just that I keep working until I feel finished with my work. This little seascape almost or nearly finished but there are a few more

Strokes needed and then I will leave it! Stay tuned for my next post!

After Inness

Today at 8:05 AM

Tried a little tonal painting today after the American painter George Inness who studied the works of the Hudson River School Painters . Inness's property in Montclair, New Jersey, was the subject of many of his late works. In this winter scene, he captured the stillness of twilight in layers of thinly applied paint, evoking an atmosphere rather than recording topographical details. The artist’s son wrote of the painting: “There is nothing startling in this great work of art, and yet you are filled with a sense of bigness, grandeur, and the very conviction of truth and nature.”

Waiting For The Snow To Melt

Plein air painting is about leaving the four walls of your studio behind and experiencing painting and drawing in the landscape. The practice goes back for centuries but was truly made into an art form by the French and I can’t wait!