Art by Niki Hilsabeck

Cactus seems to be everywhere in Southern California!  It can be a nuisance or a blessing, depending on how you look at it. "Prickly Paradise" 5.5 x 5.75 pastel on drawing paper Click here to view on my website I have to be in a particular mood to draw or paint cactus-- it's got a lot of funny shapes and details.  I see so much cactus every day I don't always think to paint it.  Having lived with a large patch of cactus near my house for many years now, I realized that although I may not take the time to paint it often, it really is an amazing plant.   I've written about painting cactus previously,  and the challenges I had this time were still the same.  I've come to appreciate cactus more, though-- if I take the time to walk over and really look at it, there's always something interesting to watch. It's provided a home for many squirrel babies, who are pretty adorable in their own mischievous way. (Their parents are entertaining too,

Pastel is so versatile, I like to use it on a variety of surfaces.  One of my favorites is old parchment paper (courtesy of my late grandmother, who enjoyed calligraphy and creating her own Christmas cards).  I saved the paper partly out of a sense of nostalgia-- I still have some of Grandma's handmade cards on similar paper.  I also saved it so I could try the pastels on it, and it's become one of my favorite surfaces when I want to achieve a "scratchy" look to my pastels or focus on heavier drawn lines. If you're looking to try soft pastels on this type of paper, I have a few tips based on my experiences with pastel and parchment paper. "Spring Field" 3.25 x 5.25 inch pastel on parchment paper Click here to view more details Tip #1: Smear with caution!   Whereas pastel paper is made to hold lots of layers of pastel, parchment paper is not.  I usually stick with a lot of broken color and smear carefully with a paper towel over my finger (basicall

We live in an age where we can spend our entire day receiving input from others, even without leaving the house or talking to anyone.  We can read messages, articles, scroll through profiles and updates, or even turn on that old dinosaur known as the t.v.  For me, there's also reading novels-- something I thoroughly enjoy but feel a little guilty indulging in when there are so many other things I should be doing.  Add to that the time I spend listening to the birds outside, or gazing at the ocean, or drinking in the afternoon light on the oak trees, and there's very little energy left for output-- which in my case is painting or writing new things.  "Ready to Pounce" on Daily Paintworks And then there are the cats.  They're very distracting, but they do provide me with a bit of creative inspiration. On a side note, I feel this way about learning a foreign language.  In the year I spent in Germany, I probably spent the first six months mostly listening --