34th Purely Pastel Open Exhibition Show
Pastel Artist.CA is pleased to release its 34th Purely Pastel Open Exhibition Show.
This exhibition features the work of many artists from Canada and internationally.
At the Federation Gallery, Vancouver, B.C. October 8th to 20th
Award Paintings








Special Exhibition Recognition
Awards
Grand Prize: Joan Larson “Three x Three”
1st place: Jane Romanishko “Don Jose”
2nd place: Brenda Matsen “Jasper”
3rd place: Susan White “Tiny Universe”
Honourable Mentions:
Beverly Biddulph “Ghost Lake”
Roberta Combs “Bird’s Eye View”
Janet Ellison “Summer evening at the Waterpark”
Shirley Rayner “Rhythmic Tree Shapes”
Members Earning Signature Status
Online Exhibition Gallery
Jurors' Comments
Susan typert MPAC-EP , Clarence Porter MPAC, Ron Underhill MPAC
Susan Typert MPAC-EP
Entering a show takes guts. Creativity and passion poured out of every entry, but in the end there were key elements that pushed some forward. A strong composition and value structure still prove to be the foundations of work that stood out. Paintings in which you could see the artist’s purposeful decision-making through colour strategies, cropping and distinctive mark-making were rewarded for their bravery. Storytelling, originality and compelling narratives helped push entries to the top. Whether your work was accepted or not, awarded or not, you are to be commended for sharing a part of yourself through this process and with the PAC community. Paint on!!
Clarence Porter – MPAC
It is always uplifting when one’s opinion is respected. It is also a privilege to have one’s opinion requested. Being asked to be a juror for this 34th Purely Pastel Exhibition was an honour. Susan, Ron and I were responsible for selecting which paintings were to be included in this exhibition and, from those paintings chosen, which would receive awards. As jurors, we had the pleasure of selecting from a wide variety of pieces of pastel magic, with stories as different as the number of pastel colours. And with that pleasure also came the difficulty of choosing from such an abundance of creativity. To aid in reducing as much personal bias as possible, we were given clear guidelines by Pastel Artists Canada to help us navigate the selection process. These guidelines pointed to elements of design and composition, visual impact, skill level handling the medium and originality and creativity. From these guidelines, we made our decisions. We are all on a creative journey, some further along, some just beginning. Regardless of where we are, learning and striving to improve our art will always be part of that journey. I am not sure who wrote this quote but it is the lens through which I view art: “Great art is judged by the capacity to take your breath away, take yourself away, take time away, all at once.” Regarding my decisions, I trust my judgment, but I am only an opinion.
Ron Underhill – MPAC
Jurying the many wonderful images submitted to this show was an honour requiring much thought about what determines a good or great painting. I find the PAC Jury guidelines very helpful for both self critique and guidance as a juror. For myself, design and composition aspects take initial precedence when considering artistic excellence. Technical skills and freshness of how pastel is applied are always high for award level paintings. Originality and creativity breathe life into great paintings and this show had plenty of these to consider. Often a painting will grab me with an instant like but then the jurying process forces an objective approach to determine why is the painting so attention grabbing. Congratulations to all artists that were accepted into the show. The high level of artistic work made the jurying process lengthy and award selections difficult. The quality of all potential award winning paintings was very high and thankfully final scoring is a blend of all three juror ratings. If it was up to me I would assign more honourable mentions.