She Hides

She Hides. A woman hiding behind a ram skull. Flecks of colour subtly highlight the bone's surface, and accentuate the elegant horns.

This artwork is created with PanPastels - these are soft pastels compressed in a round flat pan, which you apply entirely with special shaped sponges. They are wonderful to work with, and are very versatile.

The paper I've used is a thick pastel paper called Pastelmat which features a special coating which grips the pastel pigment so you can work in many layers and create a wonderfully vibrant piece.

PanPastel work does need to be framed behind glass. I recommend using a thick white mat like the example picture, and highly recommend Bluethumb's framing services.

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Whether it is birds, insects, botanicals or scenery, Alex Louisa's work captures all that fascinates her about nature. Brisbane based, she has been exhibiting within Australia since 2007, and internationally since 2012. She loves to pair highly detailed subjects next to unexpected backgrounds, such as splashy abstracts, experimental textures, crisp geometric patterns, or the sheer beauty of untouched woodgrain.

Often experimenting with mixed media, Alex mainly works with oils, watercolour, PanPastel, and charcoal. She focuses on elements of the natural world that grab her attention - by discovering the intricacies of a leaf or flower, or by trying to capture an animal's individual personality. She is constantly drawn to studying her surroundings and would love to eventually capture all of her favourite landscapes in paint, but birds will forever be her favourite subject. After all, her first word was "bird," so she's a bird-lover from way back.