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Members only: Pastel Society of New Mexico art show to feature 90 works of landscapes, still lifes and portraits
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Ninety pastel landscapes, still lifes and portraits will fill Weems Gallery, Friday, Nov. 1, through Nov. 23.
The Pastel Society of New Mexico鈥檚 All Members鈥� Art Show has landed in Albuquerque in time for Thanksgiving. Most of the artists are from New Mexico.
Rio Rancho鈥檚 Gail Sacharczuk produced 鈥淲ukoki Shadows鈥� on a trip to Flagstaff.
Members only: Pastel Society of New Mexico art show to feature 90 works of landscapes, still lifes and portraits
Wukoki Pueblo is an eight-room structure built on top of a large sandstone pedestal. It was occupied between the early 1100s and mid-1200s CE.
鈥淭hey built this beautiful structure,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t gives you so many beautiful angles to paint. It鈥檚 a very magical place.鈥�
Sacharczuk photographs her images, then takes them home to sketch out her composition.
鈥淭hen I work out a color palette and go from there,鈥� she said.
She often paints historic architectural features and rock formations.
鈥淚鈥檓 not really a tree and cloud girl,鈥� she added.
Sacharczuk has worked as a professional artist for three years. She returned to school to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Philadelphia鈥檚 Moore College of Art & Design. She had worked as a team sports apparel designer before moving to New Mexico three years ago. She and her husband had vacationed here for the past 25 years.
鈥淚 also do some painting and printmaking, but I fell in love with the beauty of pastels because you don鈥檛 have to mix colors,鈥� she said.
Patti Arbino produces detailed, glossy close-ups of rocks.
鈥淚鈥檓 inspired by little pebbles and rock along riverbeds and beaches,鈥� said Arbino, a California resident.
A onetime technical writer, Arbino began drawing animals and people when she was 8 years old. She was introduced to soft pastels in junior college.
鈥淏efore my father passed, he challenged me to raise the bar and do something different,鈥� Arbino said. 鈥淥ne of the things that makes me happy is walking along the seashore or riverbeds and looking at little rocks.鈥�
Most of those stones measure from 录 inch to 2 inches.
鈥淚 blow them up and come up with a composition,鈥� she said.
She also keeps a 鈥渟tash鈥� of rocks to turn to if she doesn鈥檛 like a certain stone.
She named a recent piece 鈥淚n Costume.鈥�
鈥淭he rocks are like characters,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen you think of a stage play, all the rocks are like characters in a play. They all have their own costumes.
鈥淚 started out drawing with charcoal,鈥� Arbino said. 鈥淚鈥檝e also worked with oils and watercolor I couldn鈥檛 control.鈥�
With pastels, 鈥淚 can always use my fingers and do the blending,鈥� she continued. 鈥淎 lot of that is using my little pinky finger.鈥�
Albuquerque artist Sarah Blumenschein is a former engineer who left Intel after 15 years in 1998.
鈥淎t the time, I had small children,鈥� she said.
She began her artistic career around 2003, taking workshops and classes and joining the Pastel Society.
Pastels enabled her to work around her children without worrying about her piece drying.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 have to learn how to mix colors,鈥� Blumenschein added.
The artist specializes in florals and still lifes.
鈥淲hen I started painting, the rest of my life was very chaotic,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o going into the studio with a setup was very appealing.鈥�
Her piece 鈥淪unshine Rock Wall鈥� combines still life with landscape.
鈥淚 have a rock wall and I live up in the foothills,鈥� Blumenschein explained. 鈥淚 just started putting up jars of sunflowers. Sometimes they have the mountains in the background, sometimes the sky. Each painting is like solving a puzzle, which appeals to the science and math side of my brain.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檇 always wanted to do art, but the practical side of me thought I should get a degree where I could actually get a job,鈥� she said.
