Lorraine had prepared thoroughly for her demo.
Knowing she could run out of time, she had made a good start at home. She had a vertical ground about 600 x 400mm, fully shaded, depicting a wave breaking on a reef from a dark blue sea. The sea occupied two thirds of the picture, an interesting composition, with nothing symmetrical and a very high horizon.
Cape Otway.

Fiona introduced Lorraine. She knows her well from coming to her Friday class for many years. Lorraine has been a prize-winner in many prestigious art shows, including Camberwell Art Show. She has had articles in Australian Artist and International Artist.
Q “What pastels do you use?” “
A. “Almost everything, hard to soft. Some are expensive, $7.50 a stick. Take the paper off. You need more than just the end”
Q. “Do you rub it with your finger?”
A. “I do anything that works”
She started colouring from the sky, working down, perhaps considering the fall of the pastel dust. The dark blue ground allowed her to use lighter blues as midtones to show the ever-changing colours of the sea.
“With waves, don’t use pure white, mix in a bit of colour.

You go backwards and forwards to different parts, fixing up bits that aren’t right”
The picture was progressing as brighter greens began to clad the hills and foam to define the waves. Put a bit of dark below the waves.
The conversation between Lorraine and the audience was entertaining and informative.

Most of the navy blue had been submerged beneath blue mid-tones and waves, giving a great feeling of depth back to the horizon.

The vantage point of the artist was quite high. The element of risk is part of the artist’s experience. She
talked a little about the emotion of her painting. To be any good the emotion has to be there.
The demonstration was well received by an enthusiastic audience.
Colin Browne