Painting of the Week: “We’ll Go Together”

Pastel Painting Inspiration > Terrilynn Dubreuil is on the faculty of the upcoming Pastel Live online art conference, also featuring Aaron Schuerr, Rita Kirkman, Albert Handell, Vera Kavura, W. Truman Hosner, and many more. The event takes place online September 17-19, 2025, with an Essential Techniques Day on September 16. Learn more at PastelLive.com. (No tech skills? No problem! If you can click a link, you can join our event!)

On the Pastel Painting “We’ll Go Together”

By Terrilynn Dubreuil

My mother and her cat, Princess, were inseparable during the final years and days of my mother’s life. Princess would sleep under Mom’s walker, so if Mom got up to move, the cat would wake up immediately and follow wherever her Mistress went. She was a self-appointed guardian. I often found them together in this intimate hug.

Princess held vigil at the bedside, watching for hours at a time, until Mom breathed her final breath. In the following days, Princess stayed waiting beside Mom’s old, worn-out chair. The cat did not eat or drink for days … until she too passed. They belonged together as partners in life … and they went together to the next existence.

I painted this in Mom’s favorite colors of dusty rose and Wedgewood blue. The treatment of their hair connects the figures visually. I used tousled lines and marks to express the sense of the fraying of their lives, the tattered edges of existence as they transition from this reality to the one beyond. The gentleness of my mother’s hand petting the cat and the near-closed eye of the animal show the depth of their connection.

About Terrilynn Dubreuil

Travel and art share a life-enriching and creative partnership in this artist’s life. She has a passion for exploring new places throughout the world and creating original art with a focus on pastel painting as the most versatile of media. She also uses watercolor, photography, and other media. Color, light, and texture convey a balance between impressionism and realism. She infuses her work with emotion which causes her artwork to touch others.

Augmenting a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, she has studied Master level courses and pursued opportunities to expand personal knowledge and creative resources. She has been teaching various media and techniques for thirty-five years, including many Pastel Societies, the Asheville Art Museum and other studios. She’s a founding member of the International Pastel Teacher’s group: PATIO.

Terrilynn is a Master Circle member and volunteer of the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS), a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America (PSA), Signature member and Vice President of the Pastel Society of Maine (PSME) and on the Board of the Appalachian Pastel Society (APS), works often with Streamline Publishing, and is involved in various other international organizations. She exhibits and sells artwork in diverse venues, has received multiple top awards at juried International Shows including Best in Show for the 2023 IAPS Exhibit and Merit Award for the 2024 IAPS Live Exhibit. To date the artist has traveled or lived in fourteen countries, speaks 3 languages, and lives in Asheville, NC. She presents demos, mentorships, and fine art instruction through her Patreon, Artefacto International Online School, YouTube Channel and other venues.

Terrilynn will be teaching composition this year at Pastel Live. She says, “Composition has many elements that help a painting be powerful and effective. It’s a combination and progression of various approaches, such as: Rule of Thirds, balance, how to use various formats (ratio of sides and orientation) for impact, and employing other elements (such as value, contrast, line, scale, perspective, & color) that will help make your painting be the most impactful painting it can be.” Learn more at PastelLive.com.

Recent works and links can be seen online at travelingartista.com

Discover inspiring pastel painting portraits and more at realismtoday.com.