DALE CALDERWOOD Dale was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec but has spent most of her life in Vancouver. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Concordia University in Montreal. She has taught fine art to both adults and high school students. She also taught Art History and Art Appreciation which she loved because it was akin to physically opening a visual window of knowledge for her students. Dale has worked in a variety of mediums and enjoys interpretative landscape painting in both oils and water colour. She especially enjoys working in pastels "because the pastel medium invites immediate surface contact with the image." She calls this "getting down and dirty." In this showing Dale has combined her love of the beauty and innocent spirit of animals with the softness and pure pigment of the pastel medium. She invites you to enjoy her images. Go To Gallery
	PASTEL: Dale's medium of choice for her pet portraits. The name "pastel" comes from the French word "pastiche" that describes how the pure, powered pigment is ground into a paste with a small amount of gum binder. The soft pastel medium is noted for its intense, luminous colours. It is dry paint and uses the same pigments that are found in paints. Because it is a dry medium, pastels allow for an intensity of colour seldom found in other mediums. It can outlast oil paint because it has no oil or varnish to yellow and crack with age. Pastels are a perfect expressive media for portraying animals because their pure and luminous quality and the soft textures are perfect for portraying animal skin, fur and feathers. PAPER: The paper I choose to work on depends on which is the best choice for the image I am portraying. However, I usually work on velour paper. It is quite delicate to use but the reality and soft quality it brings to living subjects is beyond compare.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at - dalecalderwood@shaw.ca -