The Pastel Journal Spring 2022

This special issue is primarily a celebration of the hard work, talent and ingenuity of the artists behind the works that make up the 23rd Annual Pastel 100. As a showcase of exceptional pastel painting, the issue supplies oodles of inspiration, but it’s so much more than a beautiful “look book.” I’ve learned over the years that conversations with artists always unearth new insights, valuable bits of advice and interesting ideas. “An artist’s duty is rather to stay ... in a state where he can receive information and inspiration. You always have to be ready for that little artistic epiphany.”—NICK CAVE I might be tempted to think that, after being on the magazine for 15 years, I’d have heard just about everything there is to hear, but without exception I…

Presenting Yourself in Email Be sure to follow a gallery’s submission guidelines. Some, for instance, may prefer snail mail presentations, in which case, you’ll want to follow those directives. Otherwise, your challenge is to coax a visit to your website, which all hangs on how you present yourself in email. Here are some tips: • Include a personalized cover letter that contains a short artist statement and brief biography. • The last paragraph of the cover letter should direct recipients to your website. You might write, for example: “If you find my work of interest, you’ll find a comprehensive presentation on my website [link].” • Your cover letter should be embedded into the message of the email—not sent as an attachment. • Include a few visually cohesive images of your…

Whether the artist’s triumph was expressed in painterly realism, total abstraction or something in between—and whether the inspiration sprang from the beauty of nature, the human figure or the artist’s own imagination—the prizewinning pastels in this year’s competition stand as a testament to the power of the medium to captivate our minds and stir our emotions. In the special coverage on the following pages, we invite you to revel in the remarkable talent, creativity and visual storytelling on display in these 100 examples of pastel achievement.…

EXUBERANT. POWERFUL. PLAYFUL. These are a few of the words jurors used to describe this year’s Pastel 100 prizewinning paintings. Our five jurors—Lyn Diefenbach, Alain Picard, Nancy Nowak, Dawn Emerson and Arlene Richman—also pointed to the role of composition, mark-making and many other important technical attributes. As Richman put it, “Skill and confidence in the medium is crucial.” Once an entry has met these criteria; however, the jurors have to turn to more ineffable qualities—the kind that—in Diefenbach’s words “lead me to look again and again with pure delight,” or, as Nowak describes it: “Does it make me say, ‘Wow!’?” Let’s dig in, category by category, to discover some of the characteristics that jurors recognized as special and significant as they worked toward selecting their top five winning pastels and…

“The ability to make a significant stroke of color at the end that lies on the surface so beautifully is a wonderful quality of pastel.”— MARCIA HOLMES MARCIA HOLMES’ PRIZE-WINNING PAINTING, Charade, offers a gloriously open, sensual, richly colored and deeply satisfying experience to the viewer. Hovering somewhere between abstraction and representation, the painting presents an image of water lilies floating on a watery surface that reflects a sky of drifting clouds and blue spaces. Layers of paint and inks overlaid with soft shapes and sprightly lines in pastel give clues to the various elements but avoid any pedestrian attempt at full definition. Instead we’re invited to drift free amongst layers of color, punctuated by lively marks delivered with a sure touch. “A great standout painting like this one beckons…

IN ART, JUST AS IN WRITING, SKILLFUL EDITING CAN ELEVATE A PAINTING FROM GOOD TO AWARD-WINNING. That’s exactly what happened on Barbara Jaenicke’s journey to create Riverside Glimmer at Dusk (right) this year’s winner of the Pastel Journal Award of Excellence. Jaenicke’s wintry pastel landscape was inspired by the luminosity of the day’s last light and its effects on the snow and water. Her reference photo, which was taken at a park along the Deschutes River, near her home in Bend, Ore., provided wonderful contrasts of values, temperatures, edges and textures. As she often does, the artist explored the subject with a few different versions in order to push herself. “As I continued to study, I began to develop an appreciation for artists who could edit their subject to eliminate…