NSAL Career Awards Traveling Show

The work of the NSAL's National Career Awards finalists will be traveling the country through May of next year. The exhibition will visit El Paso, Texas; Birmingham, Alabama; St. Louis, Missouri; Marietta, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; and Champaign, Illinois. Here's the full schedule:

August 22 - September 16
International Museum of Art
El Paso, Texas

September 27 - November 11
Jewish Community Center
Birmingham, Alabama

November 20 - January 4
Centene Center for Arts & Education
St. Louis, Missouri

January 21 - February 15
Marietta College
Marietta, Ohio

February 27 - March 23
Nevin Kelly Gallery
Washinton, D.C.

April 1 - May 10
Green Street Studio, Inc.
Champaign, Illinois

Portrait of a Girl

13.5"x12"

Portrait of a Boy

13.5"X12"

Portrait of Clare... Finished

Just finished it this afternoon.

John

5"x8"
I did this one in 2004 of my grandpa. One of my favorite paintings, along with the one of KJ. :-)

Portrait of Clare

22"x15.5"

Here's what I've been working on lately. It's about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way done... I just need to finish the dress and the hair, then go back and do some touch-ups.

Dancer #2

17"x9"
Finished 7/19/07.


Dancer #2 (detail)


Dancer #2 (detail)

Dancer #1

21"x12"


This one is the first in what will (hopefully) be a series of ballerinas. I had a LOT of fun painting this, and I just can't wait to work bigger.


Dancer #1 (detail)


Dancer #1 (detail)

Blue Skies

26"x17"
Finished 6/21/07.




Blue Skies (detail)


Blue Skies (detail)

Seanna

Started this one June 1st, but I've only just gotten around to photographing it. (Sorry about the lack of posts lately, I've been a bit busy...) Anyway, this one is about 26" by 17" and about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way done.

Ballet

Today I had the opportunity to sketch some of the dancers of the Maryland Youth Ballet as they worked. They're absolutely amazing.



They're also wonderful models. Several of the dancers stayed after class to pose for me so that I could do some more time consuming pen and ink sketches.



This was definitely the biggest challenge I've ever had. Trying to sketch the dancers as they went through their routines was incredibly difficult, but that's what I liked about it. Even sketching them as they worked at the bar was challenging - but very, very fun, and very cool. I hope to go back to MYB again soon, and in the future I may do a series of paintings of ballerinas...

Seanna & Kit

Finished it today.

Studio Space

I'll be subleasing studio space in the Torpedo Factory this summer. My work will be in studio 9 from June 1 to July 29, and I'll be working Thursdays, Fridays, and one day each weekend. Feel free to drop by to talk or to see more of my work.

NSAL 2007 National Career Award Competition (2)

I just got back from Arizona, and I'm pleased to announce that my Portrait of Tess won First Place in the National Society of Arts and Letters' National Career Award Competition.



The contestants were Carrie Tompkins, Birmingham Chapter; Maureen Forman, Bloomington Chapter; Vanessa Monot, Boca Raton Chapter; Ryan Rocha, Central Illinois Chapter; Erin Saladino, Clearwater-Tampa Bay Chapter; Alfred Perez, El Paso Chapter; Tawni Shuler, Greater Arizona Chapter; Morgan Canavan, Greater Chicago Chapter; Danielle Trejo, Evanston Chapter; Will Anderson, Kansas City Chapter; Gerren Dugger, Kentucky Chapter; Amber Carraway, Little Rock Chapter; Adrian Lyjak, Mid-Michigan Chapter; Mattias Lanas, New Jersey Chapter; Kelsey Berkley, North Florida Chapter; Mark Bush, Ohio River Valley Chapter; Thommy Controy, Pittsburgh Chapter; Timothy Rusterholz, Virginia-North Carolina Chapter; and myself.

Alfred Perez received fifth prize, Tawni Shuler received fourth; Will Anderson received third; and Mark Bush received second.

This year's competition in water media was judged by M. Stephen Doherty, Editor-in-Chief of American Artist magazine; artists Robert and Louise McCall; and Dr. Mel Yoakum, Director of the F. Gilot Archives. At the award banquet, Robert McCall was presented with the 2007 National Gold Medallion for his lifetime achievements. Mr. McCall is well known for his 6 story tall mural in the National Air and Space Museum, among many other career highlights.

On Friday, the other contestants and I were privileged to take part in a Master Class taught by Robert McCall and his wife, Louise McCall, who is known for her own vibrant work as well as her collaborative work with her husband. We watched a demonstration and received critiques and encouragement from the McCalls as we worked.

I sketched Mr. McCall as he worked, and he autographed the drawing.


An exhibition of the finalists' work is currently on display in the City Hall Gallery in Tempe, Arizona. The show will be traveling across the country over the coming months.

NSAL 2007 National Career Award Competition

The National Society of Arts and Letters' 2007 National Career Award Competition is taking place this weekend. An exhibition featuring the work of the finalists will be on display from May 14 to June 8 in the City Hall Gallery in Tempe, Arizona.

Seanna and Kit

Got a little bit more work done on it today. I'm having so much fun painting this one - I love the contrast between the sisters, especially between the red and the blue.

Seanna and Kit

15" x 15.75"

I just started this one this morning. Not much work done on it yet, but it's coming along. I'll probably have a new photo of it to post tomorrow evening, too.

Little Girl #1

3.25" x 3.25"

Started this one at 12 today and finished it at 5. Record time. :-)
I love minis.

Green Eyes

... finished.

Almost Done...

I just need to finish that little corner of shirt, add some more shadow to the neck, finish the ear, and do some touch ups to the hair. I'll probably have it finished tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be posting a new picture of it then.