Colorscape Blog

As the autumn solstice arrives, I honor the rhythms and cadence of nature and everyday life. This interlude between summer and early autumn seems like the best of both worlds. There is still time to enjoy vibrant colors of late summer as we watch autumn’s rich palette slowly unfold.

The change of season invites me to revisit the array of colors in my pastel stick collection that get neglected during spring and summer painting projects. It is a feast for my eyes to rummage through the corners of my pastel box this time of year. What a joy to rediscover pastel sticks in bold orange and red hues and the more subtle shades of yellow ochre and red violets.

The painting posted here "Autumn Color Along the River" takes full advantage of the rich hues of the season.  As autumn arrives, I hope you will have plenty of time to explore nature's bold color show. 

I am honored to be a part of the Six-By-Six Exhibition at the Mystic Museum of Art (MMoA) in Mystic, CT on view through July 12, 2026. This small exhibit features six of my waterway paintings that explore patterns of light and color during quiet moments along the coast. I’m delighted to exhibit with accomplished artists, Lisa Miceli and Randy Richard.

The works are on display in the Museum's gift shop gallery (adjacent to the main gallery). The Museum is a cultural gem located along the Mystic River and Connecticut coast. If you are in the area or looking for a delightful day trip, stop by the Museum.

If you visit early this summer, be sure to enjoy the current featured exhibition entitled "Coast to Coast: Views of America” through May 31. A new exhibition celebrating textiles opens on June 26 in the main gallery Mystic Museum of Art is located at 9 Water Street with convenient parking in the museum's surface parking lot.  The Museum is open daily 11am - 5pm.

I’m delighted to be a part of an invitational exhibition this summer at the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge in Rockland, Maine.  The exhibition features paintings by seven artists who have traveled together to the island. Our visual responses to this magical place are represented in “Drawn to Monhegan: Seven Responses.” If you are in the area, we hope you will join us for the opening reception on Friday, May 29 from 4pm – 6pm.

Monhegan Island has attracted artists for decades.  This is Wyeth “country” as they say. And artists such Edward Hopper and George Bellows captured the power of this special place. Anyone who has visited this unique place can understand why so many artists have traveled great distances to paint here.

The Island light has its own special qualities. And the raw power of the sea and surf is energizing and humbling. The small year-round community has a working waterfront where residents continue to make a living from the sea.

I'm thrilled to exhibit with this amazing group of seven artists including: Laura Beckering, Polly Castor, Bernadette DeCesare, Kay Etheridge, Mary Beth Morrison, Diana Rogers, and Sara Ostrov.

The show is on view from May 29 through July 24 and the gallery is open 9am to 4pm Monday through Friday. If you are in the area, we hope you will join us for the opening or stop by to view the exhibit at the Coastal Islands Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center located at 9 Water Street, Rockland, ME (just off Route One in downtown Rockland). Sales of work from the show supports the restoration of important seabird habitats such as the Puffins and Razorbills that nest and feed on the islands off the coast of Maine. (Artwork posted here: Morning Currents, Monhegan, pastel.)

With the return of spring, I can’t contain my enthusiasm for painting with the rich colors of the season! Spring arrived slowly after a long winter. It’s a joy to have a front row seat to watch the subtle hues in the landscape evolve into a bold color fest.

One of the gifts of spring is the slow unfolding of colorful blooms in local fruit orchards. The pure color is a feast for our eyes. Morning Light, Spring Orchard posted here celebrates the colorful chaos and abstract patterns of the grasses and blossoms showing off for us. 

The pure pigments of pastels are ideal for painting with energetic marks and bold color. Enjoy this season of renewal!

As March moves along, my mantra is "have heart, spring is near." This time of year seems like its own unique season. In New England there are lingering remnants of winter, yet the hope of spring is in the air.

As I wait for spring to make a grand entrance, the anticipation adds optimism and energy to my art practice. One of the gifts of creating art is the joy that comes with growth and renewal each season.

Painting with the lively hues of the season is uplifting. In the woodlands, colors transform slowly at first with soft chartreuse greens and reds of tree buds emerging. As the foliage matures, the colors get bolder and richer. The painting posted here “Early Spring Color Dance” reflects my optimism for warmer and brighter days ahead.

As an artist, translating the nuances of spring green with just the right colors is always challenging. And this is a challenge I warmly welcome! May the season ahead be filled with hope and renewal.

Embracing winter seems easy for me now that the holidays are in full swing. The festivities add sparkle and vibrant hues to the season. As the season unfolds, I’m pulling out the winter blues and violets hidden away in my stash of pastel sticks. It’s energizing to paint with these hues and to abstract the shapes and patterns of a snowy landscape.

With the arrival of our first snowfall, I am finding inspiration at every turn including in my own back yard. "Early Winter in the Grove" (posted here) mingles lively winter blue-greens with pops of warm color from the remnants of autumn foliage in this stand of beech trees at the edge of my woodlands.

May the winter season bring peace, kindness and good health to you and your family. 

Painting with lively and vivid color is uplifting any time of year. Yet there is something that kicks into high gear when autumn arrives prompting me to push color even more. This season sparks a burst of color energy in the studio. Perhaps it is the need to paint as much as I can before winter sets in!

This color exuberance has led to a new series of small paintings exploring the gold, orange and red hues in the woodlands as the foliage changes colors. The blast of color is an open invitation to use lively hues and expressive marks in my new work including Grove in Warm Autumn Light posted here. It is fun to experiment with these warm colors to find just the right mix of chroma.

The season reminds me that the pastel medium with pure, intense pigments is the perfect complement to nature. As autumn unfolds, I hope you will have plenty of time to savor nature's color show!

Here we are in late summer and many of us are heading out to enjoy time by the water. You might be drawn to a beach, lake, or pool for relaxation or adventure to enjoy quiet time or adventures.

At times, shades of green dominate the summertime color palette. But it is the exciting range of blue hues that gets my full attention these days. The color swatch posted below includes marks with my favorite summer blues. Working with the pure pastel pigments in shades of blue while painting outdoors or in the studio is good for the soul!

In creating the two paintings posted here, I used a wide range of blue shades to convey the spirit of a summer day along the shore. For the painting “Sea of Summer Blues” (posted above) I explored the warm shades of turquoise and blue green to depict the subtle changes in color and value as the water moved from shallow to deep. The range of turquoise colors available with pastels is vast and helped the painting to convey the energy and atmosphere of the warm day.

My color strategy for “Meandering Currents, Early Light” (posted below) includes a mix of blue hues with lots of marks leaning toward blue violet. For the composition, I wanted to have a visual front row seat view of a tide pool with layers of color revealed as the tide recedes at the water’s edge. I also weaved in a few warm blue green colors where the water was most shallow. These vibrant blue tones enhance the rocks and reflections without overpowering them.

May your summer days be filled with colorful moments and plenty of time to soak up nature's palette.

Diana Rogers, Meandering Currents, Early Light, pastel

Strokes of pastel with warm and cool blue hues

Lively mark-making is a wonderful way to create expressive, playful paintings. I am always amazed at how versatile pastels are when it comes to making marks that add movement to a composition.

For my new Orchard Blooms painting series, I wanted to test the visual impact of varied marks and strokes to portray the same scene on different weather days. The first painting explores marks to convey a calm and warm spring day (top image). For the second piece, I wanted to capture the energy of a breezy day just after the spring rains ended (bottom image).

Making color choices based on the weather (amount of sun, warmth, wind) was straightforward. But how could I convey the difference between a breezy, damp day versus a warm calm day with my strokes and marks? How could I leverage my marks to create an expressive interpretation of the orchard?

For the calm day painting Orchard Blooms in May (top image), I used a light hand to lay down the first layers of paint. As I built up layers of color, I used a mix of widths and shapes of strokes to give the blossoms volume and variety. The narrow and zigzagging strokes give a sense of airiness in the new growth at the end of the branches of the apple trees. The thicker “impasto” marks convey masses of blossoms.

I turned to more adventurous and directional marks to portray the breezy, damp day in Orchard After Spring Rains (bottom image). The distinct and visible marks did most of the work to indicate energy and movement in the air. Rich hues and the deep value range helped highlight lush new growth in the farm field.

As I worked up layers of pigments in both paintings, I left most marks alone and did minimal blending. I edited out details in the scene to keep the composition fresh. These strategies helped the distinct marks tell the story and prompt viewers to linger a bit longer as they take a visual journey through the springtime orchards.

Diana Rogers, Orchard After Spring Rains, pastel

Living in New England, I cherish the change of seasons. My painting practice follows the rhythms and cycles of nature. Each season has its unique color palette and plays a different role in our lives.

It is exciting to watch the subtle color changes that occur in the landscape at the cusp of a new season. Spring brings anticipation as I wait for the last traces of the winter palette to fade away. Trees in the neighborhood take their time as buds slowly make an appearance. And tiny sprouts of leaves emerge in the most beautiful shades of chartreuse and red. 

The grand finale in this slow dance features the full leafing out of the trees in vivid rich greens.The woodlands at the edge of wetlands offer a front row seat to this slow transformation, with subdued early spring colors that eventually transition to a richer mature color palette. “Spring Green in the Wetlands in the Preserve” posted here captures this flush of color as the early growth makes its presence known. Enjoy this season of renewal!