February 2011

The Gallery 8680 and Artist Barbara J. Mason

 warmly invite you to join us at upcoming art exhibition: “Celebrating Women Artists”.

Women artists have been emerging since the renaissance through to this present day. 

Exibit will feature a collection of works by 10 women artists who have trained

and developed their art and bought it into the 21st Century Art World. 

When: Friday 11th,  2011 @ 7pm
Where: The Gallery 8680.
    8680 Main Street. Frisco. TX. 75034

                

Plenty of Pastels

Pastels from Frisco Arts Discovery Center Art Exhibit, which I was awarded Best In Show on October 2, 2010 in Frisco, Tx. If you are interested in the pricing of the numbered pieces , please send me an email
to Art4dragonfly@aol.com and I will provided details such as: image size and pricing.
Thank you and enjoy!

Strawberry N Cream Swirl Rose

New Rose Pastel Painting! This is a painting of a soft cream and strawberry rose at
 Greenview nursery in Springfield, Illinois. Pastels allow me to capture the soft creamy petals
 of this rose. I painted this picture with my good friend Marla and her mother Jean in mind.
Jean loved soft colors almost white! Well Jean I'm getting there. I working my way toward a
 piece of artwork in her memory! Titled: "Amazing Grace". I'm learning to incorporate creams
 and white flowers that stay true to my style of bold painting! Not easy, but I'm up for the challenge!!
 Jean, I hope you are smiling from heaven when you see this one!!

"Strawberry N Cream Swirl" Copyright Artist: Barbara J. Mason



Past- els to Present

 Past-els (Past) to Present , I am reflecting back on some of my earlier work in this post. I painted these morning glories in watercolor but I was not truely satisfied with the background. After success with "Before the Dance" background painting, I thought I would re-work or soften up this background as well. I used Rembrant, Schmincke, and Sennelier soft pastel sticks to create soft background. I recently learned that this technique is called "bokeh".  In photography, bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur,

 in out-of-focus areas of an image, or "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points .

I like the contrast of sharp edges and soft midtones

 that this technique adds to my paintings.

I also added a few more dew drops and enhanced the existing water droplets.

This image of morning glories was captured early in the morning , just before opening.
With the red orange and yellow flowers un-opened, the resemble chilli peppers!

Earlier Painting: "Spanish Flag (morning glories) by Barbara J. Mason

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New background on "Spanish Flag (morning glories) by Barbara J. Mason
Spanish Flag Morning Glories :
Watercolor & Pastel Painting : $850.00




 





Back in the Studio with Pastels

Well, It has been very busy over the last few months. I was fortunate to win Best In Show at Frisco Art Discovery Center Art exhibit in October.  I created over 15 new pastel pieces for this show! The hard work paid off!
I'm learning more about pastels each day! The pure pigment colors are awesome, if you don't mind the dust, I woud recommend giving them a try.

Today's artwork is a pastel and color pencil piece that I started in July. The title: Before the Dance" is a piece that took me awhile to figure out the background design. The young lady in this painting was about to perform a dance at the park. She is sitting down gathering her thoughts or concentrating just before the dance. I edited out the group of people that were standing around her waiting for the perfomance. I placed her in a peaceful and soft surrounding that I imaged best suited her poise.





Before the Dance with white background! (unfinished)

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Before the Dance with background completed!













Exploring with Pastel

After trying colored pencil, I thought I would give pastel painting a try. There were a few pastel pencils mixed in with colored pencils, so I though , "why not"? I like the softness of pastels. Blending was a bit tricky and so was producing fine lines with a fat pastel stick. With a few home made tools and a lot  of patience, I was off to my first pastel painting, titled: "Pink Glow". Below is a step-by-step process of creationg "Pink Glow" rose pastel painting. Enjoy the process!!!!

Step #1 "Pink Glow" Artist: Barbara J. Mason

Step #2 "Pink Glow" Artist: Barbara J. Mason

Step #3 "Pink Glow" Artist: Barbara J. Mason

Step #4 "Pink Glow" Artist: Barbara J. Mason

Step #5  "Pink Glow" Artist: Barbara J. Mason

 Final Step  "Pink Glow" Artist: Barbara J. Mason

Before The Dance: colored pencil

My next attempt was a little more challenging. I started with a figurative colored pencil drawing. This is a drawing of a young lady that was performing in the park in Decatur, Illinois. My husband and I caught her just before her performance was to begin. She was sitting on a bench in the shade. I image she was performing the dance in her mind, thinking out each move as the music played in her head. She was young but there was a gracefulness and sense of poise that drew us in. This piece is not yet completed I still need to do the background. Maybe a few soft trees iin the distance to balance the cast shadows of the trees on her back? We will see. Stay posted....

Step #1 - "Before The Dance" Artist: Barbara J. Mason

Step #2 

 

Step #3

 

Final:  Step #4