Derwent's People's Choice Award

Congratulations to Suzy for winning the Derwent People's Choice Award at the recent Keswick exhibition held at the Derwent Pencil Museum. You can see all the award winners at our website.

The Artist and Leisure Painter Butterfly Competition

Many congratulations to Bev Lewis for being selected as a winner in the competition!

You can visit the competition winners here.

Judging Process for the UKCPS Exhibition

For your information - 

Selection is anonymous and made by three independent judges. Our President Pat Heffer who based  the selection process on the original method instigated by our founder Bob Ebdon is most concerned that anyone should  for one minute consider the process to be biased in any way, so we are explaining exactly what happens to your entries once they are received by Liz Ridley, to allay any concerns.

The judges this year are:
Ann Kullberg - US Coloured Pencil Artist
Steve Pill - Editor, Artists & Illustrators Magazine
Paul Bartlett RBA RBSA - Artist and Full Member of the RBSA.

 The full process is as follows:
1. All entries are received by Liz Ridley who checks that the correct entry fee has been paid, the work has not previously been hung in one of our exhibitions and the entry form has been completed correctly.

2. All pictures are given a number. The judges are sent a spreadsheet with all the pictures listed, giving the picture number, title and size, together with a link to a slideshow where they can view all the pictures with, once again, just the number, title and size, no artist’s name being provided. Thus the whole process is totally anonymous and no artist can be favoured by the judging panel.

3. The judges score each picture marks out of 100. The scores are added together so a perfect picture would score 300. A decision would have already been made by the executive as to how many pictures can be hung at each gallery so the applicable number with the highest score will be selected for exhibition. For example, this year we received approx. 240 pictures for judging and we will be hanging about 80 pictures (dependent on how many are above the cut off score –( it may be 78 or 79) so about a third will be successful.

4. The successful pictures are then linked back to the artists who will be told of the result.

Most societies have only one judge to select the successful pictures and this can therefore give a rather biased result, but using three judges has been shown to give a much more varied exhibition, although it entails a lot more work for the executive member dealing with the entries.
We hope that this explanation has now satisfied our members that the selection process for our Open International Exhibitions is totally fair and unbiased.

Liz Ridley, Treasurer and Exhibition Assistant
Pat Heffer, President

Visitors Choice at Nuneaton

The most popular picture chosen by the visitors to this year's  UKCPS Open Exhibition at Nuneaton Art Gallery (it closed on 25th November) was this beautifully detailed drawing entitled "The Red Lion", by Berkshire artist, Morryce Maddams. Well done, Morryce!

 

Brian Ainsworth - Exeter Living Magazine

'Exeter Living' magazine features a very nice article about Devon artist (and UKCPS member), Brian Ainsworth, which includes photographs of some of his highly detailed wildlife portraits.
Brian was justifiably awarded the Faber-Castell prize, plus a 'Highly Commended' at the 2011 UKCPS Open Exhibition in London last year for two of his drawings.
You can view the magazine article via: http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1r6ti/ExeterLivingNo102/resources/34.htm

2011 Open Exhibition - sponsors

Those of you who are awaiting anxiously to find out if you're entries for the Open Exhibition have been successful (and you don't have long to wait - honest!), may be pleased to know that, if you are successful, then there are some fabulous awards on offer for good art.  Amongst the many organisations and individuals sponsoring awards are:  [IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER OF VALUE]

Faber-Castell: Best Picture
UKCPS: Best picture runner-up, and People's Choice
Peter Weatherill: Landscape award
Ann Massey: Excellence in Drawing
Exaclair Ltd:  10 Highly Commended awards
Jacksons Art Supplies: vouchers
Colorfin LLC: 10 Highly Commended awards
St Cuthberts Mill: Paper Pack for mixed media
SAA: art materials
Creativity International Ltd: mixed media award
Staedtler Pencils: cash award
Derwent Pencils: cash award
Lyra: Box of Rembrandt pencils for pure CP
Tim Fisher: Fisher 400 paper
R K Burt: Fabriano pads
Caran D'ache: Prismalo water soluble pencils

The UKCPS is extremely grateful to these sponsors and we hope that society members and readers of this blog will support them in return with their custom.

Victoria Parsons - Award winner

Congratulations to UKCPS member, Victoria Parsons, who has been awarded a Gold Citation by the Wildlife Art Society International (TWASI) at their Annual Exhibition held at Nature in Art, Twiggworth, in Gloucetershire.
The Award was presented by international wildlife artist, Polyanna Pickering, and was for the best artwork showing "Behavior typical of the species". The image was of two wolves sparring, and was worked in a range of coloured pencils on Pastelmat. The title of the work was: "Leader of the Pack"

Pauline Longley - SAA Finalist

Congratulations to Pauline Longley, who, on her first attempt to enter the SAA Artist of the Year Competition, has got into the top 62 (out 6000 entries!) and was awarded Commended Finalist for her Zebra picture 'Itchy Feet'.
Naturally, Pauline says she is 'pretty chuffed' to get a CP picture into a London exhibtion. The picture (along with all the other finalists) can be seen at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London, from 21st to 23rd July.

Bernard Aime Poulin - Awarded

Bernard Poulin, the noted Canadian artist and long time friend and supporter of UKCPS, has been granted international recognition by the award of the "Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Pleiade" (translated as: Knight of the Pleiade) from 21 March 2011, and in recognition of his remarkable contribution to Canada's cultural reputation.

The Order of the Pleiade was established in 1976 by the 'Parliamentary Assembly of Francophonie', an institution representing over 40 French-speaking countries and regions throughout the world. The award is made for prominant contributions to the Assembly's ideals of development, co-operation, and friendship.

Bernard, amongst other things, is a wonderful portrait artist, and I recommend a visit to his website; www.poulinstudios.com

Alan

9th Annual Open International Exhibition: Other Prizewinners

The other prizes and prizewinners at the 9th Annual Open International Show at the are as follows:

UKCPS Runner Up - Sue Clinker UKCPS

Daydreaming Tiger by Sue Clinker UKCPS

"I photographed this tiger at the Wildlife Heritage Trust in Kent – he was propped up in the corner staring into space for nearly ten minutes. I love his ‘Uncle Albert’ beard".

President's Award - Kate Clarke UKCPS

Challenging Stereotypes - a triptych by Kate Clarke UKCPS

Staedtler Award - Irina Garmashova-Cawton

Strawberries by Irina Garmashova-Cawton

Derwent Award - Peter Woof UKCPS

Japanese Still Life by Peter Woof UKCPS

Faber Castell Award - Brian Ainsworth

Ross by Brian Ainsworth

Lyra Award - Janie Pirie (Mrs Thorogood)

Plum and Blossom 'Majories Seedling' by Janie Pirie

Ann Swan Award - Janie Pirie (Mrs Thorogood)

Pear 'Conference' by Janie Pirie

Peter Weatherill Award - Jean Canter UKCPS

Surrey Spring Elstead Moat Pond by Jean Canter UKCPS

You can see work by award winners and other selected artists at the Stamford Arts Centre, 27 St. Marys Street, Stamford, PE9 2DL between now and Friday 1st October (Monday to Saturday 9am to 9pm)

Beverley Courtney wins People's Vote at Keswick

 Jake by Beverley Courtney

Pencils: Prismacolor, Paper: Stonehenge; 15 x 20cm

The 8th 'A World of Coloured Pencil' Mixed Media Competition 2010 closed on Sunday and the number of votes cast by visitors for each artist were counted.

The winner of the People's Vote is Jake by Beverley Courtney.

Beverley wins a prize donated by Derwent which comprises the following items:

• a wooden presentation case of 48 Inktense pencils, 
• hardback Derwent sketckbook, 
• History of Pencil Making Booklet and 
• a Museum notebook and pen.

UKCPS Annual exhibition 2009 - Award Winners

The artists and works winning Awards were formally announced at the Private View for UKCPS's 8th Annual Open International Exhibition 2009 in Birmingham yesterday. You can find images and details of the work below.

Please remember that the copyright to each image belongs to the artist and they should not be downloaded without written permission.

Special mention must be made of Kate Clarke and Janie Pirie who respectively won the Best in Show and Reserve Best in Show. They each also won a second Award.

Links are to members galleries on the UKCPS website or their own websites.

Derwent Award for Best in Show (£400)
UKCPS Annual Open International Exhibition 2009
Old -Timers, One, Two, Free! by Kate Clarke
3x(39x26) cm, coloured pencils (£845)

UKCPS Award for Reserve Best in Show (£300.00)
Beetroot 'Bolthardy' by Janie Pirie
64 x 48cm, coloured pencils (£930)

The Presidents Award (£100)

Scarlet Macaws by Jonathan Newey UKCPS
42 x 85cm, coloured pencils (£1,300)

The Peter Weatherill Award for Best Landscape (£100)
Wistman's Wood Revisited (£2,000) by John Hurford
51 x 63cm, coloured pencils

The Staedtler Award
Challenging Stereotypes - the model family by Kate Clarke
60x 28cm, coloured pencils, (NFS)

The Faber-Castell Award (Wooden box of 120 Polychromos)
Dew on blue Poppies by Janie Pirie
55 x 39cm, coloured pencils (£860)

The Lyra Award (wooden box of rembrandt Professional pencils)
Driver of the Great Marquess by Neil Houghton
30.5 x 46cm, coloured pencils (£1,196)

The Jakar/Caran d'Ache Award (tin of 38 Luminance pencils)
Cherries by Peter Woof UKCPS
15 x 38cm, coloured pencils (£900)

The Great Art Award (cheque or art supplies)
The Full Monty by Suzy Herbert UKCPS
20 x 24cm, coloured pencils (£235)

Peoples Vote: This will be awarded after the exhibition closes on 3rd October. This award is based on the number of votes each work receives from people visiting the exhibition.

Sponsors and judges

UKCPS very much appreciates the support it has received from:

• Derwent, the Comberland Pencil Company who have sponsored both this year's Annual Exhibition and the Best in Show Award. Derwent is the brand name of the Cumberland Pencil Company. They have been making pencils since 1832 and manufacture Derwent Artists, Coloursoft and other coloured pencils.
• this year's jurors who selected the works to be exhibited in the show - Vera Curnow CPSA (Founder of the Colored Pencil Society of America, author, editor and gallery owner), Paul Hipkiss RBSA Curator of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists and Emma Cross, Marketing and Sales Co-ordinator, the Cumberland Pencil Company (Derwent) the sponsors for this year's exhibition

All the Award winners were selected by Paul Hipkiss the Curator of the RBSA, apart from the President's Award and the Peter Weatherill Landscape award which were both judged by the UKCPS President Ann Massey.

Exhibition details

You can visit the exhibition at Gallery Two at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, 4 Brook Street, Birmingham B3 1SA. The exhibition is open from today, Monday 21st September and closes on Saturday 3rd October. The gallery is open 10.30am to 5.30pm (Monday to Friday) and 10.30am to 5.00pm on Saturdays and 1.00pm to 5.00pm on Sundays. Admission is free.

For further details see this post UKCPS - 8th Annual Open International Exhibition 2009. Details of the location, parking and how to get there are available in this post.

Works for sale

All works are for sale unless otherwise indicated. Shipping and associated insurance costs are not included in the purchase price and are the responsibility of the purchaser.

All sales of work in the exhibition are managed by the RBSA Gallery. All enquiries about purchasing without visiting the Gallery must be directed to the RBSA Gallery. If you have any other enquiries please contact Pat Heffer, the Exhibition Director (right click to open the email address in your email application).

Demonstrations

UKCPS members demonstrating coloured pencils at the exhibition include:

• 22nd September - Peter Weatherill UKCPS
  
• 25th and 26th September - Rachel Stirling
• 2nd October - Rachel Stirling and Pauline Longley
  

...and there's more to follow

This week I'm highlighting different groups of people in the entries over the next few days:

• Tuesday: Highly Commended entries to the exhibition
  
• Wednesday: UKCPS Members awarded signature status as a result of their acceptance into this year's exhibition
• Thursday: Thanks to all the people who helped to create this exhibition.

You can also see the List of Works and Artists selected for the exhibition in Artists selected for the 8th Annual UKCPS International Open Exhibition

On Saturday 26th September, the UKCPS website will have a new page displaying all the works in the exhibition. I'll provide a link in this post once the new page has been published.

Julie Douglas wins CPSA award

Jeff George has won the Best in Show at the CPSA 17th International exhibition for the second time - and two years running! His work Life and Death is in an unusual panoramic format ( 8.5” x 32”) but that's not its only surprise which I won't spoil by revealing on this blog. I'll just suggest you look very carefully as it's very difficult to see in the size posted on the exhibition gallery site. You'll get a better view of it on his website.

Interestingly I happen to know that this work got rejected last year - but only because only one work from each member can be successful in going forward to the final exhibition. Which means in 2007 he entered two works both of which have been judged best in show in successive years.

Click this link to see all the works which won awards at the exhibition

Top award for UKCPS member

UKCPS Member Julie Douglas won $1,000 and one of the top awards - the Staedtler Award for Exceptional Merit - for Boy on a Swing.

Boy on a Swing
Julie Douglas (Ireland)
coloured pencils 15.7 x 10.2"
copyright the artist

You can see a bigger version of her work on her website - click the image to see the big version.

Julie studied graphic design and illustration and worked for 12 years as a successful illustrator working with top advertising agencies and design groups. She has also illustrated books for publishers such as Penguin, MacMillan, Mitchell Beazley etc. She now teaches art in Ireland.

Prior to this award she has also won the Association of Illustrators Award on two occasions and her work on an American Express brochure won a New York Advertising award.

You can read more about Julie on her UKCPS gallery page - but I'll be asking her to reveal more in an interview for this blog in the near future.

World of Coloured Pencils 2009 - Other Award Winners

Following on from Monday's post - Keswick - exhibition opens and awards announced - which featured the Best in Show Award, this post has images by the other artists winning awards at the 2009 Annual 'World of Coloured Pencils' Exhibition at The Cumberland Pencil Museum in Keswick.

The artwork is judged by Derwent staff as Derwent is our host for this exhibition, led on this occasion by Kath Thompson, the Assistant Manager of the Museum.

The UKCPS Award for ‘Reserve Best in Show’
£150

‘Neigh-bours’ £180.00
Pauline Longley
Pencils: Faber Castell / Paper: Fisher 400 sanded paper

This picture of the horses was inspired by a photo taken last summer. I imagined their breath on a cold winter’s morning to give some atmosphere.

You can see more of Pauline's art on her website www.paulinelongley.co.uk

UKCPS Award for Runner Up
£50

Angels Trumpets £650.00
Janie Pirie SBA UKCPS
Pencils: Derwent Artists / Paper: Fabriano Artistico HP

A festoon of huge Datura blossoms, commonly know as Angels Trumpets. I saw these growing in a large container in a town in the Loire valley whilst on a wine tasting expedition. I was blown away by their size and beauty so just had to draw them. Fortunately I had my pencils with me and hadn’t been wine tasting that day!

You can see more of Janie's art on her website www.janiepirie.co.uk

The Leisure Painter Magazine Award for the Best Newcomer's Entry
(2 years subscription to the magazine)

The Floral Shawl £300.00
Ursula Williams
Pencils: Derwent Artists / Paper: Cotman Watercolour paper 300gsm

A nude lady subtly covered with a floral shawl. I chose this composition because of the beauty found in each of the three subjects: the human body, the flowers, and the source of light. I painted them with coloured pencils but the fabric of the shawl is painted with black and white gouache and retouched with coloured pencils in certain areas.

You can see more of Ursula's art on her website http://ursulawilliams.spaces.live.com

Highly Commended
UKCPS certificate and 10 sheets drawing paper

Murano Island, Venice (NFS)
Linda Brand
Pencils: Caran D’Ache Supracolor (w/c) / Paper: Daler Rowney cartridge

I chose this subject as it holds a special place in my heart - I got engaged there.

You can see more of Linda's art on her website www.lbpencil-artist.co.uk

Ducks £300.00
Judith Heilbronn-Crown
Pencils: Derwent Watercolour / Paper: Arches Aquarelle

A few years ago when I was walking by a canal, we came across a row of 11 ducks. They looked so attractive I took a photo of them … this is adapted from part of the photo.

You can see more of Judith's art on her website www.judithheilbronncrownartist.mosaicglobe.com

Tomorrow we see photographs of the exhibition and the hardworking volunteers who helped to organise and hang the show and offer some thanks to all those people who have contributed to the creation of this exhibition.

The exhibition can be seen at The Cumberland Pencil Museum in Keswick until 27th June 2009.

You can also see an online exhibition of all the accepted entries to this exhibition on the UKCPS website.

Links:

• Keswick - exhibition opens and awards announced
• 7th 'A World of Coloured Pencil' Mixed Media Competition 2009 - 31st May - 27th June 2009 - Venue: The Cumberland Pencil Museum, Keswick, CA12 5NG
• UKCPS Website - online exhibition
  

Keswick - exhibition opens and awards announced

Derwent Award for Best in Show - Windswept by Sue Clinker
38 x 43cm, Derwent Coloursoft and Prismacolor on Drafting film
copyright the artist

The 7th Annual 'World of Coloured Pencil' Mixed Media Exhibition 2009, sponsored by Derwent Pencils and Leisure Painter, opened yesterday at the Pencil Museum in Keswick and continues until 27th June.

This exhibition is open to all UKCPS members irrespective of experience and entries are accepted on a first come first served basis. The exhibition comprises the first 24 entries sent in after the opening date for entries. Work can be in mixed media but coloured pencil must be the main medium. The awards were announced yesterday and are listed below.

The Derwent Award for Best in Show was awarded to Windswept by Sue Clinker who lives in Whitstable.

This was based on a puppy I photographed on a windy day by the sea at Tankerton Slopes. I loved the way his coat was “fluffed up"

Sue won the Reserve Best in Show last year despite being a relative newcomer to coloured pencils. On hearing she'd won the top prize this year Sue wanted to say how grateful she was for all the help and encouragement she has received from the UKCPS and its members. Sue is now a full time artist who largely works on commission. Last night she took a break from her commissions for family celebrations on hearing the good news!

The Best in Show Award - sponsored by Derwent Pencils - comprises:

• 72 set new Derwent Watercolour pencils – in wooden box.
• Portable Artists Pencil Stand
• Coloursoft Table Easel Set, incl. 24 Coloursoft pencils, hard cover sketchbook, blender and sharpener,
• Hard back Sketchbook Journal
• Tin of Soft Sketching pencils
• Pencil Wrap, Battery Eraser, Pencil Sharpener and Burnisher & Blender set

Other Awards were as follows:

• The UKCPS Award for ‘Reserve Best in Show’ (£150): Neigh-bours by Pauline Longley
• UKCPS Award for Runner Up (£50) Angels Trumpets by Janie Pirie SBA, UKCPS

• The Leisure Painter Magazine Award (2 years subscription to the magazine) awarded to the ‘Best Newcomer’ entry - The Floral Shawl by Ursula Williams .

Two further entries were Highly Commended and the artists will receive a UKCPS certificate and 10 sheets drawing paper. These were

• Ducks by Judith Heilbronn Crown
• Murano Island, Venice by Linda Brand

The Peoples’ Choice Award will be decided by public vote over the course of the exhibition and will be announced at the end of the exhibition - and on this blog.

An online exhibition of all the entries is now on the UKCPS website.

I'll also be highlighting images of the other award winners on this blog later this week.

Links:

• 7th Annual 'World of Coloured Pencil' Mixed Media Competition 2009 - 31st May - 27th June 2009 - Venue: The Cumberland Pencil Museum, Keswick, CA12 5NG
• UKCPS Website - online exhibition coming soon
  

CPSA Explore This! 5 Online Exhibition

The CPSA Explore This! 5 Exhibition and catalogue are now both online and available to view.

CPSA changed arrangements this year so that the exhibition is only online. This means that the exhibition will now run online all year until January 31 2010. It also means that the Society does not have the expense of an additional exhibition space to fund and the exhibitors do not have to fund the cost of carriage of framed art to and from the exhibition.

There are a number of pages on the CPSA website which relate to the The Explore This! exhibition. The navigation menu runs along the very bottom of the page on most pages. These are:

• The Explore This! 5 Exhibition Title/entry page
• The actual exhibition
• Details of the various awards and Award winners
• An exhibition catalogue of all the works in the list of artists. This provides details about the dimensions, the media and support used and the price of the work.
  
• More information About the exhibition
• and information About the Juror - Gwen Chanzit

There are some innovations in presentation of the exhibition online which are worth noting.

• Each award winner now gets a mini profile and a link to their website. It's very nice to be able to put a face to a name, learn a bit more about the artist and to able to see more of their work.
• The online catalogue is really great for anybody viewing online. Information about dimensions is particularly valuable as a digital image can so easily misrepresent size and this information has not previously been provided.
  
• People wishing to purchase an artwork can contact the artist via the Exhibition Director. This means that all exhibitors have an opportunity to exhibit their work on a very reputable website and sell their art online for the next year.
  

Patsy Lindamood UKCPS in PaintAmerica Top100

Tern Talk by Patsy Lindamood
18 x 24 color pencil & water color pencil
with water soluble wax pastel (Caran d’Ache Neocolor II) on Ampersand Pastelbord
copyright Patsy Lindamood

A coloured pencil work "Tern Talk" by Patsy Lindamood PSA, UKCPS, AFC has been selected as one of the Top100 winners in the 2008 PaintAmerica competition. This is is an annual juried competition and exhibition designed to illustrate American life. Her work will now be seen as part on an annual on-line (to be posted soon) and touring exhibition during 2009.

You can see images of the exhibition prizewinners in PaintAmerica Annnounces 2008 Top100 Winners! on the PaintAmerica blog

Patsy lives in Gainesville Florida and is one of UKCPS's American members. She became a signature member last year when she had her work exhibited at the Annual International UKCPS exhibition for the third time in three years. Prior to this she won the Faber Castell Award in 2007 for Wood Stork Watch.

For those who like the details “Tern Talk” is an 18 x 24 color pencil & water color pencil with water soluble wax pastel (Caran d’Ache Neocolor II) on Ampersand Pastelbord. "Tern Talk" was also accepted into the 16th Annual Colored Pencil Society of America International Exhibition held in Seattle, WA, July 2 - September 29, 2008.

You can see more of Patsy's artwork on her website Wild Things Artwork. On her home page she has a number of pieces where she talks about where and how she got her reference photographs and comments on her observations about the animals or birds that she photographed. This is what she had to say about Tern Talk.....

"Tern Talk" is based on a group of terns I photographed extensively at the beach at Sebastian Inlet, FL, over the Thanksgiving holiday 2007. I lay on the beach for some half an hour watching these birds interact with other. A select few of these birds engaged in a kind of squawking behavior, always directed at one individual bird. For me, it looked like "she" was giving "him" a piece of her mind, saying "if you would only. . . and if you had just . . ." while he just gazed out over the ocean as if he didn't hear a word of it!

A second piece by Patsy, “Glacier Blues” (pastel), was also accepted into the competition.

Glacier Blues by Patsy Lindamood

UKCPS members interested in this competition will want to note that artists from anywhere in the world may enter, but that their paintings must depict any of the 50 states.

Entries should also be representative art that depicts the beauty and grandeur of American nature, landscape, seascape, cityscape, etc. Paintings may also represent lifestyle scenes from America.

Note:
UKCPS members whose coloured pencil artwork is accepted into national art competitions or other significant art competitions/exhibitions are invited to contact the UKCPS Blogmaster and/or the Talking Point Editor with details of their news plus a file copy of the relevant image. See the side column for contact details.

Carol Bramley UKCPS wins the People's Vote

The UKCPS Annual Exhibition closed on Tuesday. The final prize to be awarded for this year's Exhibition is the People's Vote. This is awarded on the basis of the public votes cast in the exhibition. 228 people in total voted for which picture they liked the best and 54 of the 63 pictures received at least one vote.

Congratulations to the artists whose artwork achieved the top ten. The names of the artists, the title of the picture and the number of votes they received are as follows:

1. Carol Bramley UKCPS, 'Black Watch', 22 votes
2. Alastair Howie, 'Victoria Street Edinburgh', 17 votes

Victoria Street, Edinburgh by Alastair Howie
18cm x 34cm, prismacolor on Arches, NFS

3. Peter Hoehsl, 'Facing the Enemy', 15 votes
4. Richard Childs UKCPS, 'Out to Grass', 14 votes
5. Felicity Grace, 'Paul', 10 votes
6. Nicole Caulfield, 'Rob', 9 votes
7. Pauline Longley, 'Floss', 8 votes
8. Kate Clarke, 'Me me, You me'; Margaret Edwards, 'Watching and Waiting' and Bev Lewis UKCPS, 'Bad Hair Day' - all received 7 votes

Please note that the images in this post are all those works in the top ten which haven't been previously featured on this blog in either

• UKCPS Annual Exhibition 2008 - Award Winners or
  
• UKCPS Annual Exhibition 2008 - Highly Commended.

Pat Heffer, Honorary Secretary of UKCPS and the Exhibition Director commented about each of the popular pictures as follows

Carol Bramley was the only artist to achieve full marks from all 3 of our entry judges and also won the first prize so it was very appropriate that she should also receive the public vote award.

Poor Alastair Howie forgot to take his pictures to the gallery at the correct time, missing out on the main judging so I was especially pleased to see that he came second in the Public vote.

The eyes in Peter Hoehsol's picture 'Facing the enemy' followed you round the gallery...it should have been called the 'Mona Lisa Cat'!...and the way in which he had drawn the fur was amazing.

Richard Childs won Ann Kulberg's on-line competition, 'From my Perspective' with 'Out to Grass' so it is very appropriate that the public put him high in the list.

Paul by Felicity Grace, 30cm x 42cm, Cretacolor Aqua Monoliths on Cartridge NFS

Felicity Grace came to the Private view all the way from Geneva, where she lives. It was lovely to be able to meet her and her brother Paul who is the subject of her picture.

Rob by Nicole Caulfield, 28cm x 34cm, Faber Castell Polychromos on Fisher 400, NFS

Nicole Caulfield's picture 'Rob' was a UK commission and a truly beautiful portrait; I was delighted that the public thought so too.

Pauline Longley's 'Floss' just made you laugh! The title is so appropriate too! A brilliant picture!

Kate Clarke's 'Me me, You me' is a fantastic concept; do have a look at it if you have not done so already. She also entered 'The Art of Communication' which once again caused a lot of dialogue at the exhibition because it conveyed so much meaning. Where does she get her ideas from?

Margaret Edwards picture 'Watching and Waiting' was sold at the very last minute! A lady walked in just as we were packing everything up, spotted Margaret's picture, asked us not to wrap it for 10 minutes, came back in again and promptly bought it! Mind you I am not at all surprised as it is a most beautiful study of a cat 'waiting.'

Bev Lewis' 'Bad Hair day' is of course fantastic...a picture I would love to hang on my wall, but unfortunately it was NFS

Prizes for Peter Woof UKCPS and Suzy Herbert UKCPS

Kew Waterlilies 1 by Peter Woof

Congratulations to UKCPS Signature Members Peter Woof and Suzy Herbert who both received highly commended awards for their work which was juried into the 87th Annual Open Exhibition of the Society of Graphical Fine Art

• The Award for a Highly Commended Drawing (Sponsored by Stabilo) Kew Waterlilies 1 by Peter Woof
• The Award for a Highly Commended Work in Monochrome (Sponsored by STABILO) - The Generation Gap by Suzy Herbert.
  

The exhibition was held at the Menier Gallery between 30th September and 11th October.

Frank Kiely, the prize-winning fine art printmaker and a Council Member of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers was invited by the SGFA to award the prizes. I was talking to Frank last week and he told me how it took him three hours to decide how to allocate the various awards as the standard of work was so high. You can see Peter and Suzy's work, along with that of the other award winners by scrolling down the page on the home page of the SGFA website

Readers of this blog will recall that both Peter and Suzy also won prizes at this year's UKCPS Annual Exhibition as well (see UKCPS Annual Exhibition 2008 - Award Winners). This exhibition finishes next Tuesday and if you've not seen it yet you can find details of how to visit in 7th Annual Open International Exhibition 2008 and AGM.

If you are a UKCPS member, do please let me know if you've won a prize for your art or received a commendation in a juried exhibition with another art society.

UKCPS Annual Exhibition 2008 - Highly Commended

Today, UKCPS News features those artists whose work has been awarded a Highly Commended Certificate in UKCPS's 7th Annual Open International Exhibition 2008.

They are listed in alphabetical order below. Links are to UKCPS members' galleries (where applicable) or the artist's website.

Please remember that the copyright to each image belongs to the artist and they should not be downloaded without written permission.

Richard Childs 'Journey's End' and 'Out to Grass'

Margaret Edwards 'Bertie's daydream' (left)
Pamela Green 'Grandma's Garden' (right)



Alastair Howie 'Calle Mercaderes, Cuba' (left)
Roger Lewis 'Fascination' (right)



Pauline Longley 'Floss' (left)
Jonathan Newey 'Scruffy' (right)



Elizabeth Riordon 'Sunrise Amaryllis' (left)
Peter Woof 'Red Cloth' (right)

Each artist will be receiving a pack of 20 mixed sheets of Rising Stonehenge paper from Legion Paper plus a pad of Stonehenge paper.

All the works on display in the exhibition can now be seen on the 2008 Annual Exhibition page on the website. These provide more details about each work and, if you click the image, you can see a larger image of the work.

Tomorrow, the blog will be featuring those UKCPS members who have achieved signature status or a change in their signature status.

Links:

• 7th Annual Open International Exhibition 2008 and AGM
• UKCPS Annual Exhibition 2008 - Award Winners