Pastel Society WA Newsletter March 2021

President’s Message
Hello, fellow pastellists,

Welcome to 2021 and a new start to the Pastel Society. This year sees new leadership and a new committee.
It has been a rough start to the year. The covid lockdown prevented us from coming together safely, and our start date moved back. Then, of course, Mildenhall’s mains water valve was vandalised, further delaying our start. But we are back now and ready for a safe and prosperous 2021.

Firstly, I would like to thank the previous administration for their leadership during the covid crisis. Val Brooks and her committee managed to keep us safe and continued to communicate a love of pastels and a love of community. I have been in many groups and organisations, but what I have found in the pastel society is a genuine camaraderie and willingness to lift each other within a love of art. As President, I want to keep this mindset and help it flourish.

Our Facebook page administered by Julie Zohar, Patricia Spence and Jill Buckrell. This has been a great success allowing our country members to show their art and gain support. With this in mind, we now have an Instagram account administered by Kirstie Williams. Here we will advertise our programs, our demos, and our members’ many successes.

Our first demo will be Sophie Mahir, discussing how to utilise social media to promote your art. Oxlades will be making an appearance on The 15th of March, demonstrating Pan pastels and Pastel mat.

Our new Vice President, Jill Millar, will deliver another excellent program of techniques and ideas following last year’s success on our Monday nights.

I hope to see you all soon at Mildenhall or at any of the wonderful events we have planned, covid fingers crossed, throughout the year.

Happy painting. Donna Woodhouse
President of the Pastel Society of Western Australia