JULY 2005
2005 Oil Pastel Society Show "Beginnings"
Katherine Simmons -
"Dock Road, Bourques Cove"
A big congratulations to our show award winners.
"Best of Show" -Katherine Simmons - "Dock Road, Bourques Cove"
"Savoir-Faire Award of Excellence" - Virginia Tupper - "Blue"
"First Place" -David Berridge - "Shadow'd Grasses"
"2nd Place" -Charles Wood - "Suncoast Sentinel"
"3rd Place" -Patricia Isaac - "Beached on Damon's Point"
The 88 entries in this show were a wide array of techniques highlighting the versatility of the oil pastel medium. This excellent caliber of artwork was submitted by 32 members. The difficult task of choosing the award winners was wonderfully done by our judge, Terry Ludwig. Many people viewing the show are having difficultly casting a vote for Viewer’s Choice because there are so many beautiful paintings. And yet Mr. Ludwig had to pick the five award winners including Best of Show! He did a wonderful job of judging and we are deeply grateful. Thank you Terry Ludwig!
Our “Best of Show” winner, Katherine Simmons:
"I was absolutely thrilled to win Best of Show. And, I was doubly pleased when I saw the quality of the competition for this top prize. The only limitation of oil pastels is the artist's talent and imagination - and there was no lack of either in our first on-line show. I feel honored to have been singled out for the top award.
Oil pastels are such a versatile medium that it continues to surprise me that more people haven't discovered them. One reason, of course, is that there is so little attention paid to the medium - something that the Oil Pastel Society is trying to correct.
I remember my first experience with oil pastels was in 1998. I bought a set of oil pastels, thinking that I would use them as a plein air sketching tool. I was, at that time, an oil painter, primarily, and looked at oil pastels as a good way to do some on-site work without the mess of spillable turps, etc. When I got them home and tried them out, I have to say that I hated them. I couldn't make anything happen. I thought, "Well, you've made an expensive mistake - get over it." And, then two years later at the end of 2001 after a busy show season and the 9/11 tragedy that rocked our world, I needed a vacation from oil painting and remembered by castaway set of oil pastels. So out they came. And, for whatever reason, things clicked into place and I was sold on oil pastels. Working with oil pastels has taken my art to a new level. I guess the moral of this story is to stay open to the creative process and where it takes you."
Welcome to the Oil Pastel Society!
New Associate Members
Lisa Baus
Carolyn Carner
Joan Crice
Debbie Cusick
Deborah Duffield
Chris Price
Martin Stankewitz
Featured Artist of the Month - Leonid Golender
Are there
certain colors or subject matters that you are drawn to?
I am very fond of hues
of blue and brown. I think of blue as a color of hope, happiness, sky. And brown
for me is pragmatism, logic and down to earth. They are as yin and yang, but I
think it is not white and black it is blue and
brown.
Click here for a conversation with Leonid Golender
Oil Pastel Primer
Ann Tucker is
compiling an extensive list of information for us about the oil pastel medium, for
beginners especially. Each month new ideas, helpful hints, etc.,
will be added to this page.
Click here
for Ann's Oil Pastel Primer
Member News
Carly Clements, Georgia, USA, had a How-to article on Oil Pastels published by art supply distributor Daniel Smith in brochures and on their website, Click here for the article on Daniel Smith's site or copy and paste the following: http://www.danielsmith.com/learn/inksmith/200504c/default.asp
"Tin Roof"
David Berridge’s work "Tin Roof" is featured in the July issue of the Artist’s magazine. The article is about six small towns from coast to coast that are big on art.
"Beacon Hill Hollies"
Patricia Isaac, Massachusett, USA, received Best of Show for her oil pastel painting “Beacon Hill Hollies”. What made this Best of Show award even sweeter is that it was in a juried, all-media show. The show is at the Vine Gallery located in the South Shore Science Center, Norwell, MA. It runs from June 30 to Sept. 3, 2005
Library Display
Preston King, Georgia, USA, used his Honorable Mention Award in the OPS Member show to locally promote himself and the society with an article in the local newspaper and a display at the local library. Click here for more information on this innovative approach to promoting artwork.
How-to Article
This month we have a guest author. Member Linda Shantz, Ontario, Canada, is a member of the Equine Art Guild and has won awards across North America.
Linda takes us along as she works on one of her beautiful horse paintings. Click here to see how Linda works her magic
Competitions Which 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.
Just a reminder - check out the Arkansas Pastel Society's show - deadline for slides is August 15, 2005. http://www.arkpastel.com
Click here for the list of Competitions
Notes:
We are always in need of tips and articles to share with everyone. If you would like to contribute a tip or write a short article, please contact our Newsletter Editor, Ann Tucker, at newsletter@oilpastelsociety.com
If you have a new email address, please notify membership@oilpastelsociety.com so that our records can be updated and you don't miss out on any of the news!
And don't forget, Cafe Press has items for sale featuring our beautiful OPS logo and can be seen at:
http://www.cafepress.com/oilpastels
Your OPS Staff
ARCHIVES: Click here to read past Newsletters.
One way that all of you can help to make the Oil Pastel Society more visible is by placing a link from your personal website to the Society's home page or you can link to your artist gallery from your homepage. Feel free to use the new society logo as a graphic on your links page! Below is the reference and the logo which has been downsized. Copy and paste the reference into one of your web pages and download the graphic and upload to your site. Thank you...
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Edition 1, Issue #10