Kathy Dolan, MPAC-EP, SCA, NOAA

It was a great honour to be invited to be a juror alongside Sharon Fox Cranston and Denise Nonomura in this 10^th Annual Members’ only exhibition. Upon the initial viewing I was immediately  ’wowed’ by so many exceptional pieces and knew this would be a difficult task.  The paintings that passed my first round selection were the ones that had  strong visual impact in design and composition with a good balance of shapes and values. This was best determined by viewing on a small scale. (Which really brings to light the importance of those value sketches  when planning your painting).  From the paintings that passed the first round; I then looked at each painting on a larger scale to view technical skill,  originality, use of colour and again design and composition etc.  Finally, a painting can hold high merit for design, composition, technical skill and originality but it should also tell a story…engage the viewer and prompt you to stop, contemplate and wonder; otherwise, it’s just another pretty picture. Thank you  to all who have submitted to this years’ online exhibition. CONGRATULATIONS to those whose paintings were selected for inclusion.  I must say that narrowing it down for selection of the award winners was a difficult task as there were many outstanding pieces, but as you will see when you view the show; the award winners will really make you stop in awe!

Sharon Fox Cranston MPAC, SCA, PSA:

It was such a pleasure to jury PAC’s 10th Annual Member’s Only Exhibition with Kathy Dolan and Denise Nomomura. The paintings entered were extraordinary, which in turn, made my job even harder! When entering an online show, one of the most important elements of your entry is photographing your work. When jurying online, great photos make a big difference. Clear, colour corrected images will show your work to the best. I also find the most equalising element of online jurying is all of the paintings look basically the same size on screen. I’m judging 6” work next to 24” wide work. Maybe not the best scenario, but efficient in this electronic age. So, how do you make your work stand out? Strong composition, value, movement, and mood. Someone once said, the best paintings are the ones halfway between reality and imagination. Congratulations to the award winners, and congratulations to all who participated, the first step to success is showing up.

Denise Nomomura MPAC, SCA:

I was honoured when PAC asked me to act as one of the jurors for this exhibition. It is my first time jurying for an exhibition and I felt the anticipation of the responsibility as the submission deadline approached. Unfortunately, 2 days before the jury was to receive the entries, my dear sweet mother-in-law, Kim who suffers from moderate-severe dementia, became gravely ill. Sitting at her bedside I thought that I could not possibly complete the tasks required of the jury under these circumstances. That same day that I was struggling with the decision to back out of the responsibility, a nurse asked Kim what my name was. Kim didn’t remember my name but told the nurse that I am the one who does art.  That is when I realized that I could share my love of art with Kim for perhaps the last time. I brought my laptop into her hospital room and I showed Kim the images as I juried.  As Kim mostly slept, I babbled on about all the beautiful artwork submitted to this call. I explained to her how as a juror I looked for high-impact pieces that showed the artist’s skill level and capability with the medium; how an artist could add their original flare to a piece whether through design, mark making, colour choices, or subject matter; how important composition was and how artists used contrast to emphasize the most important part of their work. I also showed her pieces where I could see unity and movement throughout the works and excellent use of the elements of design.  Although much of the time her eyes were closed, when she did wake, she was in awe when I held out the screen for her to see many of the beautiful pieces. Thank you to all artists that submitted work to this call. Your talent brought beauty to a very sad environment. It was my pleasure to view each and every submission and to share as many as I could with my sweet mother-in-law, Kim.  Thank you!