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Barbara Benedetti Newton,
"Summer's End"

Barbara Benedetti Newton, born 1943 in Puyallup, Washington, attended public school in Auburn, cosmetology school in Renton, and Burnley School of Professional Art (now renamed Art Institute of Seattle) where she studied with William Cumming among others.

In 1965, Newton began her professional art career as a fashion illustrator for a major Seattle department store. Married the same year to artist William Iles, they relocated to San Francisco where Barbara continued to work as a freelance fashion illustrator. After returning to the Seattle area, they purchased a filbert farm with 1902 farmhouse on Vashon Island.

For Barbara, a 20-year hiatus from art followed. Her creative energy was used to raise their son and daughter, grow cut flowers for resale, develop a flock of wool breed sheep and work at nearby K2 Ski Corporation. She began work in the K2 factory then quickly moved on to Master Scheduler of Production and later, Buyer.

In 1990, after several life-changing events and with the support of her second and final husband, Jay Newton, Barbara left K2 after 16 years to return full time to art. The humble colored pencil became her path back and her introduction to color. Working exclusively in colored pencil for more than a dozen years, Newton became one of the masters of the medium and co-authored Colored Pencil Solution Book, published in 2000. A valued instructor at Frye Art Museum in Seattle and at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology in Oregon for more than a dozen years, Newton retired from teaching in 2006.Her work has been included in American Artist, International Artist, and The Artist’s Magazine, as well as numerous other publications.

In 2002 Newton began exploring other mediums and has been working primarily in soft pastel since then. Making the transition from a precise, time-consuming, transparent medium to spontaneous, fast-paced, opaque soft pastel has been a journey of discovery. With a change of medium, Newton also departed from her trademark light-filled still life subjects to impressionistic landscape scenes.

She is a Charter Member, Signature Member, past president and 10 Year Merit Member of Colored Pencil Society of America; Signature Member of the Northwest Pastel Society; a juried member of Women Painters of Washington and a member of the Eastside Association of Fine Arts, Pastel Society of the West Coast and the Pastel Society of America.

Newton is represented by American Art Company, Tacoma, WA; Jeffrey Moose Gallery, Seattle, WA; State of the Arts Gallery, Olympia, WA; and The Attic Gallery, Portland, OR.

 


Editorial
by Barbara Benedetti Newton
November, 2011

When I participated in a painting demo recently, observers seemed more interested in talking about the medium of pastel and in any tips and tricks I might have than in watching me work on a painting. So, bits and pieces, tips and tricks is what this editorial will be about.

The tip I’m most excited about right now is Daily Paintworks Gallery online. For $9.95 a month, an artist can post paintings for sale. I sold the first two within 12 hours of posting so I’m pretty pumped about this. The site is very user friendly, both for the artist and for the buyer. For now, I am posting 5x7 inch unframed pastels for a specific price. Later, I may add larger paintings for the auction part of the website. Take a look and consider selling your work there! The website address is http://www.dailypaintworks.com. Select “Artists” in the header, then select the tab that says “The DPW Member Artists,” scroll down to my name and select “gallery” next to my name.
Here is how my little gallery looks today. I will continue to add paintings. Most artists have many paintings posted, both sold and available.
Another tip/trick is the holder I made for my easel so I can paint all the way to the edge of the Ampersand® panel. I glued three foamcore strips onto another piece of foamcore to form a “U” shaped trough. I slip the panel into this “U” from the open top and put a push-pin in each top corner to keep the panel from falling forward and out of the holder.
I use silver duct-tape to attach the foamcore holder to the backboard of my easel.
I am forever rearranging my pastel working area. My easel is positioned in an alleyway between a built in counter and a big worktable. When I use a reference photo for a painting, I display it on my laptop computer and place the computer on a chair on top of my worktable to keep it up and out of pastel dust. As I’m working, I wipe off pastel sticks on the old bath towel draped across my easel under the aluminum foil tray that is beneath my painting.
The worktable has indoor/outdoor carpeting on part of it for framing art. To keep the carpet free of color when I set pastel sticks on it, I framed a piece of NOT archival foamcore (because it is slick and I can wipe it off with baby wipes) using an old 19 x 20 inch metal frame. These value columns help me to be more thoughtful in my selection of color.
And, a few words about a workshop I took recently with Elizabeth Mowry. I have owned Elizabeth’s books for years, reading bits and pieces here and there; always pleased to revisit images of her art but more importantly for me, to read her words of wisdom. In my limited experience with pastel artists who also teach, I am so pleased when their attitude matches the beauty of their art.
In the workshop, Elizabeth's kind, gentle nature enabled me to paint my best. Knowing she was near and would help me if I needed it, I felt myself slow down and become more thoughtful in the selection of my colors and strokes. Her lack of micro-managing me was interpreted in my brain as her confidence in me. Feeling confident always helps in making choices that work.
At the end of the workshop, I was happy because I felt the painting I completed was one of my best pieces. I began thinking about where I could show it. Then I realized my options were limited because this painting was worked on in a workshop with an instructor, which presents an ethical dilemma. In good conscious I must abide by the “no student work produced under supervision is eligible” when it is listed as a condition in a prospectus.
Another point I’d like to make is about choosing a workshop instructor. Before you sign up, get a feel for an instructor’s style of teaching from others who have studied with that artist. I haven’t taken many workshops but I after this one, I know what it feels like to have an instructor bring out the best in me. Select an instructor whose method of teaching is one that matches your personality so you can be your best-self painter.
I completed “Byway for Another Day” at the workshop. With reference photo in hand, I started at the top and slowly worked my way down. When I approached the yellow area I asked for input from Elizabeth Mowry and she advised a “quiet” yellow.