I've tried pastels before, but this time decided to give them a serious go, to really get used to the medium and become comfortable with it. After each artwork I would post on Facebook stating "how I hate pastels", getting encouraging comments from friends to carry on and just get through the stage of mastering new medium. I was curious myself to see whether I really hate pastels or am I just frightened by the new experience. I tried to listen to my thoughts and my heart through the process of creating, determined to see where the problem lies. I discovered that my main "hatred" lies in the uncomfortable scratchy sound pastel make, all the chalky dust they create, that feels so unpleasant on my fingers, and the constant feeling of missing meditative quality of acrylics, that gliding and flow and caress of the brush on canvas. Just to make me doubt my hatred, pastels loved me unconditionally, and the artworks took forms in the glowing soulful faces staring down at me with the question in their eyes: "What is the problem?" So, here they are, born from the love-hate relationship:
Did me and pastels reconcile our differences? I can't tell. For now, I am giving pastels a cold shoulder and move to my old love - acrylics. And as if struggle within myself is not big enough, I just ordered more pastels from DickBlick. The divorce is not final, so it seems.
