The Sierra Pastel Society presents its 7th annual “Pastels on High” International Art Exhibition. This year’s judge and juror is none other than renowned pastelist Urania Christy Tarbet, with prizes ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 in cash and merchandise.

Catch the show through Oct. 25 at the Hang It Up Gallery in El Dorado Hills, Calif. (Town Center 4359, Town Center Blvd, Suite 113). Gallery hours: noon-5 p.m. Sunday and Monday; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday. 916-939-1845.

As far as art projects on the Web go, this one just might take the prize for the week: thissand.com allows visitors to build colorful sand castles by transforming the pixels on the screen into digital grains of sand. Click your mouse to drop the sand and use simple commands to change the color or gradiant. A soft sandy sound accompanies the process, which I find extraordinarily soothing. Once you've finished your sandscape, save it to the gallery for everyone to see. (Mine is pictured above.) Read more about the project and see some of the best creations yet at thissand.com/blog.

Not only are there two shows just around the corner starring artists featured in The Pastel Journal, they’re both from right here in Cincinnati.

Ray Hassard: Fun & Games features the 9th Annual Pastel 100 First Place Landscape & Interior Category winner’s pastels that focus on leisure time activities: museums, carnivals, mini golf and the like. Opens 6-8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, for Columbus, Ohio’s Short North Gallery Hop at the Sharon Weiss Gallery.

You’ll remember Brian Mathas Burt from our October issue cover (pictured here) and the excellent artist’s profile written by Anne Hevener. Burt will be exhibiting at the Hyde Park Art Show in Cincinnati 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5.

If you're in Ohio, check them out!

Congratulations to the August issue Creative Spark entries that took honorable mentions. The challenge was to put a neglected color to work. Here’s how the artists did so:


“Color is my passion, which is why I love pastels, and why I’ve used almost every color somewhere in my paintings. I often use turquoise, but the use is usually limited to a few minor strokes as a an accent or as a means of balancing out the greens in a landscape. However, making turquoise the dominate color in my painting is something I’ve definitely wanted to try. For several months I’ve been creating a series of Philadelphia scenes, mostly of landmarks and historic buildings—and, of course, a few Philly skylines.

“Since I was painting a hot and hazy afternoon scene of Philadelphia, I chose bright orange to exhibit very warm—but strong—light. I used different values of turquoise as the sky and water, sort of an envelope, which balanced out the orange. Then I softly glazed the whole painting with again with turquoise. Fun experiment!”




“Pink is a color I rarely use except for highlights in skies or around the rim of an object, rarely as the predominant color. I was very taken by a spray of very subtle pink grass behind three dark purple flowers. It was the pink background that caught my eye and presented the challenge of making it look soft, but not too sweet. Subtle hints of pink were added to the green background and in the foreground flowers to make the painting work.”




“I’ve been especially fascinated with the exotic pastels, which include metallic, iridescent, pearlescent and fluorescent colors. I tend to favor blues and purples, which is reflected in my home decor, my clothes and, of course, my painting. The one untouched color, pristine in its paper wrapping, was fluorescent lime green.

“I decided to paint an unusual perspective, an extreme close-up, of a common fruit, the kiwi. Once an exotic winter import from Australia, most kiwis are now grown in my home state of California. The crowning creative inspiration came from adding a few strokes of that virgin fluorescent lime green to the rear kiwi slice, which made the fruit just pop. This pastel became the main color focus for the front kiwi; the juicy fruit pulp glows with the fluorescent lime green. Adding this color to my palette truly unleashed creative sparks.”