Best Wishes for the New Year and a finished soft pastel painting

As we are counting the last hours of the old year and looking forward to the new one, I just want to reflect on the past year and say that it went pretty well for me. I tried to focus on doing things I love. I’ve baked a lot, trying to be inventive and try new things. I’ve tried to take better photos of my food and my surroundings. I tried to spend more time painting. I have actually finished several paintings out of which two were sold in a charity event helping needy Bosnian families and one got an award and it is still displayed in our local museum gallery. I tried to spend more time with my kids, be a better parent, be a good friend and a listener. I tried to keep an open mind and an open heart to the new things that came along. Have I succeeded? Not sure. I am sure of one thing though: I will not stop trying and hoping that this new year will be better in every way not only for me, but also for all of you that are reading this post and for the whole world.

peace on earth

This is my latest painting. The original photo comes from a Croatian photographer Boris Stromar and can be seen at Boris’ website. With Boris’ permission I have used this photo as a reference. The painting depicts river Una, one of the most beautiful rivers of Bosnia and Europe.

This is how I started:

Remembering Bosnia_first drawing

Completed painting:

River Una

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My new pastel painting from the Bosnia series – Part 2

Here is the progress from this week. I had a lot of problems with the small boat in the background, so I had to re position it and change the shape of it. Now I think it looks better. I have mainly worked on the lower left corner and somewhat on the big boat. The big boat supposed to show reflection of the clouds since it has some leftover rain inside… I plan to work on the big boat and hopefully finish it next week… Stay tuned my friends.

Blackberry Blossoms in soft pastel – Part I

One painting done, another one in making. This time I am trying to get out of my comfort zone and paint some blackberry blossoms. They caught my eye the other day when we were taking our dogs for a walk in the park. They are so subtle and graceful with their fine, white petals. Usually I paint landscapes, architecture, animals occasionally, but not flowers. Recently I painted some tulips for exercise and didn’t like the end result (maybe because photo wasn’t mine)… This time the photo is mine and I am eager to do this well! Stay tuned.