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Jennifer Wambach deserves a big thank you for creating the new logo for the Oil
Pastel Society.
Creating a logo is not an easy thing, but Jennifer has managed to
design this special logo for us that says it all.
Jennifer, from all of us at OPS, we thank you for giving us your time
and your special talent. It is a stellar design.
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Cafe Press has items for sale featuring our new beautiful logo and can be
seen at:
http://www.cafepress.com/oilpastels
Spread the word! Wear, Carry or Drink From - our new logo!!!
Your OPS Staff
The Oil Pastel Society presents the 2005 Member's Only Show:
"Beginnings
2005"
Eligibility:
All Associate and Professional Members whose dues are paid for 2005
Entry Fee:
None
Deadline for
Submissions: May 15, 2005
Submissions postmarked after that date will not be accepted.
How to Enter:
* Submit up to three (3) jpg images at 72 ppi. The longest length not to
exceed 600 pixels.
* Images which exceed the size requirements will be returned if received
before the deadline.
* Images should be closely matched to the original artwork and not enhanced
with digital
manipulation. Images should be clear and of the best quality for viewing.
Images should
not include any background or mats or framing.
Art Details:
* Artwork cannot be more than 2 years old and must not have won any previous
prize or award in any other art competition.
Current artist gallery images on the OPS site are not eligible.
* If there is underpainting, the painting must be at least 80% oil pastel.
* Artwork must be original - conceived and created by the entrant. No
artwork created in a
workshop, class, or from published materials (such as art instruction books,
magazines, or
other copyrighted sources) should be submitted.
Judging:
All entries received which meet the entry guidelines will be exhibited in
the online show. An independent judge will make selections for
awards.
Notification:
If you are an award winner, you will be notified by email before the show
opens on June 15th, 2005.
Send Entries to:
You may send a floppy or CD with your images to OPS, PO Box 390114,
Snellville, GA 30039. A delivery confirmation is recommended for all
mailed entries.
You may send your images by e-mail to
ops2005show@oilpastelsociety.com
Please include your name/address and image title/size/support with your
submissions in the *body* of your email or on a separate piece of paper for
mailed entries. If images cannot be matched with the artist, they will not
be accepted.
Publication:
By entering, you give the Oil Pastel Society permission to publish your
artwork on the Oil Pastel Society website and in any other publication which
features "Beginnings". Any work published will be given proper credit at all
times.
Terms:
Submission of entry automatically constitutes the entrant's acceptance of
all competition rules. The judge's decision will be final and no
correspondence will be entered into. Awards will be posted with the winning
entries when the show opens.
Questions:
Contact
coordinator@oilpastelsociety.com
Members, you might want to print out and
keep these guidelines handy.
FYI - Terry Ludwig will be serving as
our judge for "Beginnings". Terry is well-known for his landscape and
figures workshops. He also manufactures his own line of handmade soft
pastels. If you'd like to see his work, please check out his website,
www.terryludwig.com
Upcoming Events
"Art of the Carolinas 2005"
Location:
Jerry’s Artarama
Holly Park Shopping Center
3060 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh NC 27609 (919)876-6610 www.jerrysartevents.com
Mixed Media Immersion: Painting in Pastel
Instructor: Sean Dye June 18th – 19th Cost: $210
Oil
Pastel Made Easy
Instructor: Gina Murray July 31 Cost: $99
Oil Pastel Workshop - Carly Clements
March 5, 2005
at Binders Art Supply, Atlanta, GA
Time: 10:30-4:30 with lunch break
Cost: $45 Register at Binders
Pat Isaac is giving an Oil Pastel demo at the Cape Cod Art Association on
March 4, 2005 from 12:30 - 2:30pm - 3480 Route 6A, Box 85,
Barnstable, MA 02630. For further information contact Pat at
patisaac@erols.com
Welcome to
the Oil Pastel Society!
New Associate Members:
Ann Cox
Joanne Meyer
John Birch
New
Professional Members:
Preston King
Shelley Schoenherr
Charles Wood
George Shipperley
Congratulations to Pat Isaac, one of OPS's founding members! Her
painting "Farmers Market", an oil pastel, was accepted
into the Duxbury Winter Juried Show. This is one of the largest juried shows
in the area which runs from February through April. Out of 700 entries, only
125 entries are chosen.
Tips and Techniques
Melting Oil Pastels to Make New Colors by
Wendy Manning
It seems that, no matter how many pastel colors we have, there is always
one more we wish we had. And sometimes those colors don't even exist.
Holbein has a pale, almost-white, yellow that I love, and I've often wished
for equally pale versions of other colors. So I picked up a few
extra sticks of white and set to experimenting. My tools were
improvised to say the least.
I lined a small pan with foil,then lined a gravy
ladle with foil and placed in it a half-stick of white and a small piece of
color. Placed over low heat, the pastel soon began to melt.
Once the pastel was melted, I stirred it to blend, with a take-out
chopstick.
I poured the melted oil pastel into an improvised, foil-lined mold.
This has to be done quickly, as the pastel hardens in moments. I
now have four new pale colors made with Holbeins
and two new dark greens made with Cray-Pas
Specialists.
Now to try for some ochres.......................
Wendy Manning
Competitions that Accept Oil Pastels:
The
OPS is providing this information as a service to our members. No
endorsement is intended. The artist assumes responsibility for reading the
prospectus and determining eligibility.
Click here for the list of Competitions
Featured
Artist of the Month - Amber Lowe
I believe that I was just destined to be an artist. My earliest memories
involve me painting or coloring. I still remember my excitement when I saw
a new box of crayons and I still get that excitement whenever I open up my
oil pastel sets today. Being mainly self taught (with the exception to
high school art classes) I have been told that my work has a unique flair.
I couldn't afford to take art classes and workshops, so my main
instruction has been from art books from the library.During high school I
stopped making art after we lost our home to a fire. The fire destroyed all
my art work and was devastating to me as an artist. Looking back I realize
that I was just grieving, but I felt at that time that I lost all artistic
confidence and gave up making art for many years. Later in my mid-twenties I
became sick. My therapist suggested art therapy for me as a way to express
my feelings about my illness. I am so glad I took her advice. The joy of
creating artwork is something that has helped me both emotionally and
physically.
My
style can be viewed as being a contemporary impressionism. I believe it is
because I love the work of artists like Mary Cassat, Frida Kahlo, Georgia
O'Keefe and Edgar Degas. Contemporary artists that I admire today are
artists Charles Reid and Don Andrews. I love how they can play with color in
such a unique way. Their paintings sing with strong color and they inspire
me to find that vibrancy in my own work.
As many
artists, I first approached pastel painting with soft pastels. As much as I
liked working with direct pigment in my hands I found their dusty nature to
be distracting. Looking for a way to improve my technique I stumbled on the
website WetCanvas.com. There I met oil pastelists who were creating
beautiful works of art. Their paintings were vibrant and had wonderful
texture. It was what I was looking for in my work. With their encouragement
I decided to give oil pastels a try and I have been hooked from the start.
Currently I am using Senneliers and the surface I prefer is Art Spectrum
Colorfix paper. I have only been working with oil pastels for less than a
year, but I have found them to work with my artistic style.
Making
art is an expression of who I am. I like working in subjects that hold dear
to my heart which is why a lot of my work involves dogs as they are a great
passion of mine. When I paint a subject I get to have a very intimite
knowledge of it. My understanding of the subject increases with each
painting I do which is the driving force behind my art work.
In
approaching a subject I look for the most beautiful way to portray it. I
mostly work from reference photographs, as animals are not very still in
nature. To start a painting I will do a sketch of the object and then move
immediately into strong color and broad strokes. My goal is to have my work
capture the personality of a subject in a painterly fashion. My paintings
give me a feeling of accomplishment and an opportunity to share my mind's
vision of a subject's inner beauty. Each piece is a small recorded step in
understanding the world around me and finding it's beauty.
ARCHIVES:
Click here to read past Newsletters.
Edition 1 Issue Number 54
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