More clouds, and juried show news

Painting from yesterday afternoon from the deck off the master bedroom.

Cloud Line - 8x16",  plein air
pastel on 4-ply matboard with Golden pumice + black acrylic
© S.Johnson

I always find it fascinating when clouds form those diagonal bands across the sky, and this one kept that basic shape until I was nearly finished.  It's funny...as much as I've painted clouds, both from photos and from life, I always learn something valuable each time I paint them.   And, I still find them a challenge to paint.

On an unrelated note, I am a bit late in sharing this news on my blog, but I found out that I had four of six paintings I submitted accepted to the member's juried show for the Four Corners Plein Air Painters, held at the Gateway Museum in Farmington, NM.

This was a pretty tightly juried show, with over 180 submissions and only 62 pieces chosen.  The juror was Tom Lockhart, an accomplished landscape and plein air painter.

The reception was last Saturday night, and I was delighted and honored when my painting "Afternoon Along the Wash", was awarded second place:

Afternoon Along the Wash

The others accepted were:

Colorado Trail Shadows

Rio Grande Reflections

Gathering Storm Over Duffrey Mesa

I was glad I arrived in time to hear Tom's talk about his selection and jurying process, and the particular elements that appealed to him for those he selected for awards.  He spoke of the importance of good drawing skills, and that the paintings have a strong underlying design and pleasing balance of light and dark values.

I was also pleased to spend some time talking with him individually afterwards, and found him to be very personable and generous with sharing information and advice.   He told me he placed some emphasis on the entrants' overall body of work submitted, saying he has seen many instances [not specifically this show] where a painter would have one good painting out of several marginal pieces.

It was clear that he put a lot of thought into his selections, and based on the quality of the work in the show, his job wasn't an easy one.

Overall, this show and Mr. Lockhart's words helped validate my approach and dedication to my painting efforts, and reinforced much of what I spoke about in this post exactly three months ago.

Now, get out and paint!