Margret E. Short Fine Arts

Portland, Oregon artist Margret Short - a modern day master of 17th Century Dutch art using the chiaroscuro technique to create still life and floral paintings.

Margret Short

Easel Origins

by

Early Italian Renaissance painters were extremely popular in their time, but not much is known about how they worked. There is no evidence that they used any sort of device for holding a canvas while they worked. Then along came the seventeenth century and the rise of the Dutch Masters who were very astute and methodical in their working … [Read more...] about Easel Origins

Festival of Panathenaea

by

Well, here is the great unveiling. For the past many months, this 30x30 stretch of canvas has been my labor of love.  After much research into topics for use as a theme, the Festival of Panathenaea became an easy choice because the possibilities for subject matter were so colorful, plentiful, and titillating.   As mentioned before,  … [Read more...] about Festival of Panathenaea

Athena’s Festival

by

In ancient Greek mythology, Athena was the goddess and protector of all the arts including painting, sculpture, and literature. A celebration of her birthday was held every year (a grand event every 4 years) which was called the Festival of Panathenaea during a month that corresponded with our July. All Greeks attended including, men, women, … [Read more...] about Athena’s Festival

Cinnabar

by

  My favorite red pigment used by ancient Greeks is cinnabar. It was a perfect hue to use on these poppies. I used burnt umber and madder for the shadow tones, and heightened the lights with yellow ochre and white. A very similar hue can be attained by using vermilion, a much more intense in color. Just calm the heat with a nice earthy … [Read more...] about Cinnabar

Your Approach?

by

If you can imagine you wanted to replicate the image of this jar, how would you attack the task? Would you paint the light colors and apply the design wet in wet? Or would you try my technique described in the previous entry below? What colors would you use? All three vessels were a huge challenge and a matter of trial and error involving … [Read more...] about Your Approach?