A show and a workshop

The reception for the Randolph County art show was last night and I'm sorry to report that once again I came up blank.  It's the fourth year I've walked away with nothing, and while I will continue to participate, I'm not so sure I'll make the one hour drive on a week night for the reception.  I actually knew once I looked around that I was not likely to win, the competition was pretty stiff.  In fact, a pastel won the Best of Show, which is unusual as oils are much more likely to take top honors.  The winner was Carol Strock-Wasson, a Union City artist.  As soon as I saw her piece I thought it likely to win, it really was that good. Unfortunately it's not on her website but if I see it somewhere I'll post a link.

Seeing all that talent in a small town made me realize that while I've improved hugely over the last two years, I still have a lot to learn.  Lately I've felt like I hit a bit of a plateau and have reached the limits of what I can teach myself through books and the internet and looking at other's work.  So this weekend I am taking a workshop from Cincinnati pastel artist Ray Hassard.  He is pretty well known regionally and I expect to learn a lot from him.  I'll post my thoughts on it next week.

Sometimes they come easy

Edge of the Pasture 12x16 pastel, copyright 2012

Our neighbor's property has an open view to the west, and on clear evenings the sunset lights everything up rather dramatically.  I've taken dozens of reference photos from our driveway trying to capture that moment.  Most of the time I've focused on their red barn, but this time is was a large maple tree that caught my eye.  And despite my struggles the past few weeks and the difficult subject matter that trees make, this one didn't give me too much trouble.  The hardest part was in reminding myself to not do too much.  I actually started painting in all the little branches on the maple and all the bushes and trees in the background.  It became obvious rather quickly that so much detail would take forever to paint and would only serve as distractions.  Keep it simple is the best philosophy.

In the news, the annual Art Association of Randolph County juried show is this month, and I've entered two pieces:  October Fields and Morning Mist Near Alexander Bay.  Experience has taught me that larger, more dramatic work is more likely to get noticed, especially in a show as crowded as this one gets.  The reception is next Thursday the 8th at 7:00pm.  I plan on going, assuming the weather holds up.

Winter shows

Just a quick mention, a plug for myself and the Preble Fine Arts Center.  The current show at the Arts Center is the Starving Artists Invitational Show, now through the end of the month.  There are 13 artists total in this show, myself included.  There's a pretty good range of work, from ceramics to mixed media to painting and drawing and photography. Everyone is from the area and most are from Preble County.  The artists have agreed to donate an extra amount from the sale of one item to the Art Center, so it's a fundraiser as well.  Personally, I have three paintings and three pastels in the show.  For all the locals, a reception/ meet and greet will be held this Saturday from 2-4.

There are also a number of other shows coming up, and I will need to make some decisions about which ones to enter.  There's one in Kettering (a Dayton suburb) for example, that I've tried to get into several times without success.  Should I try again, or am I just wasting my time and money?  And there's also the Randolph County show which keeps getting better and bigger.  That one I will definitely be in, it's more a matter of choosing the right piece.  Perhaps I will avoid landscapes this year, since they seem to be the most popular subject, and maybe it will make me stand out in the crowd a bit.  We shall see....