Moody Springs, 2014 – Michaela Harlow – 16″ x 10″, pastel on paper (18″ x 12″)

It’s unusual for me to begin a pastel and then pick back up and finish it on another day. I prefer to start and finish a painting in the course of one session —but that’s not always possible at this time of year. I am trying something new. When I finish one piece on a studio day and feel like I still have something to say, I will begin another. Then when I am rained out of a garden installation project, get an unexpected cancellation or am left in limbo while waiting for a nursery to return my call, I have something exciting to do.

This piece relates directly to the one posted just before it —Brookside— and was started on the same day. But, this pastel recalls a place from my youth and the misty, foggy atmosphere of today. Moody Springs.

 Moody Springs. Because pastels are applied in dry layers —from a technical standpoint— I can begin and end whenever I wish.

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