Inspired by Our Land Exhibition
At The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre, Northumberland National Park with Unison Colour Ltd. On 8th December the ‘Inspired by Our Land’ Exhibition opens at
1987
The Beginning
Unison Colour was founded by artist John Hersey who, after many years of not finding a pastel he was happy with, decided to make his own. After years of experimenting, the Unison Colour soft pastel that you know and love today, was created.
But before we go any further...
Why not make yourself a cuppa, and watch our beautiful 8 minute film, which will take you on an intimate tour of Unison Colour HQ, while hearing from Kate Hersey, who tells us about the humble beginnings of Unison Colour, and son Dan, on moving onwards into the future.Â
Play Video
John Hersey
John Hersey was born in 1925. He was a student at the Byam Shaw School of art in London where he won a Rome Scholarship and lived in Italy for several years. On returning to the UK he ran his own business ‘Fine Art Photography’ while continuing with his own work. Over the years he became more and more interested in and passionate about colour.
John had always found inspiration in the clarity of light and subtlety of colour in Northumberland, and in 1980 he moved with Kate and their 4 children to an Old Rectory in the Northumberland National Park.
Colour Vision
The project began when John decided that the manufactured pastels available on the market broke easily, were not consistent in texture and did not mirror his colour vision. For several years he worked on methods of production, colour sequences and the texture of his pigment mixtures.
In 1987 he decided to offer the results to fellow pastellists. He and Kate took the original range of colour sets (then just 117 pastels!), and the kitchen dresser, to an art materials show in London. To their surprise there was an immediate interest.
Signs of Growth
To start with, the pastels were all made in the coach house and the top spare bedroom in the house was used for packing and storage. Eventually, as sales expanded in the USA, things became easier and they were able to construct another workshop and a packing room.
For John, it was a mission to create a world of colour.
In the Heart of Northumberland
Unison Colour is still based in the beautiful Tarset Valley in the Northumberland National Park, and the newly unveiled Northumberland International Dark Sky Park.
Each year nearly half a million handmade soft pastels are made in the workshops and Coach House at Thorneyburn Old Rectory. From here the pastels are sent out to artists all over the world.
Colourful Chronicles
I bought the complete set of Unison Colour pastels (and I don’t feel guilty anymore)
I had been dreaming of this set since I first tried a Unison pastel, 4 years ago.
Painting from Life – Exploring your Garden, the plants and the light
It is so easy to get into the habit of painting from 2D reference particularly when the weather isn’t good and forget that looking at the world in 3D is essential.
Dark Sky Giveaway
This month we thought we could help some pastel artists prepare their palettes for some beautiful nightscapes, and 10 lucky winners will each win one of our Midnight 8 sets.