IAPS convention

Linda Dellandre with gold medal for Master circle

Thanks, Linda Dellandre, for this news and photos from IAPS Convention

We had a fabulous time, so much so that we forgot to get pictures of all of us together that were there!

The Gold Medal for Master Circle is quite heavy with my name engraved on the back.  Apparently it is dipped twice in 24k gold!  I hope the official pics on the IAPS website are better and come up soon.  There were 23 recipients and all but 1 were there to receive their medals.

My painting, "The Sea," won the Bronze Medal in the Master Circle Juried Exhibition. Wow, 2 honors, in one convention!

The Paint Around - with attendees just watching avidly for the next stroke of genius on the paper.  Stan Sperlak is working on Desmond O'Hagan's start, and Debra Stewart is working on Kim Lordier's start.  Kim is in there, working on Liz Haywood Sullivan's image.  They turned out 5 of the best paint arounds I have ever seen!

Desmond O'Hagan's demo.  He had lots of great tips about "getting rid of your white", and how to layer warm and cool to make great highlights where it counts!

Liz Haywood-Sullivan's demo. Relationship between water and sky - she is very cool to watch - she uses alcohol to paint out her first initial light pressure (dark color) strokes of pastel.  She even will take a pastel in hand, take a brush with alcohol on it, and pick up color directly from the pastel! Have never seen that before.

And then there is the "candy store," where the vendors sell everything pastel for some great prices!  Also, they have demonstrators in their own booths, and you can try out all the products. So much fun!

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Linda with the bronze ribbon for her painting "The Sea"

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Desmond O'Hagan's demo

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Liz Haywood-Sullivan's demo

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Paint Around

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Buffet outdoors in the courtyard on Thursday evening - so much fun! Live band and dancing, lots of laughs and getting to know other pastel "families."

And Then the Finale! The banquet on Saturday night was so wonderful - everyone dressed up and the food spectacular. The gavel was turned over to Liz Haywood Sullivan, the new president of IAPS, and Urania put the medallions around each recipient's neck.  Our keynote speaker was a gallery owner who gave a very informative and exciting talk on presenting your work to galleries. 

And as a final note, there was an absolutely beautiful memorial to Maggie Price, Her daughter spoke, and they ran a slideshow of Maggie's life. There wasn't a dry eye in the house.  Maggie really did so much for pastel, including getting the Pastel Journal started. Nearly everyone in the room had read at least one article by Maggie Price in their careers! 

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