Art by Niki Hilsabeck

"Morning Glow" 12 x 16 Chalk Pastel on Flat Canvas Email nicolehilsabeck@yahoo.com if interested in purchasing Been trying to get back into the daily painting routine, which for me either means a small painting a day, or a larger painting spread over two days.  It's a bit of a challenge with the growing belly and a very inquisitive firstborn, but I was lucky enough to get a little extra inspiration from an odd source: Sunday's eclipse. We have beautiful views of the canyon and hills behind us, and I watched the light change on this hill as the sunlight waned throughout the course of the eclipse.  I noted how the normally stunning lights and shadows on this hill were blunted by the general darkening (as opposed to the usual sunrise or sunset glow).  I thought I would be a little more appreciative of those lights and darks and try a painting of the trees and hills the next morning. I completed this painting in several steps, having struggled a little recentl

                                     "Ridgeline" 9 x 12 Chalk and Oil Pastel on Flat Canvas Click here to purchase original I may have mentioned before that I had a teacher who would ask if we were "simplifiers" or complicators" as painters.  I wanted to say I was a complicator, because I get caught up in noodling and making sure things look exactly the way I want before I consider a piece finished.  In my heart, though, I think I am a simplifier-- a quick look at most of my artwork would show that I like to focus on the big shapes, values, and colors. I started"Ridgeline" plein air with chalk pastel on canvas.  It came out a bit dull though, so I added water to blend it.  The water didn't do much, so I began working in some oil pastel to bring out those brighter colors.  That did the trick (normally I don't put oil pastel on top of chalk, but on flat canvas it seems to work just fine).  I struggled with the overall texture of the

So, it's been a couple of months since I've posted artwork. I've been avoiding the paints for a while because of morning sickness, and I've never been able to find definitive information on what's safe to use for painting while pregnant and what's not...so I just did little projects here and there using wax pastels (didn't like 'em) and did finish one piece for the Art of the Avocado contest (using gloves, and keeping the chalk to a minimum). Now that the first trimester has passed, I'm feeling a little braver and have managed to get got caught up with some collage: "Balloons Over Wine Country" 9 x 12 Mixed Media on Paper Click here to view prints It's no secret that everyone in my family is pretty excited about Disneyland, and one of my daughter's favorite rides is the Small World ride (I'm sorry, really sorry if you now have that song stuck in your head!)  Disneyland has an art gallery, and for the last year or s