6/2026 Adventure: I-6 ~ HATS, HATS & MORE HATS!
This month's challenge asked our artists to put on their thinking caps, gather their pastels and painting surfaces, and see what they could come up with.
MERYL MEYER ~ My Bear Hat, 12 x 9", Mi- tientes Canson paper, salmon hue. Used assorted soft pastel, pastel pencils and hard pastel - "I purchased my bear hat on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Water Knob last fall. I took it with me on a recent trip to Alaska. It got many complements. This was quite challenging. I tried to recreate its texture and there was a lot of detail, shapes and shadows. The paper was easier than I thought to work on. I was pleased with the outcome." - Weaverville, NC
PAT QUIGLEY ~ Concentration, 9 x 12", UART Dark, soft pastels - "While in the Army, my dad learned to weld. He said it required tremendous focus to get it right - something he repeated often when we were lazy about homework. His birthday coincided with this Adventure Challenge on 'hats', so I went with a hard hat/welders hat from an online-free image. Learned a lot - I need to practice shiny metal, glaring fire and colors in shadow. Thank you for these Adventures!" -Norristown, PA
JAN COBB ~ Tom’s Many Hats!, 9 x 12", soft pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Velvet - "Hats to my husband, Tom, means baseball caps! Dozens of them over the years. US Navy, Corvettes - 94, 2004, 2013, Comaro SS. Then from places we have lived and traveled. Dozens of hats!!!" - Black Mountain, NC
KATHY AMSPACHER ~ Medicine Crow - Hawk Headdress, 18 x 15", watercolor paper with soft pastels and pastel pencils - "The lives of Native Americans have always been interesting to me. I was inspired by the photography of Edward S. Curtis, 1868-1952. Sometimes the photos show a saddened people forced to abandon their culture and lands. I used a photo of Medicine Crow of the Crow Indian nation in Montana. The warrior wears a hawk hide headdress, the 'hat' I chose to paint. The reverence they had for wildlife and the earth is inspiring. The Library of Congress has a full collection of Curtis photographs available as public domain. I used a B&W photo and loosely did this portrait. It is not complete and I look forward to finishing it. Thank you for this challenge." - Hendersonville, NC
DIANE DE GRASSE ~ My Favorite Hat, 9 x 12", soft pastel on UART 400 black - "I wore this canvas hat with a broad brim sailing in the Mediterranean and as forlorn 'Peggy' performing on stage. Two of my favorite pastimes. I tried to convey the crumpled but sturdy nature of it with many layers and marks. Thank you for this Adventure opportunity!" - Black Mountain, NC
ANDREA STUTESMAN ~ Headed Somewhere, 16 x 12", UArt paper - "I took this photo in New Zealand in April. I was attracted to the stack of hats with their shapes and colors. I had planned on painting them at some point, and this was the perfect opportunity. I loved the shadows cast as they sit above each other." - Black Mountain, NC
PAT FENDA ~ Pat's Hats - "I have worn a lot of different hats and still have a small collection. It was lots of fun selecting a few for a hat still life. Thanks always for these challenges." - Tampa, FL
CLAIRE BENTON ~ Steam Punk, 9.5 x 7", on buttercup Pastelmat - Riverview, FL
NANCY CLAUSEN ~ Portrait of My Hat, 9 x 12", Ampersand board, Great American Pastels, Senneliers and one Hemro Rouche pastel - "When Wayne and I traveled to Germany on business, after doing a little sightseeing, we would spend our last day in Frankfurt, where we flew in and out of, to enjoy the city. This last day we found a new street to explore and there I found a hat shop. Hence, MIEN. Hut." - Swannanoa, NC
CHRISTINA CARROLL ~ Western Hats - "This was a much larger photo and I cropped it to get the 4 hats that were so together but so different. Was interesting!" - New Bern, NC
WILL EVANS ~ End of the Trail, 6 x 12", Uart 400, Nupastels exclusively - Fairview, NC
GARY RUPP ~ Favorite, 12 x 12", variety of soft and hard pastels - The title is 'Favorite' simply because it is my favorite hat. Painting it was like painting an old friend. I wanted it to look worn, comfortable and well loved!" - Black Mountain, NC
ALEC HALL ~ Equine Ear Bonnet, 10 x 5", Pastels: Rembrandt; Carb-Othello pastel pencils - "In recent years, horses ridden in stadium equestrian events have been seen wearing knitted 'Ear Bonnets'. These 'hats' help dampen extraneous noises and allow the horse to concentrate on the rider's signals while reducing the stress of being in a strange and noisy environment." -Hendersonville, NC
CAROL ROLLICK ~ My Favorite, Pastel Carte and pastel pencils - "Birthday week at my house and scrunched for time. I will do a little doctoring up when the week is over. This was fun." - Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
MACIEJ BOBOWICZ ~ Evening Stroll, 16 x 12", Unison Colours soft pastels on PastelMat paper - "I took this photo of my son a year ago, and it waited a year to be painted. It's a typical photo bomb. I was taking a photo of the beautiful Portuguese seaside cliffs, and he went into a cropped landscape. He looked great with his tan, wearing his Panama hat in the last rays of the warm summer sun, in front of the long, cold shadows on the rocks." - Gdańsk
JANE BEST ~ Sun Hat, 5 x 7”, on Uart - "This was an enjoyable adventure. Although I do think this does look somewhat like a hat, it makes me think of a flying saucer from the 'Jetson' era." - Morganton, NC
J KAY GORDON ~ Watching the Waves, 8 x 6" - "This lady was sitting at Blueberry Hill, on the Schoodic Loop Road of Acadia National Park watching high waves that were being generated by an off-shore storm when I took this photo. We're here in Maine for the summer. I do my drawings in our trailer with pastel pencils to establish the colors... then move to my studio (tent) to work with softer pastels. I created this painting with Derwent pastel pencils, Creatacolor hard pastels, and assorted softer... including Mt Visions and Pan Pastels. Working this time on light blue regular grit Art Spectrum." - currently in Winter Harbor, Maine, but from Weaverville, NC
DEBORAH CHASE ~ Sunny Discussion, 7 x 8.5" - "I like hats, skin tones not so much." - Rutherfordton, NC
KAREN KNAUB ~ Phantom Hats, 12 x 12", various soft pastels on premier paper - "In 2019 while visiting our son in NY we saw Phantom of the Opera. He has many theater connections and got us a backstage tour. To this day I am not sure what was more impressive, the play or back stage. This is from the Wig/Hat costume room. Thank you for another adventure! - Lake Lure, NC
MARGARET LYN-SOROKEN ~ Purple Hat - Sketch of photo taken of kid enjoying this oversize hat she kept playing with while walking. After examining it… striped dress and striped rail… double challenge… Thanks. - Black Mountain, NC
LINDA MEDDERS-JACKSON ~ Watching Sissy Ride, mixed pastels and pencils - "Trying to learn to do a fast painting and trying to do it without the detail (boy this is hard to do)." - Cross, NC
KATHERINE HUTCHINSON ~ Beach Hats, 7.5 x 12", Pastel Premiere, Italian clay using various pastels - "I was expecting to redo my submission from the last adventure which was a portrait of one of my granddaughters in a big floppy hat when I walked past the hat rack in the kitchen of our beach house. There is was-the perfect subject! I'm certainly lacking in drawing skills but I was determined to give it a try. I only have a box of pastels with me so I will add details with pastel pencils when I return home to the mountains." - Rutherfordton, NC
