SOLD...to Cape Coral, FL

Painted Desert, 12x12" pastel

I'm pleased to announce that these two pastels are going to a private collector in Cape Coral, Florida.

Painted Desert, shown above, was taken from a road trip on the way to the Grand Canyon a few years ago, in a terrain that is actually referred to as the "painted desert". You can see why...the dappled turquoise sky shines like a jewel and the ground is blanketed in stripes of pink, purple, yellow, coral and lime green. Jumping out of the car frequently, I took tons of photos and painted this one at a later date. It's one of my favorite memories as nature was really showing off that day!

If you want to see some of the photos I took from that road trip, refer to my blog, here.

Ring 'Round the Rosey, 12x12" pastel

Ring 'Round the Rosey was awarded Second Place in Landscape at the Austin Pastel Society 2011 Member Show. It was quite an honor for me since so many terrific artists entered paintings in that category. The reference for this piece was originally shot on my iPhone during rush-hour traffic off of North Mopac Expressway where I have spent the last 20 years here in Austin...quite literally just off the highway! Of course I manipulated the colors in Photoshop, since we don't regularly have quite this amount of pink in the skies...unless it's out by Lake Travis where I have seen some skies like this.

As a side note, I also used this reference in a "paint around" with 4 other artists. I started and finished the piece while the other 4 took turns painting on this one, and each others. The finished piece was auctioned off for a worthy cause. To see how the other painting turned out, see my blog, here.

Paint-Around Benefits Bastrop Fire Victims

Ring 'Round the Rosey II, 12x12" pastel by S'zanne & Friends

The above painting was started and finished by me, and also painted on by Carolyn, Richard, Linda and Donna. (To see the original painting this was based on, click here.)
.............................................

Tonight, Austin Pastel Society members gathered at Tres Amigos, the first of this season's monthly meetings, to watch a "paint-around" between five artists. Pastelists who placed in last spring's annual juried member show were invited to reproduce their award-winning artwork in the paint-around. Participants were local artists and APS members Richard Banh, Donna Crosy, Carolyn Kilday, Linda Wells, and myself, S'zanne Reynolds.

A "paint-around" is a painting demonstration where the artists have ten minutes to work simultaneously on his or her own painting, before passing their painting to the artist on their right. Then each has another ten minutes to paint on someone else's artwork before again passing the art to the right. The process is repeated until your own piece comes back to you in which you have the last ten minutes to put on the finishing touches.

So, we ended up having five wonderful paintings that had five different interpretations of the same artwork. It was so much fun to see how each turned out!

The best part of the evening was the post-production silent auction. APS members and guests eagerly bid on all five paintings. A hundred percent of the proceeds of the painting sales are going to help the Bastrop fire victims, as one of our dear members, and many of our friends lost everything to the Central Texas wildfires.

I found this experience to be a great reminder of how truly unique each of us really is...how we each have our own vision that must be expressed.
The process made me cherish our individuality all the more, and value the great possibilities we can create when we come together on behalf of our communities. The world can never have too many artists, visionaries or dreamers!

God bless.

Art Reception: Sunday, March 27, 3-5 p.m.

"Variations No. 1", 10x10" pastel

Now showing in...
AUSTIN PASTEL SOCIETY'S
Annual Juried Member Exhibition
March 7- April 30, 2011

You're invited to the:
RECEPTION & AWARDS CEREMONY
Sunday, March 27 from 3 - 5:00 p.m.
Chase Bank Building, Cooridor of Art
700 Lavaca St. - Austin, TX
Parking at 8th/Guadalupe in Chase Garage


"Ring 'Round the Rosy", 12x12" pastel

Love What You Are Painting

Variation No. 1 © 2010 by S'zanne Reynolds
10x10" pastel



Ring 'Round the Rosy © 2010 by S'zanne Reynolds
12x12" pastel

Two of my pastels, Variation No. 1 and Ring 'Round the Rosy, have been accepted into the Austin Pastel Society's Annual Juried Member Exhibition. Juror, Liz Haywood-Sullivan, PSA.

Showing March 7- April 30, 2011
Reception and Awards Ceremony: Sunday, March 27 from 3 - 5:00 p.m.
At the Corridor of Art - 700 Lavaca, Austin, TX 78701

Give your love to whatever you are doing, and your own special art will come to life. ~ Ralph Marston

To see the rest of Ralph's article on "Your Inner Artist' click here to visit Greatday.com.

Winner of Annual Juried APS Merit Award

Cumulous Billows

10" x 8" (25.4cm x 20.4cm)
Pastel on Sanded Board
SOLD

WINNER OF THE AUSTIN PASTEL SOCIETY MERIT AWARD. I developed this painting partially from a photo reference of a cloud and partly from memories of the lava red shores in Hana, Maui.