Pastels in New York City

I completed one of my LongTermGoals! I needed a good kick to get back to using my extensive sets of pastels. There was a plein air pastel workshop sponsored by the American Pastel Society with Nancie King Mertz. She went to Cuba with us and had a neat pastel setup that I had admired, she also made A LOT of lovely pictures there. It took more than a week to decide and figure out transportation, housing and whether I really wanted to go.

It was not a teaching event, instead she did short demos each morning and then ran around to the painters, offering advice where needed and answering questions. There were about 12 of us, at all different levels and I was one of the few regular plein air painters who also used pastels. Most were studio painters who came for the plein air part, so there was a lot of baggage and various carts carrying supplies. I am pleased to brag that I only required my backpack and a folder for my pastel papers. I still was bulky getting in and out of the up and downtown subways, a good half hour ride in congested cars.

It has been a beautiful fall, but we needed rain and so, it rained and was also windy downtown for two days, we were pretty cold. The third day was beautiful and we painted on the HighLine. It was easier to work when it was overcast as the building colors remained consistent and shadows were not moving. The closest I have come to city building paintings are my grain elevators, this was different, a challenge in perspective, composition and execution and now I want to go back for more.

High Line Over 10th, 18x12 pastel, c. K. Schifano

Pete's Tavern, NYC, new and old, 18x12 pastel, c. K.Schifano