Author: arkansaspastelsociety

Tom Christopher Workshop

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Tom Christopher led a three-day landscape workshop for APS members in conjunction with the Arkansas Pastel Society’s 10th National Exhibition, Reflections in Pastel. Tom also served as juror and judge for the exhibition and presented the program at the November APS meeting, where he demonstrated a landscape painting.


During the workshop, participants observed Tom demonstrating his techniques and then applied them to their own paintings. Tom works on Gatorboard, which accepts water better than regular foam core, and prepares the surface with gesso to create a textured underpainting, often tinting the gesso with acrylic paint in a complementary color. He may also use watered-down semi-gloss acrylic house paint applied with a 1½-inch brush, taping off areas such as the sky where texture is not desired.

Tom travels light, carrying a small box of Terry Ludwig pastels that he considers his workhorse set. He applies pastel with a very light touch, using the flat side of the stick for most passages and the edge when a sharper line is needed. He often pats the surface with a paper towel and typically paints the sky last so it can be adjusted to work with the rest of the painting. The only time he uses fixative is to darken an area. For sketching, Tom uses a carpenter’s pencil, which provides a broad line and is inexpensive and easy to find at home improvement stores.

Participants enjoyed learning Tom’s techniques and experimenting with them in their own paintings.

Arkansas Pastel Society Workshops

APS members regularly have the opportunity to learn from visiting artists through demonstrations, workshops, and programs.

Learn more about Arkansas Pastel Society membership.

2023 Arkansas Pastel Society and Ozark Pastel Society Members Only Show

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Arkansas Pastel Society’s 2023 non-juried members show recently exhibited at the Thea Foundation
gallery in downtown North Little Rock. This year the Arkansas Pastel Society invited the Ozark
Pastel Society to exhibit with them. It was so successful that we have decided to do it again next
year with the Ozark Pastel Society hosting at John Brown University.

An estimated 400 people attended the reception on July 21. The exhibit featured 40 artists,
17 from OPS and 23 from APS with a total of 74 paintings hanging in the show.


This year people attending the reception were asked to cast a ballot for their favorite painting
in the show for the, “The Peoples’ Choice Award,” won by Margi Tucker of the Ozark Pastel
Society for her painting “Raven Feather.”


The exhibit also featured storyboards which recorded the progression of a painting from start
to finish, live demonstrations and a hands-on pastel experience.

Arkansas Pastel Society Receives Grant

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Arkansas Pastel Society Recipient of Global Grant from the International Association of Pastel Societies.
APS has received one of three international grants awarded by the International Association of Pastel Societies in the amount of $1,000 each. APS will be partnering with Seis Puentes in North Little Rock, AR, a non-profit whose mission is to build a bridge between Hispanic communities and general life in Arkansas through education, information, and resources. APS will conduct a series of weekly beginning pastel workshops for women in the Seis Puentes facility from mid- September through mid-October, 2023, and furnish art supplies to those attending. Seis Puentes will provide the space and any needed translators. An art show showcasing participant’s work will be held at the end of classes for attendees to celebrate their successes and show off their work.

The four parameters for this grant are:

  • Community outreach with a focus on the appreciation of the pastel
    medium.
  • Outreach to an underserved community
  • Outreach to an educational institution
  • Provide a program or resource to your society that would not otherwise be
    possible without funding from the grant

Two other societies received this grant, The Philippines Painters and the Pastel Society of New Jersey. We are so proud to be a recipient.

Arkansas Pastel Society and Ozark Pastel Society Non Juried Membership Show

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The Arkansas Pastel Society and the OzarkPastel Society is holding their first combined Non-Juried Member show! The show will be open to the public Tuesday, June 27 – Friday, July 21, 2023 at Thea Foundation Gallery.  You can visit the gallery Monday through Thursday from 9:00am to 5:00pm. 501 Main Street, North Little Rock Opening Reception Pack up the family and friends and join us for the Opening Reception on Friday, July 21 at 5:00pm at Thea Foundation. We are going to pack the walls with art, live painting demos, story boards of the artist’s creative process, and the public will vote for their favorite painting! Light refreshments will be served. The reception is during the Argenta Arts District 3rd Friday Art Walk event. Check out the site for additional activities that evening. Hope to see you there! Photos will be posted after the event.