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Barbara Benedetti Newton,
"Chain of Events"
Barbara Benedetti Newton,
"Red Row"

Barbara Benedetti Newton, born 1943 in Puyallup, Washington, attended public school in Auburn, cosmetology school in Renton, and Burnley School of Professional Art (now renamed Art Institute of Seattle) where she studied with William Cumming among others.

In 1965, Newton began her professional art career as a fashion illustrator for a major Seattle department store. Married the same year to artist William Iles, they relocated to San Francisco where Barbara continued to work as a freelance fashion illustrator. After returning to the Seattle area, they purchased a filbert farm with 1902 farmhouse on Vashon Island.

For Barbara, a 20-year hiatus from art followed. Her creative energy was used to raise their son and daughter, grow cut flowers for resale, develop a flock of wool breed sheep and work at nearby K2 Ski Corporation. She began work in the K2 factory then quickly moved on to Master Scheduler of Production and later, Buyer.

In 1990, after several life-changing events and with the support of her second and final husband, Jay Newton, Barbara left K2 after 16 years to return full time to art. The humble colored pencil became her path back and her introduction to color. Working exclusively in colored pencil for more than a dozen years, Newton became one of the masters of the medium and co-authored Colored Pencil Solution Book, published in 2000. A valued instructor at Frye Art Museum in Seattle and at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology in Oregon for more than a dozen years, Newton retired from teaching in 2006.Her work has been included in American Artist, International Artist, and The Artist’s Magazine, as well as numerous other publications.

In 2002 Newton began exploring other mediums and has been working primarily in soft pastel since then. Making the transition from a precise, time-consuming, transparent medium to spontaneous, fast-paced, opaque soft pastel has been a journey of discovery. With a change of medium, Newton also departed from her trademark light-filled still life subjects to impressionistic landscape scenes.

She is a Charter Member, Signature Member, past president and 10 Year Merit Member of Colored Pencil Society of America; Signature Member of the Northwest Pastel Society; a juried member of Women Painters of Washington and a member of the Eastside Association of Fine Arts, Pastel Society of the West Coast and the Pastel Society of America.

Newton is represented by American Art Company, Tacoma, WA; Jeffrey Moose Gallery, Seattle, WA; State of the Arts Gallery, Olympia, WA; and The Attic Gallery, Portland, OR.

 


Editorial

by Barbara Benedetti Newton, February, 2010

It’s a sunny February day and I can hear the garden calling me. But, that call is just one among many - I also hear the laundry, the papers waiting tax preparation, a dusty house. You may notice that I did not mention my easel calling me. Days can go by and I don’t hear a peep out of it though I’m often thinking, “I should be painting.”

Thinking that I should be painting and wanting to be painting isn’t the same thing. For me, creating art can’t be forced. And why should I be painting instead of doing something/anything else? In this economy, it isn’t because I need to replace work that is flying off the walls of my galleries. Sometimes I am just as happy weed-eating or digging in the dirt as I am in the studio. So throughout the year, I take breaks from painting and don’t feel guilty.

However, if I’m going to continue to exhibit my work, a time will come when I need new paintings. After a few weeks of not painting, I am anxious to get back to the easel because by then, I would rather be painting than anything else. This process of painting for a few weeks then doing other things for a few weeks works well for me and I complete quite a few paintings in a short amount of time. I think they are better paintings than they would be if I tried to paint through the times when I’d rather be doing something else.

In the weeks that I’m not painting, I work on the “business of art.” When the prospectus for a show arrives in my email or US mail box, I don’t want to be caught off-guard and have to scramble to see what work I have available. I have a good system for keeping track of show entries that I recently organized for the coming year. I thought it might be helpful to you to hear about my method, especially if you don’t already have a great system of your own.

I’ll start with the end result and work backward to explain how it works. I have a 3-ring binder labeled “Call for Entries” that is divided into six sections.

1. 2010 Show List

2. Shows to Enter

3. Pending Notification

4. Upcoming Shows

5. Shows in Progress

6. 2010 Shows Complete

Section 1 - 2010 Show List
The first page is a show list sheet. It has columns labeled “Show Name,” “Entry Date,” “Notification Date,” “Deliver Date,” and Pick Up Date.” When I receive a call-for-entries notice for a show that I hope to enter, I write information in the corresponding columns on the show list sheet. The final column is labeled “Art Title” and is filled in at the time I am entering the show depending upon which paintings I have available.

Section 2 - Shows to Enter
After I fill in the Show List sheet, I print a paper copy of the call-for-entries or prospectus and stick a post-it on the edge. On this tab I write the deadline date for entry.

Section 3 - Pending Notification
When I have submitted my entry to the show online or by US mail, I move the completed prospectus/entry form, or a printout of the online entry, to the Pending Notification section. I also keep a copy of the entry fee check or PayPal receipt attached here. On the tab, I write the date the show will send notification of acceptance.

Section 4 – Upcoming Shows
If my work has been accepted into a show (yeah!) I move the paperwork to the Upcoming Show section, change the note tab to show the delivery of art date and file in order of delivery date. I also write the delivery date on my Studio calendar. It would be sad to be accepted and then forget to deliver the art!

Section 5 – Shows in Progress
After the art has been delivered, all corresponding paperwork is moved to the Shows in Progress section and the note tab is changed to read the pick-up art date. Again, this date is noted on my Studio calendar.

Section 6 – Shows Complete
When the show is over, the paperwork moves to a final section at the back of the binder. At the end of the year, all paperwork goes into a manila envelope along with show brochures and any awards I may have received. This makes a complete packet of information to update my resume, website, etc.

If you decide to try my system, I hope it works as well for you as it has for me.