Great Workshop, Great Show

This past weekend I attended the opening of the Central Texas Pastel Society annual show and competition. The paintings in this year's show are phenomenal. I was so proud to be able to hang 3 of mine in such august company. The show was judged by Bob Rohm, an exceptional pastel and oil painter. I was privileged as incoming president, to be present when he judged the show and after he made his selections, he was gracious enough to allow me and Nancy Taylor (our outgoing president) to walk through the exhibit with him and hear his thought process on what he picked and why. He also gave us comments on why he didn't pick others. It was extremely enlightening.  For my part, the three paintings I submitted were OK but I need to work on losing some edges. He felt my edges were too sharp throughout my painting. They should only be sharp in the center of interest. He thought I could greatly improve my work by losing more edges. Since I was signed up for the workshop he taught all day Saturday and Sunday I had the perfect opportunity to practice what he suggested and have him look at it and critique it. Even on Sunday he still had to remind me to soften edges, but I was getting better at it. I really enjoyed both the show and the workshop. I may write more specifics about what Bob taught us later but for now I'll show you the paintings I did in the workshop.

Both of these paintings are for sale and are on the DPW auction currently. The first one already has a bid, so it will definitely sell. 

Day one - Guadalupe River - as I write this it is available for a bid of $37 or more in the DPW auction.

"Guadalupe River" 9x12 pastel on Art Spectrum sanded paper

Day two - Montana Farm - as I write this it is available for a bid of $35 or more in the DPW auction.

"Montana Farm" 9x12 pastel on Art Spectrum sanded paper

For anyone curious, the paintings I entered in the show which need their edges softened are:

"Lily Pads" 6x6 pastel on Wallis paper on board

"Slice of Paradise" 8x10 pastel on Wallis paper on Gatorfoam

"Alley Parking" 10x8 pastel on Wallis paper on Gatorfoam

So it's time to get back to the easel and try to put what I learned into practice before the next show!
Happy painting.