An artist since I was a small child, my art philosophy is ongoing and always in a state of flux. One thing I do know is that art, to me, is very like a vacation or religion. I have a tendency to live, eat and dream art, 24/7 as they say. I find my inspiration all around me, from my present surroundings, and from all the artists of the past. Being a bibliophile, I have a major collection of art books that I use to jump-start myself. Museums are another passion.
Oil pastels are so bright and colorful, it's no wonder I like to work in them. Color is definitely my thing; I have to force myself to work in black and white occasionally. I also enjoy working with organic shapes, or a variety of different shapes and colors in my still lifes.
I have four different types of oil pastels. I start with the harder ones, Loew-Cornell and Specialist, then move to Holbein and finish with Sennelier, which are so soft it's like working with lipstick.
I also work with Neocolor II watercolor crayons. Having been a soft pastellist since about fourth grade, I definitely find it easier to work with crayons and pastels than brushes, although I do use brushes to add water and mix the crayons and soft pastel. Oil pastels are mixable with solvent, but usually I just use a harder pastel to mix the layers, or sometimes a blender like a Colour Shaper or eraser.
The four alternate media that I occasionally teach are: Pastel, Oil Pastel, Colored Pencil and Watercolor Crayon.
