I have been a landscape painter for many years, working almost exclusively in soft pastel. I love to experiment with color and texture, and pastels lend themselves to many interesting painting techniques, as well as being a very expressive medium. They are perfect for rendering soft clouds as well as the sharp edges of winter's skeletal tree branches. I use strong color in my art, and the vibrant, colorful sticks in a box of pastels is what hooked me on this medium. That, and the fact that the pastel stick is an extension of the artist's arm, no paintbrush between the hand and the sanded paper. I am always looking for patterns of light and shadow in the landscape, as well as ways to exaggerate and invent color. Although I am drawn to the expansive skies, marshes, beaches and farmlands of this area, my favorite subject is trees. They are so symbolic, always changing, and each season brings a different challenge to capturing their lovely form and gesture.