The Oil Pastel Society of Maine Exhibition
It was a gorgeous summer day on July 28 as I loaded my paintings into the car and headed for Kennebunk, ME, and the Oil Pastel Society of Maine's first national, juried exhibition. I arrived at the River Tree Center for the Arts on Friday morning for check in.
The River Tree Center for the Arts is a beautiful space housing many monthly art exhibits, music lessons and concerts, plus dance and drama. It was a former auction gallery that was purchased by a lover of the arts and given to Kennebunk to further the arts.
There I met internet friend and fellow oil pastellist Becky Thurston, who lives in Maine. She had brought her work and also work from Carly Clements, who is our Oil Pastel Society coordinator. Also on hand checking in work was Elizabeth Shore who is an OPS member, and the person responsible for starting the Oil Pastel Society of Maine.
It was an interesting, fun morning meeting other oil pastellists and discussing OPs, papers, and techniques.
The show opened to the public that night and the opening
reception and awards ceremony was Saturday evening. It was a gala event with
wine, cheese, and even champagne. The exhibit was small, but very nice and quite
successful for their first year. Several paintings were sold and the awards
ceremony was conducted by Elizabeth Shore, President.
The awards were as follows:
1st prize – Carly Clements for “Floral Song”
2nd prize – Carly Clements for “Once Upon a Path”
3rd prize – Luann Hume
Honorable Mentions to:
Carly Clements for “Cherry Blossoms”
Rebecca Thurston for “Ground Nest/Hermit Thrush”
Elizabeth Shore for “Etra Marsh”
Janet Bouma for “Blue Spongeware”
And Shirley Sotir
(No images available)
The judge for the exhibit was Anne Gable Allaire, PSA. She
is a full time artist living in Kennebunk, ME. She is a signature member of the
pastel society of America and the Connecticut pastel society.
And here is a photo of the winners who attended the show.
Prize Winners - Rebecca Thurston, Shirley Sotir, Luann Hume, Elizabeth Shore