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.

Smalt Fears No More

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I can't thank Dr. Kremer from Kremer Pigments enough for taking the time to respond to my blog post about Smalt. His expertise and knowledge is completely invaluable to me in my research for my Lessons from the Low Countries project. The information about smalt, in particular, is most helpful as I have been reluctant to use it at all.

There is mostly vague and controversial information in the research books. Because the archival quality of my paintings is of utmost importance, I have used only the colors I feel confident with. Now that Dr. Kremer has explained the properties of smalt, I feel assured it will be safe to use in a future project. According to him, "smalt is never mixed with lead white, only transparent glass powders or chalk. It is a very stable glass pigment, lightfast and stable in oil, distemper and watercolor." I think my next testing will involve smalt and chalk.

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. Margret- Fabulous project and beautiful paintings. This project “Lessons From The Low Countries” is incredibly ambitious and I can’t wait to see the final results. I’m hoping to fly down to Portland if I can get time away from work. Having seen your work in a Tulsa museum I am eager to see more of it. Viewing paintings on the web is a tease albeit a pleasurable one but seeing them in person is always such an incredible experience.
    Best Wishes,
    Cindy Revell