8/2026 Adventure: J-2 ~ SHIMMER SHIMMER!
Bright, reflected sunshine is everywhere! This month's challenge asked our artists to be inspired by one of the countless ways in which light invites us outdoors at this time of year.
WILL EVANS ~ Forest Brook, 16 x 12", Uart 400, blocked in with Nupastels, washed with alcohol, mostly Terry Ludwig - "This earlier attempt was headed for the bin, I thought it was bland, but perhaps it just needed some Sparkle. Thank you Adventures." - Fairview, NC
JOANNA KARPAY ~ Summer at Lake Julian - "This Plein air painting was done at Lake Julian Park in Asheville. It was a perfect summer day and the water was sparkling brilliantly. I knew I had to try to capture it!" - Asheville, NC
NANCY CLAUSEN ~ Down By The River - "I have painted the middle tree many times. This version of the tree painting was from a photograph. Sadly, all three trees are now gone because of the hurricane. But, I still enjoy painting the tree." - Swannanoa, NC
MARGARET LYN-SROKEN ~ 5.25 x 7.75" - "Sketch from photo taken when leaves were so bright in the sun and looking beyond, underneath the chairs in the cool shade." - Black Mountain. NC
MERYL MEYER ~ Cormorant Air Drying its Wings, 12 x 9", Blue Canson paper and soft pastels - "While on my weekly walk around Lake Louise, I came upon a Cormorant drying its wings along side some ducks. I video taped it because the lake was shimmering with reflections. The hues were golden, green, and orange and the highlights were in yellow, green and blue. The Cormorant was sunning itself on a rock along with ducks. It was a beautiful serene moment. I struggled with the paper as it was on the rough textured side. My mistake. I made it work but mark making was difficult. Thank you for this challenge. I had a great subject." - Weaverville, NC
KRYSTINA MADEJ ~ William at the Beach, 12 x 9", Art Spectrum - "Continue to work on this pastel which I started in Aline Ordman's Figure in the Landscape workshop at IAPS. Using a combination of hard and soft pastels to get an impressionist feel with paper showing through but isn't yet where I want it to be." - Vancouver Canada, previously Atlanta
MARYANN GRIB ~ Glowing, 8 x 6", multi media paper with clear gesso, various soft pastels - "This scene is an open field close to my home where the sun sets and creates a beautiful glowing landscape every day. I have not been able to get out there to paint plein air yet but I did take a photo one day that inspired this piece." - Gallatin, TN
TERRILYNN DUBREUIL ~ Salt Marsh Morning Sparkle - "Up at dawn and off to the salt marsh in Maine. Working on a paper I’m not familiar, nor happy, with. Always worth an experiment." - Windham, Maine
JANE BEST ~ Summer Hike, 14 x 11", Uart - "A recent summer visit to Julian Price Park (BRP). I really enjoyed doing this painting although I think it ended up with only a little bit of shimmer and a large amount of “busy and fussy!” - Morganton, NC
CATHARIN BANTA ~ Glowing African Darter, 12 x 9", Terry Ludwigs, Uart - "I was fascinated with the birds when we were in South Africa. This big African Darter was perched on a log in the water late in the day. I was surprised after I took the photo at how the sunlight bounced off of everything. The water was a real challenge for me. He was looking for a fish and we just glided on by!" - Laurel Park, NC
CLAIRE BENTON ~ Shimmering Falling Waters, 7 x 5", Somime sage green pastel mat, mostly Panpastels followed by Mount Vision sticks - "Aurora Borealis was my first thought. But then I realized water falls shimmer like crazy." - Riverview, FL
ALEC HALL ~ Mane Highlights, 7.5 x 9", UART 400 grit, Rembrandt, Blue Earth, Carb-Othello pastel pencils - "To create a soft light effect on the mane of this back-lit pony, I purposely used large pastel sticks throughout the painting and only brought in my pencils for the details of the eye, ears, and nose. This gave the painting a looser, slightly more impressionistic feel." - Hendersonville, NC
JANICE JACKSON ~ Summer Sparkle, 7 x 5" Uart using various soft pastels - Hendersonville, NC
PAT FENDA ~ Shimmer in Vermont, 12 x 9", soft pastel - "This is my friend's front yard and it just was light a runway of sun. She is a fabulous gardener and it was fun to capture this moment." - Tampa, FL
DIANE DE GRASSE ~ Sunset Over Harpswell Neck, 15 x 12", Soft Pastel - "The idea of "shimmer" came to me this spring as I explored a photo from my last summer in Maine. Here the setting sun seemed to burn into the stretch of land as it colored up clouds in the evening sky. And I loved the way the clouds' reflection danced and shimmered on the ocean below." - Black Mountain, NC
DEBORAH CHASE ~ Sunny Iris, 6.5 x 4.5", La Carte pastel paper and a variety of pastels - "I like the way flowers glow when the sun shines through them." - Rutherfordton, NC
PAT QUIGLEY ~ Shore Lights, 8 x 10", mostly neutral pastels over Black Uart - "Taken on vacation at the shore while doing a night stroll." - Norristown, PA
LINDA MEDDERS-JACKSON ~ Lookin' For The Ladies, mostly Richeson, some Rembrandt and a few pencils - "A dapper dude in his fine feathers eyeing the ladies. This was a practice for a big painting." - Cross, NC
CANDY THOMAS ~ Rushing Light, 12 x 9”, soft pastel on Uart 400 - "I was drawn to the way sunlight caught the rushing water below Tom’s Creek Falls during a recent hike. During this challenge, I discovered that creating shimmer wasn’t about adding more bright color, but about preserving the darkest darks beside the moving water. That contrast allowed the blues, violets and warm reflected colors to come alive." - Gastonia, NC
JAN COBB ~ Shimmering Lights of a Storm, 10.7 x 7.5", soft Sennelier pastels on Maimoufin sanded paper - "Scary storm but bright sparkling pavement!" - Black Mountain, NC
CHRISTINA CARROLL ~ Sunlit Mooring, 8.5 x 11", Pastelgrain - "Love sunlit anything. Good morning for sparkling water!! I used 5 colors for the sparkles. Nothing like creamy pastels for the finish glow." - New Bern, NC
KATHERINE HUTCHINSON ~ The Cast, 11 x 8" sanded paper using various pastels - "This current adventure ( and I always want to call them a challenge because they certainly are challenging) made me think of an old early attempt to record a moment in time of one of my grandsons. A beautiful sunset at the coast. My attempt with pastels was when I was very new to pastels and for that matter painting. So I brought it back out and worked on a better value contrast so hopefully adding a shimmer? Definitely overworked but an improvement from where it began. Thanks as always." - Rutherfordton, NC
ANDREA STUTESMAN ~ Rosebud, 6 x 9" - "Just returned from Canada/Alaska. Playing with my Derwent Pastel pencils. Too tired to finish." - Black Mountain, NC
