Category Archives: pastel

Dead End, #30in30 Day Four

Dead End, pastel on prepared board, 8 x 12 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

I am participating in Leslie Saeta’s annual “30 in 30” painting challenge this month. This is my painting for day 4. I just love a row of houses in the sun. This street dead ends at the top of the bank of Chartiers Creek. The houses have been there over a century, flooded several times, […]

Summer Back Road, #30in30 Day Three

Summer Back Road, pastel on prepared board, 8 x 12 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

I am participating in Leslie Saeta’s annual “30 in 30” painting challenge this month. This is my painting for day 3. For me, almost any spot along winding, hilly back road through fields with old trees and fence posts is a worthy spot for painting. This is one of many I liked best of the […]

A Small and Simple Portrait, “Chloe”

"Chloe", charcoal and pastel, 5 x 7 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

This portrait is a break from the usual larger, full-color and highly detailed portraits, just to share a little moment and focus on the expression, the face, the most-remembered part of just about any creature we love, human or animal. I had a number of photos, but none were close-up enough but this pose, though […]

Summer Morning from the Deck, #30in30 Day Two

Summer Morning on the Deck, pastel on prepared board, 8 x 12 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

I am participating in Leslie Saeta’s annual “30 in 30” painting challenge this month. This is my painting for day 2. This painting is one of those sweet familiar ones I’ve been wanting to paint for years: an early summer morning, hazy and bright, seen from my deck or through my kitchen window, geraniums in […]

Winter Sunset, After Rothko, #30in30 Day One

Winter Sunset, After Rothko, pastel on prepared board, 8 x 12 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

I am participating in Leslie Saeta’s annual “30 in 30” painting challenge this month. This is my painting for day 1, which was January 1, but I just got a chance to scan and post it. It’s actually the sunset reflected on the eastern horizon, but I guess it could be the western sky as […]

Solstice, Catching a Moment Forever

"Solstice", pastel, 6" x 6", 2003 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

This painting is indeed from the Winter Solstice in 2003. As the sun began to set on a zero-degree day with a foot or more of snow the light was so beautiful that I took off in my car with my camera and art supplies. At the top of the hill the gentle pink and […]

A Gentle, Quiet Snowfall

“Snowfall”, pastel, 11″ x 7″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

It isn’t always eternal summer on the trail, though memories might make us think so. Winter is my favorite season to paint. I love the subtleties of color and shape with snow in the air and on the ground, and on the trail I am often all alone with the quiet of a winter day, […]

Winter Sunset Reflections, Simple, Simply Memorable

Winter Sunset Reflections, 7” x 17”, pastel © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

The scene is one I’ve often seen along the trail on a winter evening. This painting was done from a photo I’d taken one of those winter evenings on the trail, a clear, cold day with a cloudless sky at sunset, the sky reflected on Robinson Run. The velvety darkness of the land contrasts so […]

December Feline Featured Artwork and Desktop Calendar: “Afternoon Nap”

"Afternoon Nap", pastel on hand-finished paper, 7.5" x 7.5", 2004 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

A Portrait of an Old Cat: Afternoon Nap ~~~ An old cat, a gentleman, he has found a quiet spot, upstairs in the afternoon, and has so perfectly placed himself a little off-center on the expanse of white bedspread, illuminated by stark winter light through the window. (Stanley finds all the best places.) ~~~ Doesn’t […]

November Featured Nature Art and Desktop Calendar: “Safe”

For my November nature artwork calendar, this painting captures the colors and even the look of the outdoors this time of year. But it also captures the feel of the season: safe, in familiar territory, with family or loved ones, and giving thanks for the bounty of life. Though they nibble on some of my […]