Wednesday, August 5, 2009

back from the CPSA convention

Here is a picture of my home away from home last week while I attended the Colored Pencil Society of America's annual convention in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The meetings and workshops were held at this beautiful Marriott hotel in Duluth. Everything about the exhibition and the convention experience was fantastic and more than I could have hoped for. The art world may be filled with lots of big egos and arrogant attitudes but not when it comes to coloured pencil folks. All the people I met were friendly, kind and welcoming. What a joy to experience! Oh and they just happen to create incredible art too!!

This picture of the hospitality suite shows some of the works of art donated by CPSA members for a silent auction fund raiser. Seated at the table are Cindy Haase (CPSA Membership Director) and Gemma Gylling (CPSA Convention Director). Thanks Cindy for the impromptu tutorial in all things Twitter!


Here is another shot of some of the silent auction art. I fortunately found a time when this room wasn't busy. On the first evening when everyone got together for a meet and greet it was so crowded you could hardly see the tables.


The picture above is a portion of the goodies table. Hundreds and hundreds of dollars of free stuff is donated by various sponsors. The goodies were later bagged up and given out during a CPSA members meeting. I even managed to snag some loot!

While at the convention I took the opportunity to attend a workshop with Pat Averill. Pat is a very talented cp artist who received her fifteen year merit award this year. That means she has been juried into the CPSA annual exhibition 15 times!! Most impressive.

Pat's workshop was all about rendering water - standing water, waves, foam patterns, reflections, rocks with spilling water and wet sand. Pat is a fabulous landscape artist. What she is creating from her fascination with water is equally wonderful. As an instructor, Pat was very well prepared. We enjoyed oodles of beautiful ocean pictures as Pat shared with us many of her best water photographs in a large screen presentation. There were four exercises to complete and the day flew by. I was most interested by Pat's use of Paraffin wax and crayons in her cp art. I think this info will be very helpful when I consider creating something for the CPSA mixed media exhibition.

The picture below shows part of our workshop room as we regrouped following lunch. I believe there were about 40 people attending this session. I so enjoyed meeting Pat. Like everyone, she was so friendly and welcoming to this new convention attendee. Pat even joined me for breakfast one morning. Unfortunately we just didn't have long enough to chat. If you ever have a chance to study with Pat, I encourage you to do so. She is a wonderful, talented person.


Remember my Newsletter issue of November 2008? I featured Ester Roi's heated drawing board in that issue and I also mentioned the release of a smaller board in my March 2009 Newsletter. Well here is Ester and her husband Mario. I actually had a chance to watch Ester demonstrate how one could work on her heated board. It was thrilling to watch her work her magic. I love Ester's work. The techniques she has developed while working on this surface are worth exploring. Do check out her website - Ester has lots of step by step info and she is using more than just coloured pencils on her board - do go see. I am sure you will be inspired.

Perhaps you are sensing a theme here, but gosh, if Ester and her husband aren't just the nicest people you would ever meet anywhere. Absolutely delightful. Ester, Mario and I hooked up after the awards banquet for a good long chat. It was like we had known each other for years.




Here is a picture of myself and Ester just before the awards banquet.



I took lots of photos at the awards banquet but I will post just this one. This is a picture of the incredibly talented Jeff George receiving the top honours of the night, the CIPPY Award and CPSA Best of Show. The woman at the podium is CPSA President Kay Schmidt. Congratulations Jeff. Jeff is just the nicest man you will ever meet and I really enjoyed a conversation I had with him. I know that Jeff has achieved his level of success because of his determined work ethic. Jeff has a day job and all of the responsibilities the rest of us has. Despite this, for years now he has made it a point to work at his art everyday - even when that means setting the alarm at an incredibly early hour in order to squeeze some time in. Such determination and dedication to his craft has definitely paid off. The vast majority of successful people are successful because of good old fashioned hard work. May Jeff's fabulous art inspire all of us to work that much harder on our own creations!


If you would like to see a complete list of all of the award winners, visit the CPSA website. Also, please note that a DVD of the entire exhibition can be purchased from the CPSA! If you can't get to the exhibition in person, it is a great way to see the show. I was at the show and I bought one so I could remember it!

Before moving on from the awards banquet, I would like to congratulate Holly Bedrosian on winning an Award for Outstanding Achievement. I watched her piece unfold on her blog and it was a treat to see it in person. I had the privilege of sitting next to Holly and her husband at the banquet. I really enjoyed the opportunity to meet Holly in person. And yes, she is as beautiful in person as she is in all of those self portraits!

During convention week, there was a special reception at the gallery for all of the artists. Here is a picture of the Jacqueline C. Hudgens Center for the Arts, Duluth Georgia.


This next photo shows the entrance into one of the main exhibition rooms. Holly's self portrait is on the left.

Another gallery room....


Another gallery room, and woo-hoo I see a chunk of chard!


Now here is one of my favourite photos. This is none other than the incredible Linda Lucas Hardy posing with her amazing art. Congratulations to Linda on winning the Award for Outstanding Recognition. It was very well deserved. I have long admired Linda's work and getting to see this piece as well as her silent auction entry was a real thrill. Linda is truly one of the nicest people you will ever meet. She has such a warm personality, she is funny, intelligent and gosh who wouldn't love that Texas accent? It was an honour to meet Linda and to become new friends. Linda has a blog with convention photos and she even has said hi to me in a post! How cool is that? Didn't I say these folks were wonderful?



Well hey, here is proof that my Swiss Chard Mosaic actually made it there and is on the wall still...sorry for the reflections...


More gallery photos...



Another gallery wall...


Finding room for the 120 paintings wasn't easy for the gallery.


That's it for now. (Next time I shall share some of the ideas that came out of the Mock Jury Workshop I attended). It was a tremendous exhibition and I am honoured to have been accepted both last year and this year. I had such a wonderful time, met such wonderful people and saw such fabulous art. I am sure I shall attend another convention in future! I highly recommend the experience. All of those pictures and not one with a lampshade...humm...did she or didn't she? Ahh, that stays in Atlanta!

22 comments:

Jennifer Rose said...

thanks for the write up :D Really want to go one year or get in *crosses fingers*

most CP artists that I have met are really nice too, must be the lack of paint fumes ;p

Beth Macre said...

Hi Teresa! It was so good to talk with you at the convention! I had a wonderful time too and the best part is spending time talking to other artists with similar interests. It was fun hearing about you 'chunk of chard' story! Oh and the lampshade too! hehe

hbedrosian said...

Teresa,

What a thorough writeup, and a very kind commentary on my art! It was a pleasure sitting next to you as well; I'm glad I got to meet you and see your work in person. I agree that the whole convention was very well organized, and I hope to attend next year's as well.

Laure Ferlita said...

What a wonderful time you've had! Isn't it incredible the energy that comes of being with like-minded people with similar interests for several days!!

So glad everything worked out!

Lynda Schumacher said...

Great write-up about convention week Teresa, and my lips are sealed about the lampshade(s)......

Teresa Mallen said...

Hi Jennifer Rose, hey maybe it is the lack of fumes - I never thought of that! :-)

Hi Beth! I so enjoyed meeting you too!! I have a nice picture of you that I will show in my next post. I am glad you made it home okay. I hope you enjoy the last days of your vacation!!

Hi Holly! Congrats again. Thanks for your kind words and for stopping by.

Hi Laure, I too am so glad that everything worked out! Thanks for all your well wishes before I went off!!

Teresa Mallen said...

Hi Lynda, I have a nice photo of you that I shall post next time. (I may have to crop a few heads but you know how that goes.) LOL And what is this talk about lampshades? I know nothing...

Seriously, it was a joy to meet you and I look forward to staying in touch via your new blog.

Unknown said...

Wow! It looks like you had a great time. I would love to attend one year in the future. I'm jealous that you got to meet Ester. She and Mario were really great via email. She gave me lots of great advice regarding her board. Take care!

Anonymous said...

Great post Teresa and it sounds like you had a great time amongst all that creative talent you lucky devil lol .....good to see your superb Chard picture hanging proud too as well.

Jan said...

I'm so glad you got to go to the convention as it sounds as if you had a great time! Your Swiss Chard looks super on that gallery wall too!

Teresa said...

Hi Teresa,

Really enjoyed your "report" and photos of the convention. And CONGRATULATIONS again on that beautiful Swiss Chard hanging on the wall. You have reason to be proud and happy.

I have a book that features some work by Pat Averill... one of the first CP books I ever bought. She is a wonderful artist.

As you can tell, I'm finally out of the blueberry bushes (free at last!) and back to blogging. Have missed reading your blog, and now that I have extended reach internet (not as fast as high speed net - but far better than dial up) staying up on my blog reading will be a little easier!

Ester Roi said...

Hi Teresa,

The feelings are mutual. Mario and I had a wonderful time getting to know you in person. Thanks for the kind words about us and the extensive write-up on the convention.

m1 Designs said...

This sounds like such a wonderful and informative time. Thanks for sharing your experience with us all.

Jeanette said...

Hi, Teresa! I enjoyed reading this entry! I may try to attend one of these conventions in the future, it really looks enjoyable. Congratulations on your Swiss Chard Mosaic piece being part of the show! (smile)

Teresa Mallen said...

Hi Heather, Yes Mario and Ester are really great folks. If you get to a CPSA convention someday they might just be in attendance. I heard someone mention that the convention may be in Dallas in a couple of years. I think that would be close for you. :-)

Hi Vic and Jan! Thanks for stopping by. I am going to have to check out what you two have been up to lately. No one seems to be taking holidays this summer!!

Well woo-hoo Teresa, congrats on getting out of the bushes and congrats on getting faster internet service. Things are looking up! :-)

Hi Ester. You are welcome. :-) Let me know when you get your blog set up. I shall be delighted to become a follower!

Hi Maria, You are welcome. I am glad you were interested! :-)

Hi Jeanette. The good news is that the convention moves to a different part of the US each year. Next year it is in California. It was a two hour flight straight down from Toronto to Atlanta so it worked out well for me this year. Do try to go if you can, I think you would really enjoy it.

Unknown said...

I am reading everyone's experience of the CPSA convention.

How wonderful to spend time with fellow artists. Thank you for sharing this with us. Love to have been there.

Debbi said...

Hi Teresa,
What a great write-up . . . I can relive the convention through your blog. You put so much time and effort into this post.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you're going to work on next. It was great to meet you in Atlanta - so nice to meet artists from other countries. That makes you exotic! :)

Sandy said...

What a wonderful write up for those of us who didn't get to go; loved the photos and hope to see some more of them!

Gary Keimig said...

sounds like a wonderful experience. It is really great to be able to rub elbows with some really great artists in their field. Really helps with inspiration.

Teresa Mallen said...

Dors, Hi! Thanks for reading and commenting!

Hi Debbi - I so enjoyed meeting you (after lurking on your blog for forever). So I am exotic eh? Now that is a hoot! :-)

Sandy, I am so glad you enjoyed the photos! Thanks for stopping by.

Hello Gary - yes it was a real thrill to meet and talk with such talented people. Seeing the other art in the exhibition did inspire me!

Dee said...

Hey Teresa, It was a delight to meet you at the convention. My, my what energy you have in your blog writing. What a thrill to read. Thanks for stopping by me blog. I'm looking to get into the international one more time also to see that signature membership. Maybe we'll do it together next year.

Teresa Mallen said...

Hi Dee, thanks for stopping by! I thought you already had your signature status - okay so we are both gunning for 2010! Fingers and toes are crossed!!!