WESTFIELD-Adult artists of all skill levels are encouraged to participate in a free pastel painting workshop at the Westfield Athenaeum Nov. 9.
The workshop, titled “Pastel Paint the 45-Million-Dollar Flower,” is planned from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Lang Auditorium. The event is supported by the Friends of the Westfield Athenaeum.
Award-winning pastel artist Gregory John Maichack, of Holyoke, will lead the informative hands-on workshop.
Gregory John Maichack will lead a free adult workshop Nov. 9 at the Westfield Athenaeum. (Submitted photo)
“All will have a hands-on experience pastel painting Georgia O’Keeffe’s namesake flower, the calla lily,” said Maichack, noting he will share “fascinating” information about O’Keeffe to broaden the cultural and historical experience of the event.
“While we work in tandem, I incorporate anecdotes and useful technical information as we learn the basic stroke, blending, layering and scumbling,” he said.
Maichack will present the basics of pastel painting, explaining and demonstrating all the strokes and techniques needed to capture any type of subject. In addition, he will provide all materials needed for the workshop.
Participants will produce a 12” x 18” pastel painting on paper of a calla lily using purple, orchid and light yellow paint which they can take home.
“In this new, highly researched two-hour workshop, participants will have fun producing their own pastel painting of Georgia O’Keeffe’s elegant Jimson flower that sold for $45.4 million,” said Joyce Peregrin, outreach and public services librarian, Westfield Athenaeum. “Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 has been described as a vehicle for pure expression. Gregory Maichack will demonstrate how beginners to accomplished artists can pastel paint easily using techniques of masters such as O’Keeffe.”
Peregrin added that Maichack has been in many national juried shows and was awarded numerous Massachusetts Cultural Council grants.
“In addition to portraiture, his still lives and landscapes are represented by galleries from Kennebunkport, Maine, to San Francisco, California,” said Peregrin.
Also, Maichack’s pastel paintings have been selected twice for the annual National Exhibition of the Academic Artists Association and as a result, he was invited to be a member of the prestigious organization, added Peregrin.
“Blue Calla” by Gregory John Maichack. (Submitted photo)
Maichack has been a faculty member of the Museum Studio School at the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum in Springfield, and has taught at Westfield State University, Holyoke and Greenfield community colleges, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and The Guild in Northampton.
Commissioned works over the years have included the pastel portrait of the past president of Westfield State University, Dr. Frederick Woodward, which was unveiled at the dedication of the Woodward Athletic/Academic Center, and a pastel portrait of the late Charles Merriam, co-founder of Merriam-Webster, Inc., unveiled by the Merriam-Webster Co. at the Merriam-Gilbert Public Library in West Brookfield.
Pre-registration is required for the workshop and can be made by calling the Athenaeum at (413) 568-7833 or by visiting www.westath.org.
“I am grateful to have the profound experience, over the course of every year, of working with at least 1,800 to 2,000 participants, and seeing the creative process unfold before me, which is an enlivening, fun, and always compelling experience,” said Maichack.
