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The Pastel Society – Member of the Federation of British Artists
For more information about the Federation of British Artists please view the promotional video:
https://youtu.be/IAyqHNAlfMM
To View The Magic of Pastel
To View ‘In Conversation with Carole Hubscher CEO of Caran d’Ache’
FBA Fundraiser – FBA Editions
Prints for a Cause
Limited Edition Prints from the Federation of British Artists
To view the full range of prints available:
https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/exhibitions-events/fundraiser-fba-editions
Pastel Society Members Tanya Avchinnikova and Ian Rawling are featured.
THE ReMARK September 2026
“Drawn to Colour”
10am Wednesday 27 January 2027
The Annual Pastel Society Exhibition 2027
Dear Reader,
Is this date in your diary or on your digital calendar? I do not want you to miss out because this is a huge day in the calendar for Pastel and dry media in the UK, for The Pastel Society and hopefully for you too. Let me explain why.
‘This is a huge date in the year for Pastel and dry media in the UK’
Last month we passed twenty thousand Instagram followers thanks to the hard work of Michele Ashby and previously, Sarah Bee. It may sound like a relatively small number but cute animals, all forms of click bait and ever-increasing AI is stiff competition. Personally, whilst I worry that the full implications of AI are not being seriously considered, my reaction to its creative potential is one of interest and the thought that I may be able to create something different out of what I currently do is exciting. But with this potential, must come honesty. Honesty about how we create so that we compare like for like.
But whatever happens in the future, I do not believe that we will ever better the sensation we experience when creatively making our own mark physically with tangible materials. And exhibiting this work physically in one place allows members, Friends, artists, visitors, buyers, manufacturers and any like-minded individuals to meet and celebrate this. Whilst it may feel like the conclusion in a process, it is also the beginning of the next conversation.
‘make our own mark physically with tangible materials’
But I am not the greatest fan of opening events. There, I have said it. I have been to quite a few and they are crowded, noisy, develop into small familiar groups with a lot of standing and poor access to the work. Nevertheless, I have taken the opportunity to meet some very talented people and long may that continue.
And so, we are having, ‘an opening day with an evening of celebration’. Opening from 10am until 5pm, this will take into consideration all those that must travel considerable distances. So, hopefully all the people I have previously mentioned will take the opportunity to meet, talk, look at and buy work and the extra time will allow for a more relaxed but stimulating atmosphere. You will see groups of members walking around choosing prize winners whilst you have a coffee in the café. Talk to artists. Meet manufacturers. Plan to meet friends. At 5pm the gallery will close to general visitors and invited guests and exhibiting artists can either remain or arrive for the evening prize giving event, highlighting the work worthy of additional celebration.
‘an opening day with an evening of celebration’
I make no apologies for firmly believing that as part of the FBA at the Mall Galleries, our annual exhibition, though promoting pastel throughout the UK and abroad, has its place in London since 1898. This is what we gather for and what we celebrate once a year.
What follows the opening day is just as important but that is for another time.
Good painting. Simon B. Hodges
Simon B. Hodges PPS info.thepastelsociety@gmail.com
Featured artist
Richard Rees PPPS
Artist’s Statement:
Richard Rees PPPS, RIBA, FSAI*
I have now been painting in oil pastels solidly for 12 years. I have a greatly practiced facility in drawing due to a long career before that in architectural illustration. When I started seriously in oil pastels in 2014, I had to deliberately invent a style where I could introduce a level of abstraction into the work to prevent it becoming too illustrative.
I achieved this by selecting cityscapes as a subject and simplifying and abstracting the shapes as I developed them. I also used templates and straight edges to create a strongly geometric feel to the work. I love the intensity of colour in oil pastels, especially used over a coloured ground. Therefore, exaggeration of colour also became an expressive tool for more of a painter’s than an illustrator’s approach.
In the last few years, I have diversified into soft pastels occasionally but still work primarily in oil pastels. My work has become more detailed, as I often use an acrylic ink drawing under the pastels to achieve sharpness in depicting richly ornamented architecture. I now want to change again and incorporate more texture into my work and have taken on more landscape subjects as illustrated below (Stanage Edge for example).
Now I have more time (theoretically) to paint since I handed over the Presidency of the Pastel Society, I have the opportunity over the next few months to experiment with even stronger textures and a looser style of drawing. A change in subject matter is also part of this plan. So, watch this space for what I produce for the Annual Exhibition!
*Fellow of the Society of Architectural Illustrators.
Sponsored by Caran d’Ache
Subscribe to the Pastel Society as a Friend and receive emails about events, workshops, courses and exhibitions
As from the beginning of January 2025, we will be reducing the annual Friends’ fee to zero and current ‘subscribers’ will be added so that all that wish to follow us will be called Friends. ‘Early bird’ information including a newsletter which will be completely digital. For administrative and cost saving reasons we cannot provide paper copies.
We will provide mail shots for workshops, open studios, social events, archive visits and exhibitions. Always open to ideas to add to our own. We will organise tours of the annual exhibition by The President, Vice President or Friends’ secretary and by prior arrangement a chance to ‘Meet the Artist’ at the Mall Galleries during the annual exhibition with an informal chat or discussion of work/works on display.
We would also like to give the Friends more opportunity to show their own work and encourage news and articles that can be added to the website on a monthly basis. We will send out more information as it is formalised over the remainder of the year. Whilst providing you with more details in the coming months, we will be adding a map of the United Kingdom to the website showing the distribution of members and individually highlighting a list of pastel related services that they can provide along with contact details.
We want The Pastel Society website to become your first port of call for pastel and other dry media in the field of Fine Arts in the UK.
Not many opportunities in life are free so we hope you appreciate this one.
Subscribe to the Pastel Society as a Friend