The beauty of nature, especially the captivating landscapes in cottage country, provide limitless inspiration for my art. The intention of all of my art is to convey the connection and joy that nature brings. I love exploring and finding beauty on even the dullest of days in the least expected places. The intention in all of my art is to share that with the viewer— to explore and find a sense of beauty and peace in marshes, valleys and hilltops through my paintings.

Name:Brenda Maas

Bio:I was born and raised in Saskatchewan and later moved several times and ended up in Alberta. I love to paint landscapes, flowers,and animals in both soft pastels or oil paints. I feel a compulsion to paint something daily. I am retired now and can enjoy my hobby in my own time now.

Story:I love painting animals with soft pastels. When I was shown Tiggers photo by his owner I totally fell in love with him and really enjoyed painting him. Title: Tigger Size: 11 x 14 inches Soft pastels and pastel pencils on Uart pastel paper 500 grit. I used pan pastels for the under painting in the darker areas and then I used Unison, Sennelier, Gordan Becin soft pastels on top and Fabel Castell Pitt pastel pencils for finer details. Used the owners photo with permission.

Name:Sheila Mitchell

Bio:I started painting in pastel 2005 and have enjoyed the experience. I use Pan Pastels for sky and background and in this painting is a screen near a childhood house my husband loved. The Ole Tree Limavady. NI. Pastel Painting 9 " x 12" unframed

Story:I paint plein air every Sunday morning with a group of other artists in the Halton Hills area. I love painting landscapes with trees and river/lakes. So much feeling and life around our trees. This pastel paint In the Thousand Island Area 12" x 16" depicts the lovely fall colour against the Canadian Shield. I love to work in pastels and love the effects of using pastels from: Pan Pastels; Terry Ludwig; Diana Townsend; Unison

Name:Elaine Reaume

Bio:I am an amateur artist who loves pastels and recreating the beauty I see with this medium. I work full time and paint as often as I can in my spare time.

Story:I loved the sweet innocence I saw in this picture of my grandson and the wonder and curiosity he has of his surroundings. The high key pallet to me emphasized the purity and simplicity of the moment.

Name:NIKHILESH KUMAR PRAJAPATI

Bio:My name is NIKHILESH KUMAR PRAJAPATI.I love Art and Drawing during studies in fact I got 2nd prize in annual art competition when I was in intermediate. As a bright student in every subjects, Drawing and Painting has also been part of my life. So I decided to pursue my higher studies in Fine Arts. I am a student of Master of Fine Arts-Prev. year (Painting) at Faculty of Visual Arts, B.H.U. I have completed my Bachelor degree in Fine Arts from Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi in 2019.

Story:“My art works are a Relation between Living & Non Living also worked on social issues like Child Labour and Water Conservation. In another way I like to draw Portraits . In the very beginning, I made several sketches and drawings related to Nature and birds, studied many types of landscapes, figure drawings, still-lives, Portraits.I was inspired by many eminent artists' like Italian renaissance to Indian contemporary artists.I love to draw portrait in several mediums.

Name:Rosemary Bennett

Bio:Rosemary Bennett has been painting since childhood. She has travelled to Europe three times on painting trips ...twice to France and once to Tuscany. She lives in Calgary, AB and is very active in the art scene in southern Alberta. She is proficient in many mediums but did paint exclusively in water colours for twenty years. She is more an illustrationist with watercolour but uses all the techniques with the medium to produce the end result she desires. With watercolours one can be as loose, or as tight, as one desires. It is a very fluid medium, of course. Rosemary is the President of The Group Art Society of Calgary, an Active member of The Federation of Canadian Artists, and Secretary of PastelArtist.ca. She continues to create and enjoys her time with art.

Story:" Wise eyes " is a pastel painting 20 X 16 inches in size. I use a variety of soft, hard, pan pastels and some pastel pencils in my work...Unison and Schmincke being two of my favourites. I love animals and wildlife, This giraffe is part of the breeding program at the Calgary zoo. Giraffes were place on the endangered list in 2014.

Name:Shannon Wylie

Bio:I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been born, and still live, in Vernon, BC. I have recently retired from a 30 year career in the promotional products industry, many years of which included graphic design and screen printing. Returning to my fine arts roots, I discovered soft pastels, which I am combining with my passion for animals and the outdoors to create custom pet portraits and original landscapes. My works are a blend of lifelike detail with painterly strokes of color and texture. Each painting is built with multiple layers of color as I strive to capture the essence of each subject.

Story:This painting is titled “Self Portrait with my Little Love”. It is 8.5” high x 10.3” wide and painted with Rembrandt pastels, PanPastels, Stabilo pastel pencils, Conte a Paris pastel pencils, and NuPastels on Canson Mi-Teintes paper. I wanted to challenge myself to do a self portrait with a loose expressive feeling in pastels.

Name:Carrie Ruddy

Bio:I am an emerging impressionistic artist from Central Ontario. I received formal training as a graphic designer at Durham College and worked as a design artist for several years before transitioning back into the fine arts. I work primarily in pastel and love the soft, loose feel it provides.

Story:The beauty of nature, especially the captivating landscapes in cottage country, provide limitless inspiration for my art. The intention of all of my art is to convey the connection and joy that nature brings. I love exploring and finding beauty on even the dullest of days in the least expected places. The intention in all of my art is to share that with the viewer— to explore and find a sense of beauty and peace in marshes, valleys and hilltops through my paintings.