Sometimes it takes a crisis to allow your unique creative soul to emerge – the part of you that’s ALL you, not someone else’s expectation or belief of who you are. Someone who found their true creative path in this way is Emily Christoff Flowers. I came across her work not too long ago and featured “Listening to Maynard Ferguson” in my March
Today I painted even though I didn’t feel like it. The reason? This blog. The looming deadline acted as a spark and ignited my painting soul. And I realized how important it is to paint even when you don’t feel like it. Painting isn’t easy. Being creative isn’t easy. It’s damn hard work in fact. And because
It’s Labour Day and on this grey, cool day in September, I’m writing about astonishing pastels chosen from the glorious many I saw in August. These are pastels that in some way moved me to share them with you be it their colour and design, their emotional resonance, their success with values. My ten pastel
I don’t know about you but I get intense pleasure when I discover a new-to-me artist from the past who used pastels. A few months ago it was Thérèse Schwartze (enjoy the blog written by Cora Hollema by clicking here). Today it’s the Texan artist Frank Reaugh (1860-1945; pronounced “Ray”). This artist became known for
Are you taking a workshop anytime soon? I recently taught my workshop, Ramp Up Your Colour, to a small group of students on Salt Spring Island. Their focus and willingness to follow where I led was so rewarding. They really were the ideal students! Seeing their dedication to learning inspired me to write this post
Last year, I featured “Right On The Corner,” a stunning piece by Nancy Nowak, in my monthly round-up (you’ll see it below), and not surprisingly, that pastel went on to be a winner, taking 1st place in this year’s Pastel Journal Top 100 Competition! Since then I’ve seen more of Nancy’s fabulous work as she’s posted them on the
I was on a deadline today – a post was due to be published! I wanted to show you a progression through one of my paintings. Problem was, I didn’t have anything to share. So I needed to get creative quickly. I set a timer and chose a limited palette by using a starter set. I
Okay, how come it’s August already??? Where has the summer gone? The beginning of August means it’s time for July’s glorious pastels. It’s an interesting mix, heavy on landscape but coming in many variations. As always, a subjective choice made from the many I saw through the month. Let’s get started.
WARNING: This blog post is text heavy, visual light! Â Â A few weeks ago, my tech guy Terry Bower, died unexpectedly. For a week plus, I was in shock. I was scared, I felt vulnerable, I was angry. I was also grieving for this man who had not only been helping with techy things for
Do I have a treat for you!! Lisa Ober is this month’s guest blogger. I’ve admired Lisa’s work for sometime now. She does these large, often colourful (that appeals to me!), super realism pieces in pastels. I featured “Blue Vases” in one of my monthly round-ups. Click here to see it and while you’re there, notice the
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