December 2004

This past month has brought in an influx of new members, bringing our total membership to 80. A special note to new members: please check out November's newsletter (the Archives link at the bottom of page) for information about how you can become a more active member, and how you can help promote oil pastels as a fine art medium.

If you are a member of any art club, group or association that is involved with oil pastels and would like to link to this site, please forward that information to webmaster@oilpastelsociety.com

Attention Associate Members: if you have not already sent in your images for your gallery, please do so. The OPS site is receiving a large number of views, and you don't want to miss this opportunity to showcase your artwork!

January 22, 2005 at Binders Art Supply, Atlanta, GA
Time:10-4 with an hour for lunch, Cost - $45
Experience the numerous techniques and applications for oil pastels on various surfaces. Learn how to create your own sanded surface. Watch Carly demonstrate and complete your own painting with this most versatile of mediums! Sennelier oil pastels are available at Binders. Contact Carly at Coordinator@oilpastelsociety.com for supply list and information!
Call Kay at Binders to register - 404.231.3028 - today!!

Welcome to the Oil Pastel Society!

New Associate Members:

Bibby, Michael
Bradley, Susan
Burt, Shelly
Chisick, Jacqueline
Earle, John
Hennessey, Jane
Hennessey, John
Lawrence, Stan
LeVan, Randie H.
Malott, Susan
Mammen, Thomas K., M.D.
McClish, Chris
McKee, Maureen C.
Murphy, Jean
Peck, David
Pope, John
Skowronski, Jo-Anne
Sleeper, Jim
Sofferman, Eve
Turcotte, Maurice J.
Witt, Marilyn

New Professional Members:

Brandenburger, Marilyn
Evans, Theresa
Fons, Janet
Lon Wehrman, Vickie
Lowe, Amber
Neely, Stephanie

If you have applied as a Professional member but do not see your name listed,

please send in your gallery submissions so the process may be completed. Thank you!

New Friends:

Crowley, Roberto
Moscous

A special thank you goes out to Amber Lowe for submitting holiday art, and to Vatcharaporn Plewtianyingthawee for her wonderful technique article.

A Visit to Caran d'Ache by Anne Hermelin

Caran d'Ache headquarters are so close to my home that I reached the place a bit early. I was really happy to enter Oil Pastel Society on the visitor sheet! I met with Mr. Hochuli, the Fine Arts Product manager, and Mr. Vitus, the Research & Development manager. We went to the meeting room in which there was a complete display of fine art products (just like in a shop). We shared views on the communication around oil pastels (in conjunction with the recent Pastel Journal article), and the oil pastel medium in general. There are no plans to introduce new colors. I took the opportunity to report that the label is almost impossible to peel off, and that it would be great to have labels similar to those of Neocolor II.

We then went to the production area. Caran d'Ache aims at having a very regular product across the color range, and good color opacity. There is oil in Caran d'Ache oil pastels (Neopastel), while there is none in Caran d'Ache wax crayons (Neocolor I and II). The difference in production between these two products is that because of the presence of oil, oil pastels have to be molded, whereas wax crayons are just "cut" from a big line.

The oil used in the oil pastels is not the one used for oil painting (i.e., linseed); it's a mineral oil. A small quantity of oil is sufficient to reach the necessary softness. The presence of oil, together with the use of artist class pigments, makes the oil pastel lightfast. More details can be found in the attached technical brochure and fact sheet.

Besides Caran d'Ache headquarters, the oil pastels are manufactured near Geneva, Switzerland. Unfortunately, no Neopastels were being produced on the day of the visit, but it was still interesting visiting the manufacturing section (including the huge pigment store). You will all be able to see how Caran d'Ache produces oil pastels in an Oil Spill article early next year.

Thanks again to Caran d'Ache for receiving the Oil Pastel Society!

A TIP for handling details: just sharpen your oil pastels!

December 18 - Patricia Isaac will demonstrate oil pastels at the Cohasset Village Holiday Event, Cohasset, Main. The event goes from 4pm to 8pm, with other artists exhibiting there work in various mediums. There will be street performers, food and fun.

Let The Colors Paint Themselves
by Vatcharaporn Plewtianyingthawee, Thailand

Click here for her very interesting and comprehensive article using oil pastels and wax. You will not want to miss this!

Competitions that Accept Oil Pastels:

The OPS is providing this information as a service to our members. No endorsement is intended. The artist assumes responsibility for reading the prospectus and determining eligibility. Click here for list of competitions.

Featured Artist of the Month - Charles Wood

It seems like a long time ago when I first painted with an oil pastel. As a matter of fact, it was…about 40 years ago! I was still in high school and exploring various media to draw and paint with. At that time my goal was to attend an art school and I needed a diverse portfolio to enhance my acceptance into a program. I had worked with soft pastels and found them to be messy and stinky (the fixative always drove my mother out of the house). So I decided to try oil pastels and they turned out to be no more than a crayon. Thus ended the initial attempt at painting with oil pastels.

My portfolio became filled with oil and watercolor paintings, detailed pen and ink sketches, and one or two pastel portraits. I was accepted into the Fine Arts School at the University of Connecticut as an art major but never got my BFA. Instead I transferred into the interior design program at the university and earned both a BS and an MA in interior design. Upon graduation a store design firm in Hartford, Connecticut employed me. As a commercial interior designer I found that I could paint, draw and design as I created store and office interiors filled with colorful art, furniture, carpeting, wall coverings and store fixtures. This occupation only lasted a few years. While earning my masters degree I was awarded a graduate teaching assistantship and discovered that I enjoyed teaching as much as being a creative artist and designer. For the next six years I taught at the University of Connecticut, Miami University and the University of Tennessee and thought that I would be happy working in a university community for the rest of my life. But plans and goals often change and mine were no exception. Looking to settle down with my wife and have a family in Connecticut I commenced a 23-year tenure with Pratt & Whitney in facility design and management. The days of drawing and painting were put on the backburner while the corporation utilized my interior design expertise extensively as I planned and furnished facilities across the US. As time passed I dreamed that someday, upon retirement, I’d build a studio at my home and get back to drawing and painting. I mentioned this one time to the maritime artist John Stobart. His response was that most good artists don’t start their career when they retire, they finish it. I figured he might be right. But as I said before, plans and goals often change.

My job at Pratt & Whitney was eliminated in 2002 and I soon found myself looking at a change in life that came sooner than I hoped. Without fulltime employment I decided to get back into my art. The first thing I did was to construct a studio in my garage. The second was to begin reading art magazines and search for a workshop or two that would help me hone the skills I put aside over the years. Whether it was predestined or not, I booked a workshop with John Elliot, the master oil pastelist. I was lucky enough to be the only student at the workshop and received more attention in four days from John and his wife, Sheila, than I ever could have imagined. Using professional quality oil pastels for the first time I began to enjoy the flexibility of the material and with John’s passion for the media it was impossible not to come away with a desire to begin to paint. Soon my studio became my daily workplace and I was again producing art that I loved doing. Places I visited and people I knew inspired my work. As an art history minor and former teacher, I accumulated a library of art books filled with the art of Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Durer, Albers, Wyeth, and many other masters. Reading these books and going to museums supplemented my painting. Being laid-off from P&W ultimately became the best thing that ever happened to my art and me.

Charles J. Wood

Jaine Truex LeFebvre, architect and jewelry
designer, in front of her oil pastel portrait by
Charles J. Wood.

Charles J. Wood with Susan and Joe Lipiner, owners of Frame Dimensions, West Hartford, Connecticut,
exhibiting his painting of their framing shop and
gallery.

Charles & John Elliot at his August 2002 workshop

Down the Road…

Watch for the details of our upcoming Member Show in January's edition of the Oil Spill!

Art Quotes

"If you don't make mistakes you're not working on hard enough problems. And that's a big mistake." - F. Wilezek

"I am not altogether displeased with the shirt front." - Cezanne, after 115 sittings for a portrait of Ambroise Vollard