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.

Felucca

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What do Winston Churchill, Mark Twain, King Farouk, and Dave and Margret Short all have in common? We all sailed down the Nile while visiting the magnificent antiquities of Egypt……in a felucca!

Feluccas many @72

This graceful sailing vessel is motor-less and relies on the Egyptian southerly winds to push it upstream. These winds build during the day and subside in the evening while the current of the river is used to sail downstream. There are 2 or 3 triangular shaped sails (lateen) which capture the optimum amount of wind for propulsion.

We sailed around an island in Aswan during a warm January afternoon watching the sun create long dark shadows across the dunes. Surely, sultans, emirs, pashas, and Cleopatra all did the same.

Chiaroscuro Painting

Oil painting with the chiaroscuro technique illuminates the focus area with a strong light. All other areas are painted with less detail, lower values, and intensity of color giving a mysterious appearance. By putting one or two objects in the important focus area, a strong but simple composition will emerge. Combining these oil painting techniques with a selection of superior natural pigments and oil paints result in the beautiful and evocative quality known as Chiaroscuro Painting.

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  1. Greetings from iPod. Back from NE & NC with sister. Duke wants to see her again. No guarantee but promising.
    Am fighting a cold. Hope to be normal soon.