About – Jennifer Gardner, PSA / Artist

Inspiration & technique

My love of the natural beauty of the countryside, the vibrancy of the city and the tranquility of the sea is clearly reflected in my works; I find the vibrancy and vitality of the pastel medium lends itself particularly well to my rendering of light and color in my cityscapes, landscapes and seascapes. Much of my inspiration is drawn from my extensive travels across Europe, the United States, the Caribbean and the Far East.

My abstracts are a mixed media combination of acrylic, pastel, watercolor, Indian ink, collage, iridescent golds & silvers and gold leaf.

Impressionist work

My impressionist paintings are borne of my initial reaction to color and shape in the environment; it might be an unexpected, vibrant splash of color; or a contrast of extremes; or the interplay of warm and cool hues.

Whether a wild and untamed landscape; or a landscape nurtured and created by human intervention; or the towering beauty of a city skyline – these subjects hold for me a different fascination and entirely different challenges in composition and in the interplay of color and light.

Concerned only with capturing the essence rather than the physical reality of the scene, my work is largely impressionistic in inspiration with the occasional foray into “abstract impressionism”!

My landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes are created by applying pastels onto a sanded colored ground which creates an additional textural and color element to the painting helping to unify the piece and create a harmonious balance.

Abstract & mixed media

My abstract paintings are borne of total freedom of expression during the painting process. Each piece is created by the evolving interaction between line, color and texture. This ensures that every piece is entirely original in creation and design.

Each piece evolves intuitively through a process of sketching, pastel underpainting, alcohol washes over soft pastel, watercolor and acrylic overlays, and re-application of pastel in, often, many layers.

My mixed media (pastel, watercolor and acrylic) abstract paintings are created on either canvas or archival white card. The pieces on card must be matted, framed and protected behind glass. The paintings on canvas can be framed or hung unframed according to personal taste.

In most of the mixed media pieces one or more of the following highlights complete the abstract design: gold leaf, black, gold or pearl micas, collage, Indian ink, embedded beads, iridescent acrylics, copper, gold or silver gouache.

What are pastels

Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick. Pastels have no chalk component; instead, they consist of pure powdered pigment and a binder – generally gum arabic or gum tragacanth.

The pigments (colors) used in pastels are the same as those used to produce oil paints, acrylics and watercolor. However, as this medium has the highest pigment concentration of all painting media it results in very intense saturated colors. When properly protected behind glass, pastel is the most permanent of all media because it never cracks, darkens or yellows; on the contrary, a pastel painting will maintain its brilliance and vibrancy.

A pastel painting is created by applying the sticks to an abrasive ground, leaving color on the grain of the surface. A pastel support/ground needs to provide a "tooth" (often finely ground pumice, marble dust or vegetable fiber) to which the pastel will adhere in order to hold the pigment in place.

Pastels have undergone resurgence in recent years and are now popular in modern art due to the medium's broad range of bright colors. Historically, 19th Century French painter Edgar Degas was a prolific user of pastel. Mary Cassatt first introduced pastel to the USA and became its strongest proponent of her era. Other pastel painters included Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Vincent Van Gogh.

Preferred brands

Pastel is a dry medium and is available in varying degrees of hardness and softness. It is quite distinct from oil pastel, which is an entirely different medium.

I use both soft and hard pastel sticks. Soft pastels have a higher proportion of pigment and less binder, resulting in brighter, purer and more vibrant colors. Hard pastels have a higher proportion of binder and less pigment, producing a sharp drawing material that is useful for fine details, drawing outlines and adding accents.

My favorite brands of pastels include Sennelier, Schminke, Mount Vision, and Nu-Pastel.

My preferred support/ground is Sennelier La Carte, which is a high quality, acid-free, heavyweight paper with a surface of slightly abrasive vegetable fiber.

Memberships

I am a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America and an Associate Artist Member of the Fort Point Arts Community in Boston. I have been honored to have been invited to be a juror for the abstract/non-objective category of the Annual Pastel 100 Art Competition, sponsored by the internationally acclaimed The Pastel Journal publication. I am also listed in the Artists' Bluebook Worldwide Edition.

Current memberships

Fort Point Arts Community (FPAC)

Boston, MA

Associate Artist Member

2016 - Current

Pastel Society of America (PSA)

New York, NY

Signature Member

2002 - Current

Past memberships

About the artist