Barbara A. Lewis - Artist/Naturalist

I received notice that one of my pastels, "One Last Look" has been accepted into "Possibilities in Pastel V" an invitational juried exhibition of the Pastel Societies of the Southeastern States to be held at the Dunedin Fine Arts Center May 13 through June 26. This is the first time that I have entered any work into a juried show and I am thrilled to be part of such a wonderful show and among such outstanding pastelists! The show was juried/judged by Doug Dawson - an award-winning master pastelist who will be holding a 3-day workshop hosted by the Pastel Society of Tampa Bay in conjunction with the show.  

Pastels has always been one of my favorite mediums to work in - I love exploring all the various types, and recently at the Pastel Society of Tampa Bay’s March meeting was introduced to Karl Kelly, president of Mount Vision Pastels. He presented a wonderful demo on how his pastels are made and brought numerous colors for us to examine and purchase. His pastels have a wonderful consistency, nice buttery feel and with his range of 350 colors - plenty to choose from. For more info on Mount Vision Pastels please check out his website; www.mountvisionpastels.com.

I attended my first watercolor class yesterday at Pinellas Park Art Society, taught by Richard Jansen - the president of PPAS and an outstanding watercolor artist - www.jansenwatercolors.com. Watercolor is one of those mediums that I have always had a love/hate relationship with, so I am looking forward to learning how to make peace with it. Richard is teaching us the basics of watercolor, and brought samples of his work to show us along with various materials that he uses and recommends - paper, paints, palettes, etc. I can already tell that this class is going to be fun and exciting - and hopefully I will be adding watercolor to my list of favorite media when I complete it!

One of my goals this year was to take part in more workshops and classes, so I am off to a great start, and I am very fortunate to have so many opportunities in the Tampa Bay area. We have some of the best artists/instructors in the area, and several outstanding art societies/organizations to participate in. I am looking forward to learning more and exploring more!