Members' Show, Survey Update, and Workshop News

Our 2012 Members' Show is now up at the Meaford Arts and Cultural Centre in Meaford, Ontario, and will remain until April 1. I was, sadly, unable to attend the opening due to a previous commitment to teach, but several of our Executive members braved the wintry weather and treacherous roads to hang the show, and I hear it is beautiful. I am always amazed at the quality of our members' shows, which just goes to show that our members are excellent painters, with or without a juror to say so! Some of our members prefer not to enter competitions, and I'm glad that our annual members' show showcases everyone's work. I hope that you'll get to the show before it closes-this unexpected warm weather would make for a lovely country drive!

Big thanks go to Rosemary Simpson and Jessie Grant, in particular, for all the work they did on the PAC side of things, and to our dear friend and long-time member Eldora Taylor, who organized it all from the Meaford side of things. Eldora is a loyal supporter of the PAC, and a mover and shaker of all things artistic in Meaford, so it's delightful that these two things could come together in this show.

Next year, we plan to stage an online exhibition of the members' show (and perhaps some other solely-online exhibitions), so you'll be asked to submit a digital image in addition to your physical painting. For this year, those at the opening will be posting some overview images to the website soon.

The PAC Members' Survey closed on March 1st, and the Executive will be meeting later in the spring to consider the implications of your responses. I would like to thank all who responded (our response rate, at 40%, was far higher than is usual for a survey of this kind), and assure you that we will take your input seriously. Among the highlights:

1) A desire to continue to expand our activities across the nation both online and through regional events;

2) A clear message that the newsletter continues to be a benefit; I am thrilled to confirm that June Gauthier has agreed to return as our newsletter editor-see her recent call for content in a PAC Update email-let's supply her with lots of content!

We will soon be announcing the details of a workshop with Liz Haywood-Sullivan in October 2012, at the lovely Tamarack Lodge north of Peterborough, Ontario. Liz has also agreed to be our juror for the 2012 juried show in the fall, and will do a painting demo on the take-in day (the resulting work to be auctioned off in a 50/50 event). More info to come soon-watch for a PAC Update.

As well, we are close to confirming a return of Richard McKinley in August 2013, to Bridgewater Retreat Centre in Tweed, Ontario-more soon on that, too.

I hope to update this blog more frequently from here on, so check back often!

 

Pastel & Pixels: Our Diverse Views of Our World
an exhibition by Jennifer and Gordon Ross

Yesterday I made a trip through the blustery snow to Lindsay, just north of where I live, to view the exhibition by Jennifer Ross, PAC, and her husband Gordon, who does unique multiple-image digital perspectives. It was a treat to escape from the cold street and be greeted by warmth, colour, and a wealth of engaging images in the inviting Lindsay Gallery, upstairs from the Lindsay Library.

While I enjoyed Gordon's fascinating images, in this post to the PAC website I'll focus on Jennifer's pastels. Jennifer, a long-time PAC member, is known for her unique perspectives--often of complex roof-scapes viewed from a height--of small villages in the British Isles and, indeed, many of the exhibited paintings follow that theme. I am always amazed at the patience and accuracy Jennifer brings to her work--while they are not "photo-realistic", nevertheless it can be discerned that this house is brick-clad, while that one is thatch-roofed. The detail is there, enough to be charming and evocative of the place, but not so much as to detract from the strong and often quite abstract compositions. There were other themes, too--rushing trout streams and glowing heather, bluebell woods and, unexpectedly, a small group of tenderly-rendered wild animals, including a deer mouse that I found quite irresistible. Jennifer's quiet observation and appreciation of the nuances of her subject make her works ones that can be enjoyed again and again. They also made me realize that it's been too long since I visited my native England!

The exhibition continues to February 25th, 2012. If you live in this region of Ontario, do try to see it! Or take a peek at http://www.thelindsaygallery.com/exhibitions

 

News from the Annual General Meeting

The AGM on Sunday afternoon resulted in the following slate of officers for the coming year:

President Ruth Rodgers
Vice-President & Exhibitions Chair Jessie Grant
Secretary Christine Brutin (welcome Christine!)
Treasurer Philip Allanson
Workshop Coordinator Heidi Rohde
Website Cathy Cullis
Membership Gloria Burgoin
Publications Sharon Fox Cranston
Newsletter Pamela Maitland
PAC Updates June Gauthier
Promotions VACANT

Our thanks go to retiring officers Barb Harris, Lynne Ritchie, Sally Jackson, and Janet Parker.

Please note that the retirement of Sally Jackson as a Director and Promotions Coordinator has left a vacancy--we are seeking a person with energy and great communications skills to take on the task of promoting the PAC in various ways (distribution of PAC message via email and print) and to continue Sally's fabulous work of soliciting donations to our annual silent auction (our relationships with the suppliers are excellent, and only need to be maintained). Most of the duties can be done via email; there is also a requirement to attend one Executive Committee meeting and the AGM in person each year. Please contact me (rodgers.ruth@gmail.com) if you are interested in the position.

 

RReport from IAPS

Ruth with Master Circle pastelist Lisa Stauffer.

       In the days leading up to my departure for the 2011 International Association of Pastel Societies convention in Albuquerque, NM from June 2-5, I was still suffering from a lingering viral infection in my inner ears, which caused severe vertigo and nausea. Nevertheless, I was absolutely determined to go to this biannual treat for pastel artists! Happily, the pressure of ascending and descending in the plane actually seemed to help my ears, so I arrived at the gorgeous Hotel Albuquerque, in the Old Town, in high spirits, ready to learn and represent the PAC on the international scene.

      First, I hurried to set up my PowerPoint presentation in the room designated for the Canadian showcase (we were the featured artists this year!). The presentation slides (now posted to our website) traced the history, development, and current activities of the PAC, and were accompanied by our bookmarks and back issues of our newsletter, all of which received many admiring comments. PAC members Karin Richter and Roberta Combs set up demos and were soon swarmed by participants eager to quiz them about everything ranging from their supports (suede matboard used by Karin) to their working methods (Roberta was working on a child's portrait, from a photo). Across the way, our sister association, PSEC (Pastel Society of Eastern Canada) was ably represented by Reine Goodrow. The other PAC participants, Judy Miner, Margaret Ferraro, and Gail Sibley, were engaged in workshops and other events during the showcase, but they were with us in spirit! We had quite a crowd of interested conference-goers, and this started off our IAPS experience on a high note.

      Next, a few of us crowded into a cab to check out the IAPS exhibition, which included works by the recently designated Masters Circle painters. It was a fabulous show with many breathtaking works by well-known artists, but my heart was caught by a tiny portrait of a gypsy child by a New Mexico pastelist I had never heard of, Mimi Jungbluth. I simply couldn't leave her behind, so now this little jewel graces my bedroom wall, where I can see her every day.

      Over the next several days, I attended sessions with Margaret Dyer (figures in interior settings), Des O'Hagan (city scenes), Fred Somers (nature close-ups, abstracted) and the publisher and editor of The Pastel Journal (Jamie Markle and Anne Hevener). I've included some photo highlights from several of these sessions. I heard from my fellow Canadians that they very much enjoyed other sessions (Elizabeth Mowry, Bill Hosner, Richard McKinley and others). IAPS is a great opportunity to check out various instructors at a reasonable cost, and I did my best to suss out some potential names for future PAC workshop events. Yes, I did talk to Richard McKinley about coming back to Canada, and we're talking about dates in 2013! Stay tuned for details!                  

      In between sessions, however, my footsteps kept turning back to the trade show, or, as it is affectionately known "The Candy Store," where three aisles of tempting products broadcast their multicolour siren calls. I talked to every vendor, and got commitments for fabulous donations to our silent auction juried show opening-be sure to attend! I managed to restrict my purchases to "just" two small boxes of Terry Ludwig pastels and a few slim sample packs of the new super-tooth UArt paper-oh, and a couple of videos, a book, a magazine...

      The banquet was a posh affair in a glamorous ballroom filled by the more than 500 attendees, and enlivened by Richard McKinley's very amusing auctioning of the "paint-around" paintings. These paintings, which are painted by five artists in turn (begun and finished by one artist, but worked on by the other four in between) varied considerably in quality and eventual selling price, but Richard had us all in gales of laughter with his impassioned auctioneering.

      Best of all, however, was the Presidents' Panel session, where I got three pages of new ideas for PAC activities-I especially focussed on ways to increase our web-based activities in order to provide outreach to more members across our wide land. Watch for some of these to be launched over the next year!  The next IAPS will be in 2013, again in Albuquerque in June-start making your travel plans now, and, if at all possible, add a few extra days or weeks to explore Santa Fe, Taos, and the wonderfully inspiring southwest scenery.

Roberta (Cookie) Combs at the showcase	Cookie in conversation with Fred Somers
Karin Richter at the showcase, in conversation with well-known painter and author Carole Katchen.	Fred lays in his first layer of pastel with a paper towel.
Fred Somers at work on his demo.	One of Fred Somer's abstracted nature close-ups.
Des O'Hagan demonstrating layering in his darks first.	Des O'Hagan's finished demo, shown on the big projection screen.
Bill Hosner doing a plein air demo	Denise Bunkert from Minnesota with her 2 colour portrait by Leslie deMille.