Contours

Kiersten and I spent last Wednesday through Sunday in Seattle, WA for the CPSA 16th Annual International Exhibition. The show was held at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, and the workshops and awards banquet were at the Renaissance Hotel. It was terrific getting to see some of my favorite artists again, and all of the little get togethers – lunch with the Scribbletalk artists, drinks after the banquet in the Visions lounge (with its incredible view of Seattle from the 28th floor) – were tons of fun. During our free time we ventured down (literally – Seattle is very hilly!) to Pike’s Market, with its wild mix of fresh produce, seafood, and flowers, then to the very first Starbucks, onwards to the all glass walled ultra-modern library, and finally to historic Pioneer Square. We even had some family in the area, and got to spend some time talking over a glass of wine and (of course) watching wedding videos.

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On Friday in Seattle at the CPSA 16th Annual International Exhibition I took John Smolko’s workshop. I’ve always admired his work, and his distinct use of colorful, energetic lines in his pieces. John has been an award winner at the Annual shows multiple years. An experienced art teacher, he led us quickly through the basics of scribbling – a form of crosshatching used to weave together colors – and then into our morning exercise of creating block letters against a glowing background. In the afternoon we were able to choose from a range of subjects – pictures of John’s students, still life objects. I chose a student’s picture, and decided to keep in the theme of the colorful palette I had used for the morning exercise. With about 2-3 hours of work, the piece isn’t completed yet – but I’m really happy with the progress on the piece. I plan on working on it further and finishing it. Here’s a pic of the demonstration, and a scan of what I completed during the workshop:

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“Cascade” earned an Award for Excellence at the Colored Pencil Society of America’s 16th Annual International Exhibition. You can view all of the award winners at the CPSA website.