Strong opinions about glass.
I don’t hate glass. In fact i’ve marveled at ancient glass vessels in various museums that live rent free in my mind for years.
Like these:
Glass Ribbed Bowl, Roman, mid-1st century CE
Roman, Cypriot, probably 3rd century CE
I do however LOATHE the way glass bounces light off pastel artworks when they are framed. Putting pastel works behind glass feels like taking nature photos through a car window, with the flash on…
Trying to get a casual photo of this baby before I sent it off to Smörgåsbord. (Problems with glass.)
IMO, the magic of pastels, is their vibrant hues, and their velvety texture. The way light is absorbed and held within the medium. Pulling you into the art. The softness that makes you want to touch it.
Framing pastels with out glass is possible. I’ve done it, and it’s how I display my art in my own home.
If you read any online forums, people have VERY strong opinions about framing pastels. You must have glass they say, you must use spacers. If you don’t you must be crazy and you’re obviously not a professional and how can anyone trust you. Well call me crazy cause I know it’s possible.
I discovered Spectrafix fixatives in some deep dive of internet magic. They use all natural materials and a recipe that goes back to Degas himself. (!!!!!)
If painting sales are slow, I start to worry that people are afraid of the no-glass approach. Buying a piece or original art is an investment. If the piece can’t withstand the environment, will it loose its value?
I’ve actually emailed with the owner of Spectrafix to make sure I understood their products properly. She was very nice and shared with me other more established artists that use Final Fix to frame without glass. Including the pastel painter and climate activist _____________-.
During my painting process, I’ll hit the piece im working on with Spectrafix’s Degas Fixative a few times as a layer to hold the pigment in place. Especially if I have to leave the studio and walk away from the art for a while. If the paper blows off the table or my cat walks on top of it, it give a light layer of protection.
This is what’s considered a working fixative meaning, it’s not permanent.
At this stage you can use it to wet your pastels and blend them like paint. It’s a pretty easy way to get pastels to look more like watercolors or paint….
Apparently Mr. Degas used to use it this way. Pretty cool to do things the same way Degas did 😭.
When im done working on a piece and im ready to frame it, I spray Spectrafix’s Final Fixative in light layers over the artwork.
With beeswax and casein, the pastels are adhered to the page. As it dried it hardens and becomes water resistant. Like waxed canvas is water resistant. As in, you don’t want to submerge your paper in water but you can wipe the piece with a wet rag and the pastel pigment won’t budge.
no glass, no glare, totally wipeable.
Process Notes
Fall in love with a medium
Loose track of time
Enjoy pure pigment on paper
Buy good paper
Don’t compromise your values
30 minutes is better than no minutes
Check up-cycled glass for scratches
Don’t gold leaf when its windy
Some of my vintage Rembrandt pastels mixed in with newer, softer pastels from Dakota Art Pastels.
the high season
top down, vintage car on the main road, looking out to Turtleback Mt.
Summer is here. And so are the tourists, with lots of questions like, “What should we do? Where should we go?”
I send them to Mt. Constitution or Olga Artworks, I tell them to go hiking, look for sea life on the beach. I put on a smile and welcome them to our little slice of heaven even when im struggling to find joy.
There’s a lot of implied pressure on us islanders in the summer to REALLY SOAK IT UP, to swim and hike and finish all the house projects and play sports and also rest and spend quality time with your kids! and do all the things we’ve been dreaming about since last summer. But it’s too much. With the kids out of school us parents get less of a break, our work doesn’t slow down, the chores at home still have to be done.
I’ve been asking myself the same things. “What should we do…about all the stressful things life has piled on lately? Where should we go from here, if anywhere?”
As an Aquarius rising, I’ve always been on the cutting edge of everything. I’m not bragging, it’s just a fact. I live in a place where innovation and inspiration flow easily but the general public hasn't yet caught on. The kind way of labelling it is, ‘early adopter’. I like learning about all the ways humans are using nature to solve our world’s problems. But the bleeding edge is a lonely place, a bitter place.
Lately I’ve been wishing I were someone other than myself. Someone who loves finance, computers, spreadsheets. Someone whose skills and passions align with the things society seems to value. Someone who can make money in their sleep.
While I sleep, I travel home to Chalk Bluff, Tx. I find my Gran still able to converse with me freely. I see her house, frozen in time as it is in my memory. The dark wood dining room table stands where we dyed easter eggs until lightning hit the house and took out the power with a loud, POP! I see the formica countertops where we spread spam onto white bread and made “grasshoppers’’ out of lime sherbet and 7-Up. I look out the windows to the back yard that led to White Rock Creek.
I spend too much time on Zillow, looking for the perfect farmhouse with a bit of land, that I’ll never buy. Something with good bones and large oak trees, with pasture for my future horses.
I delete social media for the umpteenth time. I talk to my boss about all the ways Texas is not a safe place for me to live. There’s no going back. Just endless longing for what was, for the feeling of possibility and hope that my life was of my own making.
At least there are raspberries. And roses.
We bought a 1 gallon raspberry plant from George Orser at Orcas Farm around 7 years ago. It’s given fruit every year but not enough to feel like it made a dent in our grocery bill. This year is different. Margot and I go out to the garden everyday and bring back a full colander. I’ve made muffins, and smoothies and made raspberry version of my favorite gluten free, vegan scone recipe.
Peaches from Rising Oak Farmstead
I also made a couple upsides down peach cakes with peaches from Rising Oak Farmstead. We’ve all been enjoying them with a bit of coconut milk whipped cream for breakfast.
It’s been too cool for the veggies in my garden. The lack of heat has stunted growth and allowed the slug army to conquer all.
I was able to make a tiny bit of dairy-free spinach artichoke dip with this years artichoke haul. About two hours of work for 6 oz of dip 🤣.
I brought three new works to Smörgåsbord over the weekend. I picked up new frames to gold leaf at the exchange and ordered myself some oil sticks for my upcoming birthday.
Hay-ing season on Orcas. Colors that make me want to paint.