Blue Pot, Orange Begonia

Today, I was lucky enough to have a few uninterrupted hours to get into the studio. I thought this would be a great chance to revisit this wonderful potted begonia.

This plant has been bringing a touch of spring to my studio for the last few weeks. The winter feels like it has been dragging on here in Minneapolis, or I really needed it today. The high here in Minnesota didn’t reach much above zero, and with the wind, it felt much colder.  I can’t wait for the spring thaw! In the meantime, I’ll be content losing myself in the soft orange blossom of this begonia.

This piece was painted on a Jack Richeson pastel panel. This is a totally new surface for me. It doesn’t have quite as much tooth as the sanded pastel papers I’ve been using.  My fear was that it wouldn’t hold quite as many layers of pastel. As I work, I do a lot of layering as I play with color, so tooth is important to me when it comes to choosing a painting surface. I am happy to report this surface performed wonderfully!

The panel is Gatorfoam board which is rigid, and very lightweight. Because of that, I could see these panels being very useful for plein air landscape work. Lightweight makes it easier  when you have to haul everything with you!