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 July 2026
Dear Reader,
I sit on the shore of Ennerdale in The Lake District as I write this. I am also sketching and have just been congratulated by a passerby for my efforts. He asked if I was using pastel and when I answered ‘yes’, told me how he enjoyed using them, particularly when capturing fleeting moments. As he spoke, there was a little nagging voice inside my head urging me to mention the fact that I was about to become the new President of The Pastel Society UK. Thankfully, I resisted the urge. Nobody likes a big-head!
But this made me think as to why all of us do what we do for The Pastel Society. I have never been the first person to join any group or club unless it was advantageous to my goals and ‘PS’ after my name was certainly in my thoughts early on. But I was wrong or at least misguided. From day one, I was made to feel that I could be me and appreciated for more than just my work. There is no getting away from the fact that The Society came into being to promote the highest possible standards in pastel and dry media, primarily in the UK. But with this also comes encouraging new artists, young artists, seasoned artists, new work, working with new materials and exploring new ideas. Whilst there may be individuals who can demand attention through strong personalities, good connections and expanding communications as well as good work, who is going to help an artist’s journey without also the self-seeking goals of others? Who is going to look at the wider picture and encourage ‘enthusiasm, innovation, skill and originality’ in pastel and dry media in this country? We are an old society of diverse individuals, formed as a charity to promote such a goal but we are not an exclusive club for the retired. No-one person has the right to say ‘this is great or this is bad’ but as a group of likeminded people we put our heads above the parapet to state that we are trying to promote the best we can find or are offered, whether as ‘a standout one-off work’ or ‘as a standout consistent body of work.’ Decisions are debated; mistakes are made but The Society lives on beyond any one person to encourage new contemporary art. It is this creative journey that quite literally, everyone can be part of at whatever level and with whatever interest.
I think a new Friend of The Society, Penny, encapsulates this thought.
“I have been greatly influenced over the years by two of your regular exhibitors and members Roger Dellar and Rebecca DeMendonca. Rebecca loves and promotes Unison Pastels and I am gradually adding them to my store but I well remember a great friend of my sons, David Napp. He was a very talented colourist and represented Rembrandt Pastels and my husband gave me their complete range in a box for Christmas. It was like being given the most delicious box of chocolates. I hope I have done them justice over the years without putting on too much weight! I am attaching one of my recent pastels influenced by Chris Forsey painting on a coloured background and using Unison and Rembrandt soft pastels.”
Finally, I hinted in the June ReMark that the annual exhibition can always be better. Running up to the 2027 event, I will say more about what we will do, but for now, please think about this. We want more submissions and we would like more members. We will not drop standards, but we will find space for work that demands attention. Yes, these are challenging times. Yes, it costs time and money. But my best advice is to remember that acceptance can be more than just ‘15 minutes of fame.’ Acceptance also enters your name into the archives of a national institution for life and may well lead to so much more. No one can promise sales but also remember there are also no guarantees to success without trying and being willing to bear some disappointment, otherwise we will not progress. The provisional submissions opening date is Monday 17 August at 12 noon but please check the Mall Galleries website and read the submission guidance. Frame well, price wisely and ask for advice if in doubt. We are here to help, encourage and consider any request that challenges our guidelines.
President Richard Rees has done such a wonderful job for The Society over the last five years and will continue to do so, including developing the connection he has forged with The Royal Drawing School. He will be a difficult person to follow, but with our new vice-president, Martin Goold and too many other essential people to list (see website,) hopefully the choppy waters of Ennerdale will not be an omen for times to come. Good painting. Simon B. Hodges PPS
info.thepastelsociety@gmail.com
Penny’s Pastel Piece
Featured artist
Ian Rawling PS
Artist’s Statement:
During my time at art college in Chester & Sheffield in the late 1980’s I supplemented my student grant by doing large scale pavement drawings in pastels, chalk & charcoal. A subsequent career in art & illustration followed involving the creation & publication of numerous greetings cards & limited edition prints for large companies.
More recently I have enjoyed returning to pastels & charcoal with my depiction of everyday subjects in a realist style. I love the hands-on creative process involved & the vibrant colours & various mark-making techniques I can use from broad sweeps of colour to the tiniest of details. Although my primary aim is to paint a realistic picture I also like how, on closer inspection, some techniques I use such as cross hatching & underlying brushstrokes are revealed to the viewer. With simple compositions & a limited colour palette I try to give
emphasis to the textures & fine details which help give the impression of reality.
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