2020 * Covid-19

Here we are in the midst of Covid-19 self-isolation .. how many months now?  About 4 you say?  Interesting .. and world-changing.

Meanwhile, I have started a new website and YouTube channel for, mostly, my art.  I offer a newsletter on the website (please DO sign up to receive it) and do Subscribe to my YouTube videos .. and the usual "like & share" .. it will so help my exposure and getting great teaching information out to people for free.

Thoughts are that I should print some of these Blog pages .. wouldn't it be great to have them in a permanent printed book.  Hmmmm.

Well, enough contemplation.

Here are the links:

TravelingArtista.com

https://www.youtube.com/c/TerrilynnDubreuilTravelingArtista

Stay safe and healthy, my friends!

2020 * February * We Are All Artists

A poem about art by my talented brother:

MASTERPIECE  

Time drips as color ...
Minutes like sable bristles, bound,
Lay down the hours
In fading bands of value ...

What are the colors of a life?
How do intent and purpose and error
Influence what's put to paper?
Instant and interval are the palette,

But passion is the pigment,
Desire, the light that affects hue ...
Method and realization, the design,
Effort, the hand that steadies the tools.

We each paint our own portrait -
Abstract or photorealistic,
Impressionistic or conceptual,
Surreal or minimalist ...

We are ALL artists,
In command of the grandest composition,
The brush of ages in our grasp.
Cover the page as no one else will ...

Splash the paper in the colors of YOU,
With perspective, unique and joyous and bright,
Worthy of matting and framing,
And hanging on the wall ...

Of Eternity.

Copyright © Gregory R Barden, February 10, 2018

https://www.poetrysoup.com/poems_poets/poems_by_poet.aspx?ID=82698

"Breach" ~ T.Dubreuil  (oil on canvas c.1985)

2020 February * Pushing Through

Sometimes it's all plan, organize, and do the damn paperwork (or website work, as it may be)... when one just wants to paint, paint, paint!

However! .. persevere and rewards will come.  The Creative Spirits of the Universe will bloom within when we open up and invite them in.

“Creativity is sacred, and it is not sacred. What we make matters enormously, and it doesn’t matter at all. We toil alone, and we are accompanied by spirits. We are terrified, and we are brave. Art is a crushing chore and a wonderful privilege. Only when we are at our most playful can divinity finally get serious with us. Make space for all these paradoxes to be equally true inside your soul, and I promise—you can make anything. So please calm down now and get back to work, okay? The treasures that are hidden inside you are hoping you will say yes.”

― Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

Pastels Tendres * Soft Pastels

People wonder about soft pastels, are they painting? do they last?
Here is a simple explanation from the National Gallery of Art, which has some amazing works on display right now, September 29, 2019 – January 26, 2020:  (follow the link below for more info)

Head of a Bearded Man,
Benedetto Luti, Italian, 1666-1724

"FIRST USED DURING THE RENAISSANCE, pastels are still manufactured from a carefully balanced mix of pigment, a filler such as chalk or clay, and a binder, then shaped into sticks and dried. With a single stroke of this stick, the artist applies both color and line. Because of the medium’s soft, crumbly texture, the line can be left intact or smudged with a finger or stump (a rolled piece of leather or paper) into a broad area of tone. Pastelists have used this versatile medium in countless different ways over the centuries. Some have covered the surface of the paper or other support with a thick, velvety layer of pastel, while others have taken a more linear approach. Some have even ground the stick to a powder and rubbed it into the support, applied it with a stump, or moistened it and painted it on with a brush. Throughout history, the views of artists and their audiences toward the medium have varied as widely as the techniques of those who used it."   ~National Gallery of Art

https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/exhibitions/pdfs/2019/touch-of-color-pastels.pdf

[painting by Benedetto Luti, Italian, 1666-1724, Head of a Bearded Man]

2019 * Transitions

"Hold On"  T.Dubreuil

Life carries us through transitions, as if we are bits of cork floating down a river, through the rapids, over the waterfalls, into quiet eddies.  This autumn I encountered, not so much a cascade, but rather a giant rock against which I collided.  I was pulled down, deep into a swirling vortex, only to intermittently bob to the surface to gasp for breath before being sucked down and down again. 
My father died. 

Interesting, isn't it? ... the coping mechanisms which snap into place.  We move as if sleepwalking through our daily required tasks.  Just keep plugging along, keeping busy, busy, push on and continue to push through.  We all pass this way at some time or other in our lives.  The emotions overtake us in waves, overwhelming us, then pass and leave us gasping for breath, a couple moments of reprieve .. before the next shattering wave crashes. 

Hopefully, during these times, we give each other grace and understanding .. and some honest hugs.

It had been since September that I had picked up my tiny pigment sticks, the pure soft pastels, and applied them to finely sanded paper.  On top of the life-wrenching passing of my Dad, I had moved into a new abode, was accepted into a local gallery with many requirements (Asheville Gallery of Art), and increased time spent doing wine programs and tours at Biltmore Winery. 

Finally, finally, I got a corner set up as a "studio" in which to work.  It's just a corner wall, but I can create.  Realization: creating occurs ... not  so much in a locale, like a studio, but rather deep within us.

Sargent: An Artist in his Studio

I am an itinerant painter .. but then, aren't we all in some sense?  I remember the painting by John Singer Sargent, "An Artist in his Studio" (of Ambrogio Raffele in the Italian Alps), and I think .. "if a great Master like Sargent could do it, so can I.  It's not about the fancy studio, it's about the Spirit and Heart of painting."   So, although I have not been traveling abroad, I am still, in a comprehensive sense, the Traveling Artista.

"Lemon"

I start simple. 

A lemon, cut a wedge out, set it in the sunshine, examine the color and light, choose various color palettes and after some charcoal sketches to become acquainted with the shapes, go at it!

It's small, it's simple, ... but it is satisfying. 





I am going to continue with this lemon until it too passes me by.  Then on to some other subjects ... building back to more complex paintings ... after first doing these simple exercises and connecting to that part of my creative spirit again.

"Lemon" color palette

"Lemon" tonal palette

“To any artist, worthy of the name, all in nature is beautiful, because his eyes, fearlessly accepting all exterior truth, read there, as in an open book, all the inner truth.” ~ Auguste Rodin

http://travelingartista.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TerrilynnDubreuil/

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2019 * August * On the Road Again:  North Carolina to Maine

I'm back, up Nawth, doing family and friends visits and preparing for a couple art exhibits here in my home state of Maine.  For a couple weeks now, no time to paint!  AARGH!  Had to move to new abode just before getting on the road.  Prep for about 25 paintings for the shows .. one at Damariscotta River Grill with another artist or two, and one is the Pastel Society of Maine's International Exhibit (which has juried in two of my paintings).   Below are the details of the when and where of the two shows.  I am also going on a day trip to Monhegan Island (where I used to go for a couple weeks every year) with one of my most admired and dear pastel painters, Lyn Asselta!

Biltmore Lake Path

While working on updating the PSME website and Facebook, I came across a great write-up by another admired pastelist and want to share part of her thoughts here.  Thank you Tara Will for your generous and open expressions (many aspects that teachers consider):

I'll be teaching a workshop at the Delaplaine this weekend. Very excited! I have had an increase in people asking me about teaching. So I've decided to make a little catalogue of thoughts. It ranges through Composition, Color and Value, Markmaking, and Concept. I hope to keep this document and expand on it so that I have a teaching resource to hand out and hopefully will help students on their pursuit to being the artist THEY want to be. *I believe that people find their way IN different ways, and therefore don't want to discourage a route that isn't mine. I was thinking about concept and what people are "saying" as artists... this is what I came up with. I'd love to hear what you think! (when I'm done if you want me to email it to you let me know!)

In my opinion art is a two way street. There’s an overwhelming joy, puzzlement, relief, and escape in the process of creating art. For some artists they stop there. And I can’t stress enough how important it is to get lost in the process. But the process is only one side of the street. The product is the other side of the street, and the people riding on it are your audience. Just as important as it is to do your work for YOU…. It is important to at least consider the WHY of what you are doing. If I pass a lonely gently weeping sunflower and think, “I need to paint that!” I need to really think about WHY I want to paint it. What is it that appeals to me? What is it about the subject that I can’t ignore? What am I telling the audience? What is its purpose? Understanding these things helps you determine what information is important to convey to the viewer, and which information is irrelevant. In my opinion, the greats in art are those who know what information is crucial, and what to omit. Once you know the WHY you are painting your subject, you are free to omit any information that isn't crucial to your cause. It's a freeing feeling.   [Tara Will .. https://www.tarawill.com/ ]

Just thoughts to consider.  Expanding our thinking also helps expand our art and our lives.  I'm off to make tags for my DRG show and other busy things vital to life.

"An artist cannot fail.  It is a success to be one."   ~Charles Cooley

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2019 * Creating Soft Pastels * Experimentation

Following my previous Blog Post about the creation of new pastel sticks from crumbs and pieces of used pastels (see: http://travelingartista.blogspot.com/2019/04/2019-overcoming-hesitancy-creating-soft.html)

After allowing the sticks to dry for about 3 days, I was ready to experiment.  The colors had brightened as the liquid evaporated.

The paper on hand was Hahnemühle PastellFix.  Next I am excited to try them on a more heavily sanded paper.

I decided to do a painting that would use mostly the colors I had created.  This photo attracted me (one I took in San Gimignano, Tuscany).  I prefer to use my own reference photos so from conception the paintings are my personal experiences.

inspiration photo of similar colors

The colors were rich.  The sticks were SO SOFT!  A wonderful buttery texture.  I had a friend online comment:  "Are those Terry Ludwig pastels?"  "No!  They are MINE!"  (Sweet!)

detail

Tiny bits of uncrushed pastels pieces came through on the paper and added nice surprises to my painting - although they tend to have a harder consistency than the surrounding stick.

The painting is unfinished yet .. I didn't spend long on this preliminary layer.  I gave it a quick spray of SpectraFix (casein-based fixative, non-toxic) to add back some texture so I can return and see what happens next as I add more pastel!

Next:  play with these more on various papers and get better crushing tools (rather than just the rounded plastic lid of one of my jars).

I'm almost tempted to crush up good "whole stick" pastels  ..
just to create more of these!

first layer - playing!

"Creativity is contagious .. pass it on!"  ~Albert Einstein 

TravelingArtista.com

facebook.com/terrilynn.b.dubreuil

2019 * Overcoming Hesitancy * Creating Soft Pastels

pastel pieces and dust crushed

For years I have considered creating my own personal pastels from all the left over bits and pieces and pastel dust that I have saved from my boxes and paintings.  Tossing the tiny pieces into little jars, collecting the dust under the paintings as they are created, putting them in jars of similar colors and saving for .. "someday".


Researching various approaches, from very complex to rather simple, I take the leap and try one of the simplest methods possible.  Keeping in mind that:  "A pastel stick consists of pure powdered pigment and an inert binder, such as gum arabic, gum tragacanth, or methyl cellulose.  Pastels have a higher pigment concentration than any other artist medium (hence the rich, luminous colors that pastels can achieve)." [quote from WebExhibits.org]. 

water & isopropyl alcohol added

Gum tragacanth is not something one has at hand, usually, but I realize that it is already present in the pieces of sticks I have so .. for simplicity?  Just add a bit of water and perhaps isopropyl alcohol to speed the drying time.

Use gloves, a hard surface (preferably glass), crushing tools and blending spatulas (like spackling spatulas from the hardware store).  Use a face mask to protect from pastel dust.   Clean up is a bit of soap and water.

cross-cutting & blending

Take the pieces (it's surprising how they all come to seem the same color on the outside as they hang out in that jar together), crush them (even without fancy tools one can just use the hard, softly curved cover of a jar - and - surprise! what colors are there), slowly add the bit of water/alcohol until the particles adhere.  Continue to blend them until smooth .. it's rather like cutting and kneading bread dough.  Then roll and shape.  Set aside to dry.

    









New varieties of grays and unique colors are created.  Tiny bits of pastels within can add excitement when applying to the painting.

new pastel sticks drying

It's easier than I imagined!  Try it!

TravelingArtista.com

https://www.facebook.com/terrilynn.b.dubreuil

2019 * Pastel Painting Evolution * 5 of 5 * Feb 24

#5 of 5  “Pemaquid Awash”

 

Pemaquid Awash

It’s the Fifth and final day of my challenge to post paintings that mark steps of my pastel voyage to the present.  This painting still brings me joy.  It is more emotive than other paintings, instinctively created – the flow from deep within of the Creative Spirit.  I used sanded paper with soft pastels and kole, strong diagonals, a good section of the paper color contributing to the painting.  Just a few details, plenty of impressionistic strokes, and then those final, fun wisps of vertical white.  I have NO idea why I added those at the last moment.  It just seemed JOYFUL and playful.  This painting was judged into an International show.  Wow.  That blew me away.  To be included in an exhibit with some of the best known pastel artists in the country!  Such an honor.  And encouragement!

Side note about leaving paper showing through.  I think this approach is influenced by my work in watercolor.  There is a “rule” in watercolor that says “leave 1/3 of your paper showing to create sparkle in the work.”  When I discovered toned pastel paper years ago, I started implementing a similar idea for pastels.  Not so much for the “sparkle” but for the aspect that the underlying color ties together the whole painting and contributes to the overall effect.  This is not as intense as the black paper I often use, but .. (hey, I could get all artsy and philosophical here, but ..)  I just simply REALLY enjoy it!

Moving ahead:  My biggest challenge currently is finding the time and space to work.  I am still in “itinerant” mode, living one spot and working in another.  I often lament those years when I had a dedicated space in my home, but life choices have me where I am presently and I make do.  Face the challenge and get it done.  “Just keep moving” I tell myself daily. 

I am greatly encouraged and inspired by the wonderful artists communities around me – both physically and on the Web.  Thank you all!  From time to time it is good to do a little self-analysis and exploration of our process and progress as artists.  Now to the next …

[This painting will be in the Pastel Society of Maine Spring Member Show in May.  

https://www.pastelsocietyofmaine.org/nonjuried-shows ]

TravelingArtista.com

https://www.facebook.com/terrilynn.b.dubreuil

2019 * Pastel Painting Evolution * 4 of 5 * Feb 23

#4 of 5 "Floating Fauna"

Floating Fauna

Fourth day challenge to post pastel paintings that mark steps my experience. While in France in 2016 and playing with watercolor and pastel (I call it "playing" because why should painting be "work"?!), I realized how HAPPY it made me to work in pastel. It flowed freely - fresh and immediate on the paper. I decided then to really focus on pastel painting. The purest medium with the least amount of carrier .. just ground pigment with a touch of something to hold it together!

I found that working on dark colors make the other colors sing. White paper just created more work, less interesting colors to me. I got inspiration from .. go figure .. television! When I realized what was done to intensify color on the screen. Here's my inspiration:

"Zenith introduced its first color TV sets for consumers in 1961 and quickly established itself as a leading brand. The 1969 introduction of the revolutionary “Chromacolor” black-matrix (negative guardband) picture tube doubled the image brightness of color television and established a new standard of performance for the entire industry."

For this image I used black Canson Ingres paper (yes, almost like painting on velveteen) and the image was jellyfish (one of my daughter's favorites). Playing with the luminescent colors and letting them sing was my intent. Fun strokes and colors.

Upon entering my first International Exhibit I was at a quandary as to which painting to enter. The ever-gracious, very talented, internationally recognized, and also Maine native, Lyn Asselta took time to check some of my work and suggested this one as the one to enter. (Thank you, dear friend!) And also by my mother, lifetime watercolor artist Rosalie Barden. They both have wonderful instincts and I was so greatly encouraged because the painting was accepted!

Pivotal point!

TravelingArtista.com

http://travelingartista.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/TerrilynnDubreuil/

2019 * Pastel Painting Evolution * 3 of 5 * Feb 22

#3 of 5 

Lisa

Third day challenge to post pastel paintings that mark steps my experience. While studying for my BFA I was intent upon becoming a sculptor .. I loved loved figurative work and was quite good at it, even then, but believed that in the area I lived it was difficult enough to "make a living as a 2-dimensional artist, no less a 3D artist" so I opted to focus on painting. Initially oil painting and watercolor, but when my husband had strong reactions to the oil, I had to drop that, after getting a good start on producing and selling. Then when my children were little it was easier for me to grab sticks of pastel -- no prep, no clean-up -- so my focus shifted. (Ah to have had a dedicated, private studio .. but I was doing something, so ..)

Drawn back to figures, I did more portraits. I love trying to catch a likeness AND an emotion. Recently I've been playing with creative in-the-moment expression of the subject. It's fun and, with some recent ones, for my own enjoyment. (Of course, notably, my greatest muse and favorite is my granddaughter.) And I've shifted to sanded papers and softer pastels (what a difference!)

Here is one of my first portraits of my daughter's friend Lisa.  Early and very controlled strokes on golden Mi-Teints and allowing the paper color to show through as highlights on the skin. I feel I've come a long way from this one.

The second painting is a more recent one.  "Let It Snow".   Playing with expression and more fluid strokes.  Close-up and personal to pull the viewer into the subject's momentary experience.

Let It Snow

TravelingArtista.com
http://travelingartista.blogspot.com/

2019 * Pastel Painting Evolution * 2 of 5 * Feb 21

"Geranium"  (soft pastel on Mi-Teints)

"Geranium"

Teaching.  I love sharing ideas, techniques and experiences, encouraging students and then watching them discover new media and applications and fresh ways of seeing the world.  While first teaching pastels in the 90s, I was often surprised at how my demonstrations would turn out.  Fresh and immediate.  More full of life than those paintings that received close scrutiny .. although those had their place too.  

With this geranium, I just threw my purple coat (yes, purple) over a chair and set the flower on top for a still life.  The resultant secondary triadic color scheme worked in an exciting way!  Color, texture, energetic strokes all came together.

I still own this painting.  It reminds me of the transition in my thinking of "focus focus, make it perfect" communicating the reality before me to allowing the Creative Spirit to flow through me and be my partner in the experience.  (My brother, a great poet, also share how this Creative Spirit works in many of his works .. not knowing exactly where the inspiration comes from .. but it flows through us in near magical ways!  Below is a link to his poetry page.)

The experience is amazing!  This was the dawn of my taking pastels more seriously as a finished medium.  The process rather than the product becomes my real joy.  And the resultant painting is more free, more exciting, more FUN!

TravelingArtista.com

https://www.facebook.com/TerrilynnDubreuil/

Greg's poetry:  https://www.poetrysoup.com/poems_poets/poems_by_poet.aspx?ID=82698

2019 * Pastel Painting Evolution * 1 of 5 * Feb 20

Invitation

#1 of 5  "Rain Washed" (soft pastel on Canson Mi-Teints)

"Rain Washed"

I was asked by Bernadette Decesare, renowned pastel artist, to post 5 of my paintings for 5 days that have special significance to me as a developing artist.  She inspires me so, one of the many great pastelists today.  I am so thankful for social media that allows us to share ideas and keep in touch with artists and friends from around the world .. to share and learn and grow.

This "Rain Washed" was one of the first pastels I created as a finished work, back in the 1980s.  Previously, using soft pastels had been only a sketch medium for me and I was using Rembrandt pastels and Canson Mi-Teints paper.  So much has changed since then.  I've greatly expanded my materials.

I was looking out my window one day as the rain fell heavily washing down across the pane and distorted the view of the field beyond.  It gave me great joy to do a painting the way I wanted to do it .. for myself .. the emotion and vision of the moment .. and not worry about whether it would be liked by others or sell or not.  Throughout my artistic career I have struggled with that nasty little devil on my shoulder that whispers discouraging comments in my ear.  He's an insistent little bugger and I often wonder from whence he came and why he is still hanging around.

As I progress in my artistic evolution, I strive to escape any negativity and worries.  I aim to not so much appreciate the product created but to simply enjoy the creative process itself.

Traveling Artista

August 31, 2018

MY GOODNESS!  It his been a while since I have posted a blog entry!  So many changes in my life .. but suffice for now to simply keep this running.  I will update soon.  Meanwhile, a painting of mine was recently judged into an International Pastel Show!  I am honored, flabbergasted, and excited!   More info to come soon!

Pemaquid Awash  (soft pastel 12x18in)

2017 Maine * Recurring Revelation * March 9

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. 

It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."   

~Albert Einstein

Adventure is out there! Even if it's just a tiny one.

I need to figure out where I'm going for the rest of my life. I have no plan, no real goals, I've just been kind of wandering for a bit. I can't totally go far away and do exactly what I would want at this point because of my parents' aging and struggling with illness and my grandchildren are growing and we need to build relationship. 

Something close? In the Caribbean?  Some place from where I can get back to Maine quickly.  When I ask for ideas via social media, many people offer wonderful experiences but 90% of them are vacations at resorts.  I need more in-depth travel.  Getting away from gringos and mixing with the local people.  That’s what I love to do.  I checked a couple places and I really love something with mountains. Puerto Rico has that… And I need something fairly safe.

On the other hand … I just want to go to Europe.

Sudden snow squall forces me to stop driving

Early March in Maine.  Still very much winter with grimy snow banks and chilling temperatures.  I decide to take a day drive, in the sun, up the coast, to clear my mind and open it to stream-of-consciousness ideas.

Brunswick, Maine. Bowdoin College. As I drive northeast along the coast it starts out sunny … then suddenly a huge squall came in.  Snow, sleet, heavy wind.  I arrive in Brunswick and it is ridiculous. So heavy one can barely see the other cars. I pull over to the side of the street, check Weather Channel on my SmartPhone, and it reveals that the storm is moving along exactly in my pre-planned route.  I try to make a logical decision: I might as well turn around and head back south. By the time I looked up again the sky was clearing to a bright cobalt blue.  Still, no sense trying to catch up to and follow that intense squall.

Bowdoin Art Museum

At Bowdoin, I drive around the campus three times before I finally find a parking place. I had become frustrated and was about to give up but thought: “just once more and if I don't find a place I will leave.”  I nearly immediately find a parking spot directly in front of the art museum.  (Why do I forget to send out requests to the Universe?)  I lock the car.  I'm heading in ...

Käthe Kollwitz aquatint

The Bowdoin Art Museum houses a wonderfully eclectic collection of artwork: paintings, etchings, photography, Assyrian sculpture, Falcon mummies, ancient pottery, and African masks. It is an efficient museum, well kept and, on this day at least, with few visitors. The Käthe Kollwitz etchings particularly call my attention.  Ever since I took print making in college, her work has held a powerful fascination for me. The disturbing and melancholy images, rendered in high contrast and deep shadows, which often reflect the tragic historical events that surrounded much of her life, evoke powerful disquieting emotions. [www.bowdoin.edu/art-museum/]

I am reading "Madam X" by Deborah Davis.  It is a study of John Singer Sargent and his rise to artistic fame especially through his relationship and amazing portrait of Amélie Guatreau.  It is a richly woven book with details of the artist’s growth and life and the reputation-destroying scandal caused by the avant garde painting.  It causes me to remember, yet again, that I do yearn to be an ex-pat, or to simply to live elsewhere ... somewhere ...  anywhere else … that is unique for me (but most earnestly in France or Europe).  

My petite adventure of the day, to Brunswick and back, well … it is not truly much of an adventure. Just riding and giving myself a chance to think, without focusing, to allow a stream of consciousness to take over.  It does help me so much.  Later in the afternoon, after more driving, I pull over to read a bit more of the book about John Singer Sargent and Madame X.  

Pine Point

I am at Pine Point, watching the Atlantic waves wash the beach.  The tiny white dots of seagulls are scattered on the sand.  The sky is a pale blue with a dissolving three-quarter moon looking wistfully down upon the water. The ocean is a deep terra-vert tone edged in a ruffle of pale lace as it hits the shore. The tide is out and the exposed earth is a light raw umber with the most fascinating pattern of sky-reflecting rivulets tracing patterns from the higher sand to where they greet the sea below. The sun is beginning to set behind me. It casts a pale light on the dry and faded amber-toned sea grass. Weathered fence posts and linking sea ropes border the beach and the path that leads from the parking lot toward it. I have opted not to go down and run on the shore – although it is a momentary aspiration -- the March wind has picked up force and the temperature has dropped discouragingly.

The insipid existence of my recent days had left me empty and depressed.  I have not truly gained a new process today in trying to make a decision about what to do with my life, nor how to follow any plans I try to make, nor even to start to make them; but I know deep down inside me that something has been decided. It is not easy to take the first steps to move on any such a resolution, but my time does NOT stretch interminably in front of me, my upcoming active years dwindle, so I know it must basically be NOW for action to be taken.  

We each have only One Life.