It's happened again!

Look at these! Can you believe they are colored pencil? I went to Oklahoma City Saturday to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum to see the 2010 Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition. I knew in advance Mikel Donahue's pieces were colored pencil but I was not prepared for how excellent they really were. Some of you who have taken my workshops know I like to boast and say, "...you can't fool me. I'll know what you did!" Well evidently I can be fooled because I don't know what Mikel Donahue did. I could not tell what surface he works on or whether he uses solvents or perhaps blends some other way but his work is beautiful. I read on his web page he sometimes uses watercolor and/or pastel with his pencils but at these pieces were listed as being colored pencil, not mixed media.

If you have the time, or if you like western art be sure to take a look at the on line catalog for the Prix de West Show. I think you'll really enjoy it.

My friends in Belton, TX...

I just returned from Belton where I introduced this wonderful group of ladies, and I mean it, this is a great group of ladies, to Uart sanded paper. I was excited because they'd be working on the new color. Well, it might not be new to you but I have not ordered any in a while so I had not seen the beautiful, neutral, buff color. I love it.

I must admit, and I told them on the second day, that when preparing this workshop I thought the project might be a bit difficult but they proved me wrong. I'm sure you can figure out why I didn't tell them on the first day. Anyway, look how gorgeous their pieces turned out....quite a few of them did not understand why I wanted to showcase them all together on the wall, but once they were there, it was plain to see.

Since you might not know what you are looking at the reference photo they used is posted below. Nice job ladies! I am proud of you. So it looks like I'll be seeing you again after the first of the year. We are going to have fun "Painting With a Dry Medium".

Photo by Elizabeth Joy Kimes

I'd like to introduce you to...

I'd like you to meet Dr Ollie Theisen, (on the right) the woman to whom I owe a great deal of thanks. She's known to me as Ollie rather than the esteemed Dr Theisen because that's how she is, open and approachable.

Ollie was head of the art department at Northeast Community College from 1985 to 1996. During her tenure it was rumored NTCC had the best art department within a 100 mile radius. Regardless of what was said we all knew it was true. What we were getting we knew we could not get anywhere else, or at least anywhere within a reasonable driving distance.

Eight out of the eleven years she was there, she had me for a student. I could tell you stories but it would probably be better if I didn't. Looking back I know she put up with a lot from me...at least that's how I remember it. I haven't seen her but once since 1993 so I was delighted to hear she was going to be at the college. Dr Ollie Theisen was coming to receive a Distinguished Professor Emeritus Recognition Award. So Wednesday afternoon I headed that way. It was great not only to see her but to watch as she received her award. I hung around a little while after most people had gone just to catch up. I can't tell you what it meant when she said how proud she was of me. And she said it not once, but several times.

If anyone had told me all those years ago that I'd be teaching workshops and classes or that one day I'd be teaching drawing at the very same college, in the very same room, sitting around the very same tables and sometimes using her very same words, I would have been stunned and of course not believe a single word. I'm not sure how I feel about that, it stirs something deep in side, but mostly it just makes me smile.

And she looks good too!

The end of the Panasonic Sharpeners...

I managed to get my hands on two Panasonic battery operated sharpeners, actually someone very near and dear bought one for me. Wasn't that sweet? Hopefully they will last me for a while. I also bought the Stanley/Bostich battery sharpener, model - 02697. It's pretty good but not a precision sharpener like the Panasonic but much better than the Staples brand. You may not have a Staples in your area but if you do, don't bother with them, they are designed to break.

I also sent an email to the Sanford Rep, Shelley Minnis, and suggested Sanford buy the technology from Panasonic. Believe it or not, she had the same idea and forwarded my email on to marketing. Why not? We need quality sharpeners and they have the money. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

By the way, have you seen Sanford's new web page? It's pretty awesome. They have a page called "meet the artists". They profiled quite a few artists who use Prismacolor products, not just colored pencils. If you are interested here's the link: http://www.prismacolor.com/artists

Shock waves....

I do realize this bit of information is going to send shock waves through the colored pencil community. Please note, I said one of my students reported this information to me. Perhaps I should have called Panasonic myself before posting. I do know first hand that they are out of stock just about everywhere. Have any of you called?

Panasonic Pencil Sharpeners...

I've recently been looking to buy a new pencil sharpener, both battery and electric however I've been seeing "out of stock" just about every where I've looked. That seemed odd. Jokingly I thought maybe the container carrying them from China fell off the boat. Joking aside, I've since found out it's worse than that. One of my students said an employee at the store she was in called Panasonic and found out they are not going to make pencil sharpeners any more. NOT GOING TO MAKE PENCIL SHARPENERS ANY MORE?????? WHAT MADE THEM DECIDE THAT?

Now what? I really don't care for Boston/Xacto. Most of them leave a blunt tip on the pencil. How about Bostich? If any of you know of any other sharpeners that make a long, sharp point I'd be happy to hear from you before I buy up what's left of the Panasonics. Just kidding.....

Oh and, you may not want the new, cute little black and red one made by Panasonic. It does not have the steel alloy cutter blades. FYI...

Paper Terminology Glossary

When you are shopping for paper for your latest art project did you ever wonder what a Deckle Edge was? Or what 100% Rag actually means? Or whether you should choose Hot Pressed over Cold Pressed? Here is a handy list of artist paper terminology for your reference. Enjoy!

100% Rag: Made entirely of cotton and/or linen rag pulp

Bond Paper: A term for smooth-surfaced text weight paper, coined by a customer of Crane’s Stationers, a banker who asked that his personal stationery be printed on “bond paper”, the stock used for printing bank bonds.

Deckle Edge: The natural terminal edge of a sheet of paper, where the screen on which the sheet is formed is attached to the deckle, or frame. Artificial deckle-edges are produced by a jet of water slicing through still-wet pulp.

High Alpha: Wood-based paper pulp of the highest quality, with strong fibers and no acidity.

Hot-pressed, Cold-pressed, Plate and Rough: All manufactured artist’s papers are pressed in some fashion, between rollers that squeeze out water and impart a specific texture. Hot-pressed paper is smooth and relatively free from surface detail; cold-pressed paper has more pronounced tooth. Plate finish papers and boards are smooth like hot-pressed, deriving their name from the metal plates each sheet was originally sandwiched between before passing through a press. Rough paper has the most aggressive surface, like earlier papers whose bumpy textures resulted from shrinkage during air-drying.

Inclusion: Any material added to paper pulp for visual or textural effect that remains distinct from the paper fibers. Leaves, flowers, cloth scraps and coffee husks are only a few examples from among thousands of possibilities.

Internally and Externally Sized: Internally sized paper is completely impregnated with sizing during the manufacturing process; paper that is externally sized has had starch or glue applied after the sheet has been created.

Kozo: A Japanese term for mulberry-derived fiber

Laid: A surface revealing the texture of the screen on which the sheet was formed, or a simulation of the traditional texture produced by a die on the dandy roll

Lignin: A protein in wood, undesirable in finished paper

pH Neutral vs. Acid Free: The pH scale measures acidity and alkalinity in degrees from 0 to 14, with a value of 7 being “pH neutral”. A paper designated “acid free” will have a pH of 7 or greater; a paper sold as “pH neutral” should have a value between 6.5 and 7.5.

Pulp: Cellulose fibers prepared for papermaking by pounding and bleaching

Ream: 500 sheets, formerly 480 (based on 20 “quires” of 24 sheets)

Sulphite: Wood pulp produced by breaking down fibers in sulphuric acid; there are different grades of Sulphite pulp

Watermark: A design on a sheet of paper revealed by illumination from the back. Originally accomplished by molding or welding a design element or insignia onto the wire screen used to make paper, now more commonly produced by placing dies on the dandy roll

Weight (gsm): A useful measure of weight in paper, based upon grams per square meter. Accurate regardless of original sheet size.

Weight (pounds): A measure of the weight of a full ream of paper; the implied weight of a single sheet from a ream, dependent upon one’s knowledge of the full, unconverted sheet size.

Wove: A smooth, featureless surface with subtle tooth; from the “woven” type mold, as opposed to the “ribbed” type.

*Utrecht Learning Center

Yahoo and Yippie Skippy...

I am so excited about winning the The CPSA District Chapters Award for Exceptional Merit in Explore This! 6. I meant to post earlier but I've been in and out so much I haven't had time. Winning this award caught me completely off guard. I thought the notification time had come and gone so I went about my business. When I got the email from Paula saying I'd won I was stunned.

If you haven't seen the show you can find it here: CPSA Explore This! 6 Online Exhibit

My entry for Explore This!

I titled this "Reaching Out to the Other Side". It's a combination of Prismacolor and graphite. Much to my surprise I actually had fun doing this. I thought it would be a lot harder than it was. Happily I learned they could be compatible. Not to say I didn't run into problems but I figured out how to make the two work together pretty quickly.

What I've been doing....

Last weekend I went to the Titus County fair to sit with the art work...let me explain. Every year several members of the Mt Pleasant Art Society volunteer a few hours of their time to keep an eye on the art for the duration of the fair. Since there's nothing much to do on a three hour shift but watch people, I took my camera and watched through my lens as they stopped to look at the art. Of course it's mostly high school kids that enter but you get a nice cross section of society filing through. It became quite a challenge and a lot of fun to try and get candid shots of people without getting noticed or questioned. I guess I did pretty good, no one said anything and I took about 350 pictures.

Anyway, I looked up and saw this little girl coming my direction. Isn't she a doll? I can't begin to tell you what was going through my head. I was so excited and hoped beyond hope that I could get at least one picture of her before she walked out.

Dreams do come true. She stood as still as a statue while I snapped away. I couldn't believe it. I probably got 15 shots of her while she stood there. Most of them were pretty good but there was "one"....so I put everything aside and spent the last three days doing a graphite drawing of her. Why graphite and not colored pencil? I just felt she needed to be done in black and white. By the way, the above photo was "not" the photo I worked from. My imagination is not that good.

Now that I look at her on the computer I still think I need to do some tweaking, mostly around the eyes, however I sprayed it because I would not stop working on it. I was beginning to make a mess of what was already fine. That being said...maybe I should leave it alone. Anyway, I need a title...any ideas?

As luck would have it one other little girl did the same thing. She just stood there and let me take picture after picture. I am biting at the bit to get started on her. I'm going to call her "Mona Lisa Child". The photo is extraordinary...every bit as good as the one above but different. I'm not sure what medium I'll do her in, she needs something special. Anyway, I don't know if I'll do her right now but if I do, I'll be sure and post it.

Are you kidding me...?

I got an email last week from a woman who was searching for a watercolor artist named Linda Lucas. She wanted to know if I was her. Apparently, some time ago, she'd purchased a floral print and wanted another. I asked her to send me a photo of the print, I don't know, I though maybe I'd recognize the art work or something.

Linda Lucas is a very common name so is Linda Hardy and believe it or not quite a few of them are artists. That's one of the reasons I started going by Linda "Lucas" Hardy. That way no one could get me mixed up with the rest of them. Ok back to the story, nothing about the piece looked familiar so I thought I'd search for Linda Lucas since the woman had come up with nothing. Wow...I discovered I'm everywhere! No wonder she couldn't find her. After sifting through page after page I finally happened on a site advertising a workshop by the elusive Linda Lucas. Yeah! Case solved! I sent the info on to the lady and hopefully she was able to contact her.

So why am I telling you all this? In my search I happened on a page that had my name embedded in it somewhere. Oddly enough it was about knitting. I thought "....what? What's the association and where am I mentioned?" I could not let it rest so I kept digging. Ah ha! I finally found it. There was a reference to my palette guide. After a while I figured out who the page belonged to. It's Lupe's. Lupe took my workshop on 2007 Mexican Riviera Cruise. Mystery solved. About that time I noticed a colored pencil link. Once there I could not believe what I saw. Lupe...oh my gosh...she does amazing colored pencil portraits! So I had to show you. Here's a few of the portraits I found on her blogs. Yes, I found another one. Don't you just love the internet? If you'd like to see more of her work and step by step photos you can find Lupe HERE. And here Art, Supernaturally Enjoy!

The 17th International CPSA Exhibition & Convention in Atlanta, Ga

I started putting these on my blog...meant to get back immediately but I came down with mild flu like symptoms Tuesday the 4th. For four days I felt awful. I gradually got to feeling better the following Friday but I had a workshop coming up a week later for Keller, Tx ISD (that was yesterday) and I still had a lot to do...yikes...so I had to do what I had to do. Everything else had to be put on hold.

I would like you to know what a pleasure it was to teach colored pencil to teachers. There were thirty in all, a wonderful group of men and women who, artists themselves, dedicate their time and passion to teach art to our children. I gave them everything I had yet feel like I owe them a debt of gratitude.

I don't know about you, but I'll never forget my art teachers. They kept me going. There was one in particular though, Mrs. Masters, who left an indelible mark on me.

That's Debra Yaun in the middle, trying to get everyone together to take a picture at the entrance of the Jacqueline C. Huydgens Center fo the Arts in Duluth, Ga. Debra told me the giant robot used to be the entrance to a toy store in Atlanta. Unfortunately the toy store went out of business so they donated the robot to the gallery. I'm sure it's quite a delight to the children in the area.

By the way, if you want to see more photos from Nationals go to, my new friend, Teresa Mallen's blog and a great, long time friend, Toni James' blog. They have some great ones.

The CIPPY award winner, Jeff George

Here he is, Jeff George, with his winning piece, "Life and Death", this years CIPPY, or BEST of SHOW, award winner. And very well deserved it is. I have to admit, when I saw this piece I could not take my eyes off it...honestly, I fell in love with colored pencil all over again. I took some close ups but believe me, nothing can really show the incredible touch he has. You have to see it in person. It's just so lovely how he applies pencil to paper. I am truly in awe of his ability. And if you didn't know, it took him 385 hours to complete.

Ok so I'm going to blow my own horn a little. How about this placement? Wow! I was stunned when I saw where my piece was hung...and what a coincidence...right next to Holly Bedrosian's. Strange as it may seem, we basically won the same award. Well she won one and I won the other but they were for the same cash amount and they both were called the Award for Outstanding Achievement . And we were right next to each other. Maybe we can hang together next year. Anyway, Congratulations Holly! Your self portrait is lovely.

Awards and Rewards....

Rather than an award I guess you could call this piece a reward. It was done by Helen Bailey, a student of mine. I was so excited to hear Helen's piece had been accepted into Nationals this year. But I always knew she was capable of great things she just needed to test the water. On a side note, Helen entered a cover competition for Horses in Art magazine. Not only did she win the cover, they published an article about her in the Spring 2009 issue. I am so proud of Helen. If you'd like to see more of her work click here: Helen Bailey Art

Elizabeth Patterson with her award winning piece "Sunset at Sweetzer". Elizabeth's award was the equivalent of Second Place. Congratulations Elizabeth! To see more of her work click here: Elizabeth Patterson

And a big Congratulations goes out to Shelia Theodratos for her award winning piece "Self in Progress". She took third place in Nationals this year. The following picture is of Shelia with her award winning piece "Laugh Track". Shelia was the recipient of the CPSA Great Explorations Award for Exceptional Merit in Explore This 5! There's no doubt about it, that's our Shelia.

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Ah, one of my favorite pictures, Vera Curnow apparently describing to her friend Elaine just how John Smoklo does what John Smoklo does.

John Smoklo with his award winning piece, "Chrissy # 2 (34 weeks)"

Tommy Hunt with his award winning piece, "Dawn's Early Light". What? You are right! My piece was also titled "Dawn's Early Light". Funny as it may seem, that was not the original title for either one of us.

Pat Averill's wonderful, and yes, award winning piece, "Surf Suds".

Last but not least, my friend Laurene Puls. This is a self portrait she did after taking my French Gray workshop. She did such a beautiful job, I had to show you. I apologize for the reflections.

The Awards Banquet and before...

Shelley Minnis, Pat Averill, Shelia Theodratos and me. This was taken prior to the Banquet.

The Awards Banquet...

Not quite everyone from Texas. (left to right) Toni Wengler, Steve Gilbert, Shelley Minnis...and the person next to her you should know by now....Cheryl Cox and Yvonne Hyatt. Toni and Cheryl are former students of mine and Yvonne is current. Congratulations go out to Toni who also had a piece accepted in Nationals this year.

Yeah, we are all here...wait a minute, Cheryl is missing...now where'd she run off to? (Back row left to right) Ken Wengler, my husband John, Steve Gilbert and Yvonne Hyatt. Front row, Toni Wengler, me, Patti Gilbert, Shelley Minnis and Lou Hyatt.

Thursday, July 30....Membership Meeting

My photo's may run backwards according to when the events actually happened....it's either that or not posting at all. Just so you'll know, I'm just warming up. I plan to post pictures from the Banquet and from the show. I have to quit for the day but I'll be back. Linda

Before the Membership Meeting, Vera or Kay, can't remember which one, said they didn't know why this was called a meeting since no meeting takes place. Meeting or not, it's one of the most fun events of the Convention. During this time all 600 plus entries are shown and all the products that were donated by the patrons are given away as door prizes. It's also the time of the "Big Give Away" and the time when the Silent Auction ends. If you've never been to one of these they are a lot of fun. Anyone can be a winner and most are.

If you plan to take pictures at this event you'd better do it fast. Melissa Miller Nece keeps things moving. That's Melissa on the left, Gayle Keiko in the middle and Kay Dewar standing on the right. Seated on your right is a very intensely focused Teresa Mallen from Ottawa Canada. Hi Teresa!

After the Membership Meeting everyone was excited and pooped. Some of us got together for conversation and relaxation . That's Kay Schmidt nixing my husband John, saying no more pictures.

Ok, I stole this from Toni's blog. I just liked the picture so much I had to put it on my blog too. Besides you should see all the pictures she posted of me!

DC 215 Chapter Display and others....

Helen Bailey testing the idea. Unfortunately once the pictures were on the stand it fell over.

But John, my hubby, took it apart and put a dowel rod down the center and "voila", it stood upright.

Chapter 104 - Detroit

More Chapter Displays...

Thanks to Gayle Keiko I now know which Chapter the cube represents. As Gayle said, "That 'cube' was put together by our own Jeff George! Lots of pieces from our chapter members. Los Angeles DC 214" Thanks Gayle for letting me know.

DC 114 Raleigh Durham - I do regret I did not get a full picture of this one. It was lovely. Thank you Jan Pope for letting me know which Chapter this display represents.

DC 119 - Greater Cincinnati

DC 117 - St Augustine

DC 113 - Gainsville

What goes on in the Hospitality Suite other than registration and check in...

Old friends get together and pose for pictures...

I've heard trouble comes in threes...I don't know so much about that but I'm open. That's me of course on the left, Shelley Minnis, the Sanford/Prismacolor representative and Toni James.

Shelley is an active member of DC 215, the Dallas/FtWorth Chapter. The lovely pink flower with the green background right above Shelley's head is her contribution to the display.

The table of give away's. You would not believe how much stuff was given away. If I had flown to Atlanta it would have been necessary to ship all the stuff I got. I'll tell you, it looked and felt like Christmas.

Some people start the bidding. In hindsight it might have been better to have taken a picture of the Silent Auction table without the blur....sorry about that!

Shelia Theodorados from Seattle and Pat Averill from Portland.

The Canson Rep, Melissa Miller Nece, Betsy Holster, Ken & Toni Wengler (from the Dallas/FtWorth chapter) and unknown.

National Board Finance Director Cheryl Cox and Shelley Minnis