The HVAA Show and my Trip to Connecticut

My painting "Audrey with Flowers at Seven" is in the Hudson Valley Art Association's 81st Annual Juried Exhibition. I was notified last week that I won the Art Spirit Foundation Dianne B. Bernhard Award for Excellence in Pastel (which is the highest pastel award they give!) and since I had no other event on my schedule for the weekend, made a spur-of-the-moment decision to use the award money to fly up for the reception, which was Friday, June 21.

I invited my daughter along, which, I admit, pushed the expenses over the award amount, but it was worth it. After all, without her there would be no painting!

The reception was well-attended with many guests who looked like serious buyers. I took many more photos of the show; you can see them all in my Facebook album here.

 Saturday we relaxed in the best way we could think of in a place with 80 degree temperatures and 60% humidity. We took a walk in the park!
Well, two walks in two parks actually.

 The first was Wadsworth Falls State Park. The falls were nice, but I was more excited about the water close-ups with rocks and reflections. I might have enough shots now to continue an old series.

 We didn't see a lot of wildlife, except for the hundreds of baby toads that littered the pathway, trying their best to trip us up. We had to step carefully!

 We saw two trees that had been marked as popular memorials. They were eerily beautiful. There were only two that we saw.

A pretty park with a funny name, Machimoodus State Park began with a lily pond.

Everything's bigger in Texas.. ...except for the trees, which are bigger in Connecticut! (Or taller, anyway.)

 I found many more lovely references for my ongoing "Park Trail" Series...

...And while looking out for the baby toads, my eyes were intrigued by the patterns of leaf shadows on the path... Perhaps food for a new series? Hmmm.

All together a creative weekend for me and my camera. Now back to the easel!
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ISCA continued: The Wall

The amount of talent flowing through the ballroom at the El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel in San Antonio, Texas last week was ...well, a lot!

Pretty much immeasurable.

Here is a short view around the ballroom on Friday morning. Some of the wall is blocked by the columns but you can still get a good idea of the scope. I believe there were about 180 competing artists, each with a two foot section of wall from floor to ceiling.

And here's MY little section of wall:

 And some of my favorites, parts of walls and individual works:

by Jeff Pecina

by Taka Watanabe (2012 Golden Nosey Winner)

by Brian Oakes

by Michael White

Eve Myles by Robin Schwartzman

Andrea Gurstman by Kevin Jackson

The little Asian lady who's name I never did catch, by Marcus Sakoda

by Tomomi Monma

Jessica Du Preez by Teague Tysseling

Tasiir Franz by Takanori Itou

by Tad Barney

Jan Op De Beeck's wife carrying him and their daughters, by Beejay Hawn

Jan Op De Beeck by Celestia Ward (First Place 3-D winner; She had more in this display, but I couldn't catch them all in one shot. All were uniquely strange!)

Watch for my next post with the Forty-Four "Ritas"...

My First ISCA Convention

I'd been wanting to get to this convention for years! Since way back when the Exaggerated Features Magazine looked like a one-page news sheet. Since the time when it seemed like Kaman's Art Shoppes employees made up 80% of the membership, and way before Japan had ever heard of the NCN.

Well, it finally came back to San Antonio, and the timing and dates (mid-November) fit right in to my erratic schedule. In August, when I knew the dates would work, it was "Yes! I am THERE!"

For those reading who are not familiar with ISCA, that is the International Society of Caricature Artists, formerly the National Caricaturist Network (or NCN for short.) It's essentially a huge and growing group of artists with a strange and wonderful way of looking at people (and the world) and of translating that vision into funny pictures.

The convention was an amazing experience. Picture about 180 artists all sitting or wandering around a huge hotel ballroom, drawing each other for 98 hours non-stop. Tables and easels, paper and pencils, markers and paint and modeling clay scattered about, occasionally interrupted for a seminar or a drawing competition.

OK, some artists actually slept at night in their rooms. I was saved the expense of the hotel by living only 55 minutes away so I slept at home, but next time I'll happily trade that economy to spend the extra two hours a day (and more!) in the ballroom, drawing!

Well, I love to draw and I hate to write, so if you want to know more, visit the ISCA site and join (if you haven't already) so you can get your post-convention issue of Exaggerated Features Magazine, and the complete recap of this year's convention!

For now, here's some of my experience of the week, in pictures:

My first caricature on Monday: Alison

The start of the first caricature of me: a digital by Angie Jordan

Jan Op De Beeck drawing me in my new copy of his book "Sketching is Fun" (his young daughter on his lap)

Nate Kapnicky drawing me in his book "Beasted"

The Likeness Competition: Ten minutes to draw each of three faces.

By Tuesday all were hard at work.

Yasushi and Chunco facing off!

By Thursday morning the ballroom looked well-lived-in.

That's all for today!  I've got some shots of the walls on Friday morning, some of my favorite caricatures, my collection of "Rita" caricatures, and more - coming up in the next posts!

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