MCJ: You're very successful with both your oil and pastel work. But before I ask you about how these two media became your "partners in progress," let me ask about your introduction to pastel. Didn't you paint in oils long before discovering pastel?
RM: You bet. In 1963, I bought my first easel and paints. I hardly knew a thing about pastels for 15 years. In the late 1970's I saw a pastel painting and thought, "I'd like to try that." I found some inexpensive pastels and proceeded to make an image in my sketchbook. The paper didn't hold many layers and the colors weren't very bright. I was unimpressed and didn't touch pastels again for 5 years. Little did I know that using the right pastels on the right paper would have made a world of difference.
MCJ: What made you start up again?
RM: I moved to Woodstock, NY, in the early 1980's and began teaching landscape painting at the Woodstock School of Art (WSA). Never had I lived in a town with so much artistic energy. I spent more time drawing, painting, printmaking, and songwriting than ever before, and eventually gave pastels another try. A friend of mine, Albert Handell, who was a fellow instructor at WSA, suggested I work seriously in both pastel and oil, which was what he was doing. I've been alternating between oil and pastel ever since.
MCJ: How did going back and forth between media work for you?
RM: There were times when I'd work exclusively in one medium for a few months and then switch. At other times I'd work simultaneously in both. Often I would pit the two against each other in a friendly race toward proficiency. As I improved my understanding of pastel, it crept ahead of my understanding of oil. So I'd go back to oil until it took the lead. Ultimately this horse race with myself propelled my skill in both media. What I learned from one I brought to the other.
MCJ: Don't you find it hard to switch gears?
RM: Sure, at times. There are challenges that exist when working in more than one medium. There's the extra time required to learn additional procedures, the potential split of focus, and the dividing of one's available time.
MCJ: So why not just stick with one medium and master it.
RM: Some artists do, although mastery in one medium is often supported by explorations in another. There are many advantages to using several media, and artists have done this for centuries. Different procedures for handling materials often open doors to new concepts of art; you get relief from one medium while working in another; and it allows you to "take a break" from your current work while still making art. It also helps to keep you from becoming stagnant, plus, you can explore new or divergent ideas in a second medium without messing up what you're doing in the first.
MCJ: How do different characteristics of oil and pastel cross over, and how do you use them to their best advantage?
RM: For me, slurring and blending come naturally while working in oil, whereas strokes of broken color come naturally while working in pastel. Over the years I've come to enjoy these characteristics and to import some of the qualities of each into the other. I still use oil techniques for oil painting, but I've added a "pastel sensitivity" to my storehouse of techniques. Likewise I've added some "oil painting sensitivities" to my pastel work.
MCJ: What oil techniques do you bring to pastel?
RM: Now and again, I like to lay my panel or paper nearly flat so that a pastel stick can lay on it without rolling off. At this angle all the pastel powder remains in place on the surface of the painting. I can work strokes of fresh pigment into this buildup of loose powder, and the colors slur together much like liquid paint. It's also possible to gently push a stick of pastel around on the surface, with only the weight of the pastel stick itself making a subtle mark. I can push down a little bit on the piece of pastel to create a stronger mark. By varying the pressure, I can get a wide range of strokes all the way from transparent to opaque.
MCJ: And how about using oil like pastel? I understand that in past International Association of Pastel Society' conventions (2001, 2005) you demonstrated or taught a pastel layering technique that you also use when painting in oil.
RM: My pastel layering process begins with individual strokes of different colors. I keep those strokes isolated from one another and leave spaces between them in a sort of open weaving of the colors. As I add more strokes I gradually build up the forms.
I've used this with oil painting. Not a complete layer in one sitting, but an incomplete, open weave. It takes patience. One layer needs to dry before adding the next, although there are plenty of variables. New paint over a dried layer can mimic the detached strokes of pastel, but if the first layer is still wet, the colors can slur together for a much softer look.
MCJ: As you choose one medium over another for a particular painting, do you ever feel you've chosen the wrong one?
RM: All the time. For anyone who's thinking of picking up another medium, be prepared for the maddening feeling that whatever medium you're using at the time . . .things would work SO much better if you were using the other one.
MCJ: Is this approach of working in two media for everyone?
RM: Lots of artists move freely among several media with superb results. Others, however, prefer to stick with a single medium. Really, though, so much of this comes down to the personality of each artist. Just as some musicians play several instruments, others stick with only one. Either way, the music remains. It's mostly individual technique that differs between each instrument, and the core skills of musicianship remain with the player.
MCJ: Other thoughts on trying another medium?
RM: When an artist is looking to grow, to evolve artistically, or simply get out of a rut, there are two approaches commonly taken: Change the subject matter or change the style of painting. But what if you're quite happy with your subject matter as well as your style, yet you're still looking for a new spark? This is the perfect time to explore another medium.
