This week’s EBSQ Blogger is a pastel artist who’s not afraid to take her art on the road. You might find her on a street corner, a city park or even out in the countryside. Her pastel paintings are vibrant, colorful impressions of the beauty all around us.

Who and where are you?

Hi!  I’m Brenda Boylan (also known as “Lil’ b”, by my closest friend).  Painting with soft pastels in the studio or en plein-air is what I LOVE to do!  I’ve been painting professionally for 16 years and am a member of the Northwest Pastel Society and a few other regional organizations.  I have won a few awards with my work and more recently my work was published in the Best of America Pastel II Series.

I’m also married to the man of my dreams and a mom of two very busy kids, so you could say I’m pretty fulfilled.  I live in the Great Northwest, Portland, Oregon, where tree huggers and salmon run free.  This region offers artists a lot of beautiful areas to gain inspiration from.

Albrights Donuts, 12x9 inches, Pastel

How did you get started art blogging?

I started blogging mostly out of curiosity.  Visiting my favorite artists’ websites, (some from EBSQ) I noticed that a lot of them had really cool blogs which kept me coming back for more. From their example, I figured out how and what I would blog about.  Also, I was told that Blogging is a simple way to market my work to a wider market and that I can easily build relationships with my visitors.  Sounded easy to me!  So I jumped right in, and have been posting weekly since September of ’07.  Blogging keeps me accountable to my art and motivates me to paint on a regular basis which can sometimes be hard with my busy life.

Rise From Water, 5x5 inches, Pastel

Any tips for other EBSQ art bloggers?

Keep it simple and have interesting things to write about that others may learn from.  Also, post regularly!  I have found bloggers who don’t post regularly don’t give me any reason to return.

Being Sour Has it's Benefits, 6x6 inches, Pastel

What’s your musical inspiration of choice when you’re working in your studio?

I love to listen to a lot of different stuff.  Currently, I use Pandora.com and have created a “station” I mixed with 80 punk/new wave music as well as the other side of the spectrum of Classical and new age instrumental sounds.  More recently, the background sounds of jazz are beginning to appeal to me more and more.

Buoy Dance, 18x12 inches, Pastel

What’s coming next from your easel?

I’m getting ready to create a larger version of a study I did last November ’09, called “Evening Reflections“.  I have been working on a series of 24×24″ scenes of my family’s farm, but have moved beyond that idea to include other property lines filled with moody color. This one study is just what I’d like to make on a larger scale.  Sometimes a study doesn’t translate into a larger piece, so I will be trying to capture the mood more than the exact likeness of the study.

http://brendaboylan.blogspot.com/

Thank you Brenda for being an EBSQ Blogger of the Week!

If you are an EBSQ Artist and would like to be considered for Blogger of the Week just add us to your blogroll. I’m searching EBSQ profiles weekly for links to artist’s blogs. If you aren’t an EBSQ Artist, what are you waiting for?

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