Wow, this was a long break from blogging! I was going to start again in September, but then we were preparing for a hurricane evacuation and Daniel's start of school. We ended up being able to stay home during Hurricane Irma as it had weakened to a tropical storm, but we didn't know until the last day. Luckily, we had no damage at all except no power for four days, which was nothing compared to what others experienced and are still experiencing.
I also spent the summer trying to understand the mind-boggling political situation in this country and the world. I will continue to keep my blog free of politics, but I did want to mention it here since it defined my summer to a large extent.
The paintings above and below were really fun commissions I worked on during the summer.
It made me feel quite powerless and so sad and angry to read about what this current US administration is doing and undoing. And then came the unbelievable natural disasters that were happening too fast and were too destructive to fully comprehend: incredibly strong hurricanes, earthquakes and now the deadly fires in California.
There was and is so much suffering so close to home and all in places we have visited. They are all places we love. And I have to say, this year's hurricane season was so unbelievable and so much more stressful as we often didn't know if we were going to be directly in the path. I'm so glad the season is finally winding down and the communities affected can heal and rebuild.
I noticed over the summer how my art was changing. At the beginning of the summer I still liked working loosely with acrylic inks and acrylic paint. I liked the element of surprise. Not so much later in the summer. There had been too many surprises that I had no control over and I noticed how I craved taking my time with my art and drawing more intentionally and realistically.
I found a wonderful young British artist on Patreon whose tutorials have taught me so much.
Here's the link if you are interested. The golden retriever above I drew with charcoal pencils and my nephew I rendered with graphite and charcoal.
What I really want to learn is how to draw realistically with colored pencils. I followed Kirsty's tutorial for this kingfisher bird using colored pencils and solvent and absolutely loved it.
I used to think I wasn't patient, but that's not true. I am so enjoying these drawings that take me many hours to complete. I'm working on one right now that's going to take me a few more days until it's done. Again with colored pencils.
Thank you for sticking with me. I have missed our interactions. I'll do a few more blog posts with all the photos I've taking over the summer in our garden and a few knitting projects I've finished or am still working on.
In the meantime, I hope you are all doing well!!
❧ Silke
I am still playing with the Altered Surfaces book, this time painting a quick little (4 x 6 inches) pastel portrait on acrylic paper covered with Golden Pastel Ground. It is great!! It allows you to make any surface suitable for working with pastels. You could also apply it to part of a painting and combine pastels with other media. I think I'm going to give that a try...
Every time after I have painted something that felt truly inspired to me and left me with such a feeling of pride of satisfaction, I want to do it again. And every single time, the second piece is alright, but doesn't feel inspired. 
After my recent DOA painting (click here to see it), I kept thinking of painting a woman with her head in her hands. Because the thought didn't go away, I had to try it and I actually like it!! I like her hair, how she looks up and I love the colors! I'm not sure she's quite finished, but if work on her some more, I'll do another show and tell... 
And because it is Valentine's Day soon and so many people commented on the heart shape of my first pastel painting, I decided to give her away also to another winner.
Both paintings will be matted and framed.
I'm not sure that this is a "real" word , but if it isn't, it should be because I've been pastelling with a passion every day! I am so hooked ... maybe because it reminds me of playing with colored chalk when I was a kid. 
After I did my last pastel painting, I was so hooked, I wanted to paint another one. And this one became a great source of mirth! Originally, I had two women sketched out, both of them sort of a little bit off the page. 
and called her DOA (dead on arrival), a reference to my love of crime shows and murder mysteries (and I hope I'm not offending anyone with this). That had me laughing all evening. What can I say, we just sometimes have a "different" sense of humor. 
A couple of days ago, Daniel brought home some sample papers from Canson and Arches and as I was looking through them for samples of acrylic papers, I came across some for pastels. And presto, my mind became obsessed with trying my hand at pastels again (my previous two attempts were nothing to write home about). 
Alright, here it is, my second pastel painting. The style is much more folk art than my previous pieces, but I think it turned out well considering how tricky I find pastels to work with. This time I used a textured surface and really liked the tactile aspect of the whole process, using the pastel sticks and my fingers to blend the colors. I was a colorful mess afterwards, but it was definitely worth it!
