Happy new art and happy new year 2024

I began last year with requests from two friends for portraits of their well loved and recently deceased dogs. I was not comfortable but I jumped in, This is  Archie the husky doodle in pastels, happy in his favorite meadow. 

Sugar, a French bulldog, was my next commission in oil.   

                          

I call these bird portraits. Each of there birds visited us over the long winter at out birdfeeder. They are available as note cards. My technique was gouache painted over collage and pantone color swatches. Please contact me if you like to purchase cards directly. 

In July, my husband and I took a pack trip to Hilton Lake for 5 days. The mule carried  all our gear and I was able to both fly fish for rainbow trout, and do plein air pastels.      

  

We were camped near this lively stream between Hilton Lake 2 and Davis Lake. 

Below is Mt Humphreys,  plein air pastel. 

Our winter was very long and wet. The result was a fabulous inspirational Super Bloom

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

           One of my favorite places to visit near home is the ancient Bristlecone Pines. 

In October I went to the Central California coast for a plein air pastel workshop with Lorenzo Chavez. It was a wonderful weekend and I felt like a gained a lot of energy and new techniques. 

I decided to try a new medium Gouache, opaque watercolor. My dear friend Susie Johnson is an amazing photographer. She shared some photos of the Peruvian peasants from her trip. I painted these sketches and shared them with her as a set of vicarious vacation postcards. 

Autumn  is my favorite time to be outside on short hikes and painting plein air. The colors are so vibrant and crisp that I can't resist painting often and with abandon. 

McGee Creek 

pastel 

Convict Lake 

watercolor

                                                                    

SOLD

Convict Lake

Watercolor

Bishop Sagebrush

Plein air Pastel 

Gouache and watercolor

Pinon Drive 

Plein air Pastel 

Aspen Springs 

Plein air pastel 

Aspen Grove 

plein air pastel 

Zephyer Cove Lake Tahoe

plein air pastel 

Welcoming in 2023

 The new year 2023 began with a lot of snow in the Eastern Sierra, so I escaped to the warm sunny Big Island Hawaii. It was a blissful 2 weeks and I was able to return to favorite spots and saw some new places. I worked in pastels except for a couple of watercolors. 

Please feel free to contact me by email for pricing. 

All work is currently unframed

Debb Campbell, artist

debbcampbell@gmail.com

Mauna Kea Beach, south 

plein air pastel 

5x7 

SOLD

Mauna Kea Beach, north 

Plein air pastel 

9x12

Black Sand Beach, Beach 49

plein air pastel 

9x12

Winter Surge, Black Sand Beach

plein air pastel 

5X7

Palm at the Fishpond

plein air pastel 

9x12

Fishpond Jungle

plein air pastel

5x7

Polulu Valley

plein air pastel 

9x12

Polulu Beach

plein air pastel 

5x7

Mahukona Beach

plein air watercolor

6x9

Puako, Turtle Tide Pools

Welcome winter and here comes 2023, life is good!

Another year of exploring and extending my artist journey. I continued to learn the techniques to using pastels and trying various materials, such as different brands, and papers. I tried to do a 31 day daily  challenge in October and fell short but it was a good start 😉

 

Lower Owens River Thicket

Pastel, 9x12 

Unfortunately a few weeks after I painted here, this area burned. 

 I painted this on black canvas after hearing that my favorite teacher Wayne Thiébaud

 had passed at the advanced age of 101years. His art, wit, and instruction were so very influential. 

We had very little snow in 2022 but I was able to paint a few snow tree studies in gauche from my studio. 

         

I continued throughout the spring and summer to explore pastels plein air and in my studio. I took the pastels with me on several vacations, sold a one off the easel in Hawaii, and a few when I came home. 

      Hilton Creek, Nevahbe mountain 

      Pastel 12x18 

  

      Gull Lake, Carson Peak

      Plein air pastel, 9x12 

 

I took my first pastel workshop  in Santa Barbara during a heatwave in April. The instructor was Liz Sullivan Hayward and I learned loads and met new pastel buddies. 

Our annual trek to Nebraska and Iowa in  September provided new scenes and inspiration. 

Merritt Resovoir, Sandhills of Nebraska 

8x12 pastel 

Sandhills cattails

    

Pumpkins in Iowa                                                          Sunflowers in Nebraska , SOLD 

Plein air watercolor and pastel 

9x12 

Convict Lake Autumn Colors 

Plein art pastel 

Convict Lake. 

6x9 SOLD 

Kamuela Coastline 

Plein air  9x12 

HAWAII, my happy place 

The Mud Road 

Waimea Big Island Hawaii

SOLD 

 

My best friend Karen, a 50 year plus friendship, and I celebrated our birthdays with a 2 week trip in France. We did a walking tour in the Dordogne valley and saw castles and prehistoric cave art. We also spent a long weekend in Toulouse. We were so busy seeing and being on out trip, I had no time to paint on the trip. But this summer I did a series of watercolor postcards based on my photos. 

Here are a few of the 31 cards I painted 

 

 

All work is for sale, Please contact me with an email or text for prices and more info  LIFE IS GOOD

debbcampbell@gmail.com

I’m also on Facebook and instagram