Art by Niki Hilsabeck

        "Approaching" 5 in x 6.75 in mixed media on paper In 2004, I signed up for my first official art class on a college campus.  I'd already been teaching public school for a few years, and needed to renew my credential. To do so, I needed to take some post-graduate units.  To my surprise, I was informed that those units could be in any subject!  I decided to go ahead and explore a life-long love that I'd never spent much time learning in a classroom: art classes. My grandmother was a painter, so thanks to her I'd spent plenty of time making art.  When I chose my first "real" art class, I picked one called "The Magic of Pastel Painting."  I knew I loved to play around with oil pastels.  I assumed the class would teach me how to use them properly. To my surprise, the materials list didn't include oil pastels-- instead, it said to bring soft (or what we sometimes called "chalk") pastels, along with a special type of paper.  I p...

"Carlsbad Sunset North" 8 x 12 Chalk pastel on paper Click here to purchase We get a lot of awe-inspiring sunsets here in California, especially along the coast in the fall and winter for some reason.  One of our favorite sunset spots is at the beach in Carlsbad.  If you get there on a day where the ocean fog hasn't rolled in early, the last hour of sunlight makes for spectacular viewing. I used blue-toned Canson Mi-Teintes paper for these two sunset pieces, one showing the view north (including the distant lights of the Oceanside pier) and one looking straight out over the horizon.  I took the reference photos back in December, on a day where we decided to avoid the Christmas shopping rush and hide out down along the beach for a few hours. "Carlsbad Sunset West" 9 x 12 Chalk pastel on paper Click here to purchase Both sunset pieces are daily painting exercises, completed in one session each with the exception of a little finishing before posting...