Art by Niki Hilsabeck

I paint flowers, I'm trying to grow flowers, I take pictures of flowers... I guess it's a healthier habit than collecting kittens that turn into full-grown, demanding cats ( which was my previous habit). "Dusky Marigolds" 17 x 23 Pastel on Paper View on Daily Paintworks Flowers were a favorite subject for my late grandmother, who was my first art teacher.  All the women on my mother's side had prolific green thumbs.  My dad loves to grow flowers too.  I didn't inherit the green thumb, but I've been working diligently on growing my own flowers.  It started as a fun project with my daughter, and now it's become an obsessive hobby.  Maybe in twenty years I'll actually have a decent garden. "Sprig" 9 x 12 Pastel on Paper View on Daily Paintworks Like painting, I'm learning that gardening is intuitive.  I spend a lot of time observing and experimenting, figuring out what works and what doesn't for the soil we have (and all ...

  "Abstract Flower" (View 1) 6 x 9 in. Pastel on Watercolor-Toned Paper Click here to see large or additional views     In the previous post, my number 10 reason for loving pastels was that they can be blended with water (chalk pastels in this case).    Now for number nine: You can use it over watercolor!   Another great technique for working with pastel is to tone some paper with watercolor, and create a dry pastel painting on the toned paper.  I did this in the piece above, using green watercolor on paper before working in the red, purple, and yellow-green tones with pastel.      Some tips for using watercolor as a surface primer for a pastel painting:   Vary the tones and values of the watercolor, so it creates an interesting background for your pastel.   Make sure the watercolor has plenty of time to dry completely before you start working with the past...