Teaching at Polymer Clay Adventure Retreat 2015

Thanks to my friend and Mixed Media artist, Kira Slye, I am excited to be presenting a Polymer Clay plus Pebeo Liquid Paints workshop during the upcoming year-long online Polymer Clay Adventure 2015 Retreat. Click here to learn more...

On The Bench - Yummy Soft Pastels

Having taken advantage of a nice discount coupon this week at my local Blick Art Supply store opening, I've begun to experiment further with layering color in soft pastel using Rembrandt half sticks as my base, then working over top with softer pastel brands like Unison, Sennelier and Schmincke.

Thanks Kyle of Royal Talens for motivating me to grab out some of my favorite rough papers (watercolor paper with Pebeo High Density Modeling Paste) and introducing me to the Rembrandt brand...I'm in love! In between several layers of pastel, I used Grumbacher's matte fixative; works like a charm to lock in the surface and cut down on dust between color layers.

And, here's another great tip given me by Kyle; use water, acrylic matte medium or clear gesso (my personal favorite) mixed with the dust left over from pastel painting to create a greyish, purplish, redish, or greenish background on another surface - canvas or watercolor paper work best - to make colored toothy backgrounds for painting on with ANY medium, like pastel, oil paint and acrylics!

Let me know your pastel painting favorites (chalk, oil or wax) and tips in the comments below. Happy Arting!  Tristina :)

No Paint Left Behind Play - Purple

After laying out some gorgeous Violet acrylic paint on canvas, I couldn't bear the thought of throwing the remaining paint water down the sink, so... grabbed some sample papers and an acrylic paper pad and went to town sloshing on washes. Then, I pulled out my favorite box of NeoColor II water soluble wax crayons and played with color combinations to see which were pleasing together.

Loving the light green Jade wax crayon on the purple background. What unexpectely beautiful combinations have you discovered while playing with color?

HAPPY (purple - teehee!) ARTING!  Tristina :D

Lead With Passion and Compassion

While on a Southwest Airlines flight to New Orleans, I read an excellent article in their magazine (southwestmag.com) September 2014 issue titled, "Aristotle's Book of Love". The author, Jay Heinrichs, shares why he believes the lessons of Greek philosopher Aristotle, in his book Rhetoric, can help us build an adoring fan base today.

"The most powerful tool of persuasion is the leader's public ethos, or image. If people love you, they'll follow you anywhere. Aristotle taught that a compelling character is more persuasive than perfect logic."

How important this is when selling artwork! It's common knowledge among creatives that, "people buy from people they like." The best way, then, to become successful at selling artwork and creative services is to make ourselves a beloved person in the eyes of art buyers and their influencers. Mr. Heinrichs' article goes on to describe how to endear people to you; through genuine Caring, Craft and Cause.

CARING: When our family, friends, workmates and customers believe we have their best interests at heart, they will feel cared for in a way that is rare in today's frenetic self-centric experience. Implement this idea by speaking to and serving others in a personal, heartfelt way. Be known as the person who goes "the extra mile" for others.

CRAFT: Know your stuff and be sure your audience knows you do; learn all you can about your area of expertise and BE a knowledgeable authority without being cocky. Great leaders, or anyone who is looked up to, are creative problem solvers. Use "practical wisdom" to get innovative in resolving issues...sometimes throwing out the rule book and applying a fresh approach, creating new options and opportunity.

CAUSE: Stand for something larger. Align your 'virtue' with a cause that embodies the values of your audience. "What is the most important thing to you - or rather, the cause that will make your audience love you?"

Now, do a character check and discuss with the ones who love you the most. You may rewrite your resume to reflect elements of Caring, Craft and Cause.

Illustration by Nigel Buchanan

Happy Arting!  Tristina :)

Hot in Fort Lauderdale - BAG Gallery Show

Last night was a beautiful HOT South Florida night; perfect for the opening reception of the Landscape and Still Life exhibit at the Broward Art Guild! Below are some of my favorite artworks from the show, which are on display through Aug 22 in the Gallery...

Second Place! My favorite mixed media landscape.

Lynn Greenberg's whimsical landscape. What a beautiful frame, too! :)

OMG, this is a PASTEL! Beautiful.

Rainy eve coloring in this moody oil painting by Bonnie Shapiro.

GLITTER everywhere in this highly textured painting! LUV!

Love the movement in this acrylic abstract landscape.

Such an interesting still life by Ken Harrison.

This is an amazing WATERCOLOR!

Diane Wall Karmiol's sculpture "Alone".

Me with my Pebeo Acrylic triptych "Upland".

To inquire about and purchase any of the artworks shown here, contact the Broward Art Guild at 954-537-3370, or see these and many more on exhibit at the BAG Gallery, 3280 NE 32nd Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308. Visit their website HERE.

Hope you are enjoying the summer heat and fun outdoor activities... and it's Back To School for Floridian's this month! Happy Arting! :D  Tristina

Busy With Galleries...

Yesterday was a busy Gallery day! In the early part of the day I finished up a 3 panel painting (triptych), which I later submitted to a Landscape and Still Life show. They went out the door so fast I didn't have a chance to take pictures! The set is a very soft suggestive landscape called "upland", 24 in x 36 in x 2.5 in; I promise pictures next weekend from the show.

I attended 3 Openings last night! The first was a visit to Studio Henning Haupt to view guest artist Adam Collier Noel's ARTAFACT/ARTIFICE show. WOW! His artwork was spectacular, utilizing vintage photos and transfers for an organic, antique look. Here are pictures:

Even though Henning was not at his studio last night as he was attending another opening of his artworks in the FAT Village ArtWalk, some of his magnificent oil paintings were in residence...

Next door to Studio Henning Haupt, the MAC Fine Art Gallery had an opening as well. Here are my favorites from that show:

 Fantastic sculpture made from plastic toy parts!

Dimensional landscapes carved out of mini magazines.

And last, and certainly the highlight of the night, was the "Summer Heat V" opening in Wilton Manors at the Rossetti Gallery (http://tomrossetti.com/) where Adam, from the Studio Henning Haupt opening, won the Best In Show! It was a pleasure to spend the Rossetti opening with several of my artist friends, Tatiana Cast (mixed media painting) and Sandra Canning (fine art photography). Here's one last picture from last night with Tatiana and me in front of her painting, 'Beyond', with Sandra's photograph above:

What ARTSY activities are you doing this hot summer? Please share in the comments below.

Happy Arting! :D  Tristina 

Pastel Painting: To Fix or Not To Fix?

I just HAD to paint the other night after all my chores were done, so grabbed my newly organized dry pastel boxes and went to town. Here's the result, more pastel painting fun in my 'Channeling Rothko' series:

 Channeling Rothko 2, 2014, 9in x 12in, pastel on paper

 Channeling Rothko 3, 2014, 9.5in x 12.5in, pastel on Colourfix paper

After I finished these pastel paintings, I took them outside the next day to spray with Pastel Fixative... and it saturated some of the colors into the paper, making dark areas appear in the painting surface! This meant I had to reapply another layer of pastel in certain areas to "repair" the paintings.

That's always a challenge to the pastel artist; to fix or not to fix? Fixing is generally done by using a light re-working or final Fixative spray to lock in the dusty paint pigment powder that lingers on the surface of the pastel painting after the majority of the dust has been tapped off. Some pastel artists don't use fixative, others swear by it. 

I have found one of the tricks to using a fixative spray is to hold the can at least 12 inches away from the painting surface, start spraying off the edge of the painting surface and use a moderate to quick sweeping motion to apply the spray to the surface, making sure to keep the spray can the same distance from the surface all the way across (avoid the sweeping arc that has a more forceful spray at the middle of the arc than at the beginning and end).

For more detailed information, here's an interesting article about Fixatives from the Artists Network Pastel Journal: http://www.artistsnetwork.com/the-pastel-journal/the-fix-is-in-pastel-fixative-uses and here is a place, Dakota Art Pastels, that specializes in supplying pastel painting supplies with a write up on their different fixative products: http://www.dakotapastels.com/pages/pastelaccessories-fixatives.aspx

Happy Arting! :)  Tristina

Summer Sizzle Show Reception

It was a gorgeous night in Fort Lauderdale, FL, at the Broward Art Guild for the Summer Sizzle exhibition on Saturday. Full of colorful artwork and lots of beautiful ceramic pieces. Send inquiries about any of the art shown here to info@BrowardArtGuild.org. Enjoy!

With my painting Midnight Desert.

Artist friend Tatiana Cast in front of her Rainbow painting.

Fellow artists Diane Wall Karmiol (ceramics), Phoenix (photography), 

Tristina Dietz Elmes (mixed media), Tatiana Cast (mixed media), 

Sandra Canning (photography) and Gerard Delaney 

(mixed media and Broward Art Guild Executive Director). 

On The Bench - Channeling Rothko in Pastel

Sometimes art materials just SPEAK to me... come hither and pick me up, create something, do it now! Thus was the case with my dry pastel sticks yesterday. It was time to reorganize my colors after a large clearance purchase SCORE of pastel sticks, and since I was touching them anyway... Here's how far I went:

 Channeling Rothko 1, 11in x 14in pastel on paper 

with Pebeo high density modeling paste.

Began a second pastel painting from a photograph I took in France

using water soluble dry pastels from Charvin on Art Spectrum

Colourfix pastel and mixed media paper.

After emptying one of my pastel bins during the reorganization, I found loads of powdered pigment left over in the bottom of the container. 

I was horrified at the thought of cleaning out the beautiful colored powders into the trash, so I grabbed one of my art journals and a makeup sponge and went to town creating soft pastel backgrounds with the left overs. No pigment left behind!

For a quick fix to your burning desire to create, I recommend trying dry pastels!

Happy Arting!  :)  Tristina

 

On The Bench - Textured Panels

I am a TEXTURE girl! There, I've said it... Artwork that has nooks and crannies turns me on. No surprise, then, that I LOVE Bill Creevy's paintings. There is an airiness and mood about them that is fatally attractive...

The great news is, Bill has 2 books full of his artwork and techniques for getting that yummy texture in his The Pastel Book and The Oil Painting Book, both published in the 1990's and still readily available.

The trick he shares in The Pastel Book about how he creates his layered and textured panels for painting with pastels and oils is invaluable if you want to create similar airy artwork.

Here's a picture of my first crack at creating panels for my own paintings...

I have found that besides the type of acrylic modeling paste Bill recommends in his book, I have had success with Golden's Coarse Molding Paste and Pebeo's High Density Modeling Paste as well. If you love textured surfaces and artwork like I do, give Bill Creevy's panel making trick a try!

Happy Arting!  :D  Tristina