Paintings

Selected work by Marlene Breitenstein

Work-in-progress pastel painting of two sunflowers. The left blossom is pink and "looks" straight ahead. The right blossom is red, and is turned towards the other flower. The background is unfinished in blue and green.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Girasole

🟡 Limited edition prints will be available upon completion.
🔴 The original is not for sale.
Pastel on sanded archival paper.

This not-yet-finished painting is an homage to my relationship with my beloved husband. I intended it to be loosely painted, but it had other ideas, becoming my most detailed work to date.

Pastel painting of dramatic storm clouds in off-white, russet-red and dark blue. The sun disc peeks through at the center.

Now on the Yin Yang Timeline

🟢 Original: $525 unframed.
Pastel on sanded archival paper.
Original art is 30 cm x 23 cm (12″ x 9″).

Pastel painting of a bridge with three arches, over a wide creek. A tree is to the left and a hill in the background.

Burnside Bridge

🟢 Original: $800 framed.
Pastel on sanded archival paper.
Framed size is 55 cm x 48 cm (21.5″ x 19″). Professionally framed with archival mat board, glass, with a silver frame.
Original art is 31 cm x 24 cm (12″ x 9.5″). Sizes are approximate.

I started this painting at Antietam Battlefield in Maryland. This bridge is an historic landmark in the bloodiest battle of America’s Civil War.

Pastel painting in a more abstract style. Cloudy mist hangs over a dark landscape.

Nebel

🟢 Limited edition print: $150 unframed.
Five giclée prints are available, numbered and signed by the artist, with a certificate of authenticity.

I have enjoyed hearing many interpretations of this painting. I leave it to you to determine your own.

🔴 Original: Collection of R. Bruce.
Pastel on sanded archival paper.
Framed size is 39 cm x 32 cm (15.5″ x 12.5″). Professionally framed under museum glass, spacer, with a silver frame.
Original art is 31 cm x 24 cm (12″ x 9.5″). Sizes are approximate.

Pastel painting of a row of autumn trees in yellow and orange. There is a sunset above them in orange, purple and blue, and the grass in the foreground is deep in shadow.

Glimmen

🟢 Original: $600 framed.
Pastel on sanded archival paper.
Framed size is 31 cm x 26 cm (12″ x 10″). Professionally framed under museum glass, spacer, with a gold frame.
Original art is 25 cm x 20 cm (10″ x 8″). Sizes are approximate.

Pastel painting of a sunset and clouds, over a sliver of dark land. The blue-gray-purple clouds are heavy and take up 2/3 of the upper painting. The sun peeks out just below them, creating a violet band just above the darkly silhouetted earth and trees.

Part of the Truth Revealed

🟢 Original: $475 unframed.
Pastel on sanded archival paper.
Original art is 29 cm x 24 cm (11.5″ x 9.5″). Sizes are approximate.

Title inspired by a line in Barry Hughart’s book Bridge of Birds.

Find Me on Social Media

      

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I support algorithm-free alternative social media, independent of the big dogs.

Are you thinking, "What? I never heard of those."

Okay, since you actually clicked on this, and I’m a bit of an ambassador for things I believe in, I’ll explain:

Mastodon is the most engaging, refreshing social media I’ve experienced. It is a social network based on a non-profit, ad-free model, designed to allow the user fine control over what they choose to see and who they interact with, while retaining full data ownership. It may be smaller, but that’s actually a benefit!

Glass is an image-focused social network, designed by and for photographers, using a subscription-based model, which also provides full user and data control.

Where Am I?

Sometimes in the Washington, DC area.
Sometimes I’m traveling elsewhere.

Otherwise I’m near Landau in der Pfalz, in the Südliche Weinstrasse (Southern Wine Route) region of Germany, characterized by endless vineyards, and bordered by mountains covered with fairy-tale forests. France is 25 minutes away.