Inaugural Meeting

The newly formed First Coast Pastel Society held its first meeting this morning at the Cultural Center in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The new society adopted as its mission statement: 

"To promote the use of soft pastel within the FCPS membership and the community at large as an important and continually evolving fine art medium."  

We hope to reach out to pastel artists in the northeast Florida and southeast Georgia area who, until now, have not had access to a local pastel society. 

Lyn Asselta, PSA, has been the primary mover of the new society start-up, and has been chosen as the President of the new society. Other officers for the new society are:

• Vice President - Richard Lundgren, PSA
• Secretary - Debbie Cusick
• Co-Treasurers - Patty and Rick Petersen

We had fifteen attendees at our first meeting so we are off to a great start, and already have lots of plans for the future, including IAPS membership, a member show before the end of the year, and possibly some upcoming workshops with nationally recognized artists. Check this space for more details. As we firm things up they will be announced here.

Richard Lundgren gave a presentation to the members on how he prepares his own surfaces for his pastels.

He uses gatorboard, which gives a rigid surface to work on, and which can easily be placed directly into a frame. Handouts were supplied to all attendees showing what Richard used to create the sanded surface he paints on. Some of these are only available online, and in bulk, so one future thought is that members might make purchases as a group, and then divide up the items equally.

We will hold meetings on the first Saturday of the month, every other month, and will schedule a group plein air paint out on the alternate months, so mark your calendars for upcoming events!

• Saturday, February 4 - plein air paint out, location to be announced
• Saturday, March 3 - general member meeting, location to be announced