Pastels - What's Old and New - Henri Roché Pastels, PastelMat, Pan Pastels

An assortment of new Pan Pastels

Clairefontaine's PastelMat

Something Old: In a previous post, I included photos of my visit to La Maison Du Pastel, 20 Rue Rambuteau, Paris, a small shop that is like a walk back in time, not having changed much since the 1920's. There Isabelle Roché sells hand made Henri Roché Pastels. This line of pastels dates back to the 1720's.


Whether you are an artist or not, you would be fascinated by their luminosity. The history of these pastels, complete with mentions of Whistler and Degas and how Isabelle came to continue the family tradition of making these handmade pastels can be found by clicking on the history of Henri Roché pastels.


Something New: At the big department store BHV in Paris, you'll find just about everything. Want to have a snack while you are shopping, forget to pack that sweater, need a new watch battery, need a laundry basket? No problem!


At BHV a fully stocked art department awaits you. I found packages of PastelMat on the shelves. This acid free and lightfast surface for pastel will be a joy to work on and is available in eight colors.


At home, I have discovered Pan Pastels, which create less dust than stick pastels.  Pan pastels are an exciting new way to apply the pastel medium. Love the pans with lids, the sponges and the varied shapes of Sofft applicators to apply the pastel.


If you are new to the pastel medium, visit the site Artists in Pastel, a blog written by
a gentleman in Cork, Ireland who reviews websites of artists who work in pastel.


I am most honored to have my name mentioned on his blog site.