I am pleased to report that the painting Far From Here has been selected for the Pastel Artists Canada (PAC) annual juried show, which will take place in late September at the Neilson Park Creative Centre in Mississauga. Thanks to Brian Smith, juror, who selected the work. This is my third successful submission to a [...]
Author Archives: Ruth
Looking Forward, Looking Back
August 30, 2010 – 7:07 pm
After 23 years in one location, it is time to move on. Many factors figured in the decision, and it was a difficult choice, but we have left behind our lovely cloistered home in the trees, and moved to a new home on a wide open waterfront. It’s a culture shock, to say the least, [...]
Re-mounting of Oshawa Works, in Bowmanville
July 13, 2010 – 8:51 am
The Bowmanville Branch of the Clarington Public Library, at 163 Church St. in Bowmanville, will host a re-mounting of the Oshawa Works pieces, from Aug 4-31, 2010. If you missed seeing them in Oshawa, and are interested, please check out the show in the Artspace on the Mezzanine of the library.
The French Connection
July 4, 2010 – 2:52 pm
When the letter came, I knew it was a chance of a lifetime: an invitation to study with internationally-renowned pastelist Elizabeth Mowry for a week in Giverny, France, the home of Monet’s famous garden. I had very much enjoyed a week with Elizabeth in the Lot Valley in France several years ago, and so, despite [...]
Oshawa Works Opening
April 19, 2010 – 3:42 pm
On Wednesday, April 7th, my solo show Oshawa Works had its official opening. This show, consisting of twelve figure paintings, is my tribute to the neighbourhood in which I’ve been living (during the week) for the last two years, and which I will be leaving soon as I move to my new home and studio [...]
Plein Air Project update
March 5, 2010 – 2:54 pm
Ok, so I’m a wuss. It’s true. Despite my resolution to paint outdoors more, I have discovered that I simply HATE painting outdoors in winter. Instead, I’ve “cheated” by painting the view outside the window, or dashing ouside to take a photo and then painting from it. Oh well, maybe in the spring. Here are [...]
Model Behaviour
December 1, 2009 – 6:02 pm
This past weekend I attended a figure drawing/painting workshop with one of the Pastel Artists Canada repeat award winners, Glenn Bernabe. Glenn, a resident of Markham, Ontario, usually depicts single female figures in urban settings (laundromats, coffee shops etc.) and his work has a polished, while rather melancholy atmosphere. Without doubt, his mastery of the [...]
Sally Strand workshop report
October 30, 2009 – 12:49 pm
My friend and fellow pastel artist Jessie Grant and I spent five days last week studying with Sally Strand. Sally has long been near the top of my list of “must-study-with” artists based on her magical way of portraying light (see her “men in white” and “player” series of paintings for examples), and when I [...]
Black Magic
September 28, 2009 – 11:54 am
Readers of this blog have seen how I typically begin a pastel painting by creating an underpainting of the large shapes and value structure of the composition, then overpainting with more detailed, textured strokes. Recently, however, I was re-reading a back issue of The Pastel Journal and came across an article by an artist who [...]
Les pastellistes!
September 25, 2009 – 8:32 am
I am delighted to say that I have had a painting accepted into the juried show of the Pastel Society of Eastern Canada, which will be exhibited at the Ogilvy Tudor Hall in Montreal from November 6th through 15th, 2009. If you are in the city then, do try and catch the show. The piece [...]