Monthly Meeting
Thursday, December 8, 2022: Grace Newcomer on Pastel
Grace loved to draw as a child as is most common with artists. As she raised her family, she would periodically try her hand at some artistic endeavor like sculpture until she entered the workforce. Years later as retirement crept upon her, she returned to her interest in art and discovered pastels in 2009. She enrolled in a Fine Arts Pastel class in Montgomery College under the instruction of Jean Hirons, a landscape artist and author. Since then, she has attended workshops from noted pastel artists Christine Swann, Diana DeSantis, Liz Haywood-Sullivan and Alain Picard. She also attends weekly portrait sessions.
Grace is a representational artist and says her style is ever evolving. She is interested in painting many things but leans specifically toward portraits and landscapes. She especially loves the outdoors, travel, and history – bringing travel photos into the studio to paint her personal impressions of those captured moments. She focuses on the light, colors, composition and mood to achieve her goal. She currently has a Yellowstone National Park landscape series. Her other passion is the portrait where she looks for the spirit and personality of the subject. She strives to capture all the nuances of her subjects as she sees them.
Artist statement
When I discovered pastels I immediately fell in love with the medium. I love the vibrant colors and the hands-on application that allows a real connection to my work which isn’t possible for me with a paintbrush.
My art is representational; I paint what interests and excites me which for now are portraits and landscapes. With portraits, I’m always trying to capture the soul and essence of the subject, embracing the nuances of each face. Also, my love of travel offers the challenges of the landscape, I am often inspired by the light or mood of a location and take many photos to use in the studio, hoping to elicit in the viewer my initial response to the subject
The driving force behind my work, whether it’s a portrait or landscape, is telling a story. I want the viewer to experience some emotional response, memory or feeling that cannot be expressed in words.
Grace is a member of the Maryland Society of Portrait Painters, Maryland Pastel Society, Gaithersburg Fine Arts Association, Frederick County Art Association and the Art League of Germantown. Her work has been accepted into many juried competitions in both regional and national exhibitions and has received numerous awards including a Best in Show. Her artwork is featured in “Finding your Style in Pastel”, by Jean Hirons, Author House, 2012.