Enjoy!

In continuation of Anne’s post about creativity and how activities such as reading warm up our creative muscles, I thought I’d share a link to a like-minded new blog. The Portland Museum of Art (in Maine) has launched its first blog, On Reading Online (www.portlandmuseum.org/about/blog). The PMA folks created this forum in celebration of National Book Month and their (just-closed) photography exhibition, “André Kertész: On Reading,” to share thoughts and ideas about books and reading.

And speaking of books and reading, another good recent read has been “Shadow of the Wind” (2001), by Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón. It's a beautifully written—sometimes even chill-inducing—ode to books, with a “DaVinci Code”-esque twist. This is a novel that makes you stop and consider all of the reasons you love to read, and remember those certain books that have made their own special mark in your life.

Take some time this weekend to nurture your creative side. How will you unwind?

If you've ever wondered what pastel artists like yourselves are painting in Spain, take a look at the Spanish Pastel Society's (ASPS) website, by clicking here. Below you'll find just a few highlights from the gallery.

The Arizona Art Alliance Juried Fine Art, Exhibition, Sale & Expo takes place today through Sunday, featuring all kinds of artsy goodness: free two-hour workshops with saught-after artists such as Leslie B. DeMille, Betsy Dillard Stroud, Grace Haverty, Liz Kenyon and David Lloyd Bradley, to name a few; juried artist demonstrations; a quickdraw-paint-around; plein air paint out; and 8,400 square feet of display space. Stop by Fountain View Village (16455 Avenue of the Fountains, Fountain Hills) if you’re in the area, and check the AAA website for more details.

Congratulations to Virginia Larrea, of Tampa, Fla., for her winning entry in Carole Katchen’s Creative Spark challenge featured in the October issue of the magazine. The challenge was to “mix it up,” and paint with multiple media. Click here for Larrea’s most unusual story about her use of mixed media, which, in this case, involved beer.

Larrea won a package of UART sanded pastel papers worth $140. Our thanks to UART for their generous donation.

Look for the next Creative Spark challenge in the February 2009 issue of The Pastel Journal.

Love a good debate? Michael Kimmelman of The New York Times serves up a spicy one in his recent review of a show at the Grand Palais that juxtaposes hundreds of Picasso's paintings with the master works that inspired them: Cranach and Titian, Poussin and Ribera, Chardin and Zurbarán, El Greco and Courbet, Degas and le Douanier Rousseau, to name a few. The resulting experience? According to Kimmelman, Picasso comes up short when compared to the masters. From the article:

"His achievements were Promethean and unparalleled in the last century, but having said that, as the show proves almost despite itself, Picasso ended up often mired in vain, backward-looking riffs on grander achievements. Perhaps it’s as the photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson once put it, talking about Picasso’s failure to appreciate Bonnard. 'Picasso had no heart,' he said. That’s pretty harsh."

Read the full text by clicking here.