CPSA Bound...Hopefully

I entered these two colored pencil drawings in the Colored Pencil
Society of America's juried show recently.  They only allow 2 entries
and will only accept one per artist.  The competition is very stiff.  The works
also have to be 100% colored pencil only.  We will see if I get accepted this time..
It has been several years since I have been in the show.
Fingers crossed!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

CPSA.org 

Colored Pencil Duo

I am still a signature member of  CPSA, the Colored

Pencil Society of America.  They sponsor an

international exhibition every year, and these are my

two entries.  The convention is held in the summer.

If one of these makes it into the exhibition, I may

make some plans to attend the convention. 

You can check out their website, and see some of

the great colored pencil artwork by some of the

members.

www.cpsa.org

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

I am in California (after a few delays), but all is

well. I couldn't resist the highway sign, and I have

been singing the song ever since (some of you young

people will have no idea). And the fog rolling in is

such a strange site to me. We have fog in Louisiana,

but it usually is in the early morning, and mostly

along the rivers and swamps. I took these as I was

driving in my rental car..so they are not exactly

great artistic photos! And if driving on a California

freeway was on my bucket list, I could get to mark

it off. I have always heard of the "101 South" and

today I got to do it. It was easy to find the hotel,

and I am all tucked in for the night.

The rhino is the whole reason I am here. That is

the piece that is in the CPSA Juried Show to be

held in Los Gatos. The address is 4 Tait Ave, and the

time for the opening reception is Saturday from

6-8pm. I believe the show will be up for a couple

of weeks. Check the website: www.cpsa.org

Welcome to any of you I met on the plane today:

old friends and new ones! You can sign up to be a

follower: I give away something each month to one

of my followers. All aboard!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Two That Got Away

I am still planning to attend the CPSA annual

convention this weekend in Los Gatos, CA.

Part of that convention involves a slide show

of all the entries that didn't make the cut. This

is a very competitive show, and they only select

one piece per artist. You can enter two, and if you

are lucky, one will get in. This is the first time I

have been in in several years.

Anyway, these are two of the pieces that did not

make the show. The popcorn, "Pop Art" was

entered this year along with the rhino, and the

rhino made the cut. Last year, the jazz man was

entered, and did not make it. You never know

what the juror is going to like. You would hope that

really quality work would always trump weaker

work, but I have seen firsthand that that is not

always the case. I don't believe the subject matter

is always the determining factor, but craftsmanship

should always be. I have noticed that a lot of the

jurors want some kind of "expression" or "message"

in the work. I am not really big on that...I just draw

stuff that I like; I am not as deep as some would

like to make me. (That always cracks me up...when

I overhear someone in the gallery telling someone

else what my inspiration was, etc....hilarious).

The convention should be enjoyable. I am looking

forward to taking some pics around the area. Will

try to post the trip. stay tuned....

sheltongail@hotmail.com

"Drawn to Water"

Here's a couple of pics from the "Drawn to Water"

show hanging in the gallery now. The top piece is

"Savannah Swim", and it is going to the Natchitoches

Art Guild annual show next week. It is colored

pencil with some acrylic paint highlights on the water.

The other pieces are : "Girl's Day Out" "Dolphin Swim"

and "Swan Lake" There are several other pieces in

the show as well. It will hang until I have all the

Greece artwork ready to hang. sometime this fall.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Artist's Magazine Competition

I did receive some good news today about

this piece. I had entered it in the annual

Artist's Magazine competition, and it is a

finalist. All that means is I get my name

mentioned in the mag...no money! Anyway,

I will keep trying, but if this can't win...don't

know what can. I will be anxious to see what

did win 1st, 2nd and 3rd. The issue doesn't

come out till December.

I shipped the rhino off today to California for

the CPSA convention show. I am receiving

a five year merit award out there (again, no

money!!) but there is still hope it could place

in the competition. The judge makes the final

decisions once they see the actual pieces. Have

my fingers crossed...

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Dog Days of Summer

I agreed to contribute a piece to the silent

auction to be held at the CPSA convention

in California this summer. They always ask

the signature members if they would like to

participate. This is the piece I have decided to

send. I like to do the "RiddlePics" to try to

"brand" myself with them. I sent "Tiger Woods"

last year, and the timing couldn't have been

better on that one?! Anyway, since the convention

is during the dog days of summer, what better

one to send? hope they like it. (I am sure there

won't be a bidding war over any of my work, but

at least I am participating....)

sheltongail@hotmail.com

New Orleans Flavor

These are some of my New Orleans photos that

I am printing to use in some collages. It is crawfish

season right now, and there are lots of crawfish

boil parties going on. And anyone in Louisiana, usually

loves his hot sauce, to spice up the good Cajun food.

I, on the other hand, did not grow up here! and I

don't care for crawfish or hot sauce!! But they make a

neat image, and should look good attached to some

old tin tiles.

And at last, I had an entry accepted into the CPSA

International Exhibition. It has been 3 years (I was

accepted several years in a row there for awhile, and

even earned my signature status.) Anyway, this

happy rhino will be on his way to Los Gatos, CA for the

show in August. You can go to the website: www.cpsa.org

and see some samples from other shows. There is an

online exhibit called, "Explore This" that features work

that combines colored pencil with other mediums. Some

really interesting pieces, check them out.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Competition Bound

These are the two entries for the upcoming

Colored Pencil Society of America's juried

international exhibition. The top one is

"Pop Art", and the bottom one is either

"A Wrinkle in Time" or "Talk to the Horn".

Anyway, if you still have a clever title for me,

you can let me know asap. I will be sending

these entries in on Saturday.

I haven't been accepted into this show for the

last 3 years. It is very competitive. They usually

receive 1000 entries, and only take around 125.

So, maybe the rhino will be lucky, or popcorn is

the judges' favorite snack!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Untitled, and Sad

I would hate to send this drawing to the

show as "Untitled"...still no suggestions.

And I am just about finished; just some

tweaking to do.

One of my favorite books growing up was

"A Wrinkle in Time"...that could work. Or

"Got Botox?" All artists are interested in

light and shadow...maybe something about

"Into the Light"...I don't know. Nothing is

inspiring me...would love your help. Will

wait a couple more days.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Shaping Up

Been drawing more of this rhino...he is starting

to shape up. I will be finished in a couple of days.

He still doesn't have a title...I have had one

response so far. I would love to hear some more.

My daughter suggested I post it on Facebook;

I will try that. $25 is up for grabs...think up a great

title!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

More Rhino Without a Name

Still working on my no-name rhino. I
would like some suggestions from you.
I will give $25 for the winning title for this
drawing...see previous post.

As for colored pencil drawings...it is a long
process of layering. The lightest colors go
down first, and then the successive layers of
color are added, getting darker as you go.
They are transparent, so the underlying
colors show through. It is very theraputic;
I can get lost in the details. It is also a good
past time for these cold, dreary last days of
winter!

Remember to try giving this animal a title!
sheltongail@hotmail.com

Name the Rhino

I am still working on this drawing of the

rhino, with the intention of entering it in a

competition soon. I usually have the title in

mind, and I really love catchy ones. But I don't

really have one for this. So I thought, I would

let you decide. I will have a contest to name the

Rhino! I will take suggestions here on the blog,

or by email, and I will give $25 to the winning

title! So, put your thinking cap on, and come up

with something really clever... You have till I am

finished with the drawing, and I will post my progress.

Can't wait to see what you all come up with.

sheltongail@hotmail.com