QUARTERLY QUOTE 

Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious.

Oscar Wilde

• The CoViD Omicron variant continues to pester us, and now with cooler weather calling us indoors for art-making, we may be going back to masking up, or Zoom meetings, or getting a booster and taking some risk.
• Hub activities have been variable over the summer.
• One more VPS-Sponsored Workshop is coming.
• Our Juried Show is hanging October through November.

 

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS:

Oct 7-Nov 18, 2022: VPS Juried Show at Vermont Artisan Designs, Brattleboro, VT

Oct 12, 2022: VPS Annual Members’ Meeting via Zoom

Oct 21-23, 2022: Dawn Emerson workshop in Bennington, VT

 

VPS REGIONAL HUBS UPDATE 

VPS: MidState took the summer off with everyone being very busy. They plan to use their hub allotment for renting a space to paint in and to purchase some LuxArchival.

VPS: SouthEast has been meeting regularly over the summer months to plan for the Juried Show they are hosting. They also have another local exhibition in November for which they are using their hub money. They hosted a frame swap, critiqued each other’s pastels, and planned for two more exhibitions upcoming in 2023.

VPS: SouthWest met at the end of September, after a summer off. They used their hub allotment to make a hub sign for posting at their local shows. With winter coming and many of their members traveling south, they will resume meeting via Zoom.

VPS: Champlain has been meeting monthly, welcoming new members, viewing each other’s painting challenges, planning for a show in 2023, discussing pastel-related materials, and painting in Plein Air. They hosted Aline Ordman for a two-hour demo which was well-attended.

 

VPS EXHIBITIONS

Our Juried Show (JS) for 2022 is now on display at Vermont Artisan Designs in Brattleboro, VT, and can be seen any day of the week now through November 18. We had 57 pastels entered and the two jurors, Liz Haywood-Sullivan and Michael Chesley Johnson chose 33 of those for the venue. There will be two First Friday Art Walks for those selected pastels to be seen by the throngs of gallery-goers. They will be judged by Dawn Emerson during her workshop in VT, with awards being presented at the reception on Friday, Nov 4, 2022 from 5-7pm. Please try to attend!

Next year, the Members’ Exhibition will be hosted by VPS: Champlain and the Juried Show, by VPS: Upper Valley at the Long River Gallery in WRJ, VT. Stay tuned for details!!

 

VPS WORKSHOPS 

Our final workshop of the year will be with Dawn Emerson: “Pastel Innovations,” Oct 21-23, 2022, in Bennington, VT. It is full, with 15 participants.

Next year we will again sponsor three workshops:

Tony Allain: “Catching Light,” May 19-21, 2023, Bennington, VT;

Karen Israel: “Rocks/Water Reflections/Clouds/Sky,” Aug 4-6, 2023, East Montpelier;

Nancy Nowak: “Boats and Structures,” Sep 29-Oct 1, 2023 in Bennington, VT.

VPS BOARD NEWS

The Board met on Wednesday, Sep 28, 2022 and several items were discussed and actions were taken. To see the details, please go to the VPS website to view the minutes once they are posted.

Also, after the last two years’ successful Annual Members’ Meeting via Zoom (with more people attending than in the previous years’ in-person events), the board has decided to hold this year’s meeting virtually as well, see link below. The time and date are Wednesday, October 12, 2022, 7-9 p.m. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82281322631?pwd=blRpazhVemNjQkJld2tHZDViRlZXUT09

As before, we will have a short business meeting in the first portion. Among other agenda items, we need to elect 4 board officers for two-year terms, approve the budget for 2023, and discuss whether the VPS should have a Signature Status category for its members like some other pastel societies. Following that, we will have Jeanne Rosier Smith doing an autumn landscape demonstration. Please put that date and time on your calendar and save the link! 

As a VPS member, you are permitted to post two pastels on the website gallery. Remember to check what is up there now and update your images as you make new work. We get over 5000 visitors and 8000 visits a year, and the Gallery of Member Art gets the most traffic, so take advantage of the exposure:

https://vermontpastelsociety.com/participation-in-the-members-gallery/

Also, you can share noteworthy news about your artwork, about prizes you were awarded, about your upcoming shows, about your hub, or about other pastel items of personal interest. Check it out by going to the VPS website and clicking Member News on the drop-down menu or click on this link for submission instructions:

https://vermontpastelsociety.com/vps-member-noteworthy-news/

Don’t forget that you can also rent DVDs for free as a member. The information is on our website.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN VPS! 

With a Juried Show hanging now, another workshop coming this fall, and our Hubs resuming their more normal activities, there is great value in being a member of the VPS. Please renew your membership for the coming year. We are who we are because of the continual support for our organization which each of you provides. Thank you all so much!

Matt Peake, VPS President