Bryngelson painted the cow on
UART sanded paper, “which is the
surface I definitely prefer to use,” she
says. She began the drawing using
a dark blue Nupastel and Conté pastel
pencils and then added in warmer
colors to the underpainting, blending
them with an alcohol wash. She then
used Terry Ludwig pastels for the fin-
ishing layers. “I enjoyed pushing the
colors beyond the realistic, especially
in the blue shadows,” Bryngelson says.
Although the artist likes to paint
other subjects, she has an affinity
for animals. “They’re my favorite
subject,” she admits. “As a child, I’d
spend many, many hours drawing
horses, dreaming of having one of my
own. This led to a longtime passion
for drawing and painting.” These days,
Bryngelson creates pastel paintings
with the goal of helping the viewer
appreciate the openness, beauty and
peace to be found outdoors.
SECOND PLACE
Tr a c ey M a r a s
For Dawson, Ill., artist Tracey Maras
(traceymaras.com), a decade-old
encounter with a raccoon served as
the reimagined subject in Cool Drink.
“During a walk in the woods 10 years
ago,” she says, “a young raccoon
came toward me along the footpath,
unaware of my presence. I watched
as it climbed down the embankment
and began drinking from the stream.
I didn’t move for fear of scaring it.
After quenching its thirst, the rac-
coon continued on along the stream’s
edge, unaware of the smile it had
brought to my face.”
Maras initially painted the experi-
ence soon after it happened, including
the woods, the path, the stream
and the raccoon in the scene. While
preparing for a recent show featuring
20 of her water-themed paintings, she
decided to revisit the memory. “With
additional years of pastel painting
experience, I realized that I didn’t
need to include everything from the
scene,” she says. “The story was in the
intimacy of the moment.”
Cool Drink (12x12)
by Tracey MarasMaimonsays,“Ifeelthisart-
workisforevermovingbyallowing
ustowitnessa momentofreality
brimmingwithlifeandmagic.The
subject,creatingthewonderfulwater
rippleeffect,justgrabsourattention
anddoesn’tletgo.Theartistachieved
a wonderfulbalancethroughtheuse
ofa subtle,yetcomplex,interplayof
colorsandshades.”THIRDPLACE
AnneStrutz
“IntheFlowisoneina seriesoffish
paintingsI’mdevelopingthat’s
inspiredbytheJapanesewoodblock
printsofHokusai[1760–1849]
andHiroshige[1797–1858],”says
Charlotte,N.C.,artistAnneStrutz
(annestrutzfineart.com).Hokusai
andHiroshigeweretwoofthemost
successfulartistsoftheirday,and
theirprintsareamongthemost
recognizableexamplesofgraphic
artintheworld.
Ofthesoothinggolds,redsand
bluessheusedforIntheFlow, Strutz
says,“IwasdirectlyinspiredbytheThe original encounter took place
in autumn, as leaves and branches
floated in the stream. By changing
the colors to the greens of summer,
Maras was able to provide more
contrast of hues and prevent the
raccoon from becoming lost in the
autumn reflections. “Simplifying by
editing out the distractions brought
the focus to the raccoon in that
moment,” the artist says.
Because of a special underpainting
technique that Maras employs, UART
is her preferred surface. While devel-
oping a workshop focused on creative
underpaintings, she created what
she refers to as “floating pastels,”
in which she applies finely ground
pastel dust onto a sheen of water and
builds abstract designs by applying
drops of isopropyl alcohol. “This
technique adds textural interest and
encourages more expressive handling
of the pastel marks as the painting
develops,” she says.
As in most of Maras’ paintings,
Cool Drink features a variety of pas-
tels, including Unison, Girault,
Great American, Sennelier, Ludwig
and Rembrandt.ArtistsNetwork.com 77