Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.

Edgar Degas

SUMMERTIME…AND THE LIVIN’ IS EASY We now have six active hubs and one more to bring into the fold—up in the Northeast Kingdom.

We’ve had one successful show and one to come. And we’ve had one successful workshop, and one more to come as well

Finally, we are unveiling a new communications tool—Constant Contact—to help all of us visually gifted people to see at a glance what information is coming to us from the VPS. 

Continue reading below for more details

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS:

We have another great workshop this summer:

Doug Dawson September 15-17, 2017 in Newfane, VT

Currently there are 16 participants, but there is room for 3 more so contact Jean Pollack [email protected] if you want to sign up.

We will be having another VPS show this year:

VPS Juried Show September 14-December 27, 2017 in WRJ, VT.

The venue is small, so only 29 paintings were able to be selected for the show, but the Coolidge Hotel seems to sell a lot of paintings and the time of year should encourage many visitors. Stay tuned for more information.

VPS REGIONAL HUBS UPDATE

Over the last three months, I have had the opportunity to meet with three more groups of VPS artists in three different parts of our state, as we continue the process of forming regional hubs according to the proposal made at the end of last year. I am finding a lot of common themes with each group I meet with, a recurring one being hubs providing opportunities for artists with a love of pastels to get together and share the love in a multiplicity of ways. 

Three new regions have had their first meeting, have adopted a name, and have chosen a point person to facilitate their hub activities. They are VPS SouthWest in the Bennington/Manchester area; VPS Upper Valley centered around White River Junction; and VPS Champlain uniting the Burlington/ St. Albans regions. Activities that their hubs want to engage in have been brainstormed, and once more, many are similar from hub to hub, but some are unique. Overwhelmingly, the response has been enthusiastic for regional hubs to allow members to gain that sense of community that comes with becoming part of the VPS.

I will be getting together with the artists of the St. Johnsbury/Newport region soon, and with that meeting, we will have our 7 hubs up and going as proposed.

We also have a Director of Hubs, Judy Albright, who has sent out several Hub Happenings communiqués letting everyone know what each hub is up to. Hopefully this will give ideas to artists in other hubs for activities to engage in.

VPS MEMBERS’ EXHIBITION AT SVAC

Numbers to remember: 40/9/5

We had 40 artists participating (40 paintings displayed). Robert Carsten was our judge and awarded prizes in 9 categories. Five paintings were sold–those of Karen Baker, Wendy Soliday, Norma Jean Rollet, Angela Arkway, and Ann Wickham. Congrats to all participants, to award winners, and to painting sellers! Read more at https://vermontpastelsociety.com/vps-exhibition/.

VPS WORKSHOP WITH DESMOND O’HAGAN IN NORTH BENNINGTON, VT

Desmond O’Hagan’s workshop was greatly successful, with 12 attendees. It made a modest profit, but more importantly, it generated a lot of enthusiastic discussions among not only the participants, but in at least two hubs where paintings, begun in his workshop, were shown and talked about to all hub members present. Let’s give a big shout out to Linda Masten for her organizational efforts in getting this workshop for the VPS.

 OPPORTUNITIES TO USE VPS FACEBOOK

We have two opportunities to show our art-making on FB:

One is for an artist who is willing to take pictures of their work during the painting process and send that to Carol Corliss at [email protected]. By doing so, we can all get an idea of a member artist’s approach, mistakes that were made and corrected, or serendipities that occurred that changed the course of the painting for the better. After all, it’s all about the process, right? So please email her with your interest, and/or send her 4-6 photos of a painting from start to finish, each image with one or two sentences explaining something special about that step in your creative process.

Two is the 40/4 Challenge announced in June: Paint four paintings using only 40 strokes each on 4 separate days. You can do a painting a day for four days or  in a time frame that works for you. Post your paintings on the Vermont Pastel Society Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Vermont-Pastel-Society-1526769437591380/?fref=ts and share a little about your experience.

 THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN THE VPS! These are action-packed times for all of us, especially as we continue to attract new members every week who want to share in what we, in the VPS, are all about.

Matt Peake