Before Mum and Dad left Salt Spring on their journey home to Cayman (via my sister’s in Ontario), I managed to do a couple of pastels for my gallery there. This pastel was inspired by a photo I took while in Grand Cayman about 20 years ago. It’s one I’ve wanted to paint for a very long time. And so finally, I got to it! And I’m very pleased with the way it turned out. It was a one shot deal, done in about an hour and a half, almost as if it was done en plein air.

I used the same set of pastels I used for my most recent video, an 18-piece starter soft pastel kit from Great American Art Works.

Here are the progression shots:

Yup, I’m pleased with that one!!

Americans celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend and with this in mind, I offer the following quotes:

 True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.

~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.

~  Thornton Wilder

I am truly thankful for all that I have! Thanks for sharing my journey.

Until next time,

~ Gail

PS. I have just started a new 30-day challenge – hands! I’ll be posting them daily on my Facebook Page.