Art by Niki Hilsabeck

"Autumn Path" 9 x 12 Pastel on Paper Started as a demo piece at the LeucadiART Walk 2014 Click here to view details I had a booth at the 10th annual LeucadiART walk on the 101 Auguast 24th, 2014.  It was a long day, but I learned a few things: 1) Quiche really does taste best from a French Bakery.  My sister brought me quiche and coffee from French Corner on the 101, and this turned out to be the highlight of my day-- actually my week.  It kind of ruined me from quiche from any other place, not that I eat it that often... 2) If you're at a festival featuring a large number of artists (in this case 100 or so), being physically located at the end of the festival makes for a long day. People are either stopping briefly as they begin the long walk, or are tired of looking at artwork by the time they get to your booth.  Being at the complete opposite of the beer garden didn't help-- although it was probably at least quieter. 3)  "Leucadian" is a word, and...

When perfectionism hits, it helps to have an escape plan... "Chatte et Fleurs" 8.5 x 11.5 inches Click here to view Etsy listing In my case, I work in an alternate method.  I've been working with pastels all summer, but have hit the point where I am nitpicking over details.  When that feeling takes over, I switch to making fun collages. When I create a mixed media collage, I like to work with big shapes and layers of texture.  For this piece, I began with a watercolor background, and layered in tissue paper to create big forms.  Once the big forms were in, I added a few pieces of recycled paper from bags (the stems), and began painting with oil and soft pastel.   I was inspired to make the big flowers after seeing my aunt's large zinnia blooms, but felt compelled to add a little cat among them to exaggerate their size.  That's the fun part of making these collages-- I get to indulge my creative side, and worry less about achieving the detailed...