Neal H. Allen {Fine Art Pastels}
I have always loved to draw. I temporarily lost my hearing when I was ten years old, and after all the books were read, I turned to copying the illustrations, and I was hooked. I put my love for drawing on hold to pursue music, which turned into a career in music education. Creating bulletin boards and making posters that my meager budget didn't allow me to purchase rekindled my love of art. I still didn't have much time to devote to art, but did manage some community education classes, then workshops and serious practice. I continue toward finding my artist's voice - creating pieces which look the way I feel about my subjects and about painting as a whole.
I have been painting, selling and exhibiting my work for the last ten years throughout New York and in New England. I paint in what is known as the American Impressionist style. I'm less concerned with photo-realism, and more concerned with capturing the mood of the piece. I focus primarily on landscapes, but I often use still-lifes to hone my drawing skills. My hope is that the viewers of my work will also get a sense of the mood of each piece, and be able to draw something from it to take with them as they go.