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.

Pigments: Historical and Modern

There is a distinct difference between modern day pigments and the natural pigments used prior to the middle of the 1700s. In the past, artists had apprentices who ground the colors for them throughout the oil painting sessions. Because they were made by hand, the pigments retained a natural grittiness and consistency with larger particle size. Today's oil paint manufacturers make synthetic colors in huge vats where the end result is exceptional smoothness. Prior to the middle of the 1700, natural pigments came from dirt, minerals, and even plants.

Uber Azurite

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One of the most spectacular mineral colors is azurite/malachite, which was at one time abundant and found in many places around the world including Arizona. It has been used by both artists of the past and today. This magnificent chunk is at the Tohona Botanical Garden in Tucson, AZ. The color absolutely made my heart go flip flop when I first … [Read more...] about Uber Azurite

The World Over

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One enduring concept has become clear to me during my years of historical pigment research. The colors used in world cultures throughout the ages are many of the very same pigments. The earth itself over thousands of centuries has created a harmonious palette of archival and readily available colors to create some of the most beautiful and enduring … [Read more...] about The World Over

Festival of Panathenaea

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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

Lekythos

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My Greek painting is nearly finished and will be revealed in about a week or so. I want my client to see only snippets beforehand, so just details like this one will be shown for now. Hours and hours of research went into all aspects of the composition in addition to pigments. This lekythos  jar was popular during the classical period of 5th … [Read more...] about Lekythos

Knucklebones

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 In ancient Greece, a popular game played by adults and children alike was called astragali or knucklebones. The dried ankle bones of sheep were perfect for this because they have four sides - one flat, one concave, one convex, and one with a sinuous side. A value was placed on each of the differing sides. Two or more players toss the bones in the … [Read more...] about Knucklebones