Sonoran Arts League Small Works Show & Sale

Each December the Sonoran Arts League holds a juried small works show in their office/gallery. Again this year I had a piece juried into the show. I don't usually paint that small as the maximum size for an entry was 35 sq.inches which is basically a 5" x 7" piece. However, as shared in a previous blog I painting a color study of a single pear with this show in mind. The show includes over 200 entries in a variety of mediums. If you live in the area and have a chance....stop by the show. You may find the perfect gift for several people on your gift list. There is no better gift than original art!!

Hidden in the Hills Reflections

Well, my second Hidden in the Hills Open Studio Tour is now under my belt. After a day of breakdown and couple of days of rest I can look back and reflect on this year's event.
First and foremost is how happy I was to be in an indoor setting this year! I had a great time at the studio I was at last year....but I was outdoors on a back patio. I took my art down each night and worried about wind and rain each day. I lucked out last year in that I only had rain at the very end of two of the days while I was removing my art. This year the Sunday of the first weekend was on and off rain all day. There were a couple of good downpours and even a little wind. The Sunday of the second weekend was very cold and windy....yes, even in Arizona we get some cold fronts that come through. I was very glad I wore tights under my jeans and brought my gloves! Both weekends I would have been desperately protecting my art if I was still in an outside setting! Thank you Toni for inviting me to be a part of your studio with an indoor setting!!
My second reflection is one that is very gratifying to me as a pastel artist. With only a couple of exceptions, my visitors were all familiar with pastel as a medium. This is a big change from past years where I spent a lot of time explaining what pastels are and how they are used. I even had people coming into my booth and saying "Oh, I love pastels!". Definitely gratifying! It follows the resurgence of the popularity of pastels both nationally and internationally that is occurring.
A third reflection is how much I enjoy talking with people about my art. Although festivals and open studios are a lot of work, the opportunity to talk with people about my art makes it all well worthwhile.
A final reflection is how much I learn spending long periods of time with fellow artists in an art setting. We share strategies and resources for making art and marketing our art. I learned last year with the folks I was with and again this year. Fellow artists are so generous with their knowledge and experience....it is truly a great group of people to be a part of!
Well, I am already thinking about modifications of my presentation for next year and how I will use what I learned for my next art festival which is the Sonoran Arts League Fine Art Festival at Stagecoach Village in Cave Creek in February. I am hoping for great weather and lots of folks to share my art with!

Hidden in the Hills Open Studio Tour 2010

The first of the two weekends of this year's Hidden in the Hills is in the books. I am so very happy in my new location. Last year I was at a studio where my location was on the back patio of the host artist. My host was wonderful and I had a great time with my fellow artists.....but I was outdoors. I took my art down each night and worried about the weather each day of the event. Two of the days we had rain at the end of the day as I was taking down my work and trying to get it into my car unscathed. When my friend, Toni, called to invite me to exhibit at her home/studio with an indoor location this year I couldn't say no. I miss my former studio mates.....but I am so-o-o-o happy in my new location! I am once again working with a great group of artists (actually not sure I ever met an artist I didn't like :-)). However, the bonus is setting up my booth and being able to leave it fully set up for the full two weekends of the event. At the end of each day we shut the garage door and my art is safe and sound from weather and any other risks! This was really brought home to me yesterday as it rained most of the day with some wind to factor in as well. I would have been in deep trouble on the patio in my former location. In my new location I was safe and dry.....albeit a little chilly as the storm front brought colder temperatures. Here is a picture of my booth. We had great traffic this weekend despite the weather on Sunday and I am looking forward to next weekend!

Scottsdale Artist's School Best and Brightest Show

I received the exciting news today that both of my entries to the Scottsdale Artist's School Best and Brightest Show were juried into the show. The two pieces are "Market Colors" and "Ripe Strawberries". In addition to the show being on display at the School from January 8th through March 15th, it will also be on display at the ten-week Celebration of Fine Art in Scottsdale, Arizona. The artwork will be rotated on a regular basis from the School to Celebration and back. Definitely exciting news!

Breaking the Rule with "A Pair of Pears"

My last two paintings, "A Pear of Reds" and "A Pair of Pears" break one of the basic rules of composition. The rule is that there should an odd numbers of objects in a composition. In the first painting, "A Pear of Reds", I flat out forgot this rule as I played with my setup of the pears I was so enthralled with to get one I liked. In fact I did not even realize it until I was in the middle of this second painting, "A Pair of Pears". Oops!!! At least I caught my own mistake (I comforted myself with this thought). Then I decided I liked the two paintings for the color and the warmth.....so I am not going to try to change them......I am going to consciously break the rule. That's what rules are for.....right??? I plan to have them as part of my display of paintings for sale at the upcoming Hidden in the Hills Open Studio Tour. I wonder what visitors will think of them. It is going to be fun to see what the comments are......I will let you know! Here is "A Pair of Pears".

A Pear of Reds

I am continuing my current love affair with pears. I had fun with this title...."A Pear of Reds" for two pears that encompass a variety of shades of red. Pears are not my favorite fruit to eat....but they are definitely fun to paint. I love the warm and yet vibrant colors of the various pears and the nice round shapes. I have one more I am hoping to finish tomorrow.....and then it is time to move on to something different. Not sure yet what it will be....but right now warm reds, oranges and yellows are catching my eye (maybe the cooler temperatures are impacting my choices). Let's see......warm reds, oranges and yellows........hmmm.....that does not really narrow the field that much....I guess I will be as surprised as you!

Pear I and Pear II

I did something a little different with my latest painting....I mean, paintings. I wanted to create a painting to possibly enter (if it came out good) in the Sonoran Arts League Small Works show. Paintings for this show are limited to a maximum size of 35 sq. inches. I set up a still life using a pear with rich red and orange gold colors. Once I set it up and took some photos I decided I would really like to add it to my upcoming open studio tour. So I painted two paintings of the pear in two different sizes ( 7 x 5 and 12 x 9) at the same time. I did the two backgrounds at the same time and then moved to the pears. They came out pretty much the same except for the scalloped edges of the cloth they are setting on.....not sure how that happened....but I ran with it. What made it even more interesting was that I painted them on two different pastel papers. Pear II (the 7 x 5) is painted on UArt paper in 400 grit. Pear I (the 12 x 9) is painted on Wallis paper. I found myself becoming very aware of the difference in the two papers. The Wallis paper has a coarser texture with a touch of variety in the texture across the paper. The UArt was very consistent and felt finer even though it is the coarsest grit they offer. I found I leaned towards the UArt....although I certainly plan to continue using Wallis. Here are the two paintings on the easel, then Pear I (12 x 9) and last is Pear II (7 x 5)

Talk About Being Thrilled!!!!

I received a phone call today notifying me that my piece, "Artichokes", won the 5th place award in the Pastel Society of New Mexico's National Show! The award for 5th place is a gift certificate from Terry Ludwig for $500 in pastels! I have truly died and gone to heaven!!!! Ludwig pastels are one of my very favorite pastels and I use them extensively. Life is good!

Limes

I am continuing to work hard to get pieces ready for this year's Hidden in the Hills (HITH) Open Studio Tour which takes place the last two weekends of November. You may recall that I had entered three pieces in the Pastel Society of New Mexico National Show with the hopes of getting one piece in. I never dreamed all three would get in in! I was excited about that success......but also concerned about losing three of the best pieces from my inventory as opposed to one piece for the upcoming HITH. Aaawwwggghh! I have been painting every chance I get! I just finished "Limes" this morning. It is 24" x 18", a size which usually takes me a couple of weeks to complete. "Limes" was finished in one week! It helped that it did not include as much detail as my previous larger pieces. I am pleased with the results......but have to move on to the next painting! Enjoy!

Red Roses....at last!

Red Roses was one of those tough ones. It is a larger piece at 24" x 18" which means it took more time simply because of the size. However, when I had completed the painting......the first time....I was not really happy with the results (image on the left). I was happy with the fruit in the bowl and the pitcher....but I felt the roses looked flat and the whole piece just didn't meet my expectations. I knew something was wrong....but wasn't sure what to do. So I called a good friend who is an excellent artist as well as a great teacher. I sent her the image and we brainstormed. Her first reaction was not one I wanted to hear since I had labored over it. She felt my shadow competed with the actual pitcher of roses. She suggested I think of presenting the shadow as on a wall much further back so it wasn't so "in your face". I didn't want to let the shadow go....but as I digested her comments I realized she was right. When I talked about the roses being flat we talked about adding more contrast to the roses themselves....but also the possibility of darkening the background.....hmmmmm.....hadn't thought of that! Maybe I could address both issues with a change of the background. Another thing she pointed out to me was that she was confused about the rose on the table.....but it was because she couldn't see the stem as it was in the shadow of the bowl. That would be an easy fix. I left the painting to work on another piece while I continued to think about how to address the background. I looked on the web for pieces by still life artists I admire to see how they did their backgrounds when there were reds in their setups. Finally, I was ready for the redo! I completely changed the background, spent a lot of time adding more contrast to the roses and ended up changing not only the stem of the rose on the table...but the cloth itself underwent a transition. A lot of work.....but now I am happy!!!

Art Challenge 2010

I once again signed up for the Arizona Pastel Artists Association Art Challenge. Last year's experience was a career changer for me as shared in previous blogs. This year the objects for the challenge were two creamy white ceramic bird salt and pepper shakers. I had a lot of ideas for paintings around the objects....but decided to go with a little sense of humor. My son and daughter-in-law gave us a wonderful handmade wooden birdhouse a few years ago. It is beautifully decorated with greenery and pine cones. It was so cute we kept it indoors as decoration instead of putting it out for possible use by real birds. I decided it was the perfect house for my newly obtained salt and pepper shaker birds! I set the scene up and added a couple of rocks from the yard and some additional greenery. I changed the name on the mailbox from "The Birds" to "Mr. Pepper & Mrs. Salt Bird"........and that became the name for the piece as well. I can't wait to take it to the November APAA meeting to share and to see what the other participants chose to do with their set of salt and pepper shaker birds!!

APAA Artist of the Month

Each month the Arizona Pastel Artists Association holds an Artist of the Month Competition at our monthly meeting. The winner of each month's competition is eligible to have their winning painting compete for the Artist of the Year honor at the end of the meeting year. At the October meeting I entered my most recent painting, "Ripe Strawberries". I was excited to have the painting bring me the Artist of the Month award. I am now eligible for the Artist of the Year competition.....as long as the painting does not sell in the meantime. Oh well....a good home for my painting is more important than an award.......right????

Taste of Cave Creek 2010

Wednesday and Thursday of this last week I participated in the Taste of Cave Creek. The Taste of Cave Creek has been an expanding event over the last few years. This year the town decided to add an art exhibit and sale. They approached the Sonoran Arts League of which I am a member to provide the exhibit. I coordinated the exhibit as well as exhibited my own work. Considering it was the first year for the art exhibit, the event was a great success. The artists participating were hoping for sales of course, but realized that as it was a first time event getting additional exposure was the big goal. However, many of us sold artwork to our surprise. I sold my landscape piece, "Bulldog Cliffs" to a couple from Illinois who have a second home in the Cave Creek area. I also have a couple of follow-ups that may result in additional sales. This was the first event of the art season in the Valley of the Sun for most artists....and if this event is an indicator.....this year should be a much better year than the last couple for selling art. Above are a couple of pictures of my setup.

Ripe Strawberries

I have been working on a 24 x 18 painting of a still life setup that is giving me problems. I conferred with a painting buddy who gave me some insights and made me think about the piece. I think I have decided what to do to fix it....but also decided I needed some time away from it to let my ideas "percolate" a little more. I set it on an easel at one end of my studio to look at every now and then. In the meantime I decided to paint a piece that I have had waiting in the wings. I decided to do this piece in a smaller format and ended up with a 9 x 12 size. The blue towel was fun to do but the strawberries took a little longer than I thought they would. I wanted them to be painted in warm, luscious colors. As a result I struggled with the highlights....what color to use for the highlights. I ended up using a light warm yellow and then an almost white warm yellow for the final highlights to get the look I was after. Enjoy "Ripe Strawberries"!

Excitement, Excitement!!!

I just received notice that all three of my entries were accepted into the 19th Annual National Exhibition of the Pastel Society of New Mexico. The show will be hung from November 5th through the 28th at the Hispanic Arts Center at EXPO New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM. The selection judges were Patti Andre', Aaron Schuerr, and Sally Strand. The judge of awards will be Clive Tyler. The three pieces are: "Vine Tomatoes"; "Artichokes"; and "The Line Up".

Time to Think and Reflect

This week my husband and I rented an oceanfront condo in Carlsbad, CA to celebrate our 36th anniversary. It has been a very relaxing and peaceful week overall. We spent some time in antique shops looking for still life objects and in general driving around checking out the area. A highlight for me has been my daily walks on the beach. It is definitely cooler here than in Scottsdale, AZ so even in the bright sunshine in the first half of the week the walks were quite pleasant with the breeze off the ocean. However, the second half of the week we have been pretty much socked in with marine layer (fog) all day or most of the day. This made for very interesting morning walks as I found I even needed a jacket. But.....a plus has been the fact that such an environment of few people, inability to see very far in any direction, and the sound of the ocean leads to introspection. I found myself doing a lot of thinking this week. I thought about how I came to painting after retirement totally enthused about plein air painting. I thrived on being outside with friends painting the landscape. I have worked with some of the top plein air pastel landscape artists in workshops. My inner soul thrived on being out with Mother Nature......but my frustration with my painting was a constant. Although I saw great improvement and I certainly learned a lot.....I never felt that I had met my potential for a painting. Interesting enough I had done some still life in classes....but saw them only as a stepping stone for better landscapes. I also was not driven to paint in the studio....only to be out with friends in the field. I was collecting a large number of unfinished paintings begun in the field and never finished. Then I signed up for the Art Challenge with the Arizona Pastel Artists Association. In previous blogs I talked about how you receive an object and must somehow incorporate it into a painting. My object was a glass goblet.......how do you incorporate a goblet into a landscape meaningfully??? I didn't......I set up a still life to simply fulfill the task......and this has changed the direction of my art totally. It came out so good I wanted to enter it into a show....so I did a second one for the challenge. I loved that one.....and it got into an International Association of Pastel Societies show. Suddenly I found myself planning my next painting as I was working on one. I found myself eager to get into the studio and paint. I think I have found my niche. I still love being outdoors....but I am not driven to paint it.....I am driven to paint setups that I create. I have total control over setting up a still that speaks to me and calls for me to paint it. I think part of it is the fact that I like to paint realistically and to a level of detail that creates problems in landscapes. I was constantly working to paint more "painterly". But I am a "type AAAAAAAAA" person (that is not a typo)....very organized and detail oriented. This is an asset in still life. I do not have to try to change what I am but apply my innate way of operating to the principles of a solid painting. Thus the comfort level and inner satisfaction. Yes....reflection and thinking is good....it helps you to see where you've been, where you are.....and provides goals for where you are going. I am going to miss the foggy walks on the beach as I head back to my beloved Scottsdale, my 2 little Italian Greyhounds (Emily and Jasmine), and my studio with a half done painting calling for me.

Artichokes

My "art affair" continues with vegetables with my latest piece, "Artichokes". This is the second time I have had artichokes as my subject. The first time I did a small piece of a closeup of an artichoke and really had fun with color. This piece was more focused on the shapes of a pile of artichokes. This is a cropping of one of the photos I took in the local Safeway market. I really liked the composition that the cropping created. I had fun with the shadows as the light source was from above. This is another big piece at 24" x 18". After this piece and the asparagus piece I find I need to replenish some of my green pastels......oh no.....I have to go shopping at the art store!

International Mile High 2010 Show

Today I received word that both of my entries to the Pastel Society of Colorado's international show were juried into the show! The two pieces are "Asparagus Bundles" and "Greens and Purples". I am very pleased as I highly respect the judge, Sally Strand. Sally was the 2007 inductee into the Pastel Society of America's Hall of Fame. I took a workshop from her about three years ago at the Scottsdale Artists School and found her to be a knowledgeable and professional teacher as well as an inspiring artist. Time to pour a glass of wine and celebrate!!

The Line Up

With our vacation to visit several of the national parks in southern Utah under our belt, it was back to the easel this week. The vacation was wonderful.....such a beautiful area of the country.....it is easy to see why there are such a large number of national parks all clustered in the lower half of Utah. It was a real transition to come back to the easel as I went from the towering splendor of colorful mountains and canyons to a line up of 5 pears! However, the transition became easier with the vivid colors of the pears and my choice of color for the background.....mostly warm oranges, yellows, and reds. I wanted a warm wood color for the shelf so I ended up setting the still life up in my bedroom on a dresser. This added a little challenge as I did not want to paint in the bedroom and I was blocking my husband's sock drawer! However, between a photo and time "absorbing" the setup in the bedroom the painting was completed. From the time I set it up I kept thinking it was like a police line up....so that became the title....."The Line Up". The final piece is 9 inches high by 24 inches long. I hope you like it.

A Little Time Away Works Wonders

In my last post I shared the struggle I was having with my painting "Asparagus Bundles". I ended up brushing out a large portion of the bottom third. After the brushing out I found myself needing a break from asparagus. Life worked to my advantage as I had a busy week of meetings, appointments, etc. However.....after a nice break I found myself reluctant to go back to the piece.....not wanting to resume a struggle. Finally, I made myself face the music.....and guess what.....it just started to flow....no longer a struggle. I redeveloped the bottom third in a completely different format which I like much better. I also worked across the whole painting with some final touches to build more contrast and interest as opposed to just trying to redo the bottom third in isolation. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder in a relationship....well....it seems that distance from a struggling painting makes a painting go easier!! Here is the finished piece.

Some are a Struggle

I know I have said this before....but it just continues to be reinforced in my studio. Some paintings just paint themselves.....others are a struggle. The current piece falls into the second category. I am continuing my series on vegetables with a piece on asparagus. I was intrigued by the stack of bundled asparagus on my trip to Safeway for reference photos. I decided I wanted to reference the long thin shape of asparagus spears with a tall thin painting. I decided on 9" wide by 24" tall. This was a painting that I basically started at the top and worked my way down......which I don't usually do.....maybe this is something to consider in the future. All went well until I got to the bottom third. Although the top two thirds of the painting were very tedious and time consuming I was happy with the results. Then the bottom third......things just didn't go well. I knew there were problems and decided to take a break from the piece. As I returned to the piece I decided to take a photo and look at it on Photoshop. This really helped as I instantly saw some of the problems. The heads of the asparagus in the lower third were too large....almost twice the size of the top spears. They also did not stand out as individual spears but seem to run more together (maybe from being overworked????). I also suddenly noticed that the bands holding the bundles together at the bottom formed a line across the width and that the two bands on the right side were the exact same width. Not good! I even thought about cropping the piece to eliminate the bottom third. Here is the piece and a cropped version I considered:

The crop eliminated the problems.....but did not have the same impact that the full 24" would have if corrected. So outside with a stiff brush to brush out the problems. Tomorrow we try again. Here is the piece on my easel with the areas brushed out. The lighting is not great....but you can see the work to be done. Wish me luck!

Cave Creek Film and Art Festival - Take 3!!

For the third year in a row I have had a piece juried into the Cave Creek Film and Art Festival. This year I wasn't sure of possible success because I entered my piece, "Equine Eye". This is a piece I was driven to paint....but realized that the subject would not necessarily appeal to everyone. However, I also thought the eye of an equine was appropriate for the very old time western town of Cave Creek....so I sent it in! Today I received the call notifying me that the piece was successful in being juried in. Obviously there are others that share my love for horses!!!

Time to Celebrate!

I received an e-mail today notifying me that my piece, "Market Colors" which was juried into the Pastel Society of the West Coast's Pastels USA 24th International Open Exhibition in Los Gatos, CA was awarded the Pastel Society of New Mexico Award! I was thrilled just to be juried into this prestigious show so winning an award is truly icing on the cake!! Thanks goes to the Pastel Society of New Mexico for sponsoring this award!

New Website Design

I have spent the last few days working to redesign my website. My main purpose for the redesign was to reflect my decision to put my focus on still life paintings. I wanted the website to clearly communicate that focus. As such, I did not include my landscape, figurative or animal subsections for my gallery page. I also wanted my paintings to pop more than they did on the neutral background I used in my first website.....thus the black. The part that I am unsure of is the left column with my business name and the links to the other pages in the website. I am not sure it doesn't intrude on the main focus of each page. I would be excited to get some feedback from you......let me know what you think......how could it be modified to improve it further? Here is the link:
http://www.karenbudanfineart.com/

Vine Tomatoes

Vine Tomatoes is the next piece in my exploration of fruits and vegetables in market settings. This piece is adapted from a photo taken in my local Safeway market. That reference photo collecting trip was interesting in and of itself. I had no idea that vegetable display setups are highly competitive among markets. I took a business card with me when I entered the store with my camera wanting to be both professional and polite. I approached the gentleman stocking in the vegetable area to request permission to take photos as reference for my work as an artist. He informed me I would have to talk with the store manager. When I explained my request to the store manager I was told I would have to talk with corporate. I was given the number for corporate and asked for public affairs as I had been informed to do. I explained my request and on a whim suggested she visit my website to see the kind of art I seek reference photos for. She indicated she would call me right back. I only had a loiter around the entrance to the store for a minute or two before she called me back and gave me the go ahead. Needless to say I took many photos knowing the steps I would have to take for future visits.

This setting of vine tomatoes nestled in artifical straw caught my eye. I added a few tomatoes and adjusted the lighting as I needed a focal point and a clear lighting pattern (in the store the lighting comes very strongly from the ceiling. This is also the largest painting I have done to date measuring 18"x24". It took me a LONG time to work on all these tomatoes!!! Hope you enjoy the results!

More Exposure

Summer is the slow time in Arizona. Many folks leave the valley for cooler climes. Personally, I like the heat.....certainly makes for fabulous pool weather!! Although I am entering national shows which continue through the summer in other parts of the country, the slow pace in Scottsdale allows for more studio time. However, I am still interested in having my work out in the public for exposure and possible sales. The Arizona Art Alliance, of which I am a juried member, has entered into an agreement with the new managing company of the Scottsdale Pavilions shopping complex. They have leased a building to use as a gallery, but they also have agreed to set up art in the windows of currently empty buildings until they are leased by new tenants. I now have two panels of work in the windows of stores as well as two pieces in the new gallery which is scheduled to open June 2nd. If you are in the area of Indian Bend and the 101, I hope you will take the opportunity to check out my work!

Two Down

I completed the revision of the second piece developed during my recent two day workshop with Liz Kenyon. Again....although it was not finished to begin with during the workshop...during the critique at the end of the workshop I realized that in both pieces my compositions were composed of four objects. A general rule of thumb is to have an odd number of objects for a strong composition. To resolve this issue with the piece I titled "Fruit and Spices" I decided to add a paring knife. It fits in the concept as many people like to salt their fruit. It also completes the composition without pulling from the focal point where the salt shaker meets the center pear. Here is the finished piece.

One Down and One To Go

Here is the revision of the first of the two pieces that I painted in my workshop last weekend. As indicated in a previous blog I realized the painting was composed of four objects. A rule of thumb for a good composition is to have an odd number of objects. To rectify this issue I added two additional turkey eggs laying on the table next to the basket. This eliminates the totally symetrical look of the painting without the extra eggs. I have named this piece, "Turquoise Plate". On to the next revision.

Equine Eye

I was always one of those young girls totally crazy about horses. I read every horse book and spent many happy hours galloping around fields holding a piece of rope (my reins). When I got married I had my first opportunity to own a horse. I lived, breathed and loved horses for many years. I rode across the state of Michigan as a trail rider, studied and showed in dressage at both the state and national level, and bred and raised several foals. It was a wonderful time in my life. I do not have horses now....but they still hold a warm place in my heart. Horses have personalities and express many emotions. Their eyes are so soft and expressive.....I have always loved close-up photos of equine eyes. I decided to paint an equine eye. I spent the time painting this piece reliving many memories. If you have ever spent time with horses I hope this painting brings your memories to life as well!

Still Life Workshop

Last Friday and Saturday I participated in a Pastel Vintage Items Still Life workshop with instructor and friend Liz Kenyon. As always Liz provided a lot of direction, inspiration, guidance, and fun. I painted two pieces.....both of which still need some final touches. In addition to the final changes I had planned, I realized during the group critique that I had created each with an even number of objects. I will be adding an additional object to each. I thought I would share the pieces post workshop, but pre needed work. Watch for the changes.

Facebook Presence

I would like to announce that I have created a Facebook business page that I would like to invite you to become a fan of. The page title is "Karen Budan Pastel Painting Fine Art". I have linked my blog to this page so all entries will automatically show up on the wall. This creates another easy way for interested folks to follow my blog as a pastel painter. I look forward to having you as a fan on Facebook!

"Nap Time" wins Honorable Mention

The Arizona Pastel Artists' Association Spring Juried Show opened Friday, April 16th at the Sedona Art Center's Community Gallery. Although the entries are juried into the show by digital image, the judge, Vince Fazio, judged the awards Friday morning once the paintings were hung in the gallery. I was pleased to learn that "Nap Time" won an Honorable Mention. I was one of the show monitors Friday and Saturday and it was fun to see people's reactions to the little calf all snuggled down into the straw. He was fun to paint....and obviously fun for viewers as well!

Exciting News in Today's Mail

I just went to get the mail and found exciting news! My painting, "Market Colors" was juried into the Pastel Society of the West Coast's 24th Annual International Exhibit, Pastels, U.S.A. PSWC is one of the largest pastel groups in America with a number of professional artists as members. Their membership shows are competitive.....but this annual open show is very competitive and hard to get into. Needless to say.....I am thrilled. The show will be hung at the Art Museum of Los Gatos in Los Gatos, CA. from June 3rd through July 9th. What great news!!

Santa Barbara Workshop

I recently completed a week long plein air workshop with Richard McKinley in Santa Barbara, CA. I have worked with Richard a number of times, but this was a new group of pastel artists for the most part. I did find some old friends from previous workshops with Richard, Janie Hutchinson, Willo Balfry, and Linda Connelly. All three took part in the Italy workshop with Richard in 2008. This workshop was for advanced painters and with a few exceptions the participants had worked with Richard previously. The weather was mostly sunny....but not very warm. We also had a lot of wind which dropped the temperature. I tried to be in the sun as I painted to keep my fingers from stiffening up from the cold. Richard's goal for the workshop was to push each of us to the next step in our painting. I shared this goal....but I was also seeking help in bringing my landscapes to the same level as my still life paintings. I think I made some inroads into the issues that I am dealing with in my landscapes. More practice in application of Richard's input will hopefully make the difference for me. I worked on 5 paintings during the week. One of them was completed on site.....unless I decide to make any final changes. Here is "Carpenteria Bluffs". Let me know what you think!

Pastel Society of America

I am thrilled to announce that I have been juried into the Pastel Society of America as an associate member! The Pastel Society of America (PSA) is the oldest and most prestigious pastel society in the United States (http://www.pastelsocietyofamerica.org/). PSA is housed in a building in downtown NYC with a gallery and school. One cannot just pay membership dues and be a member......you must be juried into membership. There are two levels of membership.....associate and signature. Signature status allows you to put the initials "PSA" behind your signature. Those who have earned signature status are seen as very accomplished artists! One can be juried in at the signature level.....but I believe that is a rare occurrence.....I have not heard of anyone doing so. As one advances in their career associate members can apply to the jury process again to be considered for signature status. I hope to be doing this in the not too distant future!!! Life is good!!!

Nap Time

I have had a painting partially completed on my easel waiting for me to find the time to come back to it. It finally happened! I loved this little fella all snuggled into the straw and the way the light created blue tones in his black hide. Babies are so cute.....and this calf is no exception! I decided to title it "Nap Time".

Art West Art Fest - Interesting Finish

My experience as a participating artist in the Out West Art Fest had a great first two days and a very interesting third day. Saturday, day two, was another beautiful day as the predicted rain was moved to Saturday night as opposed to arriving in the afternoon. There were great crowds and I had another profitable day selling some giclee prints and notecards. As the day progressed the artists became ever more diligent about keeping tabs on the weather reports. To be on the safe side most of the artists decided to take their art home for the night. My tent partner and I both decided to take all of our art home for the night. We added extra weights to the tent with concrete blocks and 25 pound barbell weights. We were in a short row of three tents across from the food tents. As an extra precaution we tied the three tents together. We all left for home hoping the storms would pass us by.

I woke up to rain Sunday morning and it wasn't long before the phone rang. A friend who was also participating in the art fair and lived close to the location had driven up to check her tent after the night of storms. She called to let me know that our tent top had been peeled back by the wind and the interior was soaked. According to the news reports later in the day a microburst hit Cave Creek. We actually fared better than many of the artists. There was substantial damage to many of the tents as you can see from the pictures above. Our tent nor panels were damaged......just totally soaked by the 3/4 inch of rain that fell in the area. We could not hang our art on the wet panels as it would destroy our artwork.....so like a good number of the other artists we packed up our tent and panels and gave it up. I did not get a picture of our tent as my partner and several helpful people already had the tent disassembled by the time I arrived.

Oh well.....the first two days were great! I guess this is what you have to be ready for in the art fair business!

Out West Art Fest - Day One

It was a very exhausting setup last night....neither my tent partner, Julia, nor I had a clue how to put up our tent. Julia got it used (no directions) and had set it up once...four years ago. Her memory is no better than mine. Let's just say we did, undid, redid a few times and ran around asking people questions. We did get the tent up and the propanels in place before it got too dark.....barely. Quite an orientation to art festival life! I dragged myself to my car and drove home thinking this may not be my cup of tea!

We got there early today and hung our paintings and made the final setup arrangements. Sunshine and lots of people.....this is more like it.....maybe this is my cup of tea. Then in the first hour I sold a painting, "Golden Barrel Cactus". Yeah....I think I do like it! Then I sold a second painting, "Sunflowers", and some cards. Yep!!! This is pretty great!! Funny how a couple of sales makes you forget all about the pain of the setup!

Now for the next challenge.....we are supposed to get some fairly significant storms with winds, rain and possible hail tomorrow night. Needless to say all exhibitors are on edge. We are going to take all our art out of the tent tomorrow at the end of the day (hopefully not in rain) and pray the tent is still there when we arrive Sunday morning. Cross your fingers for us.

I will let you know!

Out West Art Fest

This weekend I will be showing in the Out West Art Fest at the Stagecoach Village in Cave Creek, AZ. This will be my first outdoor art festival. For this first venture I will be sharing a tent with my good friend and fellow pastelist, Julia Patterson. Above is the flyer with the location, dates and times. If you are in the area please stop by and see us!

Show Results

As reported in previous blogs, I recently had pieces juried into both the Glendale Arts Council 2010 Show and the Arizona Pastel Artists Association Winter Juried Show. I received awards in each of the shows. The piece "Greens and Purples" won second place in the Glendale Arts Council Show and the piece "Boot Scootin' Wannabes" won honorable mention in the APAA Winter Juried Show. I was very pleased to receive recognition in both shows!

Cold in Arizona???

This week the Arizona Pastel Artists Association is hosting a plein air painting workshop with Maggie Price. Maggie is an highly accomplished artist with a strong reputation as a teacher. She teaches workshops across the US as well as in Europe. As a resident of NM just outside of Albuquerque, Maggie was looking forward to some warmth and sun in Arizona in the middle of winter as much as we were looking forward to learning from her. Well, our "el nino" winter is not cooperating. We are definitely not showing our best side to the folks that have come from out of state to participate! We are having below normal temperatures.....low to mid 60s, cloudy weather at least part of each day so far....and rain predicted tomorrow. But, we are taking it in stride.....the warm friendship and laughter among the participants as we brave the elements has overcome our disappointment in the weather. And most importantly....we are learning a lot!!!

IAPS Fifteenth Juried Exhibition Reception

As mentioned in a previous blog I was thrilled to be juried into the Fifteenth Juried Exhibition of the International Association of Pastel Societies. The show was being held in the City of Brea Art Gallery in Brea, CA. As this was my first national level show I decided to attend the reception on Saturday evening, January 23rd. It is a beautiful gallery and the reception was very well attended. The trip was further enhanced for me because Maggie Price, IAPS President, presented a great pastel landscape painting demonstration from 2 to 5 pm in the gallery prior to the reception. Needless to say, I was very impressed by the quality and breadth of the work juried into the exhibition....some truly beautiful art. Recognizing the level of work made being part of the exhibit a truly memorable step forward in my art career! Above is a photo of my framed piece hung on the gallery wall. Below is a link to a brief video of the reception. I hope you enjoy the video even a fraction as much as I enjoyed being there!

Please click here to enjoy the video clip posted on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBOKVpUdkKI

Juried in!

I mentioned in my last post that there are a number of shows to be considered for entry this time of year in AZ. One of the shows I entered is the Glendale Arts Council show. I entered the allowed two pieces to be juried and found out today that both pieces were juried into the show. The two pieces I entered were "Greens and Purples" and "Sunflowers". This is a nice show representing all media and often results in a number of sales. However, the deciding issue for me was that the judge is William Scott Jennings who is a nationally known artist. One loves to get feedback from such an accomplished artist!

Show Season Continues!

The winter is the high season for art shows in Arizona....and the it keeps one hopping! I entered three pieces into the Winter Juried Show of the Arizona Pastel Artist Association which is being judged this year by Maggie Price who is the President of the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS). All three were juried into the show! The three I entered were "Market Color", "Young Bulls", and "Boot Scootin' Wannabes" (see above). I won't know if I won any awards until Feb. 6th.

I also just mailed off an entry to the Arizona Plein Air Artists Small Gems Show.....it will be awhile before I hear if any were juried in to that show. This afternoon I am taking two entries down to the Glendale Arts Council show in Glendale. They jury the art pieces on location. I will know in a few days if either of my pieces got into that show.

I am still floating on cloud 9 from having "Late Night Snack" juried into the IAPS show in Brea, CA. I decided to fly over for the reception on January 23rd. A friend, Christine, and I are going to fly over and spend the night. It will be fun to see all the art as IAPS draw entries from the top pastelists nationally and internationally. Before we fly home later in the day on Sunday we plan to hit some galleries....maybe in Laguna Beach. I will take pictures and share with you in a blog entry upon my return.