I am thinking it might be interesting to show the process I go through to create a painting, start to finish.  I will post every day while I am working on this painting, every day I actually work on it, but I will not send out an 'update' notice every time, so it will be up to you to follow along.


I have been intrigued with figs because: 1.  It is fall and figs are in the markets, 2.  I love to eat them, 3. they have wonderful squatty little shapes, 4.  the color in figs is unique, and I think difficult to capture on canvas.  So I have chosen figs as the subject for this painting.


Today I purchased figs, set them up in a composition I like, photographed them, and started to sketch them.  Ok, I ate one.  You think I can become one with the fig and do a more satisfying job of painting them by eating them?


Pictured here are the figs I purchased and a couple of sketches.....

It's the time of year to notice Fall Leaves.  They are green to start with because they are filled with chlorophyll, the substance that allows them to manufacture food.  Other pigments - red, orange, yellow - are also present but masked by the green.  As the days shorten in Fall, chlorophyll synthesis ceases, the green color disappears, and other pigments begin to dominate.  The leaves of certain species typically turn a uniform color (yellow on aspen and birch, scarlet on Red Maple);  others are more variable. 
   As well as looking at a colorful display of trees from a distance, do you look at individual leaves? Each leaf is a work of art, sometimes painted with a variety of color.  So while the drama of firey reds, coppery apricots, and golden yellows pop sizzle and jump right at you, especially when the colorful trees stand in front of deep hued evergreens, take the time to pick up and study individual leaves.
   Right now the lawn is strewn with multi hued leaves.......nature's confetti!


   The paintings here show both views, close up and from a distance.  'Aspen Mountain' (30" x 15") an acrylic on canvas, was painted after a Fall hike on those world famous ski slopes.  'Fall Aspen Leaves' (40" x 25"), a watercolor on paper, was painted to express the end of chlorophyll synthesis in aspen leaves.  I no longer own this painting, but do have giclee prints in full and half size.   Village Interiors (775-831-8868) has a framed print of this painting which can be hung vertically or horizontally.


Take a look at my web site:  www.pamelahuntlee.com to see additional paintings of spectacularly colored fall leaves.

For several years I have been stacking rocks into cairns around and in front of my home. While they can represent many different things, to me they celebrate the sacred in nature. After living with these cairns in my daily view, I couldn't help but begin to paint them in luminous jewel tones. They have become monuments to nature's beauty.

Working on my Trunk Show calendar....these are shows of my jewelry for pre-holiday, winter and early spring. Not only will I be showing in boutiques, but I am accepting 'in home' dates in some locations.

My designs are created with unique, unusual beads, pendants and other items I have collected. Included in my Fall-Holiday collection is a Mah Jongg grouping, due to my love of the game and the great response to my Mahj jewelry from other players.

All of my jewels are semi-precious: pearls (loads of pearls in unusual shapes and sizes - I love them!), turquoise, jade, coral, citrine, lapis....all fabulously outrageous! Necklaces designed to be worn as one, two or three together, and some can be doubled or tripled. This provides options, incredible wearability, and crazy drama. Not to be forgotten: multi-strand bracelets and co-ordinating earrings.

My original jewelry designs have sold through the exclusive SAK's Fifth Avenue designer case in San Francisco, Beverly Hills and South Coast Plaza. Numerous boutiques across the US have carried my designs. If you, or someone you know, is interested in hosting a Trunk Show, contact me via e-mail (pamelahuntlee@gmail.com) to receive hosting information. My calendar is filling....

This past week was the Autumnal Equinox, so according to the calendar, it is Fall. And Fall is when Lake Tahoe is at its clearest. I am not exactly sure why this is, but my best guess is that all the run off from last year's snowfall has, by now, dribbled down to nothing. Therefore not much in the way of sediment gets into the lake this time of year to cloud the lake's crystal clear water. Don't misunderstand, the lake is always very very clean, pristine, and clear, but it is just a bit more this time of year. This is also a very peaceful time of year on the lake as not many people are out on the lake. It is a perfect time to photograph, sketch and paint from my kayak. Today I deliver two paintings to Spirit Gallery, in Truckee, CA that were painted with inspiration from these magnificent days on the lake: Split Above & Below and Caught Again.

All Summer the farmers' markets have been filled with ripe, juicy fruits and veggies...perfect subjects for paintings! I just completed and shipped to Colorado, Andrea's Peach, which is pictured here. I am now finishing Three Lemons, for customers in Truckee, so they may hang it with Two Times Three and Two more Green Apples, all shown here. More of my produce paintings can be seen at Spirit Gallery in Truckee, CA.

Fall fruits and vegetables are beginning to show up in the markets. The local produce guy thinks I am a nut because I linger over his bins, arranging produce into compositions before selecting the items I will buy, take to my studio, and set up as subject matter for a new painting. So here I go with luscious red pairs and curvaceous figs....

Those of you who live in the mountains are seeing green cones ripening on the pine trees and the needles are beginning to turn a warm, golden shade. My favorite, for cones, is the Sugar Pine tree (Pinus lambertiana) which has cones from 10 to 26 inches long, the longest cones of any American conifer, perhaps in the world. The tree grows 175 to 200 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet in diameter, the tallest American pine, and can be found in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges from western Oregon to Baja California Norte, mostly between 4000-9000 feet in elevation. The sap contains a sugary substance which coats the green cones so thickly that it actually drips down off the tip of the cone while the cones hang like large, glistening ornaments from the branches. Unbelievably spectacular!

I have painted many of these cones over the years with watercolor and acrylic. The single cone pictured is a watercolor of a Sugar Pine Cone and available in giclee print, 16" x 12". The other was painted as a companion piece, Two Jeffrey Cones, and is also available in giclee.

Village Interiors in Christmas Tree Village, Incline Village, Nevada currently has two of my acrylic paintings of cones in their showroom. If you are in the area, stop by to see them.