see our website

 We've changed a lot the way we handle our online presence these days, so to keep up with our latest doings please go to our website at https://www.firstcoastpastelsociety.org/ We hope you've enjoyed our blog ove the last ten years. 

Spring 2021 Member Show

 The St. Augustine Art Association was the location for our 2021 spring member show. Many of us have struggled to paint in this crazy year, so thanks to all the members who participated in the show. Also thanks to Richard Lundgren for agreeing to be our judge, and doing such a superb job of it. Here are Richard's statements as well as winning paintings:

Best in Show: Janelle Wagoner (Convergence)

First Place: Renée Faure (View Up Stream)

Second Place: K.L. Pilkenton (Ocean Eyes)

Third Place: Becky Woodward (Sunset March Trees)

Honorable Mention: Rebecca Pasko (Chloe's Pumpkin)

Honorable Mention: Jane Haverty (Meandering Reflections)

Alpine Groves

 Alpine Groves Park is a lovely location on the eastern shore of the St. Johns River. It was the setting for our May plein air day. Not a big attendance but those who were able to participate enjoyed the morning there. As some said: 

"What a beautiful day with lots of trees, old buildings and river areas to explore in an old Florida setting!"

"The cool breeze, the river waters lapping on the banks behind me, and the sunlit scene all made for a delightful morning for getting in the painting zone."

Rita Kirkman Workshop

 On April 17 we had our first workshop of the year. Like our previous workshop in 2020 it was still done with Zoom, with Rita Kirkman. If we've learned one thing from our Covid year it's that we actually can learn lots of things with remote learning. A couple quotes from the workshop attendees: 

"It was a fun day and I enjoyed  learning and trying her underpainting technique."

 "Rita is very generous with her instruction and the time she spent with each individual!"

Also some of the paintings workshop attendees were willing to share with us:

April Member Meeting

The first Saturday in April gave us the opportunity to have our first in-person meeting in over a year since the start of the Covid pandemic. We met at our new meeting place - the North Shores Community Center at Vilano, close to the ocean. Most all of us were vaccinated it and was great to see one another in person and not have to wear masks, as president Cindy Pierson updated us on things ahead of us to think about.

We were so lucky and pleased to have as our presenter member Patrick Mahoney. Pat is a master of any medium he has tried, with pastel being only one of them. But he is also a master of repairing, cleaning, and restoring old paintings, primarily oils.

 Pat had books showing years of his restoration work, as well as several actual paintings he'd worked on. I think all of us were amazed, and were so impressed by all he'd accomplished.

Here's looking forward to the upcoming events of 2021, and being able to get together more as the year progresses. 

One of the "thrills" of the meeting was a silent auction of a painting donated by our founder, Lyn Asselta. Lyn was our guiding light for several years. We all love her and miss her. I've yearned to own a "Lyn" painting for years, and so I'm so happy that I was the winner of the silent auction. I love this painting, and I'm happy the money I paid will go to support our group.

Spring has sprung

 

March weather can be so variable, and this was the case for our planned plein air at Castaway Island the first Saturday in March. It was a rainy day and hardly a nice day for pastels. But bad weather turned into a blessing, as the following week we scheduled a makeup event at Washington Oaks State Park, joining up with the First Coast Plein Air Painters.

We had just been to Washington Oaks in January, but in March it was a whole different place, absolutely glorious weather with the scent of azaleas hanging everywhere in the air. The park was filled with people wanting to enjoy the lovely gardens and the perfect spring day.

We had a number of souls from the FCPS who decided to come take advantage of the day, even though it's a bit of a trek for many of our members.

And of course there were participants from the FCPAP as well.

Certainly plenty of fine options for painting in just about any direction you looked.

And don't forget: Our next Member's meeting is this coming Saturday, April 3rd, 10 AM to noon, at the North Shores Community Center in Vilano Beach, 120 Meadows Ave., St. Augustine, FL, 32084. Patrick Mahoney will be there to discuss his techniques and process of restoration of paintings and framing. Patrick's work is totally amazing. 

We will also begin the silent auction of the lovely painting donated by our founder, Lyn Asselta. The painting is 6x6.

February meeting

 

Because of the events of 2020 it had been a long time since we'd actually had a meeting. Our plan was to meet outdoors at our new meeting venue, the North Shores Community Center at Vilano Beach, with a demo by our own Paula Pascucci. 

Alas the weather decided not to cooperate, and with the damp forecast we had to move the meeting indoors - with masks and appropriate social distancing. 

Paula was still able to do her demo for us, on different underpainting techniques. 

And I'm sure those who were able to attend were happy to be there, Long time, no see, for so many of us. 

We definitely hope to be able to provide opportunities for more member meetings as the year goes on. 

In the meantime our current member show is still up at the JCA so you can definitely go take a look and  see what we have there.

Meanwhile keep in mind our next plein air event at Castaway Island Preserve, coming up on the first Saturday of March. 

2021 starts

 

2020 was definitely a crazy year for all of us, and 2021 is starting out still crazy, including our blog and everything else, but at least plein air seems to be something we're able to do fairly safely at this point, like starting the year off with an event at Washington Oaks State Park,

Washington Oaks is a lovely place, with beautiful gardens as well as water views on the oceanfront, and along the intracoastal waterway, a great place to welcome in the new year.

We didn't have a big turnout, but a few hardy souls made the trek to Washington Oaks to take advantage of the scenery there. 

Here's hoping that as the year goes on we'll all be able to spend more time together. 

Farewell to 2020

 

The Covid pandemic made 2020 a crazy year for many of us and many things well by the wayside, including this blogger's plans for the blog. We had to cancel meetings, learn to use Zoom. But plein air events are fairly safe out in the open air, and we held a plein air event at Hanna Park early in November.

Only as few attendees, but still it was nice for those who attended to be able to get out in the fresh air and paint, even if social distancing was required. 

We also held a first Zoom workshop with Aline Ordman, and attendees all agreed it was a great event. It looks like 2021 will still be including Zoom events, but we hope that as the year goes on we'll be able to see one another in person again. Happy painting everyone.

Plein Air - Hanna Park

 

What:  Plein Air paint-out

When: Saturday, November 7, 9 AM to 1 PM

Where: Katheryn Abbey Hanna Park, 500 Wonderwood Dr., Jacksonville, FL

This Saturday is our next planned plein air event at lovely Hanna Park in Jacksonville.

The park is large and spread out. Lots of room for social distancing of all sorts.

There are various options for everyone for painting - from the inner ponds with lots of trees and vegetation.

To beautiful dunes along the beachfront, and wide amazing beaches as well. 

So everyone should be able to find something. It's one of the most beautiful parks in Jacksonville so everyone should be able to find something that's good for their heart and soul to paint during these crazy times.

Our annual juried show

 Again. with the Covid pandemic, one of the other things that ended up not happening as expected. was our annual juried member show. It's original date was right in the middle of the lockdown, the Cultural Center was closed. We hoped to postpone until the fall, but with the fall upon us it's still not an option.

So as many groups have done this year, we've converted our juried show to an online show. Many thanks to Carron Wedlund who worked hard on the show, and created the online version for us. We have so many talented artists in our group so we certainly want to share our works with everyone. I hope you will all enjoy our show: