january FEATURED artist

Robin Frisella – Master Pastelist

by Robin Frisella, PSA-MP, IAPS/MC

Fine art has the gentle power to reflect the best things in life . . . beauty, hopefulness, serenity. The hands of artist Robin Frisella harness that power in pastel works that are as stunning as they are calming. An apple in an antique bowl. Ripe pears just waiting to be eaten but, for now, somehow being simply elegant. Pale pink tulips that pop against the white of a treasured old vase. The paintings Robin creates have a photo-realistic quality. But they are hardly images captured in a flash.

She painstakingly arranges the objects she has chosen to paint – often pieces of nostalgia that are striking in their antiquity and grace. She blends pure pigment on sanded paper to artfully achieve the tones, lights, and shadows of these objects she has so deliberately assembled. The results are still lifes in sheer splendor, memories and moods come to life through layer upon layer of pastel patiently stroked in natural light.

In 2000, Frisella found her calling in art after taking a local pastel class. She left her job of 18 years and began teaching art herself. Her first piece entered in a juried competition won Best of Show, and her successes and followers grew, leading her to start her own gallery, Frisella Fine Art Studio, in Candia, NH, in 2006.

Frisella’s work has garnered numerous national and regional awards, and she is a juried member of The Guild of Boston Artists. In October 2016, she received the designation of Master Pastelist from the Pastel Society of America. In 2022, she achieved Masters Circle status with the IAPS (International Association of Pastel Societies). Her work has been published in many books and magazines, including the Best of America Pastel Artists Vol. II, The American Artist Magazine, New Hampshire Magazine, Artscope Magazine, Monadnock Table, The American Art Collector, The Artist Magazine, and The Pastel Journal.

If you are interested in viewing Frisella’s work in person, you can visit her gallery, Frisella Fine Art, located at 16 Deer Run Road in Candia, NH. Her recent feature and cover in the spring issue of the Pastel Journal showcased three awards she received in the 2022 Pastel 100 competition, the Dakota Pastel Gold Award, and two honorable mentions. Her paintings, which are both stunning and calming, are a testament to the power of fine art to evoke emotions and reflect the best things in life.