Sea Street, Dennis Morning

A Study from late summer

9" x 12"
Sea Street, Dennis Morning

to see more of my Cape Cod oil paintings click here

Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

Painting from Life: the Portrait Sitting

While I do not require a sitting with my portrait subjects, it's always a pleasure to get to know my subjects better and to observe from life while chatting. I promise you it is not a sleepy event; but a nice time to learn a bit more about each other. It's truly a pleasure and honor to paint my subjects and I do appreciate when they are able to take the time to stop by. Even just one hour can be a very beneficial experience and personalizes the painted commission.

Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com.

Choosing between Pastel vs. Oil Portraits

Can you tell which is the oil and which is the pastel? The boy is in oil, and the girl pastel.

I am often asked about the pros and cons of pastel vs. oil portraiture. I studied under Constance Flavell Pratt for pastel portraiture, learning the nuances of handling of this lovely, ethereal medium. I have worked in both pastel and oil for portraiture for over ten years now, and have painted in oil for decades.

Both are timeless works of art, however pastels are intrinsically more delicate. A pastel is essentially chalk on paper; though archival, elite materials are used. Like a butterfly, a baby, a rainbow, I believe we love pastels for their delicacy; how they capture a tenderness of life, but like all delicate things you have to be more watchful not to incur damage.

What do I mean by damage?

—Water/mildew: Never, ever store a pastel (or any work of art for that matter) in a basement.

—Pastels must be hung out of direct sunlight to prevent the fading of color pigments.

—The unframed surface is easily marred since most artists do not spray-fix them as that alters the delicate colors. Until they are framed with glass do not let the cat check it out! As an artist I have heard stories of rambunctious children waltzing into rooms and ruining pieces in the works still in studios.

—Take extra care when hanging/transporting the framed piece as it is in glass. At an art exhibition the organizers were trying out new hanging apparatus and artwork was dropping to the floor. I pulled out my pastel early.

Of course these types of events are fairly rare, but I feel that the ideal owner of a pastel is be a careful person who will watch out for their art and remember they must take good care of it.

Oils are more resilient and framing costs can be less for the same size piece: sometimes that can mean that it is a better "buy" to purchase the oil, if you prefer oil, as the price will be about the same as a consumer, with the purchase of the painting and the frame in total. Framing a pastel is an elaborate process of a custom-cut double matt, glass and frame. However if you want a rainbow, sometimes you are willing to go the extra half-mile for it!

Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum—a Boston treasure not to be missed

"The task is to find and create a humane milieu for works of art, a humane environment for all art which will not repel mankind, but attract him."
Matthew Prichard to Gardner 1908

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is one of the jewels of Boston: a gorgeous 15th century Venetian palace in the heart of Boston filled with the finest works of all ages... one simply could not duplicate this enchanting place if one wished. Packed with art stacked on walls from the masters of all ages one could spend a full day in one room alone and not be done. There are oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, and etchings by Rembrandt, Dewing, Hassam, Dennis Bunker Miller, Sargent, Anders Zorn, Vermeer, Matisse, Titian, Rubens, Turner, Whistler . . . and the courtyard is exquisitely beautiful and always seasonally appointed with stunning flowers. It is a work of art in it's own right and incorporates Greek and Roman statuary into its design.

Personally as an artist I have trouble seeing what I wish to see at times. I would like to tweak the lighting and the rope placement. My feeling now is that the museum is about the passion and love of art, not the study of a particular artist's work— so one must soak up the environment and not make any particular plans as one can be immensely frustrated by works in dim, high corners. However, in the end one walks out so fully appreciative of the overall gift of this Venetian Mansion to Boston. Isabella started out as a wealthy mom, but tragically lost her son Jackie when he was a baby of two years old in 1865. She hence flung herself into trips to Europe, meeting and collecting from the finest artists of her time with the help of Bernard Berenson,who was her right hand in these matters of collecting. She sought to create an unprecedented, glorious museum with the plan to give it back to all of us to enjoy.

Also important to note is that she was eccentric and left unwavering rules about rooms not being altered after her death. There are fun biographies to be read about her parties with the powerful and wealthy of her time and her unconventional behavior.

The Harvard Museum's Fogg Art Museum is closed and being renovated http://harvardmagazine.com/breaking-news/harvard-fogg-art-museum-renovation with an anticipated reopening in 2013, so this is now the best small art museum in Boston to visit in my opinion. It is being renovated as well. . but is still open and I highly recommend a stop in. . or several stops in. . .

Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.