Life is Good!

Today is my wedding anniversary, and as if celebrating 15 years of marriage to the greatest guy in the whole world wasn't enough, I was just notified that my painting, "Ghosts of Fallen Leaves", has been juried into the North Carolina Statewide Pastel Show, On Common Ground! I am beyond honored and utterly delighted. Many thanks to juror Teresa Saia for including my work. (Doing my Happy Dance!)

© 2015 Tammy Kaufman - Ghosts of Fallen Leaves - soft pastels on Uart 600, 9" x 10"

I figured I'd add the reference photo (taken by me) since this creek meanders along one of our favorite local hiking spots and is in such a lovely area. I love where we live! My photo was taken over the winter but it had not snowed yet and I wasn't happy with the barenness of the scene so decided to add snow to the painting. :-)

Reference photo 

What's Cooking

Let's face it, pastels are expensive, and my budget is limited. So, while I do try to save enough money whenever I can to buy the very best artist quality pastels I can, obviously I can't afford to buy every set I want. What I can do, though, is avoid waste. In that vein, I save my pastel "dust" and chips that have become too small to use, and today I figured I had enough "scraps" to make my own custom colors with them. Granted, they are not the buttery soft creaminess found in the professionally handmade sticks, but they seem to work well enough and blend fairly easily. I love that they're uniquely greyed colors as they're born from a combination of whatever dust falls onto my easel ledge, and I feel good about the fact that nothing is going to waste. :-)

My homemade pastel colors, as tested on Uart 600 sanded paper

Small Treasures

More exciting news! My acrylic painting, "Evening at Horseshoe Farm", has been juried into the Small Treasures Show at Cary Gallery of Artists! The opening reception is this coming Friday evening from 6-9 p.m. at the the gallery. Very honored and excited!

Small Treasures Juried Art Exhibit

Cary Gallery of Artists

200 South Academy Street, Cary, North Carolina

Opening Reception: Friday, March 27 from 6-9 p.m. 

© 2014 Tammy Kaufman - Evening at Horseshoe Farm - acrylics on canvas panel 6" x 9"