The Heilman Pastel Box
by Mark Norseth

Like many pastel artists, I’ve dreamed about what my ideal portable pastel box would be. Over time, I’ve devised several arrangements, from the plastic tackle boxes we all seem to start with, to an antique wooden silverware box I found at a yard sale and recon-structed. It’s a great old box, but a bit frail and cumbersome; not well suited to scrambling around the shoreline or in the woods.

Through these experiments, I considered what my requirements would be, should I ever design my own portable pastel box, and came up with this list of what I would like:

With all of these requirements, I wasn’t sure what I’d find on the market. I even began designing and trying to build my own. It was after demolishing a lot of beautiful maple stock and oak plywood in my efforts to build a better box that I came across the pastel box made by John Heilman of Heilman Designs.

I spoke with Mr. Heilman before placing my order, and was impressed with his understanding of what I needed. John had been in touch with a lot of pastel artists while designing this box, people looking for the same things I was, and he had designed just the box I was hoping to find. Once my order was placed, I was using the box in a matter of days.

I was pleased by the beautiful workmanship … it’s the kind of box you’d want to own for life. The design uses a piano hinge, which runs the full length of the box, a great feature. He designed a locking lever that is simple and effective for keeping the box flat in the open position. Of the three sizes offered, I purchased the standard briefcase-sized box, which holds the 250 pastels in my outdoor palette. Opening book-like, the box stays fitted on the open tray of my French easel. The pastels are securely in place, and remain that way, when the box is open, closed or transported.

I don’t know whether a half-size French easel will support the open box. However, having tripod threads, the box can also be mounted on a tripod. Like everything else I own, the hardware is showing a bit of rust from the salt air it’s exposed to. But it closes in a quick minute when the rains come, and I’ve been very pleased with all aspects of this product. If you are looking for a serious box for indoor or outdoor painting, I think this is a great choice.

Heilman boxes are available from Marge and John Heilman, phone (530) 778-3080 or on the Web at www.heilmandesigns.com.