Bright- Victoria, Australia.

'Bright':- Victoria. Pastel based on one of fellow artist, Robyn Lovelock's photos of Bright (a country town In Victoria, Australia). The photo can be found at http://paintmyphoto.ning.com/
It's on Canson Mi-Tientes Tex, 30x23 cm's.
It's a start of learning the layering process to achieve the illumination I desire. Also, in a small way it's a token of my respect for Clara Southern and her women contemporaries.

Earlier this year I bought on ebay a set of Rembrandt soft pastels for $80. What was remarkable about this purchase was, it was the set of 225 which came in its own beautiful wooden box. This set of 225 retails new for around $1, 400 Australian dollars...I couldn't believe my luck. I wondered at the time why people weren't bidding. Other pastel sets were being bid on. The photos intrigued me. It was because the photos weren't very clear and in parts looked like each pastel was half used or missing and that two sections were empty because the whole tray was a flat dull lemon color. I googled Rembrandt pastels and searched till I found an image of the pastels with their wrappers on...yes, the photo was blurred making the tray look empty. The pastel box wasn't mostly empty is was almost full! Only one other person bid and so for $80 Australian dollars I became the owner of a set of nearly 225 Rembrandt pastels. I remember opening the wooden box and gasping each time I removed a wooden layer revealing colors all lined up in hues and tones and sighing with content and excitement.

My excitement was somewhat dulled the first time I used them. I felt like a fish out of water. I usually paint in oils. These were dry; was I drawing, was I painting, was I achieving anything? I felt awkward, flailing, like learning to tread water. I was only using pastel paper which comes in pad form and doesn't have much tooth; a term I wasn't even aware of yet. Will upload an image in another post. So I begun a foray, a ravenous soak of pastel blogs, art forums, looked at images, watched youtube clips, subscribed to the pastel journal, went to more exhibitions. My passion was roused and I felt as if I had come across a latent, at times lazy, vibrant, passionate, calming, forgiving and exciting lover who came in the colors of the rainbow and left a mess in my studio, a dusty mess at that, a love affair had begun.

A month or so ago I bought some serious pastel papers/cards with tooth, some Art Spectrum, a velour one and a few Canson Mi-Tientes Tex. The difference is beyond belief. The tooth allows a process of layers to evolve, creating contrast and depth. I was in love.

I also found and joined a sensational site http://paintmyphoto.ning.com/ a site where photographers share their photos with artists. No more pulling out hair looking at photos on flickr, unable to use the images because of copyright infringement. I now had a plethora of wonderful images, I could use freely at my finger tips. It's with immense gratitude to Roy Simmons for establishing the site and to the many photographers and artists who make up its community.