Victor Richardson in the Pastel Journal

My article on Irish artist Victor Richardson is published in the December 2013 issue of the Pastel Journal, and his work was chosen for the cover of the issue. The magazine is on the bookstands, but is also available as a digital download from the North Light shop.

Ellen Eagle's new book

A new book on painting in pastels is always a welcome event in publishing. It is even more welcome when the book is by somebody who is as thoroughly versed in their art - and craft - as Ellen Eagle.  Ellen's new book is called Pastel Painting Atelier – Essential Lessons in Techniques, Practices, and Materials. It is published by Watson Guptill; and Crown Publishing, and will cost $35 US or $41 Canada. It is also available as an ebook. Publication date is April 23, 2013!

Linda Barnicott

“Meet Me Under Kaufmann’s Clock” © Linda Barnicott

Name: Linda Barnicott

URL: http://lindabarnicott.com/

Bio: Linda Barnicott began her career as a portrait artist in 1975. Today she is perhaps better known for her Pittsburgh cityscapes. She began in 1989 with a tribute to downtown holiday shopping entitled Meet Me Under Kaufmann’s Clock. The work immediately won the hearts of Pittsburghers, who have been meeting friends under the clock downtown for years. After this Linda created several series of Pittsburgh landmarks, and in 1995 she began her Kennywood Park series.

Linda was chosen to be the official artist of the 1996 Three Rivers Regatta. Since 1998, she has been commissioned by the American Cancer Society of Greater Pittsburgh to create the painting used on their annual holiday card. In 2000, Linda received a special Proclamation from the City of Pittsburgh, commemorating her “tremendous contribution in capturing and preserving many sites in and around the Pittsburgh Area.” This is an honor she holds dear, as a largely self-taught artist. However, over the years Linda has studied with Daniel Greene (1981 and 1983) and with Richard McKinley (2010 and 2011). In March of 2008, she was the cover story in Professional Artist.

Barnicott‘s work has been displayed at the Oncology Wellness Institute in Meadville, Pennsylvania as part of their holistic approach to cancer treatment. In 2011, she was asked to be the exclusive artist for the new West Penn Allegheny Outpatient Facility in Peters Township, providing this facility with over 50 paintings. That same year, Barnicott was honored to partner with Healthy Lungs Pennsylvania to develop their annual holiday print and ornament.

Linda's studio is in Monroeville, Pennsylvania where she lives with her husband and two daughters. She is a member of the Salmagundi Club in New York.

Medium: Pastel; some pastels are underpainted with watercolor or oil 

Subjects: Landscape. Nostalgia

Style: Representational.  

Navigation: I usually confine my remarks to ease of navigation, and the professionalism of a website. This website is one from which artists can learn to market their work. It is well thought out and constructed, and provides easy access to a wide range of original art, reproductions, prints; note cards, collectibles and ornaments based on Linda’s art. The main menu and all relevant menus remain accessible at all times. Linda makes use of her web-site for a resource and as a selling tool. She has a hardcopy catalog of her work that may also be downloaded as a PDF on the web-site. Linda’s company, Linda Barnicott Publishing, LLC, was chosen as a winner of the prestigious 2006 Forbes® Enterprise Award. Linda was honored at a luncheon and presentation held on February 5, 2007 at the Frederick P. Rose Hall at the Home of Jazz At Lincoln Center in New York City. So well done to Linda, to Margaret Ward and to Wild West Online Productions.

Gallery: A drop down list gives access to : Pittsburgh Scenes; Pittsburgh Sports; Amusement Parks; Western Pennsylvania Scenes; Landscapes; Lighthouses; Autumn’s Glow at Krepps Covered Bridge; Pennsylvania Universities; New York. See also Original Landscape Paintings for Sale, with two subgalleries: Beautiful Beyond Pittsburgh series and Pennsylvania Route  6 series.

Image View: Thumbnails enlarge on new page. Clicking on them may bring you to a giclée print if the original has been sold; the dimension is stated. The image may be saved, but usually has a watermark embedded. A slideshow displays her Original Landscape Paintings.

Blog/Demo: No 

Jennifer Gardner

“Rolling Hills IV” © Jennifer Gardner

Name: Jennifer Gardner, PSA

URL: http://jennifergardner.com

Bio: Born in London, and raised in Windsor, Jennifer Gardner developed an interest in art in her early childhood. After an early career as a lawyer, Jennifer abandoned her legal career in 1999 and emigrated to the United States to paint full-time.

After an early start in ink and oil painting Jennifer now paints with pastel and watercolor; she finds the vibrancy and vitality of the pastel medium lends itself particularly well to her rendering of light and color in her abstracts, cityscapes, landscapes and seascapes. Much of her inspiration is drawn from her extensive travels across Europe, the United States, the Caribbean and the Far East.

Jennifer has loyal clients in the USA, South America and Europe, comprising both private and commercial collectors. Her work is frequently shown at national juried exhibitions across the United States and at many of the annual art shows throughout New England and Florida. Her work can also be seen at galleries in Acton, and  in Newburyport, Maine,  and East Greenwich, Connecticut, as well as in museums and corporate collections, and by appointment at her studio in Sarasota, Florida.

Jennifer is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America and her work has been published numerous times in the Pastel Journal, American Artist Magazine, The Artist’s Magazine and also published online at practicalpainting.com. Jennifer is also published in the Best of America Pastel Artists (Volume II) book and listed in the Artists' Bluebook Worldwide Edition.

Jennifer will be jurying the abstract/non-objective category of the 14th Annual Pastel 100 Competition in 2013.

Medium: Pastel; watercolour

Subjects: Landscape. Abstract.

Style: Impressionist to abstract.   

Navigation: Easy. Main menu remains on top and has three headings that lead to subheadings under their categories. The subheadings menu remains at the side within its section.

Gallery: Abstracts; Cityscapes; Landscapes; Seascapes; Abstract Flowers; Abstract Landscapes. New Paintings; Award-winning paintings.

Image View: Thumbnails open in a wheel-style viewer. Use your mouse wheel, or arrow keys to flip through the artwork. Double-click any image to view enlarged image; dimension is stated. Image may be saved. Rolling Hills IV is 20 x 18 ins, 600 x 550, 100 KB.

Blog/Demo: No, but there is an informative interview with the artist on the Practical Painting website

Marcia Wegman

“Anamosa Hills” © Marcia Wegman

Name: Marcia Wegman, PSA

URL: http://marciawegman.com/

Bio: Marcia Wegman was born in Washington, D.C. on October 30, 1935. She attended Miami University in Hamilton, Ohio, where she earned a BFA degree in graphic design, Magna Cum Laude, in 1957. From 1957-1961, she studied at the University of Iowa where she completed her MFA degree in intaglio printmaking with with Mauricio Lasansky. Marcia then worked in oil, watercolor, acrylic, handmade paper, and mixed media collage over a thirty-five year period. When she tried painting an English Lake District landscape with an old set of pastels she realized this was her perfect medium. She is now a signature member of the PSA. The Midwest landscape has been a  lifelong inspiration, first in Ohio, then in Iowa. Marcia delights in proving that Iowa is anything but boring in her paintings.

Her works have been selected for many group and one person exhibits throughout the Midwest. She has been involved with Heifer International, creating paintings reflecting a trip sponsored by that group through Lithuania and Latvia in 2007. She also has received significant commissions from the University of Iowa including a large quadriptych in 2008 from the College of Medicine and several paintings commissioned by the College of Nursing. She painted landscapes for the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Coralville, Iowa. She also painted an Iowa landscape for MAPP, a private organization formed to prevent 600 acres of farmland once painted by Grant Wood from being turned into a county landfill. A number of her paintings have been made into limited editions of prints to be used for fundraising purposes as well as sold by the artist. 

Marcia’s awards include being a finalist in the International Artist Magazine, August/Sept 2010; a Merit Award at the Iowa State Fair Fine Art Exhibition 2010; and winner of The Artist's Magazine Over 60 Competition, March 2011

She received an Honorable Mention in the Pastel 100, in April 2011, and was the feature of an article in the December 2013 issue of the Pastel Journal.

Marcia is the author/illustrator of a children’s book, Lula Belle, published by Outskirts Press in 2007.

Medium: Pastel; Acrylic. Says Marcia, “Pastels lend themselves to developing the ephemeral aspects of light and color in the landscape. I enjoy challenging myself in constantly finding new ways to explore the forms, rhythm, lines, repetition, light and color in the Iowa landscape.”

Subjects: Landscape. Portraits (not her forte). Floral. Abstract.

Style: Representational.

Navigation: Easy. Main menu remains available on left.

Gallery: Iowa Landscapes; Other Places; Abstract Paintings (all acrylic); Portraits; Florals; Commissions (all acrylic).

Image View: Thumbnails open on a viewer on same page on mouseover. This makes it practically impossible to download any images other than those on the outside columns of the thumbnails, as to move off a thumbnail changes the enlarged image in the viewer, unless you can move directly from the viewer to a blank space on the page. Anamosa Hills is 30 x 30 ins

Blog/Demo: No 

Alice Laputka

“Fall Snow” © Alice Laputka

Name: Alice Laputka, PSA

URL: http://alicelaputka.com/

Bio: Pennsylvania artist Alice Laputka is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts) with a BFA in advertising. Her background includes print design, television graphics, animated film work and teaching. She has studied with Bill Herring (who helped get her gallery representation), Miles Batt and Katherine Chang Liu. She has had over a dozen solo exhibitions and has exhibited in over two hundred regional, national and international juried shows. Her paintings are in numerous corporate and private collections throughout the United States.

Her paintings have been featured in Pastel Artist International Magazine, International Artist Magazine and The Artist’s Magazine as well as Rockport Publishers The Best of Acrylic Painting. A feature article Windows of Colour in the October 2012 issue of the Pastel Journal is an excellent exposition of her approach and method.

Laputka has done editing and writing for the Pastel Society of America where she holds signature member status. She has been inducted into the Master Circle of the International Association of Pastel Societies and is a signature member of the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, Knickerbocker Artists, the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, and the Philadelphia Water Color Society. She is a professional artist member of the Main Line Art Center and an exhibiting member of Philadelphia Tri-State Artist Equity.

Medium: Pastel; oil;watercolour.  Laputka often creates her own support from Lenox or Stonehenge printmaking paper which she coats with two layers of equal parts gesso or acrylic paint, ground pumice and distilled water. With a paper surface she also covers the back with gesso to prevent the paper from curling. She also uses Strathmore illustration board, watercolour paper, or hardboard.

Subjects: Landscape

Style: Colourist. Laputka’s work reminds me of the late Elsie Dinsmore Popkin, but more abstract in approach.

Navigation: While the website is easy to work around, the design elements are lacking, especially on the pages where thumbnails seem lost as they are widely dispersed on the page. The enlarged images open on a page where no links whatsoever are provided, not forward, not back. Of the three links to artists’ sites, one is incorrect; and Jan Crooker, when found, is not a pastellist, as the link suggests.

Gallery: Landscapes; Barns and buildings; Plein air; Abstract; Oils

Image View: Each thumbnail  may be enlarged; information on each image is provided. Enlargements open on a new page, with no links to anywhere – either use the back button, or open the enlargement with a right click- open link in new tab/window. Download is possible but all images have a large watermark.I have chosen to feature Fall Snow (671 x 518, 349 KB) as the watermark is not too obtrusive in the snowy ground.

Blog/Demo: No 

Alexandre Moreau

“Mormaison” © Alexandre Moreau

Name: Alexandre Moreau

URL: http://www.amoreau-pastels.book.fr/

Bio: French pastellist Alexandre Moreau was born in 1984. He spent his school years drawing on his desk and on the blank margins of his school books. Once he finished school, he tried drawing nature with pencil and watercolour, but felt he did not have the technique. However, after visiting the pastel exhibition in Saint-Florent-le-Vieil in 2009 he tunred his attention to pastel, when he saw the possibilities of the medium for rendering landscape and light. He also liked the pastels for their ability to draw and paint simultaneously. A course with Patrice Bourdin in 2010 to learn the basic of the medium was followed by a session with master pastellist and landscape artist Peter Thomas in 2012. Like Peter, Alexandre works primarily en plein air, with studio sessions reserved for finishing. Alexandre wasted no time in exhibiting his work, and has already won prizes, including Mormaison (above) that won the 1st prize for natural heritage in Rocheserviere.

Medium: Pastel

Subjects: Landscape

Style: Representational

Navigation: The website is in French, and for a French site is professionally designed and presented. It is a pleasure to navigate.

Gallery: Galeries: Presented year by year.

Image View: Each thumbnail  may be enlarged; alternatively you can choose “grand format” and scroll through the collection. Information on each image is provided on mouseover, although this information is brought up on the image itself and cuts out the base section where it is placed. Dimension is not always included, but Alexandre works on Pastel Card, so that should  give an indication of the limits of size. Download is not possible.

Blog/Demo: No 

Patrice Landry

“Citrons au panier” © Patrice Landry

Name: Patrice Landry, PSEC

URL: Version française: http://www.minamots.com/francais/mm-artiste-f.php

English version: http://www.minamots.com/english/artiste-e.php

Bio: Quebec artist Patrice Landry was born in 1960 and from an early age was drawing, experimenting with cartoons and making comic strips. He studied Graphic Art, and worked as a graphic designer for 8 years, his output varying from packaging and advertising to animation and technical drawing. In 2000 he started painting seriously with oils, acrylics and pastel. He is currently an analyst-programmer specialized in Web technologies and is also the author of a published novel at Éditions Minamots.

Patrice is a Signature member Pastel Society of Eastern Canada, he is also editor of the PSEC members' newletter (PastelPost) and programmer and webmaster of the website as well as many other public and private sites. Recent awards include Pastel Toujours, St-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, 2010 (2nd prize for Citrons au panier, above) and Pastel Toujours, PSEC, Galerie in Vivo, Montréal, 2006.

Medium: Pastel; oil; acrylic.

Subjects: Landscape; Still Life; Animals.

Style: Representational

Navigation: The website has a French, and an English version; and is very simply laid out. The paintings are classified by medium, and by theme.

Gallery: Under Pastel, scroll the categories under these headings: Paysage (landscape); Inspiration de maitre (A master’s inspiration); Portrait; Paysage de mer (seascape); Nature morte (still life); Animaux (animals)

Image View: Each thumbnail  is provided with information on title, dimension and support.  Click to enlarge and get further commentary by the artist. The only flaw seems to lie in the “back to artwork” link, which doesn’t work for me in either language. Download is allowed. 

Blog/Demo: No 

Jacques Boissinot

“Harmonie d’automne” © Jacques Boissinot

Name: Jacques Boissinot

URL:  http://jacquesboissinot.com/

Bio: Jacques Boissinot was born in Quebec in 1957 and lives in Gatineau, the fourth largest city in Quebec province. It is located on the northern banks of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, and together they form Canada's National Capital Region.
Boissinot studied drawing at Ottawa School of Art and at Hull, followed by a course in Visual Arts at UQO (Université du Québec en Outaouais). Boissinot describes himself as an Outaouais artist, Outaouais comprising part of the National Capital Region, where a large proportion of the population is bilingual. He certainly has painted many landscapes of the region in diverse media.  He has been painting for 35 years, inspired by nature and loving to paint in plein air; has been exhibiting since 1988 and having solo shows since 2001.

Medium: Pastel; oil; acrylic.

Subjects: Landscape

Style: Impressionist

Navigation: Website is in French. Menu at side except when you go into a gallery, from which it is impossible to escape! Just go into the address bar and wipe out the text that follows after the .com bit to retrun to the home page.

Gallery: Pastels; Huile/Acrylique (Oils/Acrylics); Aquarelles (Watercolours); Contemporain (Contemporary).

Image View: The thumbnails at the bottom of the gallery page enlarge in a viewer on the page and the enlargements may be scrolled by clicking on each one or on the direcitonal arrows on top of viewer. Information is provided on title, and dimension. Download is allowed. Harmonie d’automne is 8 x 10 ins, 970 x 768, 214 KB.

Blog/Demo: No 

Marsha Savage

“Crossing” © Marsha Savage

Name: Marsha Savage

URL:  http://marshasavage.com/

Bio: Marsha Hamby Savage of Smyrna, Georgia, has been painting for over 30 years. She originally painted in oils and acrylics, but about 20 years ago pastels became her medium. She is a Member of Excellence in the Southeastern Pastel Society, a Merit member of the Atlanta Artist Center, the Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association, the North Georgia Artists' Assoc., and the International Plein Air Painters.

Marsha paints both plein air and in her studio; she is responsible for the “Southeast Landscape Set” produced by Terry Ludwig handmade pastels.

Her paintings have been accepted into many shows and have won numerous awards including "Best of Show" at the Great Chattahoochee Paint Out in Roswell GA. In 2010, three paintings were chosen to be displayed at the Georgia State Capital. Her paintings are in corporate and private collections across the United States. 

Marsha is represented by Wrapsody In Blue, Blue Ridge GA, dk Gallery, Marietta, GA and Windrush Gallery, Sedona AZ. She is also represented by Xanadu Gallery on-line.

Medium: Pastel; oil; acrylic.

Subjects: Landscape; still life.

Style: Representational

Navigation: This is tricky enough to negotiate – there is no clarity or consistent approach to links. And the home page has a distracting background image that does not facilitate reading the text. Once in the galleries, look to a small link on the bottom of the page to get back to Home and the next gallery. The links on the left of the homepage are not formatted and the whole has an amateurish quality that is difficult to forgive at this point of the web's development. This is a pity, as the paintings are far superior to the site.

Gallery: Studio Paintings; Plein Air and Studies; Archives.

Image View: The thumbnails generally enlarge in a viewer on a new page and the enlargements may be scrolled without returning to the thumbnails. Some archived images just enlarge in a new page; some don’t enlarge at  all! Information is provided on medium, and dimension. Crossing is 18 x 24 ins, 578 x 432,  350 KB.

Blog: http://marshasavage.blogspot.com

Demo: No 

Denise Bunkert

“Fall’s Arrival” © Denise Bunkert

Name: Denise Bunkert

URL:  http://www.paintedplaces.net/

Bio: A Master Colorist and distinguished member of the Lake Country Pastel Society and Outdoor Painters of Minnesota, Denise Bunkert draws from nature, music and poetry to inspire luminous paintings. Her huge experience in design and art helps her in creating paintings which range from pastel landscapes and intimate scenes of nature to whimsical and sophisticated murals. Her awards and exhibitions are numerous and she is frequently invited to teach classes at gallery exhibitions of her work.

Denise graduated in 1992 with a B.S., University of Wisconsin – Stout, Menomonie, WI. with a major in Graphic Arts and Design.

Denise has thirteen years experience as graphic designer for Twin Cities publishing companies. She has  taught college level design courses - she was Graphic Design Instructor for Minneapolis Business College, Academy College - but her true vocation has always been that of a fine artist and teacher. She continued her own exploration of art with extensive coursework that included a period with Susan Sarback’s School of Light & Color in 2004; and pastel workshops with Albert Handel, Maggie Price, and Desmond O’Hagan.

The Pastel Journal, June 2006 article: Marketing your artwork featured her award winning painting Fall's Arrival.

Medium: Pastel; oil; Wall paintings.

Subjects: Natural subjects from landscapes to butterfly wings.

Style: Representational

Navigation: Main menu remains at top at all times.

Publications:  Essence: Nature in Vision & Verse, 2005.

Mirrors of the Soul: Reflections on Life's Seasons, 2009 with English poet, Richard Whitfield.

Gallery: Four pages of ten thumbnails each, the last ones including some of Denise’s murals.

Image View: The thumbnails enlarge in a Flash Player on the same page and may not be downloaded. Information is provided on medium, and dimension. Fall's Arrival is 25 x 18 ins.

Blog/Demo: No 

Debora Stewart

“The First Raven” © Debora Stewart

Name: Debora L. Stewart, PSA

URL:  http://www.deboralstewart.com/

Bio: Debora Stewart gained a M.S.Ed. Counselor Education, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois, and her B.A. Art Education, University of Iowa, Iowa City. As a middle school art teacher and counsellor, Debora finds herself using art to help people, adolescents especially, better understand themselves. Her work is largely intuitive and imaginative, but it’s rooted in nature and the artist’s familiarity with natural forms. Her colour choices are inspired by the colours of nature too – flowers, sunsets, rivers, the seasons. She likes to create work with an expressive, gestural line, for which pastels are ideal, combining as they do drawing with painting.

Debora is a member of the Iowa Pastel Association, the Pastel Painters of Chicago, and a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America. She has figured in the Pastel 100 in 2010 and 2011 and in International Artist Magazine in 2012, and her work is featured in the book Finding Your Style in Pastel by Jean Hirons.
Medium: Pastel.  Debora works on sanded pastel paper that is mounted later on archival board.  This allows her the opportunity to be experimental.  She often begins with an initial line of vine charcoal or an underpainting of oil paint.  Small sections of previously completed line drawings are used as the basis for her paintings. Debora says that her ultimate goal is to create a richly textured pastel painting with beauty and depth that reflects the mystery and spirit of the natural world.

Subjects: Abstract. As I rarely feature abstract artists, I will let Debora speak for herself: “I am most inspired by creating work with a gestural, expressive line and intuitive color choice.  My work is not an observational record but contains elements of an emotional experience in nature.  I am drawn to shadows and reflections of light and I believe this is also evident in my work.”

Style: Debora states: “My work is primarily abstractions in pastels.  I do enjoy working with animal imagery periodically.  This allows me to bring some representational images to my work.  It also allows me to express my love for animals.  My intent with these images is to create an emotional connection with the collector and the spirit of the animal.”

Navigation: Main menu remains at side at all times,

Gallery: Abstractions; Small Abstractions; Transitions; Animal Abstractions.

Image View: The galleries scroll from side to side, as do the thumbnails when one chooses a gallery. Thumbnails enlarge in a viewer on the same page and may not be downloaded. Information is provided on medium, support and dimension. The First Raven is 15 x 22 ins.

Blog/Demo: No 

Claudette Gamache

“ Bunker Hill ” © Claudette Gamache

Name: Claudette Gamache, PSA

URL:  http://claudettegamache.com/

Bio: Claudette Gamache followed a career as a registered nurse, but her passion always remained in the arts. As mature student, she received her BFA from the University of Hartford. She combined her interests to pursue an MA in Expressive Arts Therapies and Holistic Studies at Lesley University and later became a registered art therapist.

Claudette is a Signature member of the Pastel Society of America, Pastel Painters of Maine, the Ct. Pastel Society and a Master Circle member of the International Association of Pastel Societies. She is a contributor to 100 Ways to Paint Landscapes (International Artist Publishing 2004). She has presented to many groups in the art and health field in New England, New Orleans and Beijing, China. She is in Who’s Who of American Women and American Art. Her work has been selected for a national invitational show of the Pastel Painters of America held at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio. Her paintings, which number well over 500, hang in many corporate and private collections. Claudette lives at Popham Beach, where she works plein air as well as in her studio; she teaches workshops in Maine and is a mentor for the MFA program at Heartwood College of Art in Kennebunk, Maine.
Medium: Pastel. Claudette uses a layering technique - up to 20 layers. Choosing the proper papers, pastels, brushes, turpenoid and fixatives helps to make this process work. She states that her practice of layering colour over colour, taking it out with a brush, reflection, connecting with and repeating this process many times can last for days, weeks or months.

Subjects: Landscape.

Style: Representational with an element of impressionism.

Navigation: Main menu remains on top at all times,

Gallery: Nature Landscapes; Coastal Paintings; France.

Image View: Thumbnails enlarge in a lightbox viewer and may not be downloaded. Most enlargements carry a title and size. Bunker Hill is 27 x 38 ins.

Blog/Demo: No 

Sarah Pollock

“The Eavesdroppers” © Sarah Pollock

Name: Sarah Pollock

URL:  http://www.sarahpollock.com/

Bio: Originally from southern Wisconsin, Sarah Pollock began her artistic career as a colour stylist for Walt Disney Features Animation. She now works in central Pennsylvania, often outdoors, directly on location. She also finds inspiration in the natural and urban scenes that she encounters on her travels throughout the United States.

Sarah began exhibiting in 2003 and her paintings are in private collections throughout the country. Sarah has won numerous awards in competitive national juried exhibitions, including the 2004 Pastel 100, in which her cityscape, Homeless, Downtown D.C., was featured.

Over the past several years, Sarah has served as a board member for the Maryland Pastel Society and the Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania. She is also a member of the Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association. Sarah teaches a class on colour for beginning artists at the Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania during the fall of each year.

In 2010, Sarah published From My Easel: A Celebration of Pennsylvania’s Black Moshannon State Park. The book features five years of her plein air paintings from the park as well as a history about this location. One half of the proceeds from the sale of each book will be donated to benefit the park.

Sarah’s works can be seen at the State College Framing Company and Gallery in State College, Pennsylvania, and the William Ris Gallery in Stone Harbor, New Jersey

Medium: Pastel.

Subjects: Cityscapes; Landscape

Style: Loose, painterly. Sarah states: “Light at the edge of day, near sunset or sundown, is most intriguing to me. I’m attracted to landscapes with dramatic angles, impressive skies, and natural bodies of water. In my cityscapes, I emphasize the beauty of the everyday. These paintings capture a range of subjects, from dynamic, down-the-street views to intimate portraits of anonymous individuals.”

Navigation: This website is in blog format. There is also an acknowledged  - and very readable – blog page.

Gallery: Cityscapes; Landscapes

Image View: Thumbnails enlarge on a new page and a rich commentary is provided on each piece. These enlargements may be scrolled. A zoom feature is provided for some images that permits you to examine the piece in a movable “magnifier”. Download is permitted, but images have a copyright watermark. The Eavesdroppers is 16 x 24 ins.

Blog: http://www.sarahpollock.com/category/blog/ 

Patrick Bechtold

“Poires II” © Patrick Bechtold

Name: Patrick Bechtold

URL:  http://www.patrickbechtold-pastel.com/topic/index-en.html

Bio: Patrick Bechtold  lives and paints in Folschviller, a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. In May 2004, after some months of initiation into drawing and watercolours, Patrick responded to an advertisement in Pratique des Arts for a pastel course in Messein; the course was led by someone who would change his life forever – Alain Victor. Taking the plunge immediately, Patrick started winning prizes straight away, starting with a third in portraiture in Folschviller in 2004, followed by a first in pastel in Creutzwald the same year.

Alain Victor passed away in 2005, and Patrick subsequently studied under Claude Texier, Thierry Citron, Gwenneth Barth, and Maxime Bochet. In the Numéro Spécial N°94 of Pratique des Arts, 2010, master pastellist Claude Texier introduced her one-time student. Patrick had evidently gone from strength to strength in a very small time period, demonstrating his passion and dedication to the medium.

Medium: Pastel. Apart from the more usual brands, Patrick uses Jaxell pastels (a brand new to me) for their unique and particularly bright colours. Patrick has also moved on from the normal supports of Canson, Art Spectrum and Pastel Card to manufacturing his own supports with an acrylic base.

Subjects: Animals; Figurative; Still Life; Landscape

Style: Loose, painterly.

Navigation: This website is available in French and in English. Main Menu remains available at top of page.

Gallery: By year from 2004 to date.

Image View: Thumbnails enlarge on a new page and the enlargements may be scrolled.. Download is permitted. Poires, II is 47 x 50 cms.

Demo/Blog: No

Mario Andres Robinson

“Oscar” © Mario Andres Robinson

Name: Mario Andres Robinson

URL:  http://marioarobinson.com/

Bio: Mario Andres Robinson was born in Altus, Oklahoma, where he resided with his family before relocating to New Jersey at the age of twelve. Robinson was encouraged to develop his innate talent for the expression of visual art by a fifth grade teacher, and thereupon began building what would soon become a prodigious body of work. Robinson went on to study at the prestigious Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.

From the beginning of his career, Mario Andres Robinson's muse was the work of the great masters: Degas, Rembrandt, Vermeer. Robinson studied their techniques, deconstructed their works. He continued to subject the work of various contemporary American artists to the same painstaking analysis. Beginning in 1994, Robinson's work began extensively to incorporate rural subjects primarily located in the state of Alabama. 

Mario Andres Robinson is an Exhibiting Artist Member (EAM) of The National Arts Club, an Artist Member of The Salmagundi Club and a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America. He has exhibited his work extensively throughout the United States, including the Arkansas Art Center, the Butler Institute of American Art, Ann Long Fine Art, Charlestown, S.C., and Morton Fine Art, Washington DC.  His work has been featured several times in The Artist's Magazine, the Pastel Journal, Watercolor Magic, American Art Collector, Fine Art Connoisseur and on the cover of American Artist magazine. In the February, 2006 issue of The Artist's Magazine, Mario was selected as one of the top 20 realist artists under the age of 40. 

Medium: Pastel; oil; watercolour

Subjects: Portraits, Figurative.

Style: The work of Mario Andres Robinson fits squarely within the tradition of American painting, bearing a close affinity to the work of realist masters Andrew Wyeth and Thomas Eakins.

Navigation: Menu remains available at side of page.

Publications:  Mario Andres Robinson: Portraits in the American Tradition  features the artist's powerful portraits executed in pastel, watercolor and graphite over a span of 15 years. The introduction is written by Dr. Fred Ross, CEO of the Art Renewal Center. Robinson is regarded as a Living Master by the Art Renewal Center. 

Gallery: Oils; Pastels; Watercolours; Drawings.

Image View: Thumbnails provide image information on mouseover; they enlarge on a new page and may be “zoomed” further. Download is permitted. Oscar is 22 x 30 ins, 550 x 382, 193 KB.

Blog: Yes
Facebook: Yes

Julie Freeman

POST No. 500. I am really please to introduce a New Zealand artist, Julie Freeman, for my 500th post on this blog. The blog has been an adventure in discovery, meeting so many talented pastel artists online and seeing so much inspirational artwork. Julie Freeman is a remarkable artist by any standard, and that she is self-taught is bound to give encouragement to all who cannot attend art college or classes for whatever reason. Her painting, Southern Kelp, is of such a quality that I cannot help expecting a sea-otter or a seal to poke its nose out of it.

“ Southern Kelp ” © Julie Freeman

Name: Julie Freeman

URL:  http://www.juliefreeman.co.nz/

Bio: Julie Freeman is a self taught photorealistic pastel artist based in Auckland New Zealand. Julie spent 16 years overseas when she married where she started doing commissioned work, mostly animal portraits. (Julie’s animal portraits rise far above the usual twee paintings one sees too often on websites that specialise in pet portraits.) Initially monotone in graphite or charcoal, they gradually progressed to pastel.

When invited to exhibit with two other artists 5 years ago she was challenged to come up with work that she thought would sell and that she would enjoy doing. Living near the coat, Julie painted boats and dinghies, vineyards (as it was a wine growing region too), and native flora. The exhibition was a success and with the feedback received Julie was encouraged to continue with pastel.

She is an Artist Member of the Pastel Artists of New Zealand (PANZ) and has won national awards. Her work is in private collections in New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom. Most recently Julie has broadened her subjects from commissioned animal portraits to themed work: New Zealand scenes, boats, lilypads, algae, using her own reference photos.

Medium: Pastel. 

Subjects: Boats, fauna and flora.

Style: Photorealism.  Julie primarily works with pastel pencils (Derwent, CarbOthello) but often uses Art Spectrum, Unison and Rembrandt sticks. Her surface is usually Art Spectrum Colourfix paper which she finds holds layers of pastel really well. She doesn't use fixative as her method involves lots of blending with pencils, which doesn't create much pastel dust. Julie gets a great sense of satisfaction when she has achieved a painting that viewers think is a photograph.

Navigation: Main menu remains available on left of page.

Gallery: Galleries 1, 2 and 3; Animal Portraits; Portraits.

Image View: Large thumbnails only; image information is provided. Download is permitted.

Julie says of the image displayed: "This piece Southern Kelp was a section of a larger image of the seaweed moving in the foreground of a coastal scene. I was fascinated with the glistening light and the movement that I could see with the shape and colours of the kelp in the contrasting water, and even though I was portraying it photorealistically it looked like an abstract painting. This artwork won a first place in the Artists Magazine online competition 2011."

Demo: Use the Work Process link on the menu.

Blog: No.

Jane Maclean

“Keeper of Songs” © Jane Maclean

Name: Jane Maclean

URL:  http://www.janemaclean.com/

Bio: The connection of art and history was reinforced for Albuquerque artist Jane Maclean when she became a tour guide for New Mexico’s U.S Senator in the Capitol building in Washington. The art and architecture of the monument furthered her desire to paint authentic items that might otherwise never be seen and appreciated by a wider public.

Jane works according to the traditions of still life painters of the renaissance, who created multiple levels of meaning in a painting. In January 2006 three of her historical still life paintings were unveiled in their permanent home, the rotunda of Sandoval County Judicial Complex, New Mexico.

Her work has enjoyed recognition and awards. In MasterWorks 2007 her Tea with Catherine won Best of Show. In winter 2010, her work was a feature of the National League of American Pen Women magazine. Jane’s work has also served as cover art. Her image A New View of the Moon graces a Chinese translation of the original scientific book, New Views of the Moon.

Jane is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of New Mexico, and the President of the Yucca Branch of the National League of American Pen Women. 

Locally her work can be seen in her studio/gallery in Albuquerque, and at Rose’s Pottery House in Bernalillo, New Mexico.

Medium: Pastel; oil.

Subjects: Portraits, Figurative.

Style: Her pastel layering technique resembles an oil painting, but retains a wonderful characteristic of luminosity. 

Navigation: Menu remains available at bottom of page.

Gallery: Portraits and commissions; Landscapes; Still Life; Historical Still Life paintings; Vintage Albuquerque

Image View: Thumbnails enlarge on a new page and the enlargements may be scrolled. There is a return to gallery button. Download is permitted. Keeper of Songs is 10 x 12 ins, 576 x 487, 36 KB.

Demo: Yes, Jane is very descriptive of the process involved in her historical still life paintings.

Blog: No.

Karen Budan

“Peas and Carrots” © Karen Budan

Name: Karen Budan, PSA, APAA, PSWC

URL:  http://karenbudanfineart.com/

Bio: Scottsdale artist Karen Budan was educated at Eastern Michigan University where she obtained her MA in Elementary Education in 1975, and spent time as National Director for Professional Development at Performance Pathways, Inc. and at SunGard Higher Education.

As a professional artist Karen has taken classes with a veritable Who’s Who of American pastellists, including Susan Ogilvie, Sally Strand, Liz Kenyon, Richard McKinley, Maggie Price, and Diana Ponting.

She is a member of numerous associations, including the American Guild of Realism and the American Pastel Society. Her work was featured in American Art Collector, January 2012, the Pastel Journal, October 2012, and Professional Artist, November 2012. She has been exhibiting since 2007 and has already won many awards for her exacting work.

Medium: Pastel; oil

Subjects: Still Life.

Style: Realism. Karen states that she spends more time setting up her still lifes than painting them. Blending with her fingers or with pipe insulation, is the key to the realism she achieves, often on drymounted UART 400 paper.

Navigation: The website is a FineArtStudioOnline production.

Gallery: Flower Series; Fruit and Vegetable Series; Fun and Games Series; Southwest Series; Shoe Series.

Image View: Thumbnails enlarge in a viewer page and may be scrolled or enlareged further (and scrolled); download is possible. Information on medium and dimension is provided. Peas and Carrots is 9 x 12 ins., 550 x 418, 404 KB.

Blog: http://karenbudanfineart.com/blog

Facebook: Yes

Marie Laure Piffeteau

“Afghan Nomad” © Marie Laure Piffeteau

Name: Marie Laure Piffeteau

URL:  http://www.mlaurepiffeteau.com/

Bio: Introduced very early to the arts, to music by her mother, drawing and painting watercolours by her father, it was not until 1997 after a bout of ill health that Marie Laure Piffeteau discovered a new means of artistic expression. Having tried various techniques (charcoal, oil, acrylic), Marie Laure became passionate about pastel. Thanks to the Association Vocation Pastel of Voisins-le-Bretonneux, she met several pastellists, including Claude Texier, Patrick Henry, Cecile Houel, David Garrison and Maxime Bochet, and benefited from their individual techniques and interests.  In 2007 she became Treasurer of the Association, and was Vice President from 2008-2010. In 2009 she became a member of Art du Pastel en France.

Marie Laure is a regular winner of the People’s Choice prize in pastel exhibitions.

Subjects: See Gallery.

Style: Representational. The quality of the work is varied.

Navigation: The website is in French. A menu remains available on top, depending on where you are in the site, but navigation is easy.

Gallery: Animaux (Animals); Portraits; Paysages (Landscape); Natures mortes (Still life).

Image View: Thumbnails enlarge in a new page and may be downloaded; clicking the enlarged image returns you to the gallery – I don’t know why more web designers don’t do this, it is such a simple means of navigating a picture gallery. No information on the images, other than the title, is provided. New additions to the site are indicated by an irritating blinking arrow - I thought the "blink" tag in HTML had become redundant!

Demo/Blog: No. 

Judith Carducci

“Two in, Two out” © Judith Carducci

Name: Judith Carducci, PSA

URL:  http://www.judithcarducci.com/index.html

Bio: Judith Carducci retired as a social worker and then resumed the interest in drawing and painting that she had since childhood. She studied watercolour with Mel Chevers and oil painting with C.A. Brodeur until she was in her mid-20s, and later studied with Daniel E. Greene and other nationally known artists. She quickly established herself as  one of today’s best portrait painters. Her paintings have won Best of Show, Award of Excellence, First Place, Award of Merit, and purchase awards at international and national shows and competitions.

As well as being an internationally recognised portrait painter, Judith teaches workshops in portraiture, pastel, plein air landscape, anatomy for portraitists and still life by invitation. Judith reminisces about her own experience as a student: “When I was a child, my art teacher had me copy 'Holbein Heads' - drawings by the great Hans Holbein, portraitist to the court of England's King Henry VIII. That was the beginning of my lifelong fascination with portraiture and my enduring respect for Holbein's genius. Even now, my teacher's voice, as she showed me the fine points of his skill, echoes in my ear: 'Look for the lost and found!'"

In addition to Who's Who in American Art, Judith Carducci is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in the World and "Outstanding People of the 20th [& 21st] Century" (International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England)

Her work has been shown in The National Arts Club and the Salmagundi Club, the Cahoon Museum of American Art, and the Butler Institute of American Art. She has been featured in International Artist, Pastel Artist International, American Artist, The Pastel Journal, The Artist's Magazine, and the books, Best of Portrait Painting and Best of Pastel (North Light Books), 100 Ways to Paint People (International Artist), and Portrait Highlights (American Artist). Her work is in collections in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Israel, Europe and South Africa.

Judith is a member of the Portrait Society of America (board & faculty), Pastel Society of America (signature member), Degas Pastel Society, American Artists Professional League, International Association of Pastel Societies, Cincinnati Art Club, Salmagundi Club, Akron Society of Artists and Hudson Society of Artists.

Medium: Pastel, oil

Subjects: Portraits; Figurative; Still Life

Style: Representational.

Navigation: Main menu remains available at all times

Gallery: Adult portraits; Children’s Portraits; Figures; Still Lifes; En Plein Air Workshops; Alla Prima and Portraiture Workshops; En Plein Air; Drawings.

Image View: Thumbnails enlarge in a pop-up and may be downloaded; information is provided on the medium and dimension. Two On, Two Out is 30 x 30 ins, 574 x 576, 109 KB.

Demo: There are some excerpts from Judith’s Signilar videos on YouTube.

Blog: No. There is a fine commentary on her teaching by Stephen Doherty on the Artist Daily website.