August 25th kicked off the first fall meeting for the First Coast Pastel Society. Our normal meeting would have been September 1, but we made a change when we realized that was Labor Day weekend. The change worked well as it was a glorious day for the meeting, and a lovely drive to the library where the meeting was held.
We entered the meeting with paid 26 members, and added a few new ones at the meeting, so we are still continuing to grow! Pass the word, as anyone who joins this fall will get a membership through the end of 2013. So it pays to join during the next few months!
We had 15 people attend the meeting, which was a treat, as we all got to see our own Richard Lundgren give a demonstration on painting waves. We have many more photos of his demo so any member who would like to see them can email us at firstcoastpastelsociety@gmail.com and we will tell you how you can see them. But watching Richard in action was a wonderful learning experience.
Lyn told us, at our last spring meeting, how important it was to have your pastel box set up properly, and Richard's box certainly demonstrated how it looks when you have it well done.
It was amazing what Richard was able to accomplish in only 45 minutes., even starting from a drawing already. He worked on the smooth side of Canson paper, which he very lightly sanded. It just shows what you can accomplish on Canson! And the price for Canson is right too, and it comes in a rainbow of wonderful colors.
This is the painting Richard did for us. It certainly made me want to run right out and start painting waves.
Among other news from the meeting:
Kathleen Galligan will be conducting our first workshop this coming February. Kathleen has been featured in the Pastel Journal, and been an Artist in Residence for the National Park Service. Check out the link to her website and think about February. Dates will be posted shortly.
Our first show will be held at Reddi Arts in Jacksonville during May/June of 2013. Cost to enter will be $15 for the first painting and $10 for a second. We will have an opening reception early in May on a Sunday afternoon, and participating members will be asked to bring one appetizer. Reddi Arts reserves the right to reject any painting that is not properly framed, and the paintings cannot exceed 36 inches in any dimension. The show will not be juried unless we have too many entries to hang, in which case we may have to turn some aside. It will be judged, however, with excellent merchandise awards being given out.
To give members pointers our November meeting will feature a demo on framing. Stay tuned for the date for our next plein air get-together as October 6 may not work. If anyone has suggestions for future programs they would like to see please send them to our blog email address.
Among the news our members had to report:
- Adele Horton reported that the plein air paint-out in Cape Canaveral that she has been accepted into will be held this upcoming October.
- Sharyn Lightfoot and Richard Lundgren both had works accepted into the national juried competition held by the Alabama Pastel Society.
- Richard Lundgren and Rick Petersen both had works accepted into the Degas Pastel Society's upcoming national show.
- Richard Lundgren has also been accepted into the upcoming annual open juried show of the Pastel Society of America.
- Lyn Asselta will be teaching a 5-session class on "Painting the Southern Landscape" at the Ponte Vedra Cultural Center, beginning October 31. The class will meet on 5 Wednesday mornings, 9-12, with a week off for Thanksgiving. Contact the Cultural Center for details.
