PSWC Magazine Fall 2019

PSWC magazine

Tony Allain Laura Pollak interviews the award winning artist

The Heart of An Artist W. Truman Hosner talks art and life with renouned pastelist Horace Champagne

LaVone on Life The delightful Lavone Sterling shares her art and philospohy on life

IAPS Impressions PSWC was well-represented by Member artists at this year’s IAPS Convention

Plus....

Art tips from Clark Mitchell, Sandy Lindblad, and Paul Harman and other PSWC members!

Monument Valley by Tony Allain

A SS T T EE LL PP A Volume 12, Issue 4

O C C II EE T T Y Y SS O

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T H H EE T

W EE SS T T W

C O O A A SS T T C

PSWC Magazine | Fall 2019

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Fall 2019

We. Are. Pastelists.

Join the most dynamic pastel group in the USA for less than 20c per day You don’t have to live on the West Coast to become a member. With PSWC members located around the US, as well as international members, the Pastel Society of the West Coast offers a strong voice for expanding the presence of soft pastel as a major fine art painting medium.

PSWC was organized in 1984 to promote pastel artists and the soft pastel medium. Today, PSWC is one of the most recognized pastel societies in the country, with an ever-increasing international presence. Benefits include: Pastels USA Annual Exhibition | Members Only Online Competition | Workshops by Noted PSWC Artists | PSWC Social Media Exposure Opportunities | Free Online Gallery | Critique Program with Master Pastelists | Membership in IAPS | No Juried Membership, unlike other societies.

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PSWC magazine Table of Contents

FEATURES IAPS Impressions See PSWC Members’ art and read some thoughts on the Convention The Interview Tony Allain gets the Pollak treatment

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The Heart of the Artist W. Truman Hosner’s interview with acclaimed artist Horace Champagne

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LaVone on Life LaVone Sterling talks art and life

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Meet the Member Jeannie Fine shares her passion for fine art

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ABOUT ART In Memorium Urania Christy Tarbet

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Art School Clark Mitchell takes you through the landscape.

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Framed!

Paul Harman on the Art of Framing

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Paper Chase Sandy Lindbald tests Three Pastel papers

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Art Workshops Workshops Coming Up

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REGULARS Letter from the PSWC President From Sabrina Hill Contributors See who’s getting it done for the Magazine!

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News & Notes Latest information on the Society

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Studio Secrets Answers to Life’s Littlest Questions

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PSWC Housekeeping Here’s what’s happening with the Society

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PSWC Magazine | Fall 2019

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Letter from the Editor

Dear Pastelists, What an exciting Summer and Fall it has been! In June, I attended the IAPS Convention for the first time. WOW! What an amazing experience. It can only be described as a happy family reunion meets art classes galore and great shopping. Everyday there was something exciting going on between demos, workshops, festivities, and impromptu gatherings of friends. One of the highlights of the convention was the book signing for Purely Pastels editied by Anne Hevener. At the end of the day, all the contributors who were at the convention sat at a long bank of tables outside the Candy Store and one-by-one signed their pages as book buyers made their way down the line. There were nearly 60 artists there! It was an amazing and emotional scene.

The banquet was lovely, I sat at the head table and had a spirited and lively discussion about the future of pastels with Richard McKinley, Pierre Guidetti, and Isabella Lim. And I stood proudly and clapped loudly as many of our PSWC members received awards, including Dug Waggoner and Jerry Boyd (both board members), Rita Kirkman, Nancie King Mertz, Jeri Greenberg, Katherine Irish, Christine Obers, and Alain Picard.

If you haven’t gone to IAPS, the next convention is in 2021. Consider making the trip--you won’t regret it. We have so many contributors in this issue that I will leave some room for them!

Sabrina Hill

PSWC President and Editor, PSWC Magazine

Contibutors Paul Harman is an award winning pastel artist. He has dabbled in art since high school but was not able to pursue his love of painting full time until he retired from a long career in law enforcement in 2007. He studied for a year with Reif Erickson, a distinguished Auburn pastel artist who maintained a studio at his home. He fell in love with the pastel medium absorbing every detail on composition and color he could glean from his mentor while attending twice weekly classes in his studio for a year. Paul thoroughly immersed himself in the medium attending pastel workshops by other pastel artists as well as taking advantage of plein air painting opportunities with other artists. He is Signature artist with the Pastel Society of the West Coast.

W. Truman Hosner received his Bachelor of Fine Arts and was a Former Instructor at Center for Creative Studies in Detroit. He is a Master Pastelist with PSA, PSEC and IAPS, a Distinguished Pastelist with PSWC, and a Signature Member with DPS. Truman earned his BFA at Wayne State University and studied at Scottsdale Artists School with Harley Brown and Dan Gerhartz. Before moving into fine art, as a nationally recognized illustrator he produced illustrations for brands such as Readers Digest, CBSFox Video and Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Paintings by W. Truman Hosner are featured in national and international museum collections and exhibitions ranging from New York City...to California...to Canada...to France...to Asia.

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Contributors Contributors (continued) Sandy Lindblad, a Grass Valley contemporary animal portrait artist, has a unique style between impressionism/expressionism. She’s a signature artist at the Pastel Society of the West Coast. Her creative art specializing in animals is created with passion, in a colorful, expressionistic manners, catching the feeling of cats, dogs, horses and other subjects in her paintings. Sandy’s favorite medium is pastel, but she likes to work with acrylic and oil as well. She enjoys seeing them come alive on canvas or board regardless of what medium she chooses to use. Her goal is to catch an “impression” of the animals and scenes that she paints.

Clark Mitchell grew up in the shadow of the Rockies, and very early discovered a love of the natural world. Given a set of fine old German pastels by his father when quite young, he quickly embraced the medium for its ease of handling, brilliance of color and portability. He received a bachelor’s degree in art from Colorado College in the seventies and moved to San Francisco to continue his studies at the Academy of Art College. Through personal exploration as well as study with artists Albert Handell, Skip Whitcomb, Michael Lynch and Bill Hook, Mitchell has developed the talent to create both tightly rendered scenes as well as looser, more abstract suggestions.

WANT TO GET INVOLVED? There’s always room for more.

Let us know what you want to do, and we’ll find a spot for you!

KEEP IN TOUCH &

Laura Pollak is an award winning Fine Artist, showing her works in

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galleries and museums across the nation. Her works have been juried into National and International Shows. Most recently Laura won First Place in the North Carolina Statewide Show.

She has garnered acclaim in the very prestigious International Association of Pastel Societies, and the Pastel Journal’s top 100 pastels. Her work has been published along with an interview in the THE PASTEL JOURNAL and in November 2019, will be featured in the book STROKES OF GENIUS available worldwide. Pollak holds a Masters Degree in Fine Arts from Michigan State University with Post Graduate studies from the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan.

LaVone Sterling is an internationally published, awarding winning artist, who lives with her husband in Visalia, California.

LaVone hails from many generations of artists and musicians Her love of the California landscape and people is evident in her landscape and portrait paintings. LaVone works in oil and pastel.

LaVone has a Master’s Degree in Art from California State University, Fresno and is a former community college art instructor. She has studied with Daniel James Keyes; Richard McKinley; Kim Lordier and others. She is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America; the Pastel Society of the West Coast and the Alliance of California Artists.

ABOUT THIS ISSUE Our magazine format was a big hit! This format allows us to add more art and gives readers a PDF version or an online digital version to read on mobile devices.

InDesign Magazine Template Designed by Erick Ragas StockInDesign Inc. www.stockindesign.com @stockindesign Fonts: Sabon, Aller Display, and Open Sans All photos are property of the artists

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The 34rd Annual International Open Exhibition of

A Dynamic Journey! will be held at Art Center Morro Bay June 25th - August 3rd, 2020 6

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Congrats to the PASTELS USA 2019 Show Winners BEST IN SHOW The Narrator by Candice Grieve, PSA Chesterfield, Michigan 17x21

ROBERT & PATRICIA SUGG AWARD WAKEHAM/SUTHERLAND AWARD

Mirth and Serendipity by Mary Aslin, PSWC, PSA San Juan Capistrano, California 18x24

Chinese Tea by Jeri Greenberg, PSA Mountainside, New Jersey | 16x12 PSWC Magazine | Fall 2019

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News & Notes

News & Notes In July of this year, the PSWC Board approved several new Board positions. We are happy to announce that these new positions have been filled, as well as one of our regular Board positions. Here are our new board members:

Scholarship Co-Chairs: Pam Comfort and Ranjani Mohana Purpose: To communicate our college scholarship opportunites throughout the nation and attract young artists to invest in their future. To promote pastel arts through awards. To develop additional scholarship opportunies for workshops and advanced education. To locate potential award recipients, assess their work, present it to the board, and facilitate selection and dispersement of award(s).

Pam Comfort has dabbled in a variety of media over the years, but it wasn’t until this past year that she discovered the beauty, flexibility and tactile satisfaction of working with pastels. Pam recently retired from her post as Deputy County Superintendent of Schools in Contra Costa County, California and has been doing a lot of international traveling. She is drawn to paint subject matter that attempts to reflect the wonder and sensation of particular scenes encountered on these travels.

Having seen the call for a volunteer to assist with the PSWC scholarship program, Pam says she thought it might be a good way to use her professional experience and connections to educational organizations – as well as a way to become more involved in this wonderful community of pastel artists.

Along with travel, Pam has been enjoying time with her six grandchildren and languishing on the lake near her home in the Sierra foothills.

Ranjani Mohana was born and raised in India and currently lives in Northern California. Her creative passion drove her to explore sewing, crafts and painting. Ranjani is mostly a self taught artist and 8

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is currently concentrating on painting with pastels.

Her painting skills have been soaring high this past three years.

“Indulging in nature and admiring God’s creation was an exciting journey; I am not only able to see it in my everyday life, I am now able to capture them all, the beautiful little flowers on the roadside, the sunlight playing hide and seek through the orange grooves, the beautiful lamp emanating light, the reflection through the glass window...you name it, there was beauty to uplift one’s spirit and leap with joy everywhere around us. Thus the inspiration, my imaginations combined with my love for pastels brought me to this indulgence in drawing in pastel.”

Most recently, she is exploring her skills in abstracts with acrylics.

One of the highlights of Ranjani’s career was in 2010 when she was selected by the Co Founder of SF MOMA Art Gallery, Mariam Parmenter, to create 50 paintings of size 6”x6”, for the 50-50 Show at the Sanchez Art Center, 1220 Linda Mar Blvd, Pacifica, CA. The show went from July 29 - August 30, 2010.

News & Notes Museum Liaison

of art. It becomes a part of me.”

Chair: W. Truman Hosner

Mary Beth was born in Connecticut and as a young child exhibited a strong talent in all areas of art with a natural ability to draw. As a teenager, she began studying under the mentorship of nationally and internationally known Master Pastelist, Claudia Post, www.claudiapost.com and for the next 7 years was her teaching assistant during her summers off from school. She attended Paier College of Art and received a B.A. in Graphic Design from Central Connecticut State University and went on to have a successful career as a graphic designer for over 30+ years.

Purpose: To support the PSWC in producing exhibitions at prestigious art museums throughout the country. This will help to attract the best, most talented, and prolific pastelists of our time to our annual competitions, which will elevate the art of pastels.

W. Truman Hosner has graciously volunteered to help the PSWC’s Pastels USA achieve our goal of more museum exhibitions. Truman earned his BFA at Wayne State University and studied at Scottsdale Artists School with Harley Brown and Dan Gerhartz. Before moving into fine art, as a nationally recognized illustrator he produced illustrations for brands such as Readers Digest, CBSFox Video and Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Paintings

by W Truman Hosner are featured in national and international museum collections and exhibitions ranging from New York City...to California...to Canada...to France...to Asia.

Signature Awards Chair: Mary Beth Sasso Purpose: To track and manage the awards points system for achieving Signature and Distinguished Pastelist standing in the Society.

Mary Beth Sasso specializes in pastel portraits of both people and animals capturing the true nature and personality of each subject. “When I chose a subject that speaks to my soul, the true essence of its beauty completes my vision of an exquisite piece

In 2008 Mary Beth reconnected once again with Ms. Post and returned full-time to her fine art roots with exhibits at various galleries in Connecticut along with teaching teens and adults in Connecticut schools and private studios.

Strategic Communication & Planning Chair: Deborah Shea Purpose: To work with the Museum Liaison and Marketing and Publicity Committee to help plan PSWC’s branding and messaging strategy and help determine the best use of resources in marketing to achieve our growth goals.

Deborah Shea received a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and Design at the University of California at Davis. She studied with Wayne Thiebaud, Roland Peterson and Frances Butler. Since that time she has also taken classes and workshops in botanical drawing, watercolor and acrylic painting at the San Francisco Art Institute. She had a long and successful career as a creative directior, designer and illustrator prior to becoming a full-time artist. She currently resides in Redwood City.

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IAPS Exhibition 2019

IAPS in Albuquerque Impressions of IAPS

by LaVone Sterling, PSWC-DP. PSA : When my three daughters and I signed up for a pastel workshop in 2010, I had no idea how my life as an artist was about to change. I fell head over heels in love with pastel and began searching the web for clubs to join and places to learn. In my quest, I found that the nearest pastel club was the Pastel Society of the West Coast. I called the membership chair, Willo Balfrey. We talked for at least an hour.

She was so informative and so kind. She began sharing the names of pastel teachers and upcoming events, urging me that I must take Richard McKinley’s workshop. She told me that there was also a pastel convention called IAPS, where I could learn from dozens of talented instructors, but it was biannual and I had just missed it. So there wouldn’t be another for a couple years. Time passed, and I forgot about IAPS until I was doing a demo and teaching a workshop sponsored

by Sierra Pastel Society. During the break, I was approached by a sweet lady, named Urania Tarbet, who purchased my demo piece. She asked if I had attended the IAPS Convention that summer. I told her, no that I had not. With much enthusiasm and in detail, she began telling me how much fun it was and that I should come next time, which would be the summer of 2017.

My experience with conventions in the past was that 10

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there were lengthy lectures that put me to sleep and lots of people who basically kept to themselves. How could a pastel convention possibly be as fabulous as Urania claimed? Well I was about to find out.

I decided to go to the 2019 IAPS Convention.

My Impressions This is an account of my experience at the IAPS Convention: I registered a little late.

Next time I will know better, because some of the classes I wanted to take were full.

However, there were so many talented instructors I was still grateful for the ones I got. I had a plan for the whole week.

I wanted to work my scheduled around the demos, the workshops and the candy store and still have time to plein air paint At the Candy Store with friends. I didn’t want to miss a single thing, not even the experience of the beautiful terrain between California and New Mexico. So, I decided to drive the 885 miles to Albuquerque, stopping along the way to take photos and to soak up the breathtaking landscape. When we arrived at the Albuquerque Hotel I was not disappointed. We settled into our room and the following morning I delivered my painting to the gallery where IAPS volunteers were receiving accepted pieces for the PastelWorld Exhibition. The convention had not yet officially started,

IAPS Exhibition 2019 so my husband and I went sight seeing, visiting old town and Santa Fe. My anticipation was building, I could hardly wait for the convention to begin and to watch the demos and workshops and critiques , oh my. I felt I had discovered the wonderful world of Oz. But first I wanted to grab my pastels and venture out to paint and so I did.

It got windy that afternoon, and I had to stop painting or be blown away. So, when I returned to the hotel, my husband and I went into the little café on the first floor and an amazing thing happened. The room was filled with artists, some I knew and some I felt I knew.

They were speaking art, my language. Such a sense of community and like-mindedness.

It was glorious. Of course, the Banquet, the Fiesta Pastel World and even the elevator became a meeting place. Some call this networking, a buzz word you hear often. I think I may finally have a clue as to what it means. As an artist you work alone so much of the time you need the camaraderie of other people who can talk art. Now here are all these wonderful artists under one roof attending the IAPS Convention giving you the opportunity to get out of your creative cave and spend time with friends, colleagues and fans. It is such a sense of community, of family.

You swap war stories and share tips and techniques and wish you could stay forever in the moment. And when you must leave, it is with renewed inspiration and excitement to do your best work.

The dozens of workshop and demonstrations by talented instructors that were scheduled by the IAPS staff were amazing. I wish I could have attended ev-

ery one. It was a very good strategy on their part, because now I am inspired to come back next time.

Of those I attended. I especially loved Liz Sullivan’s demo on painting skies. She dramatically pointed out the difference in color when painting the sunset from a photo and with the help of cameraman, Phil Bates, she demonstrated color change on the screen. Her approach to painting sunsets inspired me so much that once I got home, I started a series of sunset paintings, which was new for me.

In addition to workshops and demos, the convention offered one-on-one critiques by master pastelists. I registered for a critique by one of my all time pastel heroes, Lorenzo Chavez.

We were allowed 3 paintings to be critiqued on our laptop or iPad. I felt I had developed a problem with foregrounds, so I chose three works with that problem to be critiqued. Lorenzo was so helpful in pointing out, not one but many solutions. I am so grateful for his expertise.

I was surprised that even the trade show (known as the Candy At the Candy Store Store) had talented artists demonstrating their product. With regard to the trade show, next time I need to set a limit and stick to it! I only have one regret when it comes to the Candy Store which is that I should have purchased more Ming Paper. I didn’t try it until I got home, and I love it.

The IAPS Convention is a place to learn with the best.

But more than that, it is a place where pastel artists bond in friendship, support and the spirit of community. We are family.

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IAPS Exhibition 2019

PSWC MEMBERS REPRESENTED AT IAPS EXHIBITION The Pastel Society of the West Coast was well-represented at the IAPS Convention this past June.

Here are most of the entries. (Some artists were unable to get copies to us before press deadline.) It was a spectacular show--truly some of the best pastel artists in the world had pieces in the show.

Autumn at the Rim by Stan Bloomfield | 15x20

The Demo: SQUINT! By Barbara Archer-Baldwin | 12x12

Starry Starry Hay by Lynda Conley | 11x14

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Twilight Blaze by Katherine Irish | 27x27

IAPS Exhibition 2019

PSWC MEMBERS REPRESENTED AT IAPS EXHIBITION

There Went My Diet by Judith Leeds | 18x24 Orange Crush by Betsey Kellum | 18x18

From the Terrace by Christine Ivers | 15x12

Still Inside by Jeri Greenberg | 14x10

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IAPS Exhibition 2019

PSWC MEMBERS REPRESENTED AT IAPS EXHIBITION

Hill Tribe Mother and Child

by Susan Kuznitsky | 18x16

Persephone by Rita Kirkman | 8x6

Patiently Waiting

by Linda Mutti | 16x20

Winter’s Warmth

by Joe Mancuso |16x12

Prince

by Sandy Lindblad |12x9

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IAPS Exhibition 2019

PSWC MEMBERS REPRESENTED AT IAPS EXHIBITION

My New Dress

by Alain Picard 8x6

The Refuge by Eveline Miller | 12x9

Dying Hope by TaiMeng Lim | 14x18

Devotion by Lisa Rico | 12x16

Emeralds by Laura Pollak | 20x16

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IAPS Exhibition 2019

PSWC MEMBERS REPRESENTED AT IAPS EXHIBITION

Truckee River by Ann Sanders | 12x16

Beginnings by Sally Strand | 24x18

Wildling Warrior by William Schneider | 20x16

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Cross Creek by Sarah St. George | 20x16

IAPS Exhibition 2019

PSWC MEMBERS REPRESENTED AT IAPS EXHIBITION

Eros As Our Guide by Daggi Wallace | 15x15

This Path I Am On by LaVone Sterling | 24x18

Pyramid Mountain by Doug Tweddale | 19.5 x 25.5

Around the World by Marie Tippets | 13.5x13.5

Madrona Marsh Afternoon by David Wolfram | 11x14

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IAPS Exhibition 2019

GETTING BANQUET-READY @ IAPS

Sandy and Jerry Boyd

Jimmy Wright going in for a hug

Terri Ford

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Rae Smith and Linda Mutti

Sabrina Hill with Duane Wakeham

Pre-Banquet Mingling

IAPS Exhibition 2019

In Memorium Urania Christy Tarbet December 19, 1931 - July 4, 2019

by Paul Harman

Urania Christy Tarbet left this world at the wonderful age of 88. She was an amazingly energetic and accomplished artist in both pastel and oil. Urania achieved distinction in her efforts to further the pastel medium by founding the International Association of Pastel Societies in 1994. She was their President Emeritus.

Urania loved life, creating art, her husbands, her many friends, everything pastel and had a marvelous sense of humor. She was generous with her time and appreciated by many artists in pastel societies throughout the USA. Her knowledge and teachings in the pastel medium have helped innumerable people to become more adept at the medium.

Urania conducted pastel and oil workshops throughout the United States, Canada, Scotland and Italy. Urania won many awards for her beautiful artwork. Urania was a Master Circle member of IAPS. Her work is included in many how-to-art books; and she has been the subject of many articles published in the American Artist, The Artist’s Magazine, Art Review, Leisure Painter, Designer’s Illustrated and Sacramento Home.

She was on the editorial board of the Pastel Journal.

Urania published her book Dare to Dream in 2013 and the book talks about her life in pastel and how she went on to create the International Association of Pastel Societies. There are also many good tips and short articles from many of today’s master pastelists from around the world.

Urania was a member of the Pastel Society of America, Signature and Life Member of the Salmagundi Club, Artist Member of the California Art Club, Pasadena, and of Knickerbocker Artists, and Signature Member both of the Pastel Society of Canada, and the National League of American Pen Women, Artist and Writer Member of the Master Circle of the International Association of Pastel Societies; she also held honorary memberships in numerous Pastel Societies.

Interestingly, Jack Richardson Company originally designed a custom art desk for Urania Christy Tarbet. This desk is marketed by many major art supply houses as Urania’s Desk. The design and organization of it for the pastel artist has been very popular over the years.

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The Interview--Tony Allain

Tony Allain

PS, PSA, IAPS-MC, MPANZ

by Laura Pollak, PSWC

LP: Where were you born? Where did you growup? Where do you reside now?

TONY: I was born and grew up on the small Channel Island of Guernsey situated just 23 miles off the coast of Normandy, France. I now reside in Great Britain LP: Describe what your childhood was like.

Tony Allain’s paintings first caught my eye several years ago when I started in pastels. His brilliant, bold mark making drew me in, along with his perfect sense of color. The mood he achieves with so few strokes made me marvel. Since I was a graphic designer in a former life I was taught to work in large strong shapes. That’s Tony’s work!

But as bold and colorful as his paintings are, Tony is humble and dare I say mellow. During the 2017 IAPS convention I had signed up for a Pro Art Critique and his words and encouragement have stayed with me to push me forward. I’ll always be grateful!

During this last IAPS, I was finally able to take Tony’s workshop and was amazed all over again!

His story is a fascinating one and truly inspiring. Join me in a wonderful conversation with the astonishing Tony Allain!

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TONY: My father died when I was very young, and I have no memory of him. I was one of five children, although money was scarce, my childhood on a small island of 27 square miles, was fairly carefree and uncomplicated. Most school holidays were spent with family and friends enjoying the many sandy beaches and coves. There were very few cars on the island so collecting car registration numbers was not high on our things to do list. .

LP: When did you know you were an artist?

TONY: I think it was when I was about five years old, when I was caught drawing butterflies all over the wallpaper of our dining room. On a more serious note I started to take a keen interest in drawing when I reached the age of about ten years old. I enjoyed drawing from life.

LP: How did your schooling impact your career?

TONY: From about the age of ten, I was fortunate enough to have had a good art master at my local junior school. He recognised my enthusiasm for drawing and encouraged me to continue. It was this guy that introduced me to the medium of watercolor. This would be a natural progression and would enhance my ink drawings, which I loved.

Fres

shwater Marsh by Tony Allain

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The Interview--Tony Allain My academic subjects took a back seat as I threw myself into this new world of picture making. In those days one could leave school at the age of fourteen years old and go out and join the workforce.

I secured a job in a local pottery as a designer (painting pretty things onto china plates). I was not yet fourteen when this job opportunity arrived. It was my mother who requested of the school Headmaster that I leave school at thirteen and a bit, so as not to lose this job offer. My Headmaster looked at my poor academic school reports and decided it was best that I leave school and work with my hands and not with my head.

LP: When did you first get into Pastels?

TONY: Pastels found me about thirty years ago. I had been painting in other mediums. An artist friend who used to make his own pastels for reasons of poverty gave me a bunch of misshapen homemade sticks to try out. The rest is history!

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LP: Do you use other mediums?

TONY: I painted with watercolor for 20 years. I became a member of the now disbanded Royal Watercolour Societies Art Club in 1977. I would also paint in oils. However, at that time my first love was watercolor.

LP: How did you develop your personal and distinctive style? How would you describe your technique?

TONY: My art master back in those early school days was not only a good teacher but he was also a fine painter in all mediums. He was heavily influenced by the French Impressionists movement. It was his enthusiasm that guided me towards impressionism.

I try to simplify the scene into a few big shapes perhaps half a dozen at most. Those shapes are not simply blocks of one color, very often they are areas of broken color, sometimes mixing colors that are

The Interview--Tony Allain tonally very close, so that the effect is quite subtle even allowing for the broken color, I sometimes restrict the palette I use in any given painting. I am quite happy to exaggerate the colors for the sake of making a painting. They are not totally accurate and quite often I use a lot of neutral or dark values, then use bright colors to draw attention to the focal point of the picture. The neutrals may include the surface of the paper showing through.

Yes, I do aim to keep it simple throughout most of the passages. I block in several lean layers. This allows me to glaze and blend colors to the desired color, shade and tone or value I am looking for. I do very little ‘finger blending’. For example, to warm up an area of mostly green fields, I will lightly ‘brush’ in an underpainting of an orange/gold color. It seems to work for me. As Degas once said, “Painting is not about what one sees. It’s about what one makes others see.”

LP: Who influenced you in your art career?

TONY: In my early days as a watercolor painter I was heavily influenced by the loose and sublime paintings of J. M. W. Turner. From his many thousands of watercolor sketches, which he called his “color begging’s,” through to his major oils, especially paintings like Norham Castle Sunrise and Staffa, Fingal’s Cave, a large 36” x 48” canvas showing very little detail but packed with drama.

After a visit to the National Gallery in London in my early years, I was introduced to the work of French Impressionists, where a vast collection of Monet paintings are on permanent display. On leaving the gallery and surfacing into the busy city center, I began to see Monet people and Monet cars and Monet buildings in my surroundings. It is fair to say Claude Monet had a dramatic effect on the way I started to see my world.

LP: Why do you stay with pastels? Why do you LOVE them?

Nelson Yacht Club by Tony Allain

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Moonlit Venice by by Tony Allain

From the Sketchbook of Tony Allain

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The Interview--Tony Allain TONY: When I first started painting, fifty or more years ago I was a tonal painter in watercolor and oil, generally sticking to the more sedate earth and ochre colors. It was thirty years ago that my artist friend lead me into the world of ‘pure pigment on a stick’. As color and light are the motivation for me to paint, pastel gives me the vehicle to satisfy my appetite to record the world as I see flooded with color, light, form and shape.

No more Mr. Gray! No more brush washing! No more paint mixing! No more waiting for passages to dry!

I started to get immediate results.

I am a very impatient painter and pastel is well-suited to my way of revealing my vision to others. Pastels are very portable and can be done equally successful plein air or in the studio.

LP: What are your favorite scenes to draw?

TONY: I have an appetite to record all subject matter. I have been known in the past as the ‘boat painter’. I guess it’s because I have always lived within a mile or two of the ocean. Color and light are my motivation for choosing a subject.

The light sparkling on the water, the color reflected in the landscape. I favour the mood of the early morning or late afternoon. There is no finer feeling than to be presented with a wealth of subject matter, literally on one’s doorstep. I do go in search of more dramatic landscapes here in Britain and overseas sketching and painting the mountains of Scotland and the Rockies of North America, to the rural European countryside of France and Italy.

LP: Tell us about your sketchbooks and your sketching practice?

TONY: Drawing and sketching is the basic language of painting. Drawing is the tool that can help an artist see and understand his surroundings. Drawing forces you to analyse and decipher the subject for yourself. When you get inspired by a particular sub-

ject, it is only when you start to draw, that you begin to fully understand it’s shapes, tones and lines. The accomplished painter who cannot draw well - is as rare as hen’s teeth. It can be dangerous for the inexperienced artist to simply draw from photographs, because this encourages you to copy two-dimensional shapes of light and dark. In nature objects do not have a line around them; they have value, depth, shape and space. Drawing from life is much more visually critical. It teaches you sort of abstract processes of a combination of line, tone and shape.

Drawing practice will sharpen your observation skills.

Basic drawing and sketching equipment can be as little as a pocket journal and a single pen. I use markers, pencils, watercolour and sometimes a flick or two of gouache to record my studies. I am still ‘feeding’ off sketches that I made 40 or more years ago. I have many sketch books filled with visual memories of my travels.

LP: Where do you primarily show your work?

TONY: My work can be found in just a few selected galleries in the UK. At one point in my career I was feeding over 20 galleries with work. Those days are well behind me (my mortgage has been paid). I have of course got a couple of websites which will show my current work. I am working towards representation in the USA. I have a gallery (Gallery 31) on Cape Cod that shows my work.

LP: How did you get to New Zealand?

TONY: In 2005 my wife and I took a six week major vacation to New Zealand and ended up staying 10 years after a lengthy immigration process. My wife was a trained Staff Nurse and secured a position in one of the main hospitals.

My passion will always be landscape. It is why I became an artist. I want to share my vision of the world I see.

I have lived and worked in several locations in the last 30 years painting what I see around me from small Cornish fishing villages to bustling cities. Moving to New Zealand for those years allowed me to find new landscape subject matter. Rugged Mountains, Huge rolling foot hills, sheep stations, magnificent High Country, and waterfalls. The list is endless. The spectacular natural geography and the pure clean light in NZ have challenged me to look again at my chosen color palette to satisfy my passion for that color and PSWC Magazine | Fall 2019

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The Interview--Tony Allain light. Winter sees the Southern Alps and mountain passes looking splendid with their heavy covering of snow. It took some time for the landscape to reveal itself to me. It was the same as when I first went to Venice. It is almost too beautiful to paint. I tried to not be influenced by previous artists and searched out my landscape to find my inspiration. Where to next?

TONY: For the artist who is about to start their journey into the world of soft pastel, I would say buy individual sticks rather than complete sets of pastels, you will only need a small selection of the primaries, that is three light, three medium and three dark.

Then a few tones of earth colors should be enough to get you out of the station. Never use white paper.

LP: What brought you back to Scotland?

•Always use the best quality artist’s pastels.

Try not to buy your pastels in sets as you end up with a lot of colours you may never use. If you Brass Beaker by Tony Allain use inferior materials you will end up with inferior work.

TONY: The simple answer is the landscape.

I was also elected a member of The Pastel Society UK in 2014. This, and family, bought us back to the UK. LP: Do you have a favorite substrate?

Tony: I painted on Canson paper for many years (the smooth side). Since the introduction of new sanded or gritted paper the choice seems endless.

I favor Pastel Premier, Colourfix and Uart papers/ boards.

For my large pieces of 36 inches and above I prepare my own support using 3mm MDF gessoed with the addition of grit or marble dust.

LP: Do you prefer to paint in a particular size?

TONY: Many years ago I invested in professional framing equipment. Having the luxury of making frames to non-standard size gives me the chance to try out and paint in various formats from square to long panorama type images. I also paint the more conventional sizes of 18x24, 12x16, etc.

LP: What would you tell beginning pastel artists as your best advice?

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•Always do thumbnail sketches first. This helps to solve problems like – composition, perspective and the general balance of the finished work.

•Carry a small sketch journal everywhere. I keep one in the glove compartment of my car for emergencies.

•Always stand at your easel if possible. This will give you freedom of movement and allow you to step back periodically and view your work in progress.

•Use a piece of plastic guttering on the ledge of your easel to catch the pastel dust in.

•Lay in the underpainting with broad, direct light strokes with the side of the pastel. Build up the layers again with delicate but positive strokes.

•If you paint a bad mark, leave it and camouflage it by painting a better one next to it. [LP: my favorite Tonyism] •Squint as much as possible. This allows you to see

The Interview--Tony Allain shapes rather than detail.

the world do you really wish to go to paint?

•Paint what you see. Not what you know is there.

TONY: Monument Valley, the Scottish Isles are just two locations on my ever increasing bucket list.

•Paint fat over lean, as you would in oils.

•Don’t fiddle. Keep it simple. Know when to stop.

Less is more.

•Keep the highlights clean and bright by painting them last.

•Reading all the books, watching all the dvd’s, taking workshops will give you all the knowledge to get started--but without a heap of practise this will mean nothing.

LP: What are your future goals?

TONY: None of us are getting out of this alive. I have a limited amount of time left to explore more and more subject matter. I think at the moment my goal is to paint the best painting ever with the least amount of marks!

LP: What does your daily practice look like?

LP: Tell us about your studio.

TONY: My studio is a converted double garage with natural light. I custom make all of my storage benches which have castors attached for ease of moving around. I have a built in wall easel and several free standing easels for oils and for photographing finished work. I have a framing station and picture storage racks.

LP: What advice would you give your ‘younger’ self?

TONY: Paint everything, keep your failures, Look more closely at your surroundings, paint from life not from a photo.

LP: What are 2-3 non-art related hobbies or interests?

TONY: Not in any order but I enjoy cooking, playing a round of golf and travelling.

TONY: I go to my studio most days.

There will always be something on the easel. I tend to work from my sketch books a lot. I am always searching for new material and ideas so plein air sketching and shooting reference material as part of my routine. I generally work an 8-hour day painting, sketching or framing.

LP: Where in From the Sketchbook of Tony Allain PSWC Magazine | Fall 2019

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The Interview--Tony Allain

LP: Is there anything else you want readers to know?

TONY: I am not interested in pure representation; my work is about responses to the moods and atmospheres generated by landscape, still life or interior.

I take an everyday scene and, through a subtle approach and through focusing on light, color and value, I try to give the motif an elevated atmosphere.

My subjects are often oriented around the mood of the sea, skies, harbours, ships and figures; I am constantly absorbing everything that is around me.

I am interested in new ideas and art forms. My philosophy is that the more I work the more I discover.

Flagstaff Gallery, Auckland NZ Coach House Gallery, Guernsey CI Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney, Australia Agora Gallery, Chelsea, NY, USA Island Fine Arts, Bembridge, IOW, Thompson Gallery, London Jerram Gallery, Sherborne UK Awards include: Inaugural Tasman/Nelson Open Art Award Southland Art Society NZ

Drawing is essential as a tool of discovery; Skill and mastery of technique are also essential, but only as a vocabulary and a means towards an idea.

First prize 2006 |Best still life 2006 | People’s Choice v2006 | Merit Award 2007

LP: What major shows or publications have you been featured in?

The Pastel Journal

TONY: My work has been featured in Pure Colour, The Best of Pastel 2: published by Northern Light.

Pastel Artists of the World: published by Practique des Arts, Paris. The Artist’s Magazine, and more.

Honourable Award: Landscape 2008/14 Honourable Award: Figure 2012 Pastel Artists of New Zealand First prize: Unison Cup 2010/11

Represented by:

The Pastel Society UK

D’art Gallery, Devon, UK

Pastel Society UK, Winner 2014 | Pastel Society UK, 2015 | The Artist Magazine, Winner 2014 | Artist and Illustrator Magazine Award 2014/17

Panter & Hall, Mayfair, London John Noott Gallery, Cotswolds, Worcs. UK Cannon Beach, Oregon by Tony Allain

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Sarah Samuels Fine Paintings, UK

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The Interview--Tony Allain

Newport Moonlight by Tony Allain

Tony Allain has an alphabet of well deserved, professional designations after his name; PS, PSA, IAPS-MC, MPANZ. His CV has so many awards and accolades that they are too numerous to name here. But do go to his website and look at his paintings.

TOTAL EYE CANDY!!!! https://tonyallainfineart.com

About the Author Laura Pollak, is a contributing writer for the PSWC magazine.

She lives in Greensboro, NC and Naples, Florida. Laura teaches workshops around the country and teaches classes in her Greensboro Studio. www.Laurapollakart.com

Tony Allain & Laura Pollak

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Meet the Members

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The Heart of An Artist: Horace Champagne

The Heart of An Artist

Feature Stories About Life And Inspiration In An Artistic Life Written by W. Truman Hosner ©

Horace Champagne (Canadian, 1937- )

This is the first in a series of interviews with artists who have had great influence on the world of pastel art. In these stories I will attempt to discover each art spirit. If I am successful, what we will learn in terms of the individuality in creativity will be of great value to us all.

-W. Truman Hosner

artist Horace Champagne has chosen as a sanctuary for his life and art. He is a person of refinement, enjoying music and reading (he has the complete volumes of van Gogh’s letters). He is a gentleman with an endearing spirit who pours all of himself into his pastel paintings.

I have had the honor For many people, there is nothing quite so moving or inspir- of visiting with Horace ing as the sight of youthful talent blazing away with total in his studio, and have Île d’Orléans dwells in commitment. But, in fact, there is something more moving been among his paintings the middle of the Saint and, in its way, more impressive. It’s the sight of creative and all of the things he Lawrence River, from it talent at the other end of life. has loved and collected both Quebec City and The painter or performer who has dedicated a whole life to throughout his life. Many the Montmorency falls his or her calling; the artist who has stamina, who has gone of his heirloom collectare visible. It is a place on creating, who, despite setbacks, has never given up, and ables find their way into where life can be lived keeps on finding more to discover, more to express.* the compelling still lifes with the clarity that he paints from time to -Sebastian Smee* (Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic at The Washington Post) one experiences when * Reprinted – with permission of Sebastian Smee time. He is the kind of perlooking at something son who, when you meet through crystal clear for the first time, you feel waters. When you visit the French speaking island it as if you had known him your whole life through. is easy to forget you are in North America. You draw Over the years, using the medium of pastel, choosin the clean French Canada air deeply and exhale ing landscape, figurative, and still life themes, he has serenity of thought. The landscape sparkles beau- captured the poetry of the world . . . his world. He is tifully with pinpoints of light. Well-known Canada a national treasure. This is his story – artists such as Clarence Gagnon and Paul Lemieux Horace was born in Montreal in 1937. He is the have lived and worked there. grandson of the noted artist Charles Ernest de Belle Living there since 1988, Île d’Orléans is the place Horace Champagne (Canadian, 1937- )

Opposite: Early Morning Rising Mists 12x18, Lake O’Hara-Yoho

by Horace Champagne

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The Heart of An Artist: Horace Champagne (1873-1939). Educated at the École des Beaux Arts in Montreal and the Ottawa School of Art, he enhanced his knowledge of painting through workshops with Charles Movalli in New England and Daniel Greene in North Salem, NY. He credits his initial knowledge of outdoor painting to working from live models with Daniel Greene.

In 1980, at the age of 42, Horace Champagne left a successful business life in graphic art. Having accumulated a body of 20 pastel works, and unannounced, he headed straight to see Mr. Peter Ohler Sr., owner of Masters Gallery in Calgary, Canada.

Masters Gallery carried the works of The Group of Seven, Tom Thompson, David Milne, and a good selection of contemporary artists . . . and thus began a relationship that flourished and continued until just recently. He is the recipient of awards from the Pastel Society of France, Pastel Society of Paris, the Pastel Society of Canada, and the Pastel Society of America.

About Life and Art: A Conversation with Horace Champagne Truman: Horace you have been making art for a long time now and you have chosen pastel as the primary instrument for making the poetry of your work. Would you share with us how it all began and what it is about pastel that has led you to that kind of commitment?

Horace: Early on, a gallery I was working with said “Mr. Champagne you have something in your pastels that you don’t have in your oils.” That was the start. So I said; “I’ll try some more.” I tried pastel outside, on the spot, plein-air. I have a box of pastels beside me, and in 30 minutes I got something that makes kind of sense...I say “holy cow!” I didn’t know a thing about pastel, and I had a lot of nerve showing some of those early pastels to galleries hoping to 32

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get in. I kept hearing; “We don’t sell works on paper.” There wasn’t much going on in the art galleries in Montreal at the time. Then I learned that there were some hot galleries out west like in Calgary (both oil and money were flowing there). So, I put together 20 pastels, hopped on a plane and flew to Calgary. Eventually I met with three gallery owners but it was Peter Ohler at Masters Gallery that I hit it off with best. I went to his gallery without any work just to check it out.

I remember Peter teasing me “How come you walk into my gallery, take a plane from Quebec City and you don’t bring anything to show me?” Well I wanted to see what was happening in Calgary. The next morning, I brought 10 of my 18” x 24” pastels to show Peter Ohler (I had committed to show the other 10 at two other galleries, one in Edmonton and the other in Vancouver). Peter said, “Out west we don’t do anything on consignment. I’ll buy these 10...we’ll sell those pretty quick, and I’m ordering 35 more, you go back and do 35. I’ll call you when the 35 are sold.” So, of course, I was triple happy about that.

I said to myself, that’s fine, that’s fine, this guy is out to lunch, but I’ll just do it, that’s all...it was crazy! I started another group. It wasn’t a week to a week and a half after I sent in the 35 and he called me up, and he said “Horace, where are you?

These are sold.” It was winter and it was snowing and I was doing all these 9” x12”’s and 12” x 15”’s on

The Heart of An Artist: Horace Champagne

Monet’s Pond, Giverney by Horace Champagne

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The Heart of An Artist: Horace Champagne

Old Quebec City by Horace Champagne

the steering wheel of my car with my pastels next to me, just to try and keep up with this guy. He said, “I’m ordering 100 more.” Just like that. Not an artist in the world would believe it. I was doing what you would call sketches, that’s it, I was just knocking them out one after another. Peter told me to just paint, don’t take a vacation and don’t keep me waiting. That’s how I learned to do pastels, from Peter Ohler, simply because I worked like hell and, of course, I also started getting books and reading up.

That’s how I fell in love with pastel. It was the immediacy of just sitting on a stool and doing it. Pastels I love more than anything. Your talking to a guy who is 81 and that love has never ceased.

Truman: Charles Hawthorne would say to his students: “We paint problems in order to be able to paint pictures and if we are good we keep on doing problems all of our lives and the more humbly we stick to that attitude the better we paint.” How might an artist know when it is time to stop on a

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painting, or when to push the painting out of their comfort zone and face a new problem?

Horace: I’m not sure I would use the word, problem.

I think it is more, keep challenging yourself, would be a better way to put it. I would ask, is there soul in my painting? How do I really feel about it? How far does it take to say what I want to say without screwing it up? That’s easy to say, but very hard to do. But, the more you study, the more you read about any medium, the more you will learn the answer to that question, when do I stop? So I would say, study. Just do some research, look at masters’ work and you know how beautiful it is. Like William Merit Chase, he knew when to stop. He knew bloody well when to stop. And he moved pretty quickly from what I can see in his pastels.

Truman: What you observed about speed in Chase’s pastel painting is interesting. When artists work outdoors, they are forced to often move faster than they can think, often that will lead to

The Heart of An Artist: Horace Champagne good things in a painter. Would you agree?

Horace: Like, 100%. Outside I’m only working with 150 colors and mostly at 12” x 15” and 9” x 12”. I sit on a little camping chair to be close to the ground and not have my easel blow over and pastels scattered far and wide! I am not saying this with pride, it’s the truth, under those circumstances I am able to finish them pretty well outside. Yet, I have screwed up many by bringing them into the studio and working some more. I’m not exaggerating.

Many times I’ve said, what the hell did I do that for.

You can’t correct the spirit you had when you were there! You can’t bring the soul, the excitement you got into the painting out on sight when you bring it into the studio. You can’t recreate the mood. That mood is unique and put down perfect as is. Artists would visit me and I would show them some of the things done outdoors and they would say, Horace, don’t touch them...don’t touch your pastels when you come in here. I’ve never said that before.

Truman: In reviewing an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art showing art works from the very first European artists who stepped out of their studios and into nature, New York Times art

critique Holland Cotter had this to say, “These little oil-sketches carry a spark that more often than not was lost in translation from sketch to master work.”

Horace: I think “spark” is nice, but I would use another word, “explosion”. Your soul is not a quiet little thing. It is screaming. I mean you are really, really full and you are so happy when you come in off the sight and you bring the painting back to the studio.

That feeling, that moment, the butterflies that were in front of you, and the beautiful old ship that’s just past in front of you on the water . . . you can’t bring back to the studio . . . except what you have done in your work. We’re talking outside stuff here, not the masterpieces from the studio.

Truman: We all have our favorites whose work we admire. Where do Tom Thompson and the Group of Seven fit in for you?

Horace: I studied Tom Thompson and the Group of Seven with a microscope (I’m exaggerating of course) and I’m not putting the Group of Seven down, but Tom Thompson blew them away when he did his sketches. The things he did comfortably in his studio, they’re very good, but they’re tightly

Crashing Surf by Horace Champagne PSWC Magazine | Fall 2019

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The Heart of An Artist: Horace Champagne

Cover Art for PSEC Book by Horace Champagne

done. When he was working in the forest, guiding people trout fishing...he would take 20 minutes off, maybe a little more and make a painting. You can see every bloody stroke he made, and it was made full-blast and that was it, that’s it ...so he didn’t screw anything up, and you can see the life in his paintings. Group of Seven, Tom Thompson (his sketches), all those people with their things on the spot...their enlargements are very good, but they don’t touch the sketches and the sketches are now running for almost as much in the auctions. Tom Thompson just broke $1.2 million for a sketch.

Truman: Going back for just a moment, so the important thing is to study in detail and then rather than copy the masters, maybe seek what they sought. Look for the same kind of questions they 36

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asked themselves, and then come up with your own answers?

Horace: That’s perfect. I discovered Monet a long time ago. When Monet was in front of his pond, sitting down, my God he got into it, he sure did! You know, we went to Giverney on an invitation for me to do a workshop. I thought, holy cow, they’re asking me? And I saw those gardens “live,” and I thought no wonder he couldn’t stop painting! I took 600 or so photographs and worked from those, I did what I could do...end of story.

Truman: Yes, I know some of your work from Giverney and they are beautiful paintings, what I love about them is that they do not look like works done from a photograph. They explode with color and excitement. Painting is poetry without words

The Heart of An Artist: Horace Champagne and your color passages are the verses of your painting-poems. When you choose the colors you choose Horace… wow…the work is so personal and moving. Your work leaves me with a feeling, a feeling that I know ten years from now I’ll remember. For me that is the magic of art, it leaves you with a feeling that transcends time! So, you certainly are no slave to the photo. The proper use of the photo is that it is a tool to the artist.

Horace: Absolutely.

Truman: It seems to me that painting takes a lot of courage. One has to say, you know, I can do this!

Horace: Pride too, you have to be proud of what you have done.

Truman: Georgia O’Keefe wrote: “I grew up pretty much as everybody else grows up and one day . . . found myself saying to myself- I can’t live where I want to- I can’t go where I want to- I can’t do what I want to- I can’t even say what I want to. School

and things that painters have taught me even keep me from painting as I want to. I decided I was a very stupid fool to not at least paint as I wanted to and say what I wanted to when I painted as that seemed to be the only thing I could do that didn’t concern anybody but myself- that was nobody’s business but my own.” From the mid to the later part of the 20th century classical training and representational art were often treated as trivial or blasé by the institutional world. Horace, when I look at your work I see vibrant contemporary realism with a beautiful poetry in the symmetry of your color. It is as fresh and pertinent to our time as any artist’s work has been and timeless as all good painting is. Would it be correct to say that you and O’Keefe drew similar conclusions about what you wanted to do and say with your work?

Horace: It is 100%. Because, you know that is the start of the pastel thing...and nobody would know all the problems we have faced in the pastel world to try and establish the validity of the pastel mediA Hidden Treasure, Deep in the Forest by Horace Champagne

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The Heart of An Artist: Horace Champagne um. I mean, someone would look and say a certain kind of thing, this is commercial (but it’s not commercial) and the public would say the same thing. If you don’t like it, that’s your business. But, if it’s making me jump up and down, that’s my business. I’ve had exhibitions every single year with the Master’s Gallery...God bless them, they have always sold out!

And that’s what it’s like...exactly. O’Keefe’s on the button and, well, women in those days often didn’t get the kind recognition they deserved, but she said what she wanted to say, and she did it too! And so, when I worked, I would say, what can I do to show the beauty of the city, Chateau Frontenac, these streets that go up and down, the snow, the slush... that’s got everybody beat in the winter. I had a lot of fun doing those street scenes at night, in the winter.

Then I became tired because it was too much, too much of the same subject, and I moved on.

mean I could have gotten away with it a little bit, but I couldn’t do anything too crooked.

Truman: Finally, Horace, in the world there are people who will go to bed hungry tonight. There are people today who are suffering severely, including children. There are those who have no shelter. Yet in all of it, we make paintings. We live a life we have imagined. As artists how do we honor this?

Horace: We see so much suffering, the children of the world and things like that, and I know it’s not getting any better. I just try to get a handle of “what’s really happening.” What can I do for them as an artist? I’ve always donated quite a little bit actually, at times even paintings that might have sold readily at the galleries. The thing that comes up right away is UNICEF (Calgary) and for many, many years I donated a painting. They Truman: I know you would send me a tax have the 3 volumes I could give all to Time except – except What I myself have receipt for what it of letters Vincent held. But why declare The things forbidden that while the went for at auction van Gogh wrote to and it was always his brother, Theo. Customs slept I have crossed to Safety with? For I am There considerably highDid you know that And what I would not part with I have kept.

-Robert Frost er than the gallery van Gogh wanted price. It all affects me to illustrate to help pay his way? enormously. I pray as hard as I can and donate as much as I can in hope that in some way I make at Horace: No...well, I have to add that Tom Thompleast a small difference. son and the Group of Seven all worked in Toronto as illustrators every single one of them. So they had Horace Champagne will be 82 this year. He still the basics. So they had the basics of what, illustraloves fresh strawberries in the summer and pastel tion, if you will. And because of that they were all painting. Bravo! so happy when they could get outside and do what they wanted to do. Those efforts were tremendous GALLERIE AFFILIATIONS OVER THE YEARS Masters Gallery Ltd. and quick. A lawyer takes four years to get those Present Owner: Mr. Rod Green papers and he’s out in front of somebody who he 2115 - 4th Street SW, Calgary (Alberta) T2S 1W8 is trying to save from murder. He’s drawing on all Galerie d’Art Vincent Château Laurier, Ottawa (Ontario) K1N 8S7 of that study, all of that experience because he has Balzac Fine Arts that in him. Tom Thompson knew quite a bit about The Royal York perspective, I’m quite sure he took a fair amount of 100 Front Street West, Main Lobby, Toronto (Ontario) M5J 1E3 artistic liberty, but he had the basic training. And Peter Ohler Fine Arts 2095 W. 44th Avenue, Vancouver (British Columbia) V6M 2G1 some say van Gogh, he didn’t have to study. That’s a Galerie d’Art Yvon Desgagnés lie, he did. Van Gogh went to museums, he studied 1, Forget Street, Baie St-Paul other artists’ work...like Delacroix. Van Gogh learned (Québec) G3Z 1T3 Alan Klinkhoff Gallery Gallerie de Bellefuille from Delacroix that you can use pure coverage if 1448 Sherbrooke Street West 1367 Greene Avenue you want and that is what he did. When I did those Montreal, Quebec H3G 1K4 Montreal, Quebec, H3Z 2A8 street scenes I had to watch out for perspective, I

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The Heart of An Artist: Horace Champagne

Twisted Old Larch by Horce Champagne

About the Author W. Truman Hosner earned his BFA at Wayne State University in Detroit, following it with post-graduate work at the Center for Creative Studies where he eventually returned to teach.

Before moving into fine art, as a nationally recognized illustrator he produced illustrations for brands such as Readers Digest, CBS-Fox Video and Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Truman then studied at the Scottsdale Artists School with Harley Brown and Dan Gerhartz.

Paintings by W Truman Hosner have been featured in national and international museum collections and exhibitions ranging from New York City ...to California...to Canada...to France and Spain...to Asia.

“Painting from life, the integrity of Hosner’s art is never in question as he conveys through his works the evolving moods and dynamics that can be captured only through the art of plein air painting.”

All rights reserved on all images Horace Champagne ©

-Harry Goldson, Suttons Bay Galleries PSWC Magazine | Fall 2019

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Meet the Members

LaVone Sterling,

PSWC-DP, PSA

by Sabrina Hill

their parents’ 60th anniversary.

Between delicious bites of adobe chicken, we talk art, kids, and life.

LaVone Sterling has a lovely, sweet face that is the embodiment of the perfect grandmother. Don’t be fooled—she is a tireless, prolific powerhouse of an artist who, in her schmaeth decade, is still trying her hand at new mediums, techniques, and subjects, still writing books, still taking workshops, and still teaching.

And she is fearless.

I am sitting with LaVone, her husband, Lee and daughter, Lynneann at the Southwestern style restaurant at Hotel Albuquerque as the events of the IAPS Convention swirl around us. It is mostly deserted as everyone is taking a pastel class or watching a demo or in a buying frenzy at the Candy Store (the convention nickname for the vendors sales section of IAPS). She is in Albuquerque for the convention, but her family has joined her to celebrate 40

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LaVone grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and showed promised as a child which was confirmed when, at 8-years-old her painting won a contest— she describes the painting as “…a dead horse in the snow under a tree.” She spent summers with her Aunt, Eunice Sargent Johnson, who was an artist. Aunt Eunice was LaVone’s first art teacher and mentor—taking her to museums and galleries on weekends, and painting with her in the park. She developed her love of the California landscape during this time, though she was also strongly influenced by John Singer Sargent—especially for her portrait work.

After college, (she has a Masters in Art), she raised three daughters, managed her husband’s law firm, wrote a screen play and tried her hand at pottery, pen and in (she sold pen and ink drawings in the 1960’s), and created abstract acrylic paintings which flew off the easel into the hands of happy buyers.

She paints in oils and pastels and has successfully tackled watercolor, acrylics, batik, and stain glass.

She is a published author and the subject of many magazine articles. She taught pottery and life drawing at Chapman City College and U.C. Santa Cruz, as well as Fresno State College.

Almost a decade ago, LaVone and her daughters took a pastel class together in Sutter Creek. They painted a Snow Leopard…and she fell in love with pastels. Her first class in pastels lead to many oth-

Opposite: Street Angel by LaVone Sterling

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Meet the Members

Cutie Pie by LaVone Sterling

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Meet the Members ers and she has studied with Richard McKinley, Kim Lordier, and Daniel James Keyes to name a few. She has become a highly recognized name on the pastel artists master lists, achieving Distinguished Pastelist in PSWC and Signature status in PSA and ACA. Her work is featured on the Sennelier Plein Air Landscape Pastels Box. One of her pieces hung in the DeYoung Museum (and replaced a van Gogh!), and at her San Francisco show some years back, which took months of preparation and many long hours to put together—all but one painting sold!

Although she is primarily known for her landscapes, she is also an amazing portrait artist. She has shared her artist philosophies and skills with many students including her daughters and twin granddaughters, who will both be attending art school this year.

When it was finally time for me to take leave of the Sterlings, I asked LaVone one last question, “What advice would you give to your 20-year-old self?” She paused, then answered, “Start sooner. Don’t give up. Stay with it.”

And that’s why she is fearless.

My Buddy

by LaVone Sterling

Casey

by LaVone Sterling https://lavonesterling. com

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Meet the Members

Publications, Awards, & Recognition Magazines

Pink Shoes by LaVone Sterling

Life Style Magazine , March, 2019 Issue.; Pratique des Arts, Aug/Sept 2017. Published in France, LaVone’s work was published in a 4 page article.

International Artist Magazine, Aug/ Sept 2017 #116 Issue. Finalist in the international landscape competition.

International Artist Magazine, Oct/ Nov 2016 #111, ( 8 page demo/article} “The Importance of Composition and Value”; Informed Collector Bold Brush Winners, August/2016; International Artist Magazine , December/ January 2015; The Artist’s Magazine, January, 2015; & January , 2014 issue of Southwest Art Magazine; October, 2014 Southwest Art Magazine, Collectors Edition.

Books Sierra Wonders, published October 2013 and a second book -December, 2014 North Light Publication, edited by Rachel Wolff and entitled “ Art Journey”: People The Best of Contemporary Portrait and Figure Artists was released. LaVone’s painting “Pink Shoes” is included in this publication.

Awards & Selected Exhibitions 2019 International Association of Pastel Societies

Reflecting by LaVone Sterling A Rendering by LaVone Sterling

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Meet the Members Pastel World Exhibition Juried Show 2019 Pastel Society of the West Coast, USA International Open Exhibition, Juried Show 2019 Exeter Museum and Fine Art Gallery, “Look At That Face- An Exhibit of Portraiture 3-Woman Show 2018 Pastel Society of West Coast, Online Juried Show 2018 Pastel Society of West Coast USA International Open Exhibition, Juried Show 2018 Pastel Society of America International, Open Exhibition, Juried Show 2017 FASO Boldbrush Competiton September Top Fav15% 2017 International Artist’s Magazine Competition No. 100 Landscapes Finalist 2017 Pastel Society of West Coast, USA International Open Exhibition , Juried Show 2017 FASO Boldbrush May 2017 Competition Top 15% 2016 Bold Brush Informed Collector, Issue No. 1990 2016 FASO: Boldbrush Competition August 2017 Outstanding Pastel Award “September Glow” 2016 Pastel Society of West Coast, 30th Annual International Open Exhibition Pastels 2015 Pastel Society of New Mexico 24th Annual Pastel Exhibition, juried show 2015 Annual Spring Show, King’s County Art League. First Place Pastel.

2015 Pastel Society of The West Coast 29th Annual International Hidden Valley” & Afternoon Reflections.

Chance Encounter by LaVone Sterling

2015 Annual Spring Show. Visalia Art League. Juried Open, 1st Place Award

2015 International Artist’s Magazine Landscape Competition. Dec/Jan Issue 100 - Finalist

2015 24th Annual National Pastel Painting Exhibition. Pastel Society of New Mexico. Albuquerque PSWC Award.

2015 Sierra Pastel Society Distinquished/Signature Members Exhibit Artist’s Choice Award

And Many. More.

www.lavonesterling.com

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Meet the Members

Jeannie Fine world around me with the eyes of an artist. Becoming a visual artist was probably the logical choice for my life. That choice has not always been easy but it has been where I feel most connected to the world around me. I began in high school to seriously look towards art as a direction for my life, went on to art school and have followed that path since then with a few detours along the way. So, I suppose I have been painting for most of my adult life which is many, many years. I have not always worked in pastel but about 25 years ago I attended a pastel workshop and as they say, I was hooked!!

Jeannie Fine hails from Port Townsend Washington. She is an accomplished artist and pastelist. We caught up with her for a few question about her art and life.

Q. Is art a hobby or more than a hobby for you?

A. Painting for me is a path I follow every day whether at my easel or simply moving throughout the day.

It is so much more than a hobby to me. I have this friendship with shadows, pattern and contrast and am constantly on the lookout for these and more compositional elements wherever I happen to be.

It seems at every turn there is something that I find that makes me want to stop and paint! If I were able I would be at my easel every day but like most artists I have to have a day job to make ends meet, buy art supplies and dog food for my Aussie! Someday I will be a full time artist.

Q. Have you always been an artist? When did you start painting?

A. As long as I can remember I have watched the 46

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Q. What is on your easel right now?

A. This past summer I took a ton of pictures of a sunset over a local bay and have been working at a few pieces to try and capture that last light of the day in all its glory of color, contrast and brilliance. It is one of those images that is beyond amazing and therefore such a challenge.

About Jeannie My major in art school was printmaking, specifically etching. I truly fell in love with the medium and spent hours in the small cramped studio at my college. I was extremely lucky to have two wonderful mentors, F. Vredaparis and Jeryl Parker, both together seemed to hold the keys to anything and everything that there was to learn about etching. Jeryl went on to be my graduate advisor at Arts and Crafts. After school, I worked at both Crown Point Press and Jeryl Parker Editions as a Master Printer. Life always seems to take one on new journeys and mine was no exception. For several years I worked in different fields, moved from the west coast to the east

Meet the Members

coast, operated a business painting and varnishing yachts and missed my involvement in the art world.

Etching was impossible where I lived as I had left my little press in California and there was no print studio anywhere in the area. I began working with watercolor which I hadn’t done since art school. I loved it. I could take it anywhere I went and did so when I moved to Maine. Not long after the move I fell into a small print studio that was part of a community arts program and there I taught etching as well as holding open studio time. I had lots of time to work on my own images as well as spend time teaching. While there, I took a workshop in pastel and as happens with so many people I was thoroughly smitten. I have been working in pastel now for over 10 years. I work on panels that I prepare with a mixture of acrylic, pumice, marble dust, gel medium and color which I learned to prepare in a workshop with Susan Ogilvie. The texture is rough and haphazard which suits my style of work most of the time. When I want a smoother surface, one that almost looks blended I work with Kitty Wallis sanded

papers. Both of these surfaces are great for doing under painting and can accept water, alcohol and solvents as well as a lot of scrubbing.

I work with several kids of pastels from the buttery soft Schmincke and Sennelier to the harder Girault and Farber Castell. I have recently begun using Diane Townsend’s soft form and Great American. I also use a lot of Terry Ludwig pastels. His Intense Dark sets are super. I work outside, en plein aire, as much as the weather permits. I am drawn to water as an element in my work. Sometimes I just put in a puddle even if there is none there. I was recently on a ranch in the Black Hills of South Dakota where I was painting a dried-up livestock pond and of course I just had to put some water behind the dam. I look for angularity, flaws, old and abandoned structures especially barns and water I put these elements into my compositions even if they don’t exist in the real life landscape. Isn’t imagination a wonderful thing! www.jeanniefine.com PSWC Magazine | Fall 2019

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Art School

Art School Painting a California Landscape

by Clark Mitchell the beautiful Sonoma County wine country. Painting expeditions throughout the state as well as across the country continue to provide challenge as well as inspiration.

Clark Mitchell is our workshop guest for this issue. He is a phenomenal speaker and gives wonderful demonstration. If you are lucky enough to take one of his workshops, you’ve hit the jackpot! --Editor Growing up in the shadow of the Rockies, Clark Mitchell very early discovered a love of the natural world. Given a set of fine old German pastels by his father when quite young, he quickly embraced the medium for its ease of handling, brilliance of color and portability.

He received a bachelor’s degree in art from Colorado College in the seventies and moved to San Francisco to continue his studies at the Academy of Art College. Through personal exploration as well as study with artists Albert Handell, Skip Whitcomb, Michael Lynch and Bill Hook, Mitchell has developed the talent to create both tightly rendered scenes as well as looser, more abstract suggestions.

In order to fully immerse himself in the countryside he loved to portray, Mitchell left San Francisco with his partner over thirty years ago and moved north to 48

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Mitchell has been designated a Master Pastelist by the Pastel Society of America and a Distinguished Pastelist by the Pastel Society of the West Coast, and he recently earned Signature Member status with the Laguna Plein Air Painters of America. He has received numerous awards in local as well as national competitions and has oil and pastel paintings included in art collections internationally. In 2005, Mitchell won Best of Show award at the Laguna Plein Air Invitational, and in 2011 won Best of Show in the Maui Plein Air Painting Invitational. He was the cover artist for American Artist’’s March 1993 issue.

He was chosen as poster artist for the Sedona Plein Air Festival for 2008. In 2009, his painting was on the cover of Southwest Art’s annual landscape issue. In 2011, Mitchell’s painting was on the cover of The Pastel Journal’s June issue.

Art School

1 Step 1 on Uart 600 paper, taped to gator board Thin strokes of pigment, various harder brands, Rembrandt, Girault, Nupastel, Holbein. Solvent will spread color.

Color choices: darker and warmer foreground, cooled and paler mid to background.

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Step 2 Colors brushed with 91 % rubbing alcohol, cleaning brush on paper towels between each. Dry thoroughly.

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Art School

3

Step 3. Using only dry pigment from now on. Testing various colors for temperature, value and saturation, getting closer to the “local color.” As cliffs, beach and fog miles away are very important as a distant focal point, I focus on getting them “right” before progressing too far into depicting anything closer or overlapping.

Also important are the various layers of trees that lead the eye back to the beach and fog. Sky is finalized ascending from warm to cool. Smaller strokes and cooler colors (atmospheric perspective) as the eye goes back into the scene.

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Step 4. Finer strokes, greens start going farther back into the trees. Darker darks and lighter lights, warms and cools in the main player: the big tree in foreground. Volume to the trunk. Pines darker, more variation in the deciduous trees on first ridge below. The curve of the first grassy ridge down is very important to create the sense of volume.

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Art School

5 Step 5. I add fine details to grasses, tree trunks below, tree branches above, highlights throughout the tree.

Notice how much of the initial purple underpainting shows through foliage. Too much? I can cover some of it.

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Finished and framed! From Pole Mountain to the Pacific | original pastel 18 x 24

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The Art of Framing

Framed!

The Art of Framing

by Paul Harman

Framing is an important part of properly showing and marketing your art. While artists do a wonderful job of creating beautiful works of art, unfortunately when it comes to framing, some of their choices get a failing grade. The right choice of frame and mats can make the difference between a potential sale and people not being interested. Select a frame style that compliments your painting, not one that overpowers your composition. Choosing colorful liner mats and colored mats can also be a distraction that will lose a sale. Galleries usually recommend a neutral white for choice of mats so they will fit with any homes’ décor. Some shows stipulate white mats only.

A lot of artists do not frame their own work and choose to have a certified framer properly frame their paintings. This is an excellent choice for those who can afford this option. A professional framer can help the artist to select a frame that properly sets off the artwork. A professionally framed piece of art is also liable to last longer in a home.

Professional vs. Affordable Framing, including the cost for frames, mats and choice of glass can be as expensive as buying a set of quality soft pastels. An alternative to reduce some of the high cost of professional framing is to frame without mats. This decision reduces the size of the frame required and also eliminates the cost of custom mats. For example: that decision saves over $100 by putting a 12”X18” pastel painting in a 52

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frame sized for it, rather than in an 18”X24” frame with mats. The decision to frame without mats generally requires a spacer to keep the artwork away from the glass.

Some artists are now framing their pastel pieces with the glass placed directly on the pastel painting.

Utilizing this option requires that there is no room for the painting to shift back and forth, and therefore smudge or blur the artwork. It is wise to create a sandwich that immobilizes the art.

Cost-Effective Vs. Poor Quality When I was the exhibition director for a pastel society, I would see nice pastels framed with garish frames. You’ve seen them--they look like a bad garage sale purchase. I would shake my head because the frame would detract from the art and guarantee that the show judge would not consider that art for an award. Using a frame that is not close to the dimensions of your artwork and making up the difference using mats. Paintings framed in this manner stand out like a sore thumb and will usually be placed in a less conspicuous spot in a show. When the framing is more noticeable than the art within, that’s the wrong lasting impression.

I have handled artwork in shows that arrived falling out of the frame because it was not secured properly and had no dust cover on the back. Some frames were cheaply made and the jostling during shipment made them come apart, sometimes with

The Art of Framing disastrous results like damaged artwork. When it comes to competitions and buyers, always remember, presentation is important.

There is not a lot of mystery to framing, and with patience, preparation and precision you can professionally frame your own paintings. WIth experience and confidence that you can frame your own work properly, create quality frames, and reduce the cost of framing. If you obtain a resale licence through your state’s tax board, you can purchase frames, mats, tools and supplies at wholesale prices. This alone will save you a significant amount of money.

Do It Yourself The decision to frame your own paintings requires some basic framing knowledge, a good, uncluttered work area and the correct framing tools to help do the job properly. One of the drawbacks is that by saving money to frame your own work, you are also doing yet another task that will take you away from creating new work.

3. A quality frame of your choice and size with a good depth or rabbit 4. Acid free Foam Core or Gator Board to mount your pastel painting 5. Hanging tape to mount the pastel to the Foam Core. I use self-adhesive acid free Lineco Hinging Tape.

6. A good pair of sharp scissors to cut the tape to size 7. A quality mat cutter to cut your mats or if not using mats a supply of Econospace spacers.

8. A sheet of glass cut to the size of your frame.

9. A quality glass cleaner such as “Sprayway” which is anti-static. (Windex streaks) 10. A quality point gun to secure your art in the frame. I use a Fletcher, Framemaster.

11. A roll of Dustcover paper, black or brown. I like to use black because it looks more professional

Scapa dispenser

Now that you have made the decision to frame a painting yourself, let’s look at all that you will need to do it properly. I have provided a list of tools and items you will require to complete your framing project.

Supplies Needed 1. A table or work bench surface with carpet or a cloth on it 2. A good ruler. I use a two-foot steel drafting ruler for measurements.

12. An Xacto knife or a special paper edge trim knife to trim the Dustcover paper 13. Double sided tape and a tape dispenser (I use a Scapa dispenser)A power drill and drill bit to drill the hanger strap holes.

14. Two medium weight one-hole strap hangers.

Larger paintings may require two-hole strap hangers.

15. A roll of coated Softstrand stainless steel wire 16. A pair of good wire cutters

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The Art of Framing 17. 3/8” or ½” Phillips head sheet metal screws to attach the strap- hangers. Metal screws are preferred because of their fully threaded shafts.

18. A Phillips screwdriver 19. A label to place on the back of the dust cover of your framed painting with its title and number.

and the glass.

I mount my pastels on 1/8” thick foam core. Some artists use 3/16” thick foam core or gator board.

Artwork should be mounted to the foam core or gator board using hinges that allow it to hang freely against the backing. First, measure equally the distance from the border if you are using mats to make sure the artwork will be correctly centered from side to side and top to bottom. Two vertical strips of Lineco Hinging tape, spaced evenly from the corners with an inch of tape showing, allows you to place another piece of Lineco Hinging tape horizontally across the protruding tape to secure it in place. Now your artwork is hinged and will hang freely when you hold up the foam core. Never tape artwork by the corners because changes in humidity will make the artwork buckle or wrinkle in the frame.

Cutting mats for artwork requires quality mat cutting equipment; a hand held device is not accurate enough. Poorly matted artwork will spoil a sale.

Choosing the correct frame is important. Some pastel artists frame everything in gold frames, which looks nice in a gallery show, but may not work for the décor in the average home. Other artists frame everything in contemporary style (like black wood frames) sometimes with a gold inner border and that choice also works well with pastel paintings.

The decision is yours to make, so choose wisely to make the right selection. A visit to a framing company or shop will provide you with a huge selection of moldings to choose from.

To Mat or not to Mat Before you can frame your painting, you need to decide if you are going to use mats or go without them. Framing with matting requires a larger frame to accommodate the mat spacing around the frame.

Framing without mats will require spacers to keep the pastel away from the glass. Framing with both matting and spacers generally requires that a frame have at least a 1/2” depth (or rabbit) to make sufficient room for the mounted pastel on foam core 54

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It is important that mats are cut exactly with sharp corners and perfectly perpendicular sides. Uneven widths or ragged corners detract from the artwork.

When framing my work, I also use an acid-free spacer mat that is overlaid by two acid-free white mats that are visible. The spacer mat is hidden by the two visible mats but allows any loose pastel to fall behind the visible mats if it is jarred loose and not sit on the beveled edge of the mat. Depending on the size of the artwork, the inner mat will have ¼” to ½” reveal showing.

If you have decided to forego mats and use spacers, Econospace has a good product that comes in fourfoot long strips you can cut to the size you need.

The strips have a double-sided tape mounted on one side that will allow you to peel off the white paper and adhere the strip to the glass. Always adhere the spacer strips to the glass. The glue in the double-sided tape will fail and dry out when adhered to the inside of the wood frame.

The last important decision is the type of glass that you select for your painting. If the work you are framing is one of your best works, then this decision is critical. Plain single pane glass has no protection for the artwork from sunlight and also has a lot of

The Art of Framing bothersome reflection from any light source. Conservation Clear glass blocks harmful ultraviolet light but also has considerable reflection and will cost approximately double the cost of plain single pane glass. The best available glass is Museum quality glass because it has almost no reflection and blocks harmful UV light. The downside is museum glass will quadruple the cost of your glass. If you are shipping your work to a competition you may also decide to use clear acrylic glass, a lighter and shatter-proof alternative. Acrylic glass also comes in museum quality grade.

To install the wire and strap-hangers, measure a third of the way down from the top on each side and mark it so you can drill a pilot hole for screwing in the strap-hangers. Affix the wire to the strap-hangers and loop it through twice before twisting it neatly allowing three to four inches of twisted wire on either side. Please tape the wire ends once the wire is installed as this saves people hanging your piece from getting poked with a sharp wire end. The framing portion is now completed.

Once the glass is installed in the frame it will need to be cleaned to make sure no fingerprints, wood splinters or dirt are present. Use a quality glass cleaner such as Sprayway that does not streak and is ant-static.

Place the hinged artwork with mats into the frame carefully. Before you secure it with a point gun, make sure there are no small flecks of dirt, or a hair visible on the mats. Lay the frame facedown and use the point gun to secure the artwork, placing points approximately 4� apart evenly around the frame.

The artwork can be sealed with framing tape around the edges to secure the points and cover the gap between the frame and the artwork. You may also choose to make a dust cover for the back of the frame using black paper. I use a Scapa tape gun to put double sided tape all around the edges of the back of the frame. Cut the paper at least four inches larger all the way around. Lay the black or brown paper over the entire frame and make sure it adheres to the tape by running your fingers along the edges. Trim off the excess with an edge trim knife.

Lastly, I suggest placing a label on the back of the painting with the title, your inventory number and perhaps the story behind your inspiration to paint this scene.

Now turn the painting over and clean the glass on the front; you are done!

About the Author Paul Harman is an award winning pastel artist. He has dabbled in art since high school but was not able to pursue his love of painting full time until he retired from a long career in law enforcement in 2007. He studied for a year with Reif Erickson, a distinguished Auburn pastel artist who maintained a studio at his home. He fell in love with the pastel medium absorbing every detail on composition and color he could glean from his mentor while attending twice weekly classes in his studio for a year.

Paul is a realist painter who has developed his own style capturing those moments enjoying nature in various parts of California, and other states, recreating them with a painting of the scene for others to enjoy. His subjects vary from landscapes and seascapes to birds, animals and old local barns.

He loves to capture light in the way it bathes the landscape. He paints for his own enjoyment, and is pleased when his work strikes a chord with a viewer or a show judge. He hopes that his paintings bring back a special memory of your own when you visited one of these same places.

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The Art of Playing with Paper

Paper Chase The Art of Playing with Paper

by Sandy Lindblad

I have been playing with pastel since 1984. As a commission pet portrait pastel artist, I always strive to achieve different results and or techniques with my favorite medium. On several occasions, I have decided to create the same image using pastel but on different substrates. I find that when an artist experiments using different techniques and or papers or board you can achieve different results and also keep excitement going.

I decided to experiment using PastelBord, Uart and Mi Teinies Touch (by Canson) using the same image. The image I created is I titled “Donkey Out in the Field.�

UART Paper The first image (at right) is on UArt, 8x10 on paper. The paper is a bit rough and seems to take layers of pastel quite nicely.

I am relatively heavy handed when I work with pastel and I like papers/board that have lots of texture/grit/sandpaper- basically rough papers. I find that they can take lots of layers of pastel. I also find that sometimes because the paper/board is so rough that putting a wash of water or alcohol over the pastel diffuses the pastel and/or blends it better where the roughness of the substrate you are working with goes away.

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The Art of Playing with Paper Mi Tienies Touch by Caslon For the next image I painted (left), I decided to use Mi Tienies Touch by Canson. I had won 2 pads of this paper at an art show and felt I ought to use this stuff. At first, I didn’t like it because it simply didn’t seem “rough” enough for my liking. But since I already owned 2 pads of this paper, I thought I should experiment a bit more with it, so again, I put the strokes of pastel on the paper and added washes of water/OR alcohol over the pastel just to create a ground so to speak. You can see that especially in the background. You can also see it below the donkey’s nose on his/her chest. Mi Tienies Touch is really not that rough, especially if you are used to working on sandpaper type substrates, such as I am.

PastelBord/Ampersand For the final image (right) I decided to use is PastelBord/Ampersand. This type of board is basically on Masonite coated with a special surface that makes if feel like sandpaper. I find when I use this board, I don’t need to put washes of alcohol or water on it.

It is more direct. It also takes less layers of pastel If you are as heavy handed like I am. I found that you have to pay more attention to “your plan” as you create your pastel painting. If you put a specific color on the board, you can put more layers but not too many before the surface will not take too many more layers. this board is not as forgiving. but it’s a lot of fun if you like to paint direct as I do. If you have any more questions or want a lesson, feel free to contact me at sandylindblad.com About the Author/Artist: Since childhood, Sandy has always drawn and painted cats, dogs and farm animals. She now regularly creates forever paintings of animals and pets in art. Her art can also be found at Auburn Old Town Gallery (Auburn Calif) and at High Hand Gallery in Loomis. She’s thrilled to be able to create forever paintings from pictures.

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Art Workshops

Art Workshops Sally Strand Workshops in Pastels throughout the year Focusing on color and light, Sally discusses optical mixing of layered color and how to truly see and identify color, especially subtle color. The effects of light on color, composition, and perception, as well as use of different types of light are explored.

Painting from costumed models and still life, each student receives individual attention and critiques. Demonstrations and lectures and a slide show are designed to give students tools to achieve intensely beautiful color Master Class/Next Level (intermediate and up) – If you have taken Sally’s workshops before and want to build on the numerous principles discussed, this new class continues where the previous workshops left off. It begins with a review of painting principles including optical mixing of layered color, essential elements of strong composition and the effects of light. We also focus on the later stages of painting, learning to harmonize color masses while developing the ability to really see and mix color, especially those that are nuanced and subtle. Finally we will explore the finishing touches that turn paintings into personal statements.

see website for updates at http://sallystrand.com/schedule/ January 26, 2020

April 21–24, 2020

“Conversation with the Artist”

Maryland Pastel Society

1:00 – 3:00 pm

Contact: Susan Van Eseltine

PAAR Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA Contact: Luz Maria Perez luzperez2008@sbcglobal. net February 20–23, 2020 NEW! Composition and Light

Sally Strand, a Master Pastelist, was inducted into the Hall of Fame, the highest commendation of the Pastel Society of America, NY.

The Cultural Center at Ponte Vedra Beach

For more information: 949-493-6892

Contact: Catherine Tatem

Info@sallystrand.com or www.sallystrand.com

(904) 280-0614 ext 1206 or 203

2019 Workshop Schedule is online at pswc.ws

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2020 Schedule (partial)

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Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

ctatem@ccpvb.org

Rockville, Maryland

(410) 312-5513 susan.ve@verizon.net April 25, 2020 Demonstration Glenwood, Maryland Contact: Kim Stone (717) 385-3148 mdpastelsociety@gmail. com

Art Workshops

Clark Mitchell

Clark Mitchell Pastel Workshop “Bring Your Photo References to Life” January 27 – 29 Cost tbd by PSSC Take your pastel paintings to the next level!

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Covers scene selection, sketching, dynamic underpaintings,

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values, painting versus drawing, high contrast.

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Daily demos and plenty of at-easel assistance

We will be working from photos or previous outdoor sketches Sponsored by the Pastel Society of Southern California Contact: Mauryn Fennell Mfennell1343@gmail.com 310.800.3372 Members receive preference the first month after workshop opens November 1

This workshop is ideal for students of all levels of experience who are eager to learn to paint beautiful landscapes in pastels. Clark walks students through the basics of working from photos, including creating an underpainting, adjusting for color, understanding the elements of a landscape, and infusing your painting with style and emotion. You’ll then have the rest of the day to create your own pastel landscape, working from your own photos or from reference material provided by Clark. As you work from 9:30 to 4:30, Clark will provide plenty of assistance and attention.

Other Classes Treat yourself to a one-day or two-day painting workshop in charming Cotati, gateway to California’s fabled Sonoma County wine country.

Workshops are held at Clark’s wonderful straw bale studio. As part of an exclusive group of artists studying with Clark personally in his studio, you’ll receive plenty of at-easel assistance in an inspiring setting for only $100 per day. Beverages and healthy snacks are included in the cost of the workshop.

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Art Workshops

Rita Kirkman Pastel Workshops around the world & throughout 2020.

Dates: see website Level: All Levels JRita Kirkman’s classic Pastel Workshop focuses on painting small and often to rapidly improve your skills and expand your knowledge. Learn to capture light and loosen up with Rita’s innovative under-painting technique. Instruction emphasizes composition and techniques for a small format, value and temperature control, how to creatively interpret your photos and how to stay productive with your art within a busy lifestyle. Grow your grasp of values, temperature, color and composition in a relaxed and fun atmosphere! For beginner to advanced.Learn from Rita’s 40+ years of experience with pastel. Lots of individual attention given.

For more info and to register: https://ritakirkman.com/events

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Art Workshops

Alain Picard CAPTURING LIGHT CALIFORNIA Three-Day Workshop, March 9-11, 2020 Monday-Wednesday 9:00am-4:00pm Location: Pastel Society of the West Coast, Sebastopol, California Registration:

creativeescapeworkshops.

com The true subject of this three-day workshop is light. We’ll study the way light reveals form, color, and emotion by focusing each day on a unique subject.

We begin day one by studying the effect of dramatic light falling upon the still life, revealing

For more workshops go to https://www.picardstudio.com/workshops THE PAINTERLY LANDSCAPE CALIFORNIA Two-Day Workshop, March 5-6, 2020 Thursday-Friday 9:30am-4:30pm Location: California Central Coast Pastel Society, Morro Bay, California

form against strong shadow patterns. This is a wonderful opportunity to practice design and talk about the vocabulary of light and shadow. The second day our study will progress to light falling upon the portrait subject, guiding us toward using a consistent approach to capturing light across multiple subjects. The third day shifts to using our photographic references as we investigate the light falling upon the landscape, and seek to capture these effects quickly and boldly.

Registration: FULL - call 805.540.1470 to be placed on the wait list Loosen up your landscapes using the painterly approach!

This workshop will empower you with successful strategies for loosening up your work with bold marks and fresh color. Learn to simplify complex scenes into clear shapes, values, and edges. Organize these shapes into strong design and color combinations using bold, expressive marks to interpret your environment for that lush painterly look.

Learn innovative approaches to color through the use of underpainting techniques and interpretive color strategies that will break you out of your routine.

Every morning, Alain will demonstrate a painterly approach to the landscape from start to finish, focusing on a unique subject and approach. Students will then respond to the lesson, beginning with morning exercises to loosen up their work and learn techniques to simplify the subject. Students will progress to loosely finished landscape paintings by end of day. A constructive and encouraging group critique will wrap up our workshop together.

PSWC Magazine | Fall 2019

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Art Studio Secrets

ART STUDIO SECRETS A few weeks ago, I asked “What are your Studio Secrets for pastel storage?” Here are your responses. Thanks for all the great ideas!

Linda Ramsdell Mutti I use a rolling 5 drawer tool chest. So handy, a drawer for lights, mediums, darks and odds and ends Lisa Rico I built my own. Few pieces of wood and square dowels, a handsaw, hand drill and some glue. Less than $100!

Kathy Detrano I plan on using a repurposed bakers bun cart with trays...lightweight and portable.

Marianne Harris Since I live in a tiny home (under 400 sq ft) I have little room to call a studio area. I have my pastels in small multiple drawer Artist Wood boxes that I found on Amazon.

I have one set up for hard pastels and one for soft pastels. My pastel pencils take up some room on my desk. Organization is a tiny home skill.

Lorenzo Chavez- The most used pastels are kept out, the others waiting to be used remain in the boxes I purchased them in.

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Ugo Paradiso I keep my “to go pastels “ on 12 set of wood drawers.

As I usually start with hard pastels I have set up where I label all the different kinds of pastels from hard to the softer for the final touches and the drawers are set up from light hues to dark and from warm to cool. Now I have some extra softer pastels that I keep in the original box as they are very fragile. I love this system especially to cut on space and it seems to be working well for my needs.

Housekeeping

PSWC HOUSEKEEPING

ELECTED BOARD POSITIONS President/Editor Sabrina Hill

Here’s a Bit of News for Members & Information on New Members

MEMBERSHIP DRIVE

e: Art@sabrinahill.com Vice President/Treasurer Susan Goodmundson

We are always looking to expand our membership. As one of the largest Pastel Societies in the United States, we are proud to have such talented, diverse and active artists in our group.

One of the best ways to support a healthy society is to bring in new members. There are lots of good reasons to join. If you have artist-friends who are not members, now’s the time to invite them to join. Contact Debbie Pepin if you have questions or would like more information.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

e: goodmundson@sbcglobal.net Secretary Bonnie Griffith e: bzgriff53@gmail.com COMMITTEE APPOINTEES Eblast Coordinator/Publicity Cynthia Riordan e: clriordan@gmail.com Facebook Coordinator/Social Media Rita Romero e: artist@romeroartstudio.com

Members, we need your other talents, too! We have the lots of opportunities for volunteers from working on the PASTELS USA Show to hosting Paint-outs. Please contact Sabrina Hill for more information.

Magazine Editor Sabrina Hill e: art@sabrinahill.com Membership Chair Deborah Pepin

CONTRIBUTE TO THE MAGAZINE

e: pswcmembership@gmail.com.

The magazine is looking for ideas, suggestions and contributors. If you have something to say, an idea for a feature, or a favorite artist for an interview, I want to hear from you! And if you have graphics experience, would be willing to collect information, write an article or help with production contact me at pswcmag@pswc.ws

Membership Show Chair Dug Waggoner e: dugwaggoner@att.net Museum Liaison W. Truman Hosner e: truman@wtrumanhosner.com Pastels USA 2020 Chair Jan Miller

NEW MEMBERS Jennifer Blackburn San Rafael, CA Diana Boegel

Sonora, CA Mark Bradley Cottonwood Heights, UT Jeanne Chapin Dublin, CA Francesca Droll Bigfork, MT Chris Froelich Carson City, NV Pat Henderson Woodland, CA Jackie Johnston Los Angeles, CA Marian Kingsbury Nampa ID Shuk Susan Lee Newton, MA Becky Matli Madera CA Darlene Meissner Shaver Lake, CA Hal Oleari Weaverville, CA Jeanne Elise Reilly Sacramento, CA Nancy Rickard Bayside, CA Marlene Rogers Orange, CA Claudine Rogers Lincoln, CA Letitia Roller Santa Fe, NM Carolyn Romer Pasadena, CA Julie Skoda Western Springs, IL Shelby Spencer Roseville, CA David C. Thimgan Elk Grove, CA Celia Vanderpool San Clemente, CA shray San Rafael, CA

e: halfhalt@saber.net Scholarship Co-Chairs

dianaboegel.com

Pam Comfort e: pinfree@gmail.com Ranjani Mohana

francescadroll.com

e: ranjanimohana@gmail.com Strategic Planning Chair

www.jackiejohnston.com Www.shuklee.com

Deborah Shea e: deb@deborahsheastudios.com Ways & Means Chair Pat Stoddard Aragon e: grayrockstudio@yahoo.com

www.haloleari.com

Workshop Coordinator Daniele Todaro e: daniele.todaro.8278@gmail.com

marlenerogersart.com www.letitiaroller.com www.julieskoda.com www.JustShelby.art

shraybronze.com PSWC Magazine | Fall 2019 2019

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Best in Show : The Narrator by Candice Grieve, PSA

The 34rd Annual International Open Exhibition

A Dynamic Journey!

Will be held at the Art Center Morro Bay June 25th through August 3rd, 2020 64

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