One of the hardest things for me as an artist is talking about myself. (I know some folks who don’t believe this and think I talk about myself all the time… but, that’s another issue). But when something big really happens, it is somehow difficult to actually do that self-promotion thing that needs to be done.

So, that said, I’m absolutely chuffed to announce that on Friday I was honored twice for my pastel work.

The first was being awarded an Honorable Mention at the Mid-Atlantic Pastel Society Exhibition at the Cultural Arts Center of Glen Allen. Our judge was none other than the esteemed President of the International Association of Pastel Societies, Liz Haywood-Sullivan. She was in town at the behest of MAPS to teach a four day pastel workshop on Skies and Water. I took the workshop and it is a whole other blog post or two, so stay tuned on that.

The caliber of the work at the MAPS show is outstanding. Virginia (all of the Mid-Atlantic for that matter) has a depth of talent in pastel that is just amazing to me. When I learned I had won Honorable Mention I was literally tingling.

If you can, please go by and see this show. It will be up until March 26, 2017.

But my day did not end there. Betsy Kellum came into the show and I was hovering because she is one my favorite pastel artists… I guess I was sort of being a groupie and I just need to admit it and beg for her autograph next time I see her… and I heard her tell someone that she had a painting accepted into the 30th IAPS Juried Exhibition to be displayed in Alburquque, NM this summer during the 2017 IAPS Convention. This is a huge deal and she was congratulated by all who were within earshot.

I sort of sighed a little because I had also entered a piece (the same painting that had won the Honorable Mention) and I knew I was probably going to find I had another rejection letter. There was no way I could have been accepted against the likes of Betsy.

Then, later that evening, I figured out how to fiddle with my phone and go look up where the announcements for acceptance/rejection were posted and my mind was blown!

I got in!

Yep, Pizza Sauce Futures has been accepted into the 30th IAPS Juried Exhibition!

Thankfully, the Glen Allen Cultural Arts Center folks are wonderful people and put a little red dot on my painting so it would not be inadvertently sold before the end of the show.