Art by Niki Hilsabeck

"Squirrel Snack" 17 x 20 Pastel on Paper Click here to view details 2014 Entry Although the show ended last month, I thought I would share a few of my Art of the Avocado entries over the last few years. Each year, I try to do something a little different for the Art of the Avocado contest that coincides with the Avocado Festival in Fallbrook, California.  This year, I submitted two entries: the painting featured above, and an acrylic piece on canvas that I framed under glass.  You can see both pieces (along with my photobombing cat) in the photo below: The painting on the right is called "Yin-Yang Yum," and features the way avocados usually look at our house: scraped clean and eaten! The inspiration for "Squirrel Snack" came from a photo I took of a freshly snatched avocado, which appeared to have become the victim of hungry ground squirrels.  Anyone who has an avocado grove probably recognizes this view of an avocado! I always find i...

I have work in three shows this month. What happens in Fallbrook...happens all at once! "Avocado on the Side" (12 x 18 pastel on paper) at Pinnell Gallery at 124 N. Main Ave in Fallbrook CA (part of the "Art of the Avocado" exhibit) April 17th through May 2nd Click here to buy print: http://www.redbubble.com/people/nikihilsabeck/art/6955621-avocado-on-the-side-pastel "Vogel-Figured" (pastel) "Egyptian Girl" Mixed Media on paper (on display at the Bob Burton Performing Arts Center at Fallbrook High School, part of the Fallbrook Art Association display) Click here to buy print of "Vogel-Figured": http://www.redbubble.com/people/nikihilsabeck/art/6941167-vogel-figured-pastel Click here to buy print of "Egyptian Girl": http://www.redbubble.com/people/nikihilsabeck/art/5631471-egyptian-girl Included in Fallbrook Art Association's Spring Show (juried show, runs through April 24th) at the Fallbrook Art Center: 103 S. Main Ave in...

"Avocado on the Side" 12 x 18 chalk pastel on paper Click here to buy print: http://www.redbubble.com/people/nikihilsabeck/art/6955621-1-avocado-on-the-side-pastel Getting ready for the Avocado Festival... This year, I decided to enter the "Art of the Avocado" contest, sponsored by the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce. I've been putting together a lot of avocado-themed pieces, but I couldn't decide on one for the show. Finally, I created this one: a simple chalk pastel on Canson Mi-Teintes paper. It was different from all of the previous pieces in that I didn't include all of the details I had in my other avocado works. It's also much brighter. During one of my art classes at UCR, the instructor asked us if we were "simplifiers" or "complicators." I still don't know the answer to that. I have a feeling that my tendency is to complicate, but once I realize that I'm losing control, I reign it in and bring the piece back to ba...