JULIA KOMSKY – PASTEL ARTIST

Artist’s Statement :

Many years ago I stopped at the Lake Forest Art Show. The pastel paintings by Ben Jurevicius impressed me very much. I decided to buy one of his paintings as a gift for my nephew’s upcoming wedding.

I asked Ben about the price and told him I would be back the next day with my husband to buy it. Ben kindly said that sales were going slow and I definitely had time to check with my husband on my painting choice.

The next day we came back to buy the painting, but it had been sold to somebody else. Ben told me he had surprisingly sold all his work very quickly after I had left. The only painting that had not been sold was too expensive for us to buy. There was no way to bring the price of that painting down. I was so unhappy that the following words just spontaneously jumped out of my mouth:

“If you do not want to sell it to me, I will make it myself!”

To my surprise, Ben’s reaction was: “Fine, just come to my pastel class at Gorton Community Center”.

Since then, thanks to Ben (who happens to be a great teacher in addition to being a wonderful artist and friend), I fell in love with pastels. I also have had a few other wonderful teachers that helped me to develop my skills when Ben stopped teaching. As my husband likes to say “it would have been so much cheaper to buy you that expensive painting many years ago!”

By painting landscapes I want to share with others my own unique vision and perception of beauty around me. I want to share what touches my heart.

My goal is to reflect the movement and delight of the subject by using interesting compositions. Feelings and mood, movement and delight of the subject, colors that talk to me, and unique design -- these are the tools that I use to create my paintings. 


Bio:

In 1989 Julia immigrated to US from Minsk Belarus . She lived and worked in Chicago for 30 years. Upon retiring in 2017 Julia moved to beautiful Hayden Idaho where she lives with her husband Anthony and dog Sella. They enjoy tennis, hiking in the mountains and down hill skiing.

Education:

2009 - 2011 pastel class with Ben Jureyicius, Lake Forest , IL

2010 - Pastel workshop with professor Ron Monsma, Chicago IL

2012 - 2014 pastel class with Tatijana Jacenkiw , Lake Forest, IL

2015 - pastel workshop with  Richard Mckinley, Chicago IL

2015 - pastel workshop with Tom Christopher, PSA , WI

2015 - 2019 pastel class with Susan Ploughe and Jan at the

Main Street Art Center, Barrington, IL

2016 - pastel workshop with Albert Handel, Sedona AZ

2017 - pastel workshop with Tony Allain (UK), Chicago IL

2017 - pastel workshop with Charly Hunter, PSA, WI

2021 - Pastel workshop with Lyn Diefenbach (Australia), on-line

2022 - Pastel workshop with Tony Allain (UK), Portland , OR


Achivements:

2021 - Best in show "Art on a Green" - Couer d'Alene Idaho

2021 - Third Place in Jacklin Art and Cultural Center Annual Pastel Show

2017 - Finalist of the "Artist's" Magazine 34th Annual Art Competition