Accepted into the Pastel Society of America!

When I attended the International Association of Pastel Societies convention in Albuquerque in June I attended a demo by Rae Smith who is the President of the Pastel Society of America.  I also heard her speak at the President's Council and she encouraged IAPS members to apply to PSA.  Apparently PSA, based in New York City, has been primarily an east coast organization and they are interested in widening their scope.  So I figured "why not?"  When I got home I put my application together.  The PSA application required 3 images, and the SAA jury had liked 3 of the 5 images I had submitted to them in May.  So I used those 3 - pictured here - and was fortunate enough to be accepted.

Pastelists seem to be so focused on landscape that I often feel a little like the "odd artist out" at my local pastel group, so I was especially pleased to be accepted into PSA with all animal subjects.

I have been concentrating on pastel recently.  When I began preparing for my second SAA application I thought it would be a good idea to focus on one medium and I chose pastel even though it is a relatively new medium for me - about 2 years.  Although I like working with a brush, I like drawing even more, and even though pastel pieces are called "paintings," I think of the process as drawing.