Passionate about Pastels!

[Jane Meyler]

It was during the Art in the Open festival '09 that I was introduced to pastels after watching a demonstration by Greg Moore.  Since then I have grown to love this medium, trying out different brands of soft pastels and various types of pastel grounds of which Unison and Sennelier pastels being my favourite and Clairefontaine pastelmat my preferred ground to work on.  It has been through Greg's tutoring and encouragement that this year I joined and have recently become a full member of the Pastel Society of Ireland.  It is in the past few months that I have taken to using pastels for painting Plein Air and I'm finding it hard to go back to the oils.  One of the big advantages is how quickly you can capture that changing sky or whatever!   There's no need for mixing colours which can be time consuming if you're like me and not out painting as much as you'd like!  Ok...you do need to have a good variety of tones in the pastel colours but hey....it doesn't take long to accumulate a well stocked palette.  

I'd like to take this opportunity to dispel any notions that people have that pastels are 'messy'....has anybody ever seen Louise's painting coat!....the palette on Corina's french easel!!! I have a picture to prove it! ;) ...or even Karen's apron!!! I could name a few others....no...not you Michael McG! Lol!   Well when using pastels all you need is a cloth to keep your hands clean and a few wipes....Bob's your uncle...no cleaning brushes either!  And any worries of pastel dust is not a valid excuse in the open air to not give this under valued medium a try out.  

 

A couple of weeks ago I traveled up to Carnlough, Co. Antrim to attend one of Greg's workshops.  The workshop as always was fully booked and Greg even had some extra people arrive that hadn't booked. There was no problem.  Greg caters for all levels of pastel painters. He settles the class by starting with a demonstration and then works his way around the class giving individual time to everyone. Being in such a stunning location I went outside to paint for the morning session. In the afternoon he will do another demonstration...if the class wants...which I can vouch for...they always do!!!  It's wonderful to watch him paint a beautiful pastel with such confidence and near 20 people sitting on his shoulders!   All in all a great day is always had. Ok for some inside info...and another lovely extra at the end of the workshop...Greg always gives his demo pieces to some lucky participant!!!   :))))))))))))

We are fortunate to have Greg back in Wexford for this years Art in the Open Festival.  He will be doing one half day plein air workshop and a full day indoor workshop. For more information or to book a place...go to http://www.artintheopen.org/  See you there!!!

Here's a shot of Greg at work in his Carnlough workshop. 

This is one of the demo pieces Greg painted....and now belongs to yours truly! :))))))))) note to self...must get him to sign it! ;)

Here's a pic of myself happy out during the morning session of Greg's workshop at the beautiful Carnlough Bay. 

[Jane Meyler]

Congrats to Greg for being awarded best Landscape painting with this beautiful piece at The Pastel Society of Ireland's annual exhibition at Castle Espie Centre, Co. Down last week.  

[Jane Meyler]

Thank you Mr. Admin and thanks for the link too! :)    @ Karen...I'll nag you til you do find them and join me! ;)  

[Karen Scannell]

I have some pastels somewhere...you've given me motivation to beak open the seal !!

[Plein Eire Administrator]

What a brilliant blog, Jane. Great photos and very informative.

Here is a link to Pastel Tips for Plein Air Artists  and to Pastel Society of Ireland for anyone who wants to follow Jane's example. You'll find these and more useful pages in Plein Eire's 'Notes & Tips' tab at the top of this page.

The pastel painting in the photo looks great, too. Here is a link to Jane's work, more of which is available at the Dennis Collins Gallery in Wexford.