The 6th international biennale "Pastel d'Opale", France, was held last month, In the north of France, Saint-Léonard, commune de l'agglomération Boulonnaise. From 9th March to 24th March 2024 visitors were able to see she exhibition with several paintings on soft pastel, made by many different artists. This is a renowned international event with an interesting pastel exhibition, pastel painters from numerous countries and several activities. For 16 days, different demonstrations and stages organized by Pastel d'Opale are carried out, as well as different talks and activities for the general pub ..read more

This is a very good way to start the new year! Mamut Pastels has been featured in one of the most important Art Magazines in France;“Practique des Arts”. I was contacted by a representative of Practique des Arts a few months ago regarding the possibility of having an independent product review on Mamut Pastels. The review would be performed by the french artist and painter Joel Simon.  Since 2004, Joel Simon has collaborated with various specialized magazines in the art world, such as Plaisirs de Peindre, Pratique des Arts, etc. as part of equipment tests and painting demonstrations. I f ..read more

Another year and yet another Pastel Society Exhibition in the UK for all the lovers of soft Pastel and drawing techniques! This was a special date. The Society was celebrating their 125th anniversary. Unfortunately I couldn’t attend personally this artistic event but I got all the information and material to share on my blog., This year's Pastel Society Exhibition motive was “Remarkable”. And looking at the selected works, it was indeed Rearkable! “This milestone exhibition presents a positive challenge to those with pre-conceived ideas about pastels. Expect a vibrant, adventurous and creative ..read more

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This 2023 has been the Year Francisco Sorolla. Several exhibitions on the Spanish Painter were healed around the country and most especially in its beloved city, Valencia. Valencia is a city that I personally love to visit from time to time. Of course this was a special occasion not to be lost! We are used to admire the colours of Joaquín Sorolla, the light, the sun, the brightness… but we are not used to get the opportunity to see a diffwerent artist, a “dark Sorolla”. A more monochrome version of the master painter. The exhibition ”Sorolla in black” was one of those rare oportunities. Maria ..read more

This August Mamut Pastels received a special visit from a dear friend-Mihaela Zoeva, who is also a very talented young artist. We were happy to invite her to try our pastels , and share with her our entusiasm about color! We improvised an open art studio on the communal terrace at the top of our building and we filmed her ,while she was creating an unusual series of big-size abstract figurative drawings. It was truly amazing watching her inspirational work, and also realizing how bright and powerful the Mamut pastels are in the hands of a true artist! In this article, I’m sharing some of the w ..read more

Another year, the Soft Pastel contest of the Central Mass Pastel Society of Massachusetts, Marks of Distinction National Exhibition, was held, in which Mamut Pastels had the opportunity to participate by awarding three prizes to the jury's selection. The jurors of selection of this year were Loriann Signori and Javad Soleimanpour, and our Judge of Awards, Mim Brooks Fawcett. Once again numerous and wonderful works were presented and selected with a very good level, great quality and diversity of styles. The art of soft pastels never ceases to amaze me! Each contest is special, a ..read more

Finally, the big day arrived! The opening of the Pastel Society Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London, 2023 and the time to select the Mamut Prize winner among all the amazing artists exhibiting their work. The theme of this year's Pastel Society Exhibition is “Pastel without Boundaries”. The title of the exhibition reflects the enthusiasm the Pastel Society have for their chosen medium, Pastel, as well as their hope to spread the word about it to all age groups. In their own words, “where else would you find around 1600 colours, as are available in Soft Pastel, ready to use straig ..read more

At home we love celebrations! And we celebrate both Easters, but I particularly love the orthodox one… We take our time to choose the white eggs, (Which are difficult to find lately!) to paint and decor them, and then we make some egg fights! To Greek tradition, Easter eggs should be dyed red, since the red colour represents Jesus Christ’s blood, but we use several colors and make our own decoration… And each year they are amazingly different! The eggs fight is exciting! The winner is the one, whose egg will crack the eggs of the opponents, but there it is difficult to find the perfect fight ..read more

Autumn is a very special season of the year in so many countries, full of colors and changes. There are many opinions on what are autumn colors and not a definitive answer… But the possibilities to play with those colors are amazing! Morning at the studio, work on process, ©photo by Mamut Pastels. Autumn brings back to me lots of memories. Memories of forests and trees, of fresh and natural water sources, filtered by layers of soil, sand, rocks and other natural materials, coming out from a fountain through a narrow pipe. Water that I could drank without fear while refreshing my face... Sele ..read more