Stories

"And if the cloudbursts thunder in your ear
You shout, and no one seems to hear"
~ Roger Waters ~

When we listen, really listen, Mother Nature has endless stories to tell us. My paintings represent those stories as they reside in my heart, so marketing them as mere commodities to sell goes a bit against the grain of my being. But I want those stories to be told and I feel art should be seen, so I still find myself seeking opportunities to display my works and share their stories with others. Realizing that most art exhibit venues rely on sales in order to survive, I do ultimately put prices on my paintings when necessary, but sales are not what I fundamentally seek. What I most desire is the sharing of the stories I hear from Nature through my artworks, and the hope that after I’m gone from this earth there will be someone to tell my story as well.

"And Long I Stood There Peering Deep Into That Darkness"
© 2020 Tammy Kaufman
7" x 9.25" soft pastel on Pastelmat

Perhaps it’s selfish, but I imagine my paintings carrying on after I’ve shaken off this mortal coil. I’d like to believe the abundant trove of artwork I’ve produced over the years will allow not only the stories Nature told me to be preserved, but also my own story to be told. My story. It sounds so self-serving, my story. But I think we all have a narrative and I believe we all want to know it will be told long after our departure. And I do hope someone will tell my story after I’m gone. The story of someone with a deep love of our natural world and the desire to show Nature’s beauty as seen through those eyes. The story of an artist who never achieved real commercial success but who, during a brief flurry of sales over several short months, was able to donate the profits from those sales to charities working for our environment and animal welfare. The story of a tormented spirit who made countless catastrophically poor life decisions but who eventually tried, albeit most often futilely, to set things right. The story of an artist who gifted far more paintings than she sold but found the greater joy in giving over selling. The story of an anguished soul struggling with mental illness that darkened their internal world but through art was able to dream of the hope of Nature’s light and beauty.

"When In Silence The Light Dances"
© 2020 Tammy Kaufman
5.75" x 9.25" soft pastel on Pastelmat

Nature has given me so much and I want my paintings to share her beautiful stories with others, so I’ll continue to seek opportunities to share these works and their tales with all who are interested. And maybe, just maybe, someday after I’m gone, someone will continue to be there to let these paintings tell Nature’s stories and, in the process, tell mine as well.

"To Walk Alone With the Universe"
© 2020 Tammy Kaufman
5.75" x 7.75" soft pastel on Gessoed Matboard

Welcoming the Light of Solstice

"And don't think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It's quiet, but the roots are down there riotous."

~ Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī ~

Honoring the Winter Solstice with the Maiden of Light, Mother of Love and Crone of Wisdom

May the Winter Solstice bring peace to your spirit, joy to your heart and enlightenment to your soul. May the light of hope always be with you in the promise of a brand new day.

"It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it."

~ John Burroughs ~

Touchable Soft Pastels

So after years of frustration due to the hassles of having to frame soft pastels under glass, and even the occasional challenges of storage to avoid smearing and smudging, I had the good fortune to chat with Andrew at Savoir-Faire during the annual Art of the Carolinas Expo this month. He mentioned to me that the maker of my favorite pastel workable fixative that I often use to help fix underpainting layers, SpectraFix, had come out with pastel varnish and suggested I contact the owner about it. I was obviously intrigued since I'd been trying a couple of experiments with varnishing soft pastels but the spray varnishes I'd found so far had such toxic fumes that using them was a headache-inducing nightmare and they also tended to darken and deaden the vibrancy of my pastel works too much for my liking, so I sent a message to Della, the owner of SpectraFix. She very kindly gave me a call and told me all about her newest products, Natural Glass Varnish and FinalFix Spray. I decided to try both these products to see if they lived up to my expectations. Just by way of information, I use a variety of pastel brands, but primarily in the medium-soft to very-soft textures, and while I may not have the lightest hand in the world, I do have a fairly gentle application touch for the most part.

For my first experiment, I pulled out two small test works, one on Multimedia Artboard sanded pastel panel and the other on Richeson Premium sanded pastel paper. I sprayed one thin coat of FinalFix on each and allowed it to dry. SpectraFix products have no toxic fumes (yay!), so using them indoors is no issue, even with a cat and dog in the house. It didn't take long for the first coat to dry, and I then applied a heavier second coat on the Artboard and very lightly brushed a coat of the Natural Glass on the Richeson. Of note, since the Natural Glass varnish is slightly thick it ideally should be brushed on rather than sprayed (I found it tended to clog a pump sprayer), and the painting surface does need a coat of either SpectraFix Degas fixative or FinalFix prior to applying Natural Glass. The varnish should be brushed on very lightly even then to avoid disturbing the pastels. Of note, the Natural Glass varnish leaves a somewhat glossy appearance more like paint, whereas FinalFix maintains the smooth velvety matte appearance of traditional soft pastels.

As Della had mentioned on the phone, there was some slight deepening or perhaps very minimal darkening of the colors on both paintings, although I wouldn't call it deadening, and the vibrant sections retained their vibrancy. The surfaces had no shift or movement of the pastels when touched after allowing the SpectraFix to fully dry.

"Carrying the Sky on His Back"

© 2019 Tammy Kaufman

7" x 5" soft pastel on Pastelbord

Satisfied with these results, I pulled out a painting on Pastelbord and two others on standard gesso panels on cradled wood. I used the FinalFix spray on all three and let them dry. I applied a second coat on the Pastelbord and one of the panels and brushed Natural Glass on the second panel. I noticed similar results on these as on the sanded papers - slight deepening of the colors, but no terribly significant color change once fully dry. Again, the surfaces with only FinalFix retained the velvety matte finish for which soft pastel works are known and the surface with Natural Glass turned slightly glossy and paint-like, but all the surfaces were now completely touchable with no smudging or smearing at all, and virtually no pastel coming off on my hands. I achieved more or less the same results using FinalFix on Pastel Premier, Canson Touch, UArt and Pastelmat. Unsanded pastel paper has so far yielded similar results, but as expected with plain paper surfaces, it does take a while to dry and there was some minimal buckling which was not unexpected.

"Cascading Rhyme and Rhythm"

© 2019 Tammy Kaufman

4" x 4" soft pastel on Da Vinci Pro Resist-Grip Coarse Textured Cradled Gesso Panel

Inspired by South Mountains State Park

On a lark, I decided to test out the FinalFix on Sennelier La Carte Pastel Card, which is notoriously intolerant of water and also responded very poorly to the toxic varnish sprays I had previously tried. This product worked reasonably well on that surface, although I did find the colors darkened on La Carte a bit more than the other sanded surfaces I've tried so far, but in fairness I used the darker toned paper. Also, be sure you let the spray dry completely before touching this paper. Repeat - do not touch La Carte until the FinalFix spray is completely dry! (Ask me how I know this...)

"Gossamer Melody Haunting"

© 2019 Tammy Kaufman

Cropped section of 5" x 7" soft pastel on Sennelier La Carte Pastel Card

FINAL IMPRESSIONS: Overall, I'm quite impressed with these new SpectraFix varnishes so far, especially since I tend toward painting on stand-alone surfaces such as cradled blocks which present their own unique challenges with framing under glass, and these new products are a potential game-changer for me. Also my specialty is miniatures, so with such a small surface area I have not noticed any real issues with spatter which could possibly be a concern on larger works. For me, the slight deepening of color is outweighed by the benefits of more framing and display options. However, every artist is different and your priorities and acceptable outcomes may differ from mine, so I highly recommend testing these or any products on paintings that you don't mind ruining, just in case. Also, while there did appear to be significant darkening while the finishes were wet, in my experience the colors mostly restored once fully dry, and I found that the harder and/or grittier surfaces did somewhat better and the more absorbent/softer/smoother ones a little less so and with a little more darkening of color, though not significantly enough to outweigh the benefits for me personally. So I will likely be using this product for my cradled wood paintings for sure and probably also for some works on paper or boards that I want to frame sans glass, but I want to explore more experimental opportunities before I feel totally confident using it on my most precious works.

NOTE: The rules for some juried pastel shows prohibit the use of final fixatives so artists entering these competitions will need to keep that in mind and check the rules carefully before entering if they choose to use these varnishes.