Soft Pastel News
Your Eyes to the World of Soft Pastel Art
IAPS 16th – Accepted Pastels
Sep 1st
The 16th IAPS Juried Exhibition was taking place in The Flora B. Giffuni Gallery, Ohio, USA from July 11-Aug 29, 2010. For all of you who haven’t had a chance to see the exhibition (me included) take a look at the left column and you will find the accepted works with links to all artists.
An Interview with Harley Brown
Aug 31st
Harley Brown
The August issue of the Pastel Scribbler is bringing an interview with Harley Brown. Harley is Canadian artist best known for his pastel portraits of Native American Indians and other characters of the Wild West. He is author of sold out bestsellers Confessions of a Starving Artist, Eternal Truth’s for Every Artist and Inspiration For Every Artist and is a regular contributor to International Artist Magazine. He is one of the living legends of the Soft Pastel Art and I warmly recommend reading this inspiring, 12 pages long interview.
Bold Brush July 2010 Pastel Winners
Aug 29th
The Bold Brush Painting Competition for July 2010 had many pastel paintings reaching the FAV15. The Outstanding Pastel painting went to Kathleen Newman and James Otto.
The finalist who went into FAV15% with their pastel paintings are:
Sue Gombus,
Ray Hassard,
Margaret Ferguson,
John Philbin Dolan,
Bob Richey,
Mary Aslin,
Mike Etie,
Christy Perrine,
Bold Brush June 2010 Pastel Winners
Aug 27th
There will be a few posts after my summer break that don’t sound like a news, but I would like to have those artists and events recorded on this blog.
The FineArtViews Painting Competition is now called Bold Brush painting competition. The Outstanding Pastel painting for June went to Margi Lucena who was in FAV15 for many months, and to the winner of May competition, Lisa Fricker.
The finalist who went into FAV15% with her pastel painting is:
Eden Compton
Old Pastel Master: Edouard Manet
Aug 5th
Pastel Art by Edouard Manet
Edouard Manet (1832-1883)
Some of Edouard’s Manet well known oil paintings are ”Déjeuner sur l’herbe”, at that time considered scandalous, and Olympia (painted 1863), the most shocking work in 1865 presented in Salon. Less known is the fact Manet has used pastel medium in last 3 years of his life when he was forced by paralysis to take to a wheel chair.
Pastel Portrait of Irma Brunner is one of a numerous painted by Manet at that time. He found the pastel medium easier for him to manage than oil, and as result his large oil paintings at this time were few.
Manet not only used pastel medium as it was more convenient, but also because it permitted him to experiment with his theories in the rendering of light and shade to obtain a general effect of luminosity. He did not, as did Degas, depend so much on the individual strokes of the pastels, but sought rather for broader masses of juxtaposed color to produce his effect. The great majority of Manet’s pastels portray beautiful women, women from all stations of society. These delightful portraits of women deservedly rank with the finest work that Manet produced and reveal the immense variety of the artist.
Although Manet was a friend with several French Impressionists and shared some of their ideas and techniques, he has formally never become their member nor did he exhibit with them.
Interesting short films about Manet you can watch on the clip.
More information about Manet at Wiki, Metropolitan Museum of the Art, Musee d’Orsay.
Featured Pastel Artist: Monique Straub
Jul 28th
Monique Straub is California based pastel artist with a very recognizable style. Formally trained in fine art photography, art history, illustration and painting, she works freely, unrestricted by the traditional rules and concepts. Monique paints in studio but her works are inspired and created using outdoor sketches and photographs as inspiration. Occasionally she will paint on a location. Since 2001, she has taken to painting full-time, and actively participate in juried art competitions, art festivals, daily painting groups, and various community art activities. Monique is currently a member of the “San Diego Museum of the Living Artist” and The Pastel Society of San Diego.
If you are interested in her style (like I am) here is what Monique says about it:
“MY TECHNIQUE: Usually working in series, my inspiration comes from everyday scenes that I capture with a digital camera. These photos are only my “jumping off” point, since I freehand render only rough sketches onto my paper. My rough sketches are then refined and adjusted with ink and brush, and sometimes a watercolor wash for additional background color. My color palette is decided before I begin. I make choices based on the mood of the scene, and sometimes stay within a range to complete a series.”
Artists statement:
“I enjoy painting the world with my own twist. Rather than producing textbook renditions, I choose to concentrate on emphasizing the individual character of my subject. Blending of traditional materials allows me to give unique personality to everyday scenes. I approach each of these original works as an adventure. The result is as surprising for me as I hope it is for you.”
Monique runs very active blog and you can enjoy her regular posts on Monique Straub’s Painting a Day blog.
IAPS Master Circle 2010
Jul 26th
The International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) Master Circle was created to honor those artists whose work has been accepted and/or given awards in a specific number of IAPS Exhibitions and IAPS Convention Catalogue Cover Contests.
Newly qualified artists for IAPS Master Circle (Medallion will be awarded in Spring 2011) are:
Phil Bates, Christine Bodnar, Linda Gross Brown, Bill Canright, Kathryn Hall, Claudette Gamache, J. Kay Gordon, Marcia Holmes, Tatijana Jacenkiw, Janis Krendick, Alice Laputka, Sangita Phadke, Maggie Price, Lisa K. Stauffer, Liz Haywood-Sullivan, Vianna Szabo, Sharon Will.
Franz von Stuck Pastel Paintings (1863 – 1928)
Jul 21st
Franz Von Stuck lived most of his life in Munich, Germany and attended the school of Plastic Arts and the Munich Academy. He first made his living by illustrating for numerous magazines. Eventually around 1892 he became one of the founders of the Munich Secession and his symbolist period is also of this decade. Around 1895 he began teaching at the Munich academy that he once attended. Some of his pupils at the academy included Klee, Albers, and Kandinsky.
Franz von Stuck
His paintings are full of strange, mythological creatures, femme fatales, and allegorical figures. Stuck generally remained lost to public memory until the late 1960s when a renewed interest in Art Nouveau brought him to attention once more. He is not know as a pastel artist but you will find a couple of remarkable pastel paintings in this post.
Porträt einer Dame
Porträt einer Dame 2
Tochter Mary als Spanierin
Portrait of Marie Stuck
Bonnie Zahn Griffith Gift
Jul 18th
The regular readers might remember an older post about Bonnie Zahn Griffith 100 pastels series. I’d like to share my joy with you and let you know that I’m now the proud owner of one of them. Bonnie has send it to me as a gratitude token for that post. Bonnie, thanks 100 times 
!!!
Bonnie Zahn Griffith
IAPS 16th Juried Exhibition
Jul 16th
Ruth Hussey "Confrontations"
The 16th IAPS Juried Exhibition is taking place in The Flora B. Giffuni Gallery, Ohio, USA from July 11-Aug 29, 2010. The jurying is completed and the honors went to Ruth Hussey (Prix de Pastel) for Confrontations (see image on the left); Cuong Nguyen (Gold) for Violin and Tulips; Lorraine Trenholm (silver) for The Flow; Sally Strand (bronze) for Breeze;
The honorable mention winners were Edward Kennedy for Heise; Jane McGraw Teubner for Evening Light; Terri Ford for Barn in Morning Light; and Barbara Benedetti Newton for Tuesday’s Child. You can see a slideshow of all the selected works on the IAPS website or directly on Picasa.
The jurors who selected these 36 paintings for the show were Alan Flattmann, Liz Haywood-Sullivan and Jimmy Wright. The IAPS president Maggie Price was in charge of assigning awards.
If you have missed this IAPS show you still have time to apply for the 17th juried exhibition which will be web based for the first time. The deadline is September 15th, and here is the prospectus.
Monique Straub
Barbara Benedetti Newton
Bonnie Williams
Brenda Boylan
Cheryl Powell
Claudia Post
Colette Odya Smith
Cuong Nguyen
Edward Kennedy
Fredrick D. Somers
Gary Huber
Ina E. Prosser
Isabelle V. Lim
J. K. Gordon
Jane McGraw Teubner
Janis Lacey Ellison
Jeanne Ciravolo
John Philbin Dolan
Joyce Lister
Kathryn Hall
Linda Dellandre
Linda Gross Brown
Lorraine Trenholm
Lyn Asselta
Mary K. Stahl
Patricia Tribastone
Richard Lundgren
Sally Strand
Sharon Will
Susan Grinels
Susan Williamson
Terri Ford
Vianna Szabo
Vickie Bailey Ebbers
Willo Balfrey
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