Tuesday, March 31, 2009
BINGO !!!
It was been a bit tense for me, today. The Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts (PAFA) is holding its Annual Juried Student Exhibition for Continuing Education Students, April 3-24. Most students submit their best work for the show, two submissions max. Of course I submitted the two paintings that I think are my best stuff. That includes a portrait of a black woman wearing tight pants and boots. At 40" x 30", it is the largest painting I've tackled until the course I am taking right now where the whole idea is to make a painting and then scale it up to something very large - a technique that could be used to murals on buildings, if you wanted. The other is a painting of pears that I set up with Cezanne in mind (there is a big Cezanne exhibition at the Phila Art Museum just now): There is no central focus in the painting, you can take any quarter of it and the composition still looks attractive and complete.
Yesterday was the deadline for submissions. Judging was to be today with notification of acceptance by phone, before 6:00pm. For a change, I made sure that my cellphone was charged throughout the day as I went to my painting class and then worked on my 3' x 4' monster taking shape for Ted Xaras' course on "Methods of the Masters." No phone calls came through, even though I periodically checked to make sure the phone was still working OK. But finally the phone rang, about 5:15pm, with the good news that
Whew.
There will be a reception for the artists and friends this Friday - you can bet that Patricia and I will be there, with bells on. The little plastic glass of wine and dab of cheese on a cracker will taste like caviar.
The submissions:
Black Boots
oil on canvas, 40" x 30"
Spring 2008, for a Portraiture course by Theodore Xaras
Pears
oil on board, 11" x 14"
Spring 2009, homework for a Figure Drawing/Painting course by Douglas Martenson
I don't have a picture of Doug Martenson, unfortunately. But I do have a picture of Ted Xaras to share, standing with his wife Judy, and a portrait that was part of a Faculty Exhibition last year. His work is just breathtaking, as this portrait shows:
Yesterday was the deadline for submissions. Judging was to be today with notification of acceptance by phone, before 6:00pm. For a change, I made sure that my cellphone was charged throughout the day as I went to my painting class and then worked on my 3' x 4' monster taking shape for Ted Xaras' course on "Methods of the Masters." No phone calls came through, even though I periodically checked to make sure the phone was still working OK. But finally the phone rang, about 5:15pm, with the good news that
BOTH MY SUBMISSIONS WERE ACCEPTED!
Whew.
There will be a reception for the artists and friends this Friday - you can bet that Patricia and I will be there, with bells on. The little plastic glass of wine and dab of cheese on a cracker will taste like caviar.
The submissions:
Black Bootsoil on canvas, 40" x 30"
Spring 2008, for a Portraiture course by Theodore Xaras
Pearsoil on board, 11" x 14"
Spring 2009, homework for a Figure Drawing/Painting course by Douglas Martenson
I don't have a picture of Doug Martenson, unfortunately. But I do have a picture of Ted Xaras to share, standing with his wife Judy, and a portrait that was part of a Faculty Exhibition last year. His work is just breathtaking, as this portrait shows:
