2. RADIAL BIRDS030 a radial design in collage The holidays are over. Busy hours with family and friends take time, and as much as I love everyone, and everything, I have to create little bits of art in hidden places. Early mornings. Late at night. These are the special moments to pat my muse and coddle my creativity. Using tickets and napkins, cards and receipts, -  early morning collages, sketches and mini art works, keep me balanced - satisfied and calm - or at least calmer.

Now that January is here it is time to expand. I have several projects in the mix, Classes start the 8th. I have two classes this quarter, the afternoon group is preparing for a show in February. The morning group is for students new to the art world in class form. Lots of adventures for both. 

For the show we talk a lot about presentation. Whether to use mattes or not for pastels is a question. How to frame pastels is a question. Ordering frames, glass, matte-board - or having art framed and matted are discussed. It is important to use strong art works in a show. Something needs to catch the viewer from across the room. Also there must be some sense of community, so that the pieces work together. That comes out in the hanging.

I often like to matte my pastels. Depending on the venue, the matte leaves space to get involved with the art without distractions of wall or frame. Other works work well with spacers between the glass and art, and a nice plein-air frame, no matte. Pastels need space between the glass and the art. Mattes provide this space, if a trough is left by a long inset strip of matte-board placed behind the matte. This allows the pastel to drift behind the matte if any comes loose. Spray fixatives flatten the pastel. Pastel is basically pure pigment (ground elements such as cobalt, cadmium, ochre) in a light binder. The magic of pastel is this act of reflection when the little fragments of pastel tilt and lean and glitter. When sprayed they flatten out and darken. That being said, pastel is tremendously durable and permanent. The binder doesn't rot the fabric. The sun doesn't bleach out the color as much as watercolor. A little pastel dust is a fair price to pay for their beauty.