“In the Pink”, 4″ x 4″, oil on Gessobord

Cynthia Haase was given a set of pastels and a pad of paper from a neighbor friend when she was young planting her love affair with art.  She continued her pastel work and moved into colored pencils into adulthood even though life called her to work full time for a while to care for her family.  In 1992, she was able to leave the corporate world to pursue her passion for art full time.

Haase took time in her self-directed study to work under Deborah Bays who gave her a deep appreciation for atmosphere, lighting and a sense of drama in her work.  It has only been a recent move to oil painting for Haase as she picked up a paint brush in 2010 and began painting daily, bringing the same atmosphere to her paintings as she has to her colored pencil work and pastel paintings.  

Since Haase already had a background using Pastelbord™ as a favorite surface for her colored pencil and pastel work, she picked up Gessobord™ and found that her oil painting style worked well with the coated panels.  Haase explains, “the smooth surface of Gessobord best allows me to achieve big brushstrokes with thin paint in some areas and thick paint in others.  I also love soft edges and Gessobord allows my brush to slide so smoothly to create that softness. You can either fight with a surface or you can focus on what you do best and assume the surface is going to help you.”

Blue Sake Pitcher, 8″ x 10″, Pastel on Pastelbord

In choosing quality art materials like Gessobord or Pastelbord, Haase shares that the high quality and archival features of the panels are top priorities in her work.  She also finds that the sizes she prefers in the bords pack and ship well to her clientele with no fuss. 

To see more of Cynthia Haase’s work, visit her blog or her website: Cynthiahaase.com