Fenceline, 9 x 12, Pastel

Oh no, not another award! This has really been a great summer for finding welcome news in my email inbox. This time it came from Mary Ann Cherry, President of Pastel Society of the Northern Rockies (PSNR). Not only does Mary Ann paint some of the best wildlife portraits you'll ever see, but she runs a great art show too. She was writing to tell me that I was awarded First Place in the PSNR show, Tight Focus 2013, judged by Colleen Howe Bleinberger from Utah.

Colleen is a fabulous artist who works in both oil and pastel. She portrays the region where she lives and it makes me long for the harmony of color that she finds there. You might want to check out her web site: ColleenHowe.com. I've been an admirer of her work since I first began in pastels and watched a two hour demo of hers at the biennial meeting of the International Association of Pastel Societies in 2007.

Almost, I didn't enter the show because I felt like I needed to save work for an upcoming western art fair, Colors of Fall, but at the last minute realized I could enter something from the east. I am willing to bet that this is the first time a Wyoming artist won first place in an Idaho art show with a painting of Pennsylvania judged by a Utah artist! The award received is one I am very proud of, coming from an artist I so admire. I thank PSNR, Colleen and Jerry's Artarama for providing the award.