Loving Pastels and Art at Glen Allen Cultural Arts Center

"Roses at the Cultural Arts Center" ©Mary Montague Sikes

"Seen in Virginia," an exhibition of pastel paintings by members of The Pastel Society of Virginia. is on view until July 13 at the Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen. The opening reception, May 18, was well-attended. 

It's exciting to see the renewed interest in pastel art in Virginia. It has long been one of my favorite art mediums.

Pastels became especially popular in the late 19th century when Mary Cassatt created her charming Mother and Child paintings. Other French Impressionists, including Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir, and Claude Monet used this exciting and luminous medium  for their work as well.

Gift Shop, Red Poppies, top right

Besides hosting the exhibition of work by The Pastel Society of Virginia, the Cultural Arts Center is an exciting place to visit any time. It's the site of numerous theatrical productions, a wide variety of art and writing workshops, and much more. The expansive gift shop features work by Virginia artists and craftsmen. Many of my encaustic paintings and other art pieces are for sale there. My favorite painting (of those I have in the gift shop) is "Red Poppies, Like Georgia," an encaustic. (The horse on the left in the Seen in Virginia show is mine.)

The Cultural Arts Center, 2880 Mountain Road in Glen Allen VA, is open Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It's also open for theatrical presentations and other events that often take place on weekends.

"Grazing Near Colonial Downs" pastel ©Mary Montague Sikes

"Seen in Virginia Opening Reception" ©Mary Montague Sikes

Arts Center in Richmond Serves Community in Many Ways

The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen is expanding its gift shop. Yesterday, when I took new art pieces for the shop that will hold a grand opening on September 8, I was struck by the many ways this beautiful facility serves the community. Not only does it have a wide array of theatrical events, but it also offers art and writing classes and workshops for all age and ability groups. In addition, the Center has four art galleries featuring high quality exhibitions.

©Sondra Arkin from the Cultural Arts Center web site

"Where I've Been Where I'm Going" is the exhibit currently on view in the Gumenick Family Gallery there. I was thrilled to see this exquisite exhibition of encaustic paintings by Sondra Arkin. In recent years, I have fallen in love with this form of painting which incorporates colored pigments blended with melted beeswax combined with damar resin. The materials can be maneuvered with a heat gun.

In this show, Arkin has a brief history of the process and descriptions of how she works displayed on one wall. She tells about the dibond support she uses. I was not familiar with dibond and now want to investigate that material because the wooden support on which I often work makes large paintings quite heavy. Arkin also uses tinted shellac in her work--another method I long to try with the encaustics. Her large geometric pieces are especially beautiful and impressive.

"Threading color into these structures, without making the work about color, is the goal of this exhibition," Arkin says in a statement for the Glen Allen show.

"Field of Wild Poppies" ©Mary Montague Sikes

Coincidentally, two of the pieces (including the one on the right) I left for the gift shop at the Cultural Arts Center are small encaustic paintings. This is a medium I will continue to explore.

I am thankful that the Cultural Arts Center makes possible wonderful art exhibitions like this one with Sondra Arkin. What a special treat for the community.