last leaf of the season

8" by 10" daily pastel painting, unframed

I worked on a sketch for this piece last winter and I finally got around to it. My favorite pieces to work on are surreal. I have a folder on my hard drive full of ideas and "sketches" which I've worked on in Photoshop. Using at least 2 photos I build my composition and then work on color.
Originally I planned on using these sketches for larger paintings but since I started "daily painting" there's not a lot of time left for those so I'll be using those sketches a bit more for my small pieces.

SOLD

texas sky

10" by 4" daily pastel painting, unframed

Reference was a photo I took in . . . . . yup, Texas.

$70 with free shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

night and day

7" by 7" daily pastel painting, unframed

I know it's been done before by Magritte and Parrish and I'm sure even more, but I love the effect of night and day happening together.

So here's my version.

SOLD

portrait in velour

8" by 10" daily pastel painting (unframed)
fits a standard 8x10 mat

This was once a full face portrait. The surface it's painted on is velour board which is wonderful to work on. The texture is very soft and the pastels glide over the surface. The only problem is that the particles also glide off easily which I didn't know at the time.
Since I'm usually against using spray fixative I didn't spray this before I brought it to the framer. She made the mistake of hammering the back of the frame while the painting was already in it(always a bad idea). The result was a slight disaster! Many of the pastel particles fell right of the surface onto the glass.
The happy ending is that I was able to save the upper half of her face and I like the way it brings more attention to her eyes.

I'm offering this painting for $100 with free shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

morning coffee

9 1/2" by 7 1/2" daily pastel painting, unframed
SOLD

It could be an 8 x 10. I usually exceed my boundaries . . in my paintings that is ;-)

I was having my morning coffee when I came up with the idea for this one.

A friend who saw this painting today reminded of the Carly Simon song "You're so Vain". I totally forgot about that song and "the clouds in my coffee. . " part of the lyrics.

Funny.

house at the end of the road

8" by 8" daily pastel painting, unframed
SOLD

before the storm

4 by 8 daily pastel painting (unframed)

On our last day in Maine we had an amazing storm which we watched as it rolled in towards us.
I used a photo I took as reference.

SOLD

underwater koi

17" by 17" daily pastel painting (unframed)
But of course a koi would be under water.

SOLD

beach waves

7" by 5" pastel painting (unframed)

My 5 x 7 or smaller paintings will continue to sell for $75 each until my Anniversary Sale ends on September 1, 2007. Since the start of the sale I have sold 14 paintings . . . thank you!

SOLD

inner guidance

9 1/2 by 7 pastel painting (unframed)

I had to rename this piece because blogger won't allow me to give the same title to a post. I wasn't sure what I wanted to call it anyway. I'm hoping the image speaks for itself.

I really enjoyed working on this.

It's one of those pieces where I never know if it's completed or not . . . I suppose it fits the theme.

$200 with free shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

­inner child

I thought I'd finish this painting today but it's not happening so I decided to share the stages and process. I work most of my pastel paintings in layers. I start with a sketch of the concept I have in mind and work with the values in the painting first.

Then I started building on the drawing in blocks of color. More layers of color and subtle details will be added before it's complete .

Conceptual painting is my favorite of all. The idea comes first and the painting is a means to convey it. The process is much more fun to me than painting what's in front of me, i.e. an object or scenery. The reason I don't paint many conceptual pieces for my daily blog is mostly based on the time element. The process just takes too long most of the time - at least for me. Many of my larger pieces are conceptual, surreal . . .what ever you'd want to label them. I keep a journal where I write and often sketch ideas that come to mind. Many of them are inspired by dreams, songs, people that pass through my day . . . . and each of these ideas flashes as a vivid image in my mind before I take note of it. Sometimes the images are moving which makes me wonder sometimes if I should have chosen film or animation as a profession. If you have any interest in purchasing this piece before it's complete please email me.

daily bread

8" by 4 1/2" pastel painting (unframed)

$70 with free shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

melissa

5" by 7" pastel painting (unframed)

A quick experiment with color. Reference was a photo of my daughter.
Yes . . . she has really big eyes!

$75 with free shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

ROWBOAT daily painting

7 1/2 by 5 pastel painting (unframed)

SOLD

Can you guess that we came back from vacation recently? This is our rowboat in Maine. We had a wonderful week with all the "kids" and their partners, and the dogs. I've heard that dogs are the new "kids". That is so true in our family. Can't say I mind though ;-)

updating site

I just finished updating my links.
For some months, many of my paintings had links that went to EBAY pages that were no longer active. If you were interested in any of these paintings and were unable to make a purchase, I'm sorry.
The good news is that I corrected them.

As I stated in my last post, I'm ready to start working regularly again and I can't wait! I'm also accepting commissions so if you have something specific in mind . . . perhaps a favorite pet, you may email me for more information.

Here are some samples in both pastel and oils.
I hope everyone is having is having a great summer!

ebay auction - sunflower

SOLD

daily pastel painting of a sunflower by Ria Hills
5 1/2" x 8" unframed pastel painting

It's been a busy, fun and hectic summer. Vacation happened (always a welcomed event), family visits, elderly parents to keep an eye on, maintenance at home and well, you all know what it's like.
I'm trying to get back into the swing of things with my daily painting and each time I think I can start, something comes up that drags me away from the studio.

September will be a welcomed month. It's always less busy when summer winds down and I'm usually able to maintain a regular painting schedule.

cukevine

8 1/4 by 7 pastel painting (unframed)

A cucumber vine growing in my garden.

$120 with free shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.