My "Mourning In The Fog" oil pastel was accepted into the Dune Birds In Art exhibit, as part of the 2025 Indiana Dunes Birding Festival. I'm so pleased this piece was accepted, and it will show in the visitor center along with the work of 19 other artists.
These birds suffered great loss on their journey this year, but they are survivors. The inspiration for this work was from a gorgeous photograph by Jeff Basham taken in my county (La Porte). He witnessed several dead sandhills when on site with these birds. Over 1,500 Sandhill Cranes died during their migration through Indiana due to avian influenza, and that was very much on my mind when working on this piece. This is not my typical highly detailed study of one singular crane. Instead, it's about the softer mood, the stoic grouping of the cranes, their strength in surviving avian influenza, and the toll this historic loss took on their migration.
This painting is done in oil pastel on brown mid-toned Canson Mi Tientes paper, which is fairly heavy with many layers of the oil pastel built up in a rather impressionist style – evoking the atmospheric quality of the original photo and the heaviness of the subject.
Great news is that the Nebraska sandhill cranes did not experience the same loss as the Indiana birds.
Dune Birds In Art exhibit runs May 15 - June 21, 2025 at the Indiana Dunes Visitors Center, 1215 N State Rd 49, Porter, IN. You can see more photography by Jeff Basham on his Facebook page.
For years, anyone driving toward the Indiana Dunes along Highway 20 would pass beneath the great American Elm that stood in Furnessville — a canopy of green that stretched across three lanes of road.
"Last Light of the Coaling Tower" was accepted to the Chicago Pastel Painter’s Tenth Biennial National Juried Exhibition, Pastels Chicago 2025. This exhibition is especially meaningful — it’s CPP’s 20th anniversary national biennial, a major celebration of pastel art, and I’m honored to have my work included among artists from across the country.
Three of my reverse window paintings will be part of the Rising Phoenix Gallery's upcoming show Glass, celebrating the artistry and versatility of glass. Exhibition Dates: September 6 – October 26
The Luminous Anhinga is on display in the Pastel Society of South Carolina's 2025 Luminosity and Light juried exhibit. The online show runs through July 18, 2025
This expressive still life is an award winner at the 73rd Annual Chesterton Woman’s Club Art Show running June 5–28.
"Kingfisher Over Water” received a lovely UArt UNEEDA award at the Great Lakes Pastel Society's Small Works show.
"Kingfisher Over Water" was accepted to the Great Lakes Pastel Society's Small Works juried show at the Oliver Art Center in Frankfort, MI.
"Mourning In The Fog" at the 2025 Dune Birds In Art exhibit, as part of the Indiana Dunes Birding Festival.
"Golden Hour Crane" selected for the Art Barn School of Art's 31th Annual Juried Art Exhibition
