Dialogue by Mark:

Friends help each other become better. My friend Kim at KidsArt helps me make Imagination Station fun for all you awesome young artists by sending our super art history pictures. And today she sent a picture of friends!

These two girlfriends were created by Mary Cassatt, an artist who lived and worked in Paris about 100 years ago. Cassatt was an American. She grew up in Philadelphia. When she was a teenager, she decided to become a professional artist.

Cassatt made this artwork with pastels. Pastels are like dry paint pigments made into sticks. It's like painting with chalk. The colors are very rich and soft. They blend together easily.

When artists work with pastels, they use a special paper with a rough texture. This helps the pastels stick to the paper.

It's fun to draw with chalks and pastels. You can buy these at an art supply store and they don't cost a lot. Draw on white paper that has sort of a soft finish, or cut a piece of brown paper from a grocery bag and draw on the inside. Then you can create a picture like Mary Cassatt did a hundred years ago. Spuer thanks to the Cincinnati Art Museum for this great print. BR>
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