CINDY CRIMMIN
Passion, commitment, luck and an appreciation for the process underpin success in most creative endeavors. People often ask, “How long did that painting take?” The answer is: hours to paint, days to allow it to rest before finishing, and a lifetime to learn to see what could be. In my case, there were three pivotal points of luck in that sequence- a year spent studying Spanish near the home of the early 20th century painter, Joaquin Sorolla in Madrid, the moment I met master pastelist, Jeanne Rosier Smith, and a change in my personal life that prompted me to retire from one career and to dedicate myself to pastel painting full time.
Now, I paint in many genres from florals to portrait to interiors to coastal landscapes. The through-line for each painting is the bit of light that pulls the viewer in. With no drying time, the immediacy of the pastel medium allows me to work quickly in an effort to capture the flash of that light that will not last. While I use reference photos as well as painting plein air, I freely adapt what I see to support my vision for the composition. Using a style that is at once impressionistic and titling towards the abstract, my goal is to invite the viewer to complete the forms with me. My process includes preliminary sketches, an underpainting in warm sepia or rose and multiple layers of pastel pigment. If you look carefully at a given painting, you will see a bit of the peachy underpainting peeking through- the cracks where the light gets in.
A signature member of the Pastel Society of America, the Pastel Painters’ Society of Cape Cod, the American Impressionists Society and a Master Circle member of the International Association of Pastel Societies, Cindy splits her time between her studios in Acton and Gloucester, Massachusetts. She often exhibits at the Copley Society in Boston, where she has reached the designation of Copley Artist and at the North Shore Artists’ Association in Gloucester. Her work has been juried into numerous national and international competitions, as well as being included in many private collections. Cindy also appeared as a featured artist in the Pastel Journal and had her work chosen for that publication’s Pastel 100 competition on multiple occasions. She is a devoted teacher and derives great joy from seeing her students grow. This, too, is part of her personal process.