Albuquerque Trip

I am recently back from attending the IAPS (International Association of Pastel Societies) convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico .... and then a trip up to Littleton, Colorado (Denver area) to teach a three-day plein air workshop for Terry Ludwig Pastels! So .... I wanted to share a few of the photographs I took at the convention and some of the good times too!

Here is a photo of me at the IAPS 18th Juried Exhibition in front of my painting! It was an honor to have been accepted into this show. All the work was stunning and it was so much fun to attend the reception and meet new artist friends and reconnect with those artist friends made at previous conventions. This painting was done plein air and was painted last year at the Great Chattahoochee Paint Out held by the City of Roswell GA.

Eileen Casey -- a Facebook friend
met for the first time in real life!

I was able to meet friends I have made on Facebook at the convention and what fun we had when seeing each other for the first time.

The next photo is of three of my previous students that came to the convention -- two of them for their first time! I do believe they had a wonderful time .... but I bet they were tired when they returned home. We all have a tendency to sign up for a full schedule of sessions!

Karen Margulis, Sharon Lewis,
and Nancy Belknap

Stan Sperlak was also a
Facebook friend I got to meet!

Karen Margulis won the Poster Competition for this IAPS convention. What an honor for her .... and for me to have played a little part in helping her along her pastel journey.... well, that is what every teacher hopes to see ... success well deserved for your hard work, Karen!

The next photo is of two friends, Nancy Nowak and Barbara Jaenicke, from the Atlanta area and are in the Southeastern Pastel Society with me.

Nancy Nowak and
Barbara Jaenicke

I attended three different "sessions" with wonderful artists: Fred Somers, Doug Dawson, and Kim Lordier. What a treat to take 3-hour sessions "hands on" with Fred and Doug .... but the best was a full day, hands on with Kim Lordier!

Kim showing her alcohol technique over a first
layer of pastel. Just laying in the dark masses.

Kim's day class was about creating a "notan" and planning the painting before beginning. We watched her from start to almost finished painting... then we did the same, thumbnail, then a notan, and then the painting. It was suggested that we do several different notan for the same photo, and then choose the best abstract image. I do thumbnails, but the notan only occasionally... but will be doing them much more often !!!

Terry Ludwig Pastel and ...
my husband, Haywood working

The vendor marketplace at the convention is probably one of the highlights! The best, of course, is the Terry Ludwig Pastels booth .... those colors are just like candy to us pastel artists. It was an awesome sight! This shot is just after we had set up the booth the night before the opening the next day. That dark shelf at the top held a "sample" set of each of his various pastel sets .... and was even more impressive with them there. Wish I had a photo of that for you to see.

Kate, Donna and Deb

Kate and Deb work for Terry Ludwig Pastels and flew down to help man the booth with Terry and his son, Jeff (sorry I don't have a photo of him!) and my husband, Haywood. Donna and I helped when we were not in class, too!

So, we had a wonderful time .... many good friends were seen and new ones were made.... and we look forward to the next convention in two years! If you are a pastel artist, you really do need to plan to attend the next International Association of Pastel Societies convention in Albuquerque NM! Hope to see you there, and if I don't know you, please do look me up and say hello!

Found one more of the Ludwig booth ...
with the pastel sets up on the shelf above the
individual sticks!

Stay tuned ..... I'm saving the photos and stories about my plein air painting adventure on Monday after the convention closed for the next blog post ... went to paint with Kim Lordier, Stan Sperlak, Lorenzo Chavez, and many more! Painted all day long and then had dinner with many of them!

Recap of the Fabulous Sedona Trip!

Last year a friend and I discussed entering the Sedona Plein Air Festival which is held the end of October. Then we decided it would be great to spend a month in Sedona ... rent a house for the month .... and do loads of painting. We were already planning to be at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico for a week long plein air workshop with Ann Templeton at the first of October. So .... no brainer, right?

Ghost Ranch Canyon -- Plein Air Oil, 11" x 14"
at Windrush Gallery, Sedona AZ

I started thinking about what artist friends would be most interested in this type of immersion in the Western landscape .... extreme painting even! To plan a trip of this kind, thinking of the personalities involved, and the hope that all would be compatible .... well .... five women for a whole month in one house and agreeing on what to do next? Was I crazy? .... No Way! I believe that as artists, we are the most accommodating and sharing people on the planet. Fantastic .... no worries!

This past fall, Camille Day, Wanda Crane, Denise Champion, and Virginia Dauth joined me on this adventure ... making the trek to Sedona, Arizona for a month of painting and inspiration in the land of the red rocks. Although we hoped to be inspired artistically, we all experienced far more spiritually than ever expected.

Morning Arroyo
Plein Air Pastel - 12" x 9"

Our unique experiences included friendships formed with artists from the Southwest and the invited artists to the Sedona Arts Festival, encounters with local wildlife, excursions to the Grand Canyon and Jerome, painting a nocturn painting (night-time), the search for vortexes, and many days of "extreme painting" to round out the adventure!  “If you asked each of the artists who took this trip, all would say it was an "art-changing" if not a life-changing experience,” says Camille aka "Candy" Day.

Also, one of our group was able to secure a venue for showing the plein air paintings, and the studio ones done after our return. The ‘Sedona Five,’ as we started to call ourselves, shared paintings, journals, memorabilia, and recollections in a special show at the GAHA Gallery in Ellijay, GA, May 13 through 31. The name of the show was ... Sedona: A Journey of Art and Spirit.

de Chelly Bluff -- Oil Studio 16" x 20"

Canyon Blues (Studio Painting)
Pastel .. 9" x 12"

To make things even better, I approached a wonderful gallery in Sedona and was accepted. They have already sold three of the paintings I left with them! Their web site is www.windrushgallery.com. Be sure to visit the site, or the gallery itself if you are in Sedona. Tell John I sent you .... he is the owner!

I will be posting many of the plein air and studio paintings to my personal website as soon as I can. Be sure to take a look: www.marshasavage.com .