We had a beautiful reception for a beautiful show on Saturday, September20, well-attended despite the rain. As always, it was a lot of fun and attendees were amazed by the talent and diversity on display. We had a very successful and competitive Silent Auction for pastels and paintings.
With a national show, many award-winners are unable to attend due to distance, so we were thrilled that the top three awardees could be there this year: Jeanne Rosier Smith, 1st, for Alight; Janet Schwartz, 2nd, for Sun Is Bad for Your Skin; and Nancy Culver, 3rd, for Second Wave. We were also touched and honored to have Laurinda O'Connor's husband, mother, daughter, sister, and niece there to receive Laurinda's award. A bitter-sweet day.
Here are a few photos from the event.
We are excited that our 2024 Marks of Distinction show at Fivesparks will be open soon. Here are the usual plus some additional items to look for at our reception:
We hope to see you there at Fivesparks, 7 Fairbank st., Harvard, MA.
Jane
We have improved our process for becoming a Featured Member for two weeks on our Home Page. Now all you have to do is register your interest in participating, and Alexia Rosoff Wilber will reach out to you to arrange dates.
Go to this link to read about the process and register.
We filled two sessions of our lively Teaching Moments workshop in May and June. Karen Israel, Laurinda O'Connor, and I conducted a fun, fast-paced day focused on composition and design; layering color and capturing light; and gesture and mark making. Everyone went home with small studies from each topic--tired by happy. Here arsome iphone snaps from both days. Jane
Our national show, Marks of Distinction, will again be held at Fivesparks in Harvard, MA, August 29-September 30. This year's Jurors of Selection are Loriann Signori and Javad Soleimanpour, and our Judge of Awards is Mim Brooks Fawcett, Curator and Director of Attleboro Arts Museum.
We look forward to another successful show this year and everyone is invited to our awards reception on Sunday, September 10, 2-4 pm for food and drink, music, and celebration of the pastel medium.
Our 1st International Online Pastels Plus Exhibition is open for submissions on Show Submit, and we couldn't be more pleased to offer artists this opportunity to push the boundaries of the pastel medium.
This show allows you to combine pastel with up to 50% other mediums and materials on any surface. With nice prizes and Master Pastelist Pirkko Makela-Haapalinna as juror of selection and awards, this show is not to be missed!
CMPS is offering an artist talk with Marks of Distinction Selection Juror Natasha Isenhour as our last, pre-holiday event of the year. Grab a glass of wine and join us Tue, December 13 at 6 pm to hear about Natasha's residency and work at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico.
We appreciate your registering on our Events page.
Natasha Isenhour, Light and Lines, 12x16
Please join us at our Annual Meeting on Monday, November 14 at 10 a.m., where we will introduce board members for 2023 and say farewell to those stepping down; review our activities and accomplishments for 2022; and give a preview of what's to come. This is also an opportunity for the general membership to come together and for you to raise any questions or suggestions to the Board.
Following this very brief meeting, we will also have an artist talk from one of our MOD Selection jurors, Liz Balkwill.
We hope to see you! A Zoom link will be sent out to all members a few days ahead of the meeting.
The 2022 Marks of Distinction National Exhibition drew a large and enthusiastic crowd to the reception that quite simply marveled at the quality and diversity of the work, and really had their eyes opened about pastel. This is one of our goals--to increase awareness of and appreciation for our beautiful medium. Many members of the public asked if we would be back next year.
Our Judge of Awards, Katie Hanson of MFA/Boston, and the award-winning artists, got to meet each other, and of course, all artists attending were able to enjoy a too-occasional in-person visit and conversation, or to meet someone they had only known online.
The food and wine, organized by member Maria Monaco, the music, played by pianist Heather Reichgott, and the warm atmosphere of Five Sparks all contributed to a memorable event.
Check our social media, both FB and Instagram, for photos of awardees who could attend in person with their paintings; all awardees are listed on this website, where the entire show has been posted by Web Manager Alexia Rosoff.
Here are a few other photos from the evening. You can still see this impressive show in person at Fivesparks, Harvard, MA until September 28; vote for your favorite for the People's Choice Award, and bid on donated paintings from Anne Vosikas and Keith Demanche in our silent auction.
We are busy with preparations to open our 4th Annual, but first in-person, national Marks of Distinction juries show.
The show runs September 1-28 at Fivesparks, 7 Fairbank St., Harvard, MA, with special hours: Tue-Thu, N-6; Fri N-3; and Sat-Sun N-4. Be sure to see this wonderful exhibit; you can make a day of it as Harvard is in a beautiful, historic area west of Boston with much to see and do, and easily reachable from major roads.
Our reception is Saturday, Sep 10, 4-6 pm. There will be food, wine, live music, silent bidding on two donated paintings, and People's Choice voting for your personal favorite. Awards will be presented by Katie Hanson of MFA/Boston.
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