And the Winner is...

I'm very happy to tell you that "Three Orange Wedges and a Bowl" won the 1st Place Still Life yesterday at the Austin Pastel Society 2011 Juried Member Exhibition!!!

My winning painting and me!

You can see the other award paintings in the show:

Which one do you prefer?

Last week I had the pleasure of taking a pastel workshop with Liz Haywood-Sullivan, PSA. I really enjoyed it and she's a very good painter and instructor. We had a very nice and talented group of artists from the Austin Pastel Society. Using the same photo reference, on one day we did a painting on a black surface and the next day we used a white surface with a washed (alcohol) underpainting.  Neither of them is finished. But which one do you prefer?

Pastel painting on black paper

Pastel painting on a wash underpainting

Let's try this again

I'm very sorry for being quiet for so long. I've been painting, but I've had trouble getting back with to blogging routine. So let's try this again.

The following three paintings were accepted in the Austin Pastel Society (APS) - 2011 Juried Member Exhibition. It's the first time all my entries has been selected for the show. It's a very nice show. See the slideshow below of the selected entries.

Juror - Liz Haywood-Sullivan, PSA

Exhibition runs until April 30th, 2011
At the Corridor of Art - 700 Lavaca, Austin, TX 78701
Reception & Awards Ceremony (open to public) is Sunday March 27th, 2011 from 3 - 5 p.m..


Free parking will be available in the Parking Garage at 8th & Guadalupe during the reception.
Take a ticket, the gates will be open at the exit. Take the elevator down to the lower level to reach the Corridor of Art.

Summer on the Rideau River, Pastel, 8 x 10"

Three Orange Wedges and a Bowl, Pastel, 8 x 10"

Early Morning on Lake Austin, Pastel, 8 x 10"

Here are selected paintings for the show:

Award & Show

Hey, a quick one to let you know that I got an Honorable Mention last Friday for "Early Morning on Lake Austin" pastel painting at the Austin Pastel Society - North Hills Gallery Member Exhibition. There were some nice paintings in there, so I'm happy I got something :-)


The show will run until November 29th, 2010 at: 
Northwest Hills United Methodist Church. 7050 Village Center Drive, Austin, Texas 78731
EXHIBITION HOURS
Monday - Friday 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Saturday - Closed
Sunday - 8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

"Early Morning on Lake Austin", Pastel, 8 x 10"

Award Winners - APS Annual Juried Show

The award winners of the Austin Pastel Society (APS) Annual Juried Show are shown here.
Unfortunately, I didn't get an award this year. The critique I got from the juror (Claudia Seymour, PSA) was that:
1) she didn't get the title (I thought it was clever :( )
2) she liked everything in the painting except the cropped orange in the background.

Oh well! "Meilleure chance la prochaine fois" :)

Chip Off the Old Block, 8 x 10", pastel on primed panel

The Exhibition is still on (with ribbons beside the winner paintings) until May 2nd, 2010 at the Corridor of Art - 700 Lavaca, Austin, TX, 78701.

Austin Pastel Society - rotating demo/paint around

I participated in a "paint around" (or "rotating demo") during the last Austin Pastel Society (APS) meeting with four other artists (Regina Burchett, D. K. Richardson, Mike Etie and John Bittick). The artists started paintings of their choice (from reference pictures), then switched every 10 minutes to work on their next door neighbor's painting, and finally finished in front of their own paintings to complete the rotation. The final paintings were sold for a total of $220 that will go to the APS scholarship fund.

It was a fun experience and I would do it again! Not only was the paint-around a first-time experience for me but painting in front of an audience as well. I was the last one to set up my easel and the only place left was in the spot in front of everyone. Initially the idea was that people would rotate to the next easel. So I would be there only for 10 minutes. But we ended up rotating the paintings instead of the people. So I got stuck in front (or people got stuck watching me unless they stood up and walked around). That part was not as nerve-wracking as I initially thought, and I may have enjoyed it (I think ;-)

Every rotation was a surprise and the first question was "What am I going to do with this?" and I could almost hear an echo from the audience "What is she going to do with this?" (that was probably my nerves echoing :-) The next question was "What can I do to make this painting closer to finished with what I have (actual painting, times, palette, ...)?" It was not always clear the direction I should take, but I had to make decisions and work quickly.

Here are some pictures that Libby Peters graciously took at my easel during the rotating demo. To see other points of view see Jo Castillo's (current president) pictures and to see the (almost) final paintings see Regina Burchett's pictures.

Austin Pastel Society - rotating demo

Rae Andrews (the organizer of the paint-around) took a video of the activity and I will let you know when it will be available.

Thanks to everyone who participated, who came and who organized this activity.
Cheers
Johanne
http://www.JohanneMorin.com
http://JohanneMakingArt.blogspot.com

Painting selected for the APS Annual Juried Exhibiton

My painting "Chip Off the Old Block" has been selected for the Austin Pastel Society Annual Juried Exhibition :) The other two paintings I submitted (previous post) didn't make the cut :( You can see a slide-show of the the selected paintings here.

Chip Off the Old Block, 10 x 8"

The Exhibition will be from March 7th to May 2nd 2010 at the Corridor of Art - 700 Lavaca, Austin, TX, 78701. The reception is open to public on Sunday, March 21st from 3 to 5 p.m.
Hope you can make it.

Entries to the Austin Pastel Society Juried Exhibiton 2010

These are the three paintings I submitted to the Austin Pastel Society Annual Juried Member Exhibition. See all the entries here or on Flickr. One still life and two landscapes (a water scape and a cityscape). I hope they are different enough to all be selected in the exhibition.

Will I have a painting juried in the show? If so what would be your pick(s)?


Chip off the Old Block, 8 x 10"
Gone Ashore, 14 x 11"
Adobe Building, 14 x 11"

Pastel: Gone Ashore - study

Although I'm looking forward to going back to painting with oil, I'm going to stick to pastel for the next few weeks.
I want to be ready (warmed up) for a "paint around" (or rotating demo) in which I will participate at the end of the month during the Austin Pastel Society (APS) meeting with four others artists (Regina Burchett, D. K. Richardson, Mike Etie and John Bittick). Each one starts a painting of their choice, then switches every 12 minutes to work on their next door neighbor's painting and finishes in front of their own painting to complete the rotation. The paintings will be up for silent auction, and the money will go the the APS scholarship fund. I'm excited to be part of this and hopefully it will be exciting to watch as well.

Here's a pastel painted from a picture I took a few years ago on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Canada. I like that it's loosely done and not perfect.

Pastel on Kitty Wallis paper, 8 x 6"

Awards - North Hills Gallery Exhibition with The Austin Pastel Society

Jo Castillo was right: I got two more awards yesterday at the North Hills Gallery reception for the Exhibition with The Austin Pastel Society! I was hoping to get one and I got anHonorable Mention Awards for each of my two painting in the exhibition:



Ken and I are (finally) taking some vacation next week. I may be quiet for the next few weeks, since I realized I have so much (other than painting :( ) I need to do before we leave...

North Hills Gallery Exhibition with the Austin Pastel Society

Today I dropped off two paintings and helped to hang the Austin Pastel Society (APS) 2nd Annual North Hills Gallery Exhibition. There are a little over 50 paintings and it is a nice show.

Below are the two paintings I entered in the show. A still life "Trois Oranges" and a landscape (or seascape) "Le Rocher Perce III". Both of them are 8 x 10".