More Early Work

(left) "Sunday Evening at 7"
Pastel on cotton charcoal paper,
approx. 18"x24"
©1985 Diana Moses Botkin

I'm posting another batch of older pieces for the 3-in-5 challenge. This cloud painting is one of several I did at the time, trying to capture those forms before they changed too much.

I rarely did any kind of landscape painting back then, but felt the need to work en plein air to study the clouds. I used many of the results as reference for a ceiling mural I did for my little girls' room.

(left) "Waiting for Denise"
original pastel on museum board, approx. 14"x11"
©1986 Diana Moses Botkin

The doll painting was a study I did of two of my sis' childhood favorites.

That Poor Pitiful Pearl doll was such a hilarious thing at the time. When my sister received it for Christmas in the 1950s, all the adults laughed hysterically at her pathetic appearance. Denise loved her fiercely.

(left) "Portrait of Bradley"
original pastel on Canson, approx. 18"x14"
©1988 Diana Moses Botkin

I did a number of portrait commissions of children in the 1980s. This is one of my favorites.

It's interesting and a bit bittersweet to look back at one's art and see which pieces I still enjoy, and which ones I'd like to do over.