Elk Neck, Maryland

“Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.”
— Pablo Picasso
 

Good Monday morning friends,

Right now I am here on the Chesapeake in Elk Neck, Maryland. The sun is coming up and the sky through the trees is a beautiful blend of pinks and purples and blues. Did you know that the sun is made up of many different colors? It is not just white or orange. The cameras we have are not able to pick up the subtle nuances and we would go blind if we actually looked at it.

Anyway, it’s really beautiful here and quiet except for some owls I can hear. I have been working on a rather large painting. It’s a commission piece and hopefully I will be able to share that in a few weeks. The size is  about 4‘ x 3‘-it’s so fun to work on so grand a scale. But in the meantime I would like to share with you some of the sketches I have for a new painting, which would also be large. We, as a family, come down to Elk Neck quite a bit and so I have this idea for a large painting that I’ve been bouncing around in my head of the kids playing along the shoreline. There’s a little cliff here by the bay that I love so much where you can see the white, red and yellow clay deposits along the water. When you climb up into the hillside you can see the bay and the shore. It is a hidden nook surrounded by trees. The kids always bring home little treasures from this area. Stones and bones and little shells. One of them is a little fossil of a bone. Very cool!

If you do get down to Elk Neck, Woody’s Crab shack is our favorite place to eat. If you have a place you like to eat down in Elk Neck or the surrounding area please let me know in the comments below! I hope you enjoy these little updates of what I’m doing and I hope you have a very great and blessed week ahead of you.

Take care,

Holly

 
 

Character study sketches for the larger painting.

 

The Moon

 
“I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape. Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn’t show.”
— Andrew Wyeth

Good morning everyone,

It is soon going to become cold but boy have I been soaking in the sun the last couple of days. It is beautiful out here today!  I just wanted to show you some of the paintings that I’m working on. They are landscape paintings.  It is so peaceful here in Lancaster County, especially down here in the southern end.  It is just absolutely gorgeous. This past fall  I had the opportunity to go to the Brandywine Museum with some of my students and fellow homeschooling moms where they have Andrew Wyeth‘s paintings, one of my favorite artists. He did this one painting of a large moon that comes up over the trees, a beautiful piece. I was out in the field one day and saw the moon at dusk coming up through the trees and it was just one of those sweet, peaceful moments. Wanted to share that with you and hope you have a blessed 2023!

Your Art friend,

Holly❤️

A sketch up in the field on a cold, foggy autumn morning. The soft, muted colors gave way to a different hue as the day progressed. As I stood in the grass the trees started popping from their hiding places.

PS I wrote this a few days ago and the warmth has given way to cooler weather.

peace light life

 

Sickman’s Mill

 
“Light is therefore color.”
— J.M.F. Turner

Watercolor of Sickman’s Mill.

Hi friends,

This past weekend I dropped off the above painting to the Steinmetz gallery in Strasburg, Pa. The opening reception will be on May 7, 1-4 pm.

Last spring I went with the LCAA plein aire group and sat on the Conestoga creek painting Sickman’s Mill. It was a warm and sunny day; very pretty and pleasant to be sitting outside painting. There was a dappled light that moved as I sat there in the sun and as you know, I love dappled light! Sickman’s Mill is one of the old Lancaster County Mills that is now turned into a bar/restaurant and wedding venue. You can also go tubing on the creek there.

During the summer, I am usually there with friends on Wednesdays. So, if you would like to meet me there come on down! I just got prints made of this watercolor. Below is the button to the store on my website. Click on it to view the print. Hope you all have a great and very blessed week.

Love,

Holly.

My view of the Mill.

 

Art Show In Strasburg!!

 

Hello All,

Hope this finds you well! Below are two paintings that I painted this summer that are entered into the Lancaster County Arts Association Plein Air Art Show. The show is at the Steinmetz Gallery in Strasburg, PA. Sunday, September 19th is the opening date from 1-4 pm. It will be up until October 14th.

With love,

Holly

P.S. I do plan on being there but have a previous engagement and won’t be able to make it until 2pm. If you are able to visit at that time it would be great to see you!

This View from Little Britain Park. I sat with my mom on a park bench on a muggy July morning talking about various things while the children played with friends. One of the things I love in early American art is the paintings of patchwork farmland. They are so simple and beautiful! This is loosely based on those paintings.

This View from Little Britain Park. I sat with my mom on a park bench on a muggy July morning talking about various things while the children played with friends. One of the things I love in early American art is the paintings of patchwork farmland. They are so simple and beautiful! This is loosely based on those paintings.

The Pond at Swatara. A vacation destination family favorite. You can fish and canoe on this pond. I got up early Sunday morning to paint while everyone else slept in. It was a bit foggy when I started out, and there were a ton of birds flitting over the water.

The Pond at Swatara. A vacation destination family favorite. You can fish and canoe on this pond. I got up early Sunday morning to paint while everyone else slept in. It was a bit foggy when I started out, and there were a ton of birds flitting over the water.

Peace Light Life

 

Inner Beauty

Light Peace Life

“Last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.”
— T. S. Eliot
IMG_0839.jpeg

It’s a timely quote sent by a friend, isn’t it? To close one door is to open another, it has been said. So, how are you doing? It is amazing how things can change in a year-and it’s almost been a year since we last met. Between homeschooling (which I love!) and taking care of my mom (which I also love! She is such a hoot!) my little corner of the world has been busy! But I have carved out time in my day to paint and explore.

 

It is ashame that the beauty of a flower fades so quickly but it is a wonderful thing to be able to capture it at its height of beauty through the process of art. Our outward beauty may also fade but it’s our inner beauty that glows. What this painting reminds me of and what I like about it is the inner glow of it. The light reflects from a greater source.

Here is an awesome thought I’d like to share with you that I heard recently, let us become superspreaders. Not of any kind of disease, of course, but of love! What a wonderful way to use that word! Until next time, may you enjoy Light, Peace and Life!

Please grab a cup of tea and join me as I paint “Inner Beauty”.

Love,

Your artist friend,

Holly Forrest

If you enjoyed this video and letter please share, like or comment below! I would love to hear from you!

 

Time in a bottle

“You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices can come from a deep sense of who you are.”
— Fred Rogers
The most recent painting I am working on, Grandmother and Child, 8x10.

The most recent painting I am working on, Grandmother and Child, 8x10.

Hope you are all having a good week! Just wanted to see how you were doing and show you the work I’ve completed and am working on right now. You know how I love sleeping children in the arms of loved ones. The above painting is of my mom holding Charlie, my youngest. If you are planning on going to the opening reception of my art show on February 29th, you will get to meet these two models.

Recently I was reading a book that talks about the choices we make and the time we have, and it made me think about my paintings and how capturing those quiet moments and dwelling on them is soothing to the soul, hopefully for you, as well as myself.

11x14 Making Wishes

11x14 Making Wishes

I don’t know about you, but blowing on dandelion seeds is a magical moment that everyone should experience with a small child. Did you do this as a child? I certainly did, much to my mom’s consternation, because those little seeds apparently make more weeds that you have to get rid of.😊

Iris, 11x14

Iris, 11x14

The above painting sat for about 6 months before I was able to complete it. I needed to decide whether to let it be loose and maybe a little abstract, but the personality of that old stone wall is really what I was after.

Hope you enjoy the art work. If you want to let me know what your favorite is please comment below. If you have a photograph that you would like to be turned into a painting, please contact me, I would be happy to do that for you!

Peace,

Holly