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Wade Zahares is a well known and loved pastel artist. It was a pure pleasure to meet him and tour his home and studio. The whimsy and cheer in is art, rang extra authentic after meeting this nice, open man. I loved his painting style, his vibrant color sense, his flower gardens, and his dog Daisy too.

We both paint with hard edges, and there are not that many of us, so I felt an extra affinity with him. Interesting because neither of us is “hard-edged” in character. It must be something about the neat clarity we like in definite delineations.

Unlike me, he makes meticulous drawings before committing a composition to pastel paper. He transfers it onto his paper by rubbing pastel on the back of his full-sized sketch, and tracing it onto his final surface. And all this gorgeous color comes from a fairly limited palette, compared to most pastellist I know.

He has many successful children’s books that have gotten top awards:

Window Music  (the one that got the biggest accolades)

Big, Bad, and a Little Bit Scary: Poems that Bite Back

Frosty the Snowman (look for Daisy on ever page)

Liberty Rising: The Story of the Statue of Liberty

Red are the Apples

Delivery (my favorite)

If you have favorite young people, these would be great gift ideas.

You can also follow him here on Instagram, or visit his website here. He does commissions as well.

After a wonderful visit, as shown in the photos in this post, he sent us on our way with a lovely bouquet of his homegrown flowers to grace our retreat with their fragrance and beauty. We hope to paint with him in plein air sometime as well. Thank you for your hospitality, Wade!

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