Sheila M. Evans

As an artist, I talk to a lot of people about my work, especially at festivals. And I get asked a lot of questions. Many of them I hear over and over again. Some are questions such as, “why do you look tired?” or “do you really like leaves?”. These are not the questions I will be addressing here. Luckily, even more often I am asked really good questions about my medium and how it works. So, I decided to put together some relatively quick (for me) answers and post them on a new page, Pastel FAQs. For example:

1. What is pastel?
Pastel is a dry drawing medium, created by mixing pure powdered pigments with a minimal amount of binder and water, rolling it into a stick form, and allowing it to dry. The pigments used are the same pigments used to create all painting media, but the pastel form allows the pigments to appear closest to their original color. There is an enormous variety of pastel available on the market today, ranging from inexpensive, student-grade, chalk-like pastels to handmade, buttery, pigment-rich—and expensive—professional lines.

This one goes to eleven, so for the remaining ten Q and As, go here. Enjoy!

This week, I hung a nice, simple, low-key, easy-going show… a show which had caused me no end of stress for the past month.

Not the show’s fault, mind you. Nor the fault of the lovely Spokane Club, where the pieces are currently installed. Nor of Dean, the friend who scheduled and helped me hang the show. The stress was all me, of course. The short time frame I had to paint following a protracted studio move, the amount of art I had out in galleries, the learning curve of the new glass cutter. But all’s well that ends well. Everything is painted and framed and hanging and I can move on to what’s next at a more relaxed pace. Yay.

For those of you not familiar with the Spokane Club, here’s the deal: it’s private. This being the case, there was no public opening for the exhibit. As much as I’d love to invite you to see the show, unless you happen to be a member, I can’t. So in leiu of the actual show, I’ve made a virtual gallery of the pieces in it. If you’d like to see them, go here.

Update: The Spokane Club has featured my work and me with a very nice article in their magazine, Signals, on pp. 18 – 19.

Also, it turns out you CAN see the show if you are not a member—the members-only thing isn’t so strict as I thought. Fair play!

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There are many artists out there who are much smarter than I am. They take their completed artwork to something called a “Professional Framer,” and pick it up framed and ready to sell. I’ve heard of these creatures, these framers, working in frame shops, framing artwork for a living. I know they exist. I’ve even dreamed of hiring one. Trouble is, I’ve never thought that I could afford to have my artwork framed this way, so I have always done it myself.

I’ve changed the way I do it over time. I’ve learned to buy custom frames at wholesale, and graduated from cutting my own mats to ordering them pre-cut (once I figured out that it wasn’t that much more money, after I’ve screwed up a few mats). I had my glass cut by the frame wholesaler, too. I had dialed in a pretty efficient, cost-effective system for myself. Then, I had the brilliant idea that I should upgrade my framing. Read more

After what seemed like an eternity I am finally PAINTING! In what seems to have become my New Year tradition, I am out of the old studio and into the new. The new studio isn’t completely (or even nearly) together yet, but with shows coming up, it was time to stop renovating and start my real work again. Feels good.

I’ve just sent out my second art fair application, now that I have rounded out my jury images with Moondrop No.2, left. My first application didn’t go so well, unfortunately. My Arch Nemesis, Cherry Creek, has given me the raspberry once again. Curse you, Cherry Creek! I know what you’re up to… letting me in once so I’ll keep applying. Oh well, it’s a long drive to Denver, and you don’t provide electricity, and there are lots of other shows in the sea. (Harumph.)

But, onward! 2011 is shaping up to be a great year. I’ve already got two fairs on the schedule (Artfest and Sun Valley) along with an exhibit next month at a private club here in Spokane, the salon in France, and two new galleries in Oregon to keep me busy. And, I just signed on to do Eye 4 Art at Mead again this year.

Check back in the coming months for more on all of those, new shows on the schedule, and progress reports on the new work space. Happy New Year!