{"id":12619,"date":"2020-12-18T18:53:54","date_gmt":"2020-12-19T02:53:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.howtopastel.com\/?p=12619"},"modified":"2022-06-29T18:18:54","modified_gmt":"2022-06-30T01:18:54","slug":"bill-creevy-in-memoriam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howtopastel.com\/2020\/12\/bill-creevy-in-memoriam\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Creevy – Pastel Explorer – In Memoriam…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bill Creevy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born 24 May 1942, William (“Bill”) Charles Creevy Jr, PSA-Master Pastelist, Hall of Fame Honoree, left this reality on Monday, 7 December 2020 from complications due to COVID-19. I was deeply saddened to hear the news, both because of his passing and particularly because it was related to this pandemic scourge that has consumed our being this year. Bill is the first person I know personally who has died from this virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can’t believe I will no longer have an artistically enlightening conversation with this man, one punctuated by Bill’s dry humour all laid out in his delicious Louisiana drawl. Which makes me even more thankful that I made three short interview videos with him while we visited at the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS). I’ve embedded them below for your listening pleasure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Bill and I always planned on him being a guest on HowToPastel. He said he wouldn’t write a blog but he’d answer questions. Time went by. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now it’s too late…. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So this is my tribute to Bill Creevy – my memories and a collection of his art that I love – to stand in place of his own guest post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Bill
Bill Creevy, “Twin Towers,” pastel on CP watercolour paper, 12 x 12 in<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I first met Bill at the 2003 IAPS Convention in Albuquerque. The introduction was made by my friend Stephanie Birdsall and after the Convention, the three of us plus Frank Frederico went out to work en plein air. You can imagine who magical this was for me, to spend time with two of my pastel heroes and my friend Stef.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I took this photo of Bill and Stef while on site. Later, Bill emailed me and included a photo he’d captured of me as I worked. (Luckily I printed the email as I now don’t have the original.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Stef
Stef Birdsall and Bill Creevy in the bush around Albuquerque New Mexico in May 2003<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Tricky
Tricky to see me but I’m sitting on a stool looking down at my work – taken at a location outside of Albuquerque 2003<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"Bill
Bill Creevy, “MTA Train Yard,” pastel on CP watercolour paper, 12 x 12 in.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I met Bill in 2003 but I knew of him before that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I encountered his book on pastels and purchased it in 1999. This was after I’d been working in soft pastels for a few years. His book, The Pastel Book,<\/em> opened up a world of possibility. Not only did it reveal a plethora of mark-making applications, it also showed how to include various other media with pastels. I immediately went out and bought a tube of Wingel (an alkyd gel)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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