Utrecht on Broadway will be open until 8pm on Friday January 16th to celebrate Gallery Night. We will be exhibiting artist Jean Christel. Jean works primarily with oil pastels on paper. Her imagry includes cats, bugs, chickens and cars. These charged images are highly original, colorful and full of line and texture. Brings to mind Basquait, Guston and Baselitz.

We now have Webril Handi-pads in stock! These 100% pure cotton non-woven fabric pads are lintless, soft, economical, absorbent and will not scratch your surface. 100 pads per pack at $8.99. We also have extended our Zap-A-Gap line to include Zap-A-Gap gels and Plasti-Zap.

Mirta Kupferminc has been exhibiting locally and internationally since 1977 and has held more than 45 one-person shows in prestigious Argentinean galleries, institutions and museums.

Internationally, she has participated in numerous exhibitions in Spain, Taiwan, Japan, Germany, Israel, USA, Poland, France, Hungary and England, among others. She represented Argentina at International Biennials on several occasions and was the only Latin-American artist who was invited to be part of the 1992 “Honey Moon Project” in Los Angeles. Kupferminc has been developing an intense art teaching performance since 1980 and is deeply involved with human rights.

Supported by the Ello & Guido Brink Fund for the Support of Multidisciplinary Art

To see the entire artical with images, please go to Utrecht.com and click on Learning Center.

Oil pastels are a drawing medium that consist of pigment mixed with a non-drying oil and wax binder. They are conveniently portable and can be used  for quick sketches or intense layered works of art. They are a relatively “young” medium, as most drawing and painting methods have been around for centuries.

Looking for the smooth application of a crayon and the intense colors of pastels the oil pastel medium was first developed in the 1920’s by the Sakura Crayon Company. This lead to the color sticks known as Cray-Pas, widely regarded as a children’s medium. In 1947, however, artists Henri Goetz and Pablo Picasso, looking for something that would allow them to draw on almost any surface, approached Henri Sennelier with the idea of designing a professional version of the children’s product. Finally in  1949, with the help of the two artists, Sennelier invented the first professional oil pastels with a smooth texture and vibrant color quality.

Currently many brands of oil pastel are available and the number of uses and styles seem to be increasing as well. Oil Pastels offer unique flexibilty and archival quality and are a great medium to experiment with.

 Create an Oil Pastel “Painting”

Oil pastels are a rich and flexible medium that can provide a variety of finished looks, smooth blending or thick painterly layers. In this post we’ll show you how to refine a loose oil pastel drawing into a smooth painterly work of art. Oil pastels can be blended with most oil painting mediums including, turpentine, mineral spirits and all oils… In this project we’ll just use a little Utrecht Linseed Oil.

This first image shows our supplies, a set of Van Gogh Oil Pastels, a filbert brush and Utrecht Linseed Oil. You can also see that we’ve roughed in our drawing on a Master Panel with the two colors we want to carry throughout the whole work, yellow ochre and burnt sienna. The next step is to bring some of the other colors into your still life.

We continue on building color with the oil pastels, keeping it loose knowing that the details and blending will be done with a paint brush and linseed oil. The objects in the still life retain a light value, warranting a nice dark background of burnt umber and burnt sienna.

 These images show the blended work. This effect was achieved by dipping into the linseed oil and blending together the layers of oil pastels. The brush was cleaned with mineral spirits between colors to keep the image from getting muddy. In the second image we’ve gone back in with the pastels to work in a few more details and some shading. You can continue to work between the pastels and oil & brush until you’re satisfied with the results.

Here is a detail of the drawing before and after blending. You can see what a difference can be made with a little oil and some brushwork. The amount of blending is a personal choice and results will vary depending on your surface. This was done on a smooth panel and gives a light wash effect, using a porous surface like watercolor paper or unprimed canvas gives a totally different result. Experiment and enjoy!

The Oil Pastel Society

The Oil Pastel Society was formed on September 1, 2004, as a non-profit organization, to promote the knowledge and understanding of oil pastel as a fine art medium and to expand the awareness of oil pastel to other artists, galleries, the media, and the general public.

The Oil Pastel Society is a web-based group that allows like-minded artists to exchange ideas and methods, spread interest in the medium of oil pastels and to share beautiful works of art. Each year they put together a fantastic group show available for all to view in an online gallery. The following work is from their 2008 show “Transitions”.

You can learn more about The Oil Pastel Society by visiting their website.

Artsmart Cards make great gifts

What is an ArtSmart® Card?

ArtSmart® Benefits
Now secure all your art supply needs with the new ArtSmart® Card from Utrecht. Add money to your existing gift or prepaid ArtSmart® Card and secure your artist supplies through www.utrechtart.com, our Call Center, or visit any Utrecht outlet or art supplies store locations. Sign up now to receive valuable information, promotions and savings on discount art supplies! As a registered ArtSmart Cardholder, just use your Utrecht ArtSmart® Card with each purchase of art materials and supplies and automatically receive the following:

Gift Card
Not sure what to buy? Add money to an ArtSmart® Card and let the artist in your life select from over 15,000 artist supply products. An ArtSmart® Card is easy to purchase and easy to redeem.

Pre-Paid Card
On a budget? The prepaid feature of the ArtSmart® is the perfect solution for cost-conscious parents and students looking for school art supplies! Add value at any time to guarantee that funds for school art supplies are available when they are needed.

Reloadable
The ArtSmart® Card is reusable. You can add value to your card at anytime, in any amount, wherever you are. Simply visit www.utrechtart.com, call 800.223.9132 or stop into any retail Utrecht Art Supplies store.

In-Store Discounts
Use your ArtSmart® Card every time you shop for discount art supplies at a Utrecht Art Supplies store to receive Exclusive Sale Prices and Extra Savings. Look for the sale signs throughout the store and check out the big savings on your register receipt.

Special Offers
Receive special offers & valuable coupons for school art supplies, artist paints, brushes, acrylics, watercolor supplies, artist oil paints, artist canvas and more throughout the year when you register your email or postal address. You will also be the first to hear about seasonal, overstock, clearance and heavily discounted art supplies!

Utrecht MIAD’s own Erin Brodersen and her team have won the 2009 Fiskars design competition. Erin and her team designed an original garderning tool that may be considered for production.

Congratulations Erin! 

Our winter break hours have gone into affect today. Please note that our other store at 2219 N. Farwell will continue to have normal hours.

Monday through Thursday 10am to 6pm

Friday and Saturday 10am to 5pm

Sunday 12 to 4

We will also be closed on December 25^th, 26^th, 27^th and 28^th.  Our normal hours will resume on Monday January 5^th.

Now is the time to take advantage of some spectacular savings for the holidays. Our Holiday Sale ends on December 31th but don’t wait until then. We have special gifts wrapped up and ready for that artist on your list.

 Utrecht’s Artsmart card is also a perfect gift for artists. Load one up today for any amount you want.

 Here are some great gift ideas on sale now!

 *Utrecht 9×12  Black Hardcover Wire Bound Sketchbook #51965 for only $8.49 list 20.96

*Utrecht Fine Art Pencil Sets

 Drawing and Sketching Set of 12 #47163

Technical & Design Set of 12 #47164 for only $7.99

list 16.95

*Everybody loves MOLESKIN JOURNALS!  Great gift under $20. Come in see our big selection.

*Winsor & Newton Eden Table Easel #39263 SALE $29.99

List 55.60

Alvin Onyx Table #30865 SALE $89.99 list 139.

Also check out our HUGE EASLE SALE at our Farwell store. 2219 N. Farwell, Milwaukee. Right across from the Oriental Theater.

 

 Christmas in the Ward is happening this weekend Friday, December 5, 5-8pm and Saturday, December 6, 8am to 4pm. Utrecht will be open late until 8pm on Friday. Come on down and join the festivities.

Friday Dec 5th,

Official Tree lighting ceremony 5-5:30pm

Trinity Irish Dancers perform at 5:30

Santa and costumed characters, musical performers, cookie sale and horse-drawn carriage rides between 5-8pm

Santa will be in Jolly’s outdoor Gingerbread  House in catalano square.

 Bartolotta fireworks at 6pm!!!

We will be offering FREE hot cocoa, apple juice and cookies. Come and check out our Holiday Do-it yourself gift idea demo’s from 5-8pm.

 

Saturday, December 6th

12pm-3pm Santa in Jolly’s Gingerbread House, music and horse drawn cariage rides.

6pm to 8pm Santa in Jolly’s Gingerbread House.

Utrecht at MIAD has a great selection of MIAD apparel and merchandise. These items make great gifts along with a loaded Artsmart giftcard for your son or daughter. We can also ship them to you for the holiday’s. Please stop in our store or give us a call today!

Men’s / Women’s Black Short Sleeve T-shirt

with White MIAD Logo

Available in Sizes: S, L, XL

$10

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Men’ / Women’s Black Short Sleeve T-Shirt

with 4 color Large MIAD Logo

 

Available in Sizes : S, M, L, XL, 2XL

$15

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Women’s Black Fitted T-shirt

With 4 color MIAD embroidered Logo

Available in Sizes: S, M, L, XL

$18

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Men’s / Women’s Black Hooded Sweatshirt

With 4 color Large MIAD logo

Available in Sizes S, M, L, XL, 2XL

$48

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Men’s / Women’s Black Long Sleeve Shirt

with 4 color Large MIAD Logo

Available in Sizes: M, L, XL

$19

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Men’s / Women’s Black Sweatshirt

with 4- Color Embroidered MIAD Logo

Available in sizes: S, M, L, XL

$25