March 2019 update

The year is flying by and my blogs haven't been high on my priority list but it is definitely time to check in. In January I was working in pastel and concentrating on online sales. We had another mentoring session here at my Black Diamond Studio on February 22.

Four students, four hours on a Friday.

Next came our local Black Diamond Arts Alliance first annual Art Auction Gala - a huge success! Then came tax preparation and that went on for weeks. At the same time, I volunteered to be the new Treasurer for two non-profits. Knee deep in numbers and I enjoyed it until I received a request from my art publisher, Wendover Art Group, to send seventeen new images via my photographer, Art & Soul, Seattle.

If you remember, last fall my goal was to fill empty frames with new pastel paintings. Now I needed to unframed them so they could be photographed for Wendover. Happy to do it but it took some time. Jay and I spent an entire day unframing seven oils for immediate delivery and ten pastels to be delivered as soon.We spent another day building protective cradles for the pastels for transport to the photographer.

A couple weeks ago I was able to get to my easel to begin the work for a Fall 2019 show at Scott Milo Gallery. Here are the progression photos of the painting I'm working on now:

Lemon, oil, 20x16 inches ©2019 Barbara Benedetti Newton

This is my first painting on aluminum and I love the surface. No springiness, no texture. My third and final mentor session takes place this Friday, March 22, 2019. We're going to try FIVE students instead of four. My studio will be buzzing with creative energy. Thanks to the artists who have joined me for this first quarter of 2019 sessions. Contact the Pastel Society of Oregon if you would like to join me for a rare (I rarely teach workshops anymore) 3-day workshop September 19 - 21, 2019.