Monday 4 November 2013

Pastel Society of Eastern Canada International Exhibition, Les Pastellistes, 2013

On Saturday November 2nd, I was asked to do a demo for this pastel group, centered in Montreal. The exhibit has 100 pastel paintings at Tudor Hall, a famous landmark in the old Ogilvys' Dept. store, located at 1307 Ste. Catherine St.W. at the corner with de la Montagne, Montreal. This is a real education for anyone interested in Pastel. I always enjoy this show as there is always such an array of different techniques and expression.
For my demo this year, I was thinking about all the plein air work I've been doing lately, and how little time I have to do a piece when I am teaching. However, these are not limitations. Rather they are just circumstances that produce a certain outcome. I have found plein air landscape lately to be somewhat like going to a life drawing session.  You have a certain number of variables, and you must respond in the moment, and do what needs to be done. No plannings, just relying on your drawing skills, spontaneity in the moment, in terms of composition and colour, and some theory thrown in for good measure.
All in all, it's been a good work out, doing so much plein air.
The piece I did in Montreal was a still life. I did not want to use a photo, and I brought two cups I really like with me, and a bunch of other things. I didn't really know what I was going to do, but I knew the composition would be simple, so I could talk about mixing up applying theory and playing intuitively. To stay motivated and passionate about art, we must follow processes that are fun and enjoyable for us. Otherwise, the motivation to create cannot be sustained.
I really like my cups, and had fun playing with colour. Working dark to light, hard to soft, and back and forth between warm and cools.
Here's what I Created:
There was really a lot more purples and deep reds in the background than what is showing up on my screen. I was working on a pretty intense turquoise background. As you can see, it's playing quite a role. I was happy with the way the shadow inside the cup on the right, gets darker as it goes back. I may touch it up some, but I like it just the way it is too. 
The show at Ogilvys' in downtown Montreal goes to Sunday Nov.10nth. Get down there if you can! Lots of great work.  

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