A very long while ago I was gifted these fine art pastels. They had belonged to a friend’s mother who had been a well received flower artist. On her death the pastels found their way to me. I have had them nearly thirty years and she was very old when she moved on to the great studio in another realm, so these are probably more than 50 years old.I worked out yesterday that in my 30 years I have used about 20% of what I was given. After a sort out I had 5 empty drawers. For the first time ever I went into an art shop and bought some pastels. Some really bright pastels to create a specific image.

I really only needed  red,orange, bright pink and black. But the local art shop didn’t sell single pastels. Although made by the same manufacturer as my old pastels these giddy contemporary pastels are a little more difficult to use, they are possibly a student version . A bit of research tells me that Rembrandt pastels were first introduced in 1924. There is every chance that some of my pastels are nearly that age. Some of them certainly lived through World War 2 in London with their previous owner.

  Which is rather fabulous as I am creating a time warp landscape that features Devonport, formally Plymouth Dock, a favourite tree, duplicated.

Fireworks or incendiary bombs  and of course, given the current project Mr JMW Turner.

I think the landscape, should it need a genre might be classified as Magical Realism.

Turner overlooking Plymouth Dock for 200 years. Inspired by Wallpaper.

And a direct Turner quote

My blacks are deliberately very black and the brights are either sombre or joyful. The Plymouth Blitz or Firework night.

All this from a box of old pastels and a few gaudy new ones.