Juror's statements for art of the pastel winners

Jeanne Rosier Smith: Juror's Statements on Award Paintings, Art of the Pastel 2018. 
Click the image to get the full, wonderful effect of seeing pastel's color and techniques.

Best of Show, ​Carolyn Hancock. Not Your Mother’s Purple Hair
This painting is a standout in every way.  It’s a beautifully executed portrait:  the face is beautifully modeled, richly colored and alive.  She is a contemporary icon:  her purple hair recalling a veil, and formal pose and embellished frame beautifully contrasts to the lost edges and loose marks around the shoulders.

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First Place, ​Linda Dellandre, Beautiful Morning 
The soft glow of this beautifully composed landscape captures a particular moment in time and pulls us in with just the right balance of large shapes and sharp detail.  Dark mystery pulls us into the to the end of the path, and seductive curves point toward it, while beautiful color contrasts exciting marks keep us lingering.

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Second Place, ​Eve Miller, Overlook
This stunning skyscape is more complex than it appears at first.  Luminous layers of color create a glowing sky from which the moon silently appears while a mist quietly settles over a deep reaching landscape dotted with brush.  Expert use of texture, color, edge, and mark making.

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Third Place, Becky Johnson, Silent Alarm
This painting conveys miles of distance, a feeling of height, and a sense of atmosphere into less than 100 square inches.  The foreground brush and trees have fallen into twilight dusk and cool while the distant peak feels the sun’s lingering warmth.  The detailed style does not distract but rather support’s the painter’s vision. Every value and edge is perfectly calibrated to show us what’s important.

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HM, ​Anne Maree Healey. Watch Out Baby
This fresh, bold take on a traditional subject—mothers and babies at the beach—commands attention with its strong color and nearly abstracted background color field.   THe figures and their reflections tell a narrative story and create a spatial world, while the luscious, vivid warm and cools compel a more abstracted color pattern reading.  A visual pleasure.

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HM, ​Sherry Killingsworth, Durango
This painting shows a true mastery of atmospheric perspective and light in the landscape.   Low light rakes across mountains and trees and invites the viewer further down the path, enjoying the contrast between the cool shade and the warm light.