Ironwood Awards and Show

The Ironwood Gallery Show

About 20,000 years ago in the caves at Lascaux, France, the first artists made pastels by shaping earthen pigment into sticks. Over time, art masters like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo used pastels limited still to earthen shades of white, black, yellow and red. Technology eventually allowed pastels to evolve into the thousands of intense, vibrant colors of today. Famous artists using pastels were Rosalba Carriera, Eugene Delacroix, Degas, Monet, Cassatt and Picasso.

The Tucson artists in this show continue this rich tradition.

Juror/Judge: Lee McVey

Lee is a Master Circle member of International Association of Pastel Societies, a Master Signature member of Plein Air Painters of New Mexico, Distinguished Pastelist of Pastel Society of New Mexico. She has garnered numerous awards and has been published in magazines and books. www.leemcvey.com www.

First Place:

Downstream Bottleneck

Melody Sears

"This painting made an impact on me right away. Excellant handling of the water and aerial perspective. Good feeling of light and color harmony. Well done!"

Lee McVey

Second Place:

A Dry Summer

Fran Odum, PSA, PSWC, PSNM

"This artist is obviously skilled at painting animal fur. Good color. having more than one shade of yellow green in the background was appealing."

Lee McVey

Third Place:

Santa Cruz River

Peggy Marlatt

"This landscape is very abstracted with mostly flat color that works for this painting. Good color harmony. I kept going back to view this one."

Lee McVey

Honorable Mention:

Stings No. 1

Jeanne Conant

"The colors and abstract composition are well done. Good visual impact. I paint representationally, but I was impressed by this abstract."

Lee McVey

Ragged Top at

Ironwood National Monument

Jo Kramer

"This painting is stylized and there seems to be two types of mark making styles. This didn't bother me as the stylized handling of the clouds and mountains was very well done and appealing. The different mark making of the foliage was not intrusive and did not take away from the charm of the style of clouds and mountains."

Lee McVey