Debbi Friedman’s Blog

Myself and Lynda Schumacher with our artwork

 Another CPSA Convention has come and gone and what a great one this was in Dallas.   So many artists who are good friends congregated for this annual event that, despite the 100+ heat, I think it’s safe to say all had an incredible time.  There was a fun member’s meeting with door prizes, a slide show of every piece that was entered into the competition, and a silent auction.  There are workshops, and an awards banquet.  This year I was so honored to receive an Award for Outstanding Achievement for my piece “Counterpoint in Green”, shown above on the left.  This photograph also features good friend Lynda Schumacher, CPSA (MI) and her piece “Canadian Cowgirl”.  In addition to receiving an award, I earned my signature status in the CPSA (given for being juried into three shows within ten years) and Lynda earned her five-year status.

Dianna Soisson with "Beyond All Boundries"

 I’m taking a moment to highlight several, but by no means all!, artist friends who had their work on display in Dallas.  Dianna had an incredibly powerful piece of a leaf floating down a waterfall (above).  Below is Kendra Bidwell-Ferreira’s delicate “Sea Foam”.  For those of you who live in the Boston area, you may have had a chance to see the two person show that Kendra and I had last March at the Wellesley Free Library.

Kendra with "Sea Foam" (top)

California artist and inventor Ester Roi (photo below) received an Award for Exceptional Merit for her piece “Social Network” (top).  Ester is such an inspiration and source of information to so many artists, always looking to break new ground with technique.

Ester Roi with "Social Network"

Perhaps one of the most memorable events was the Cowboy Boot shopping trip that several of us had been talking about since the San Jose convention of 2010.  Suffice it to say that we had a successful outing to Pink’s Cowboy Boot Store in Dallas.  We all left with a new pair of boots that seemed well suited to our personalities – for now! (Left to right, Kendra Bidwell Ferreira/Old Gringos, Dianna Soisson/Old Gringos, Lynda Schumacher/Old Gringos, Moi/Stetsons, Elizabeth Patterson, CPSA (CA) Ferrini’s).

Cowboy boot final choices!

On a final and silly note, here’s a photo of Lynda and me cooling off in the freezer section of Walmarts. . . .with their hilarious ice cream novelty packaging.  Just can’t let us gals go out anywhere without a commotion. . .   Thanks for reading!

Finally here is my latest drawing.  I wanted to have it done before I went to the CPSA convention from July 28th through August 1st in San Jose, CA, but it just didn’t work out timing-wise.  This drawing is about the same size as the other pieces in this series (a. 15 x 21 inches and done on Rtistx board), but it’s exploring some slightly different aspects of the stones in water, glass reflections, and color distortions, with less clear boundries.  I find it challenging not to tighten up all of the edges of transitions, and had to force myself to put the drawing at arm’s length and study it more than I usually do.

I’m starting a new drawing of a bird in a winter setting – a dark-eyed junco perched on a crusty snow-covered tree stump.   I’m in the mood for a change at the moment, and haven’t done a bird drawing in over a year.  It’s amusing to think of drawing a winter scene as we are in the midst of one of the most beautiful, hot and dry summers that New England has seen in recent years.

It’s been a busy summer with lots of travel and several exhibitions including my artwork.  Although my pieces were not juried into the 18th International CPSA Exhibition, I have had work in the following shows and magazines these past few months:

• Academic Artists Association’s 60th National Juried Exhibition,  April-May 2010, recipient of the Windsor Newton Award for Graphics
• Connecticut Academy of Fine Art’s 99th Annual Juried Exhibition, May-July 2010
• Academic Artists Association’s Annual Members Exhibition, July 2010, recipient of the Art Patron Award
• Attleboro Arts Museum’s “Seeing Double”, a National Juried Exhibtion, July-August 2010
• The Artists Magazine, July/August 2010 issue, “The Artist’s Life” Column, Award Winners of the 2010 On-line Media Competition, first place in Graphics for “Amber Bowl”

and these upcoming exhibitions:

• Academic Artists Association’s 60th Anniversary Invitational Exhibition, September-October 2010
• Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, Inc. 114th Annual Juried Exhibition, October 2010

Thanks for following my blog!  – Debbi

I am very excited to have this drawing at it’s completion!  It’s actually been finished since the end of last week, but as usual, I have spent a little time tweaking it here and there to tidy up some edges and colors, etc.  I particularly love the area where the rocks and water line meet and all of the complexities of those interactions.  Now it’s on to trying to come up with a name for this piece.  That’s one of my more challenging tasks.  I usually end up using somewhat mundane sounding titles, basically they help me to know which piece it is, but I find it difficult to convey much more than that in a title.  Any comments or suggestions from other artists out there?

I’m moving on quickly to a new piece, and will write more about that when it’s underway.  Meanwhile, it’s been a busy spring with several shows going on in the New England area.  Lapis Light was just accepted into the Connecticut Academy of Fine Art’s 99th Annual Juried Show, which is up at the Mystic Arts Center (Mystic, CT) from May 28th to July 17th.  More information can be found at either of these websites:  Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts or Mystic Arts Center.

One of my favorite little drawings, Nocturne at Sea, is currently hanging in the Academic Artists Association’s Annual Member’s Exhibition, and was awarded the “Art Patron’s Award”.

Happy upcoming summer to all, and thanks for checking out my blog!

I’ve been working on this new drawing for about four weeks and the background and top of the glass vase are almost done.  It’s a large drawing (about 20 x 15 inches) on Bristol Board, and it’s interesting to switch back to a flat paper surface after working on the textured Rtistx for a couple of pieces.  I have to be very careful to leave the whiter/lighter areas intact, as there’s no going back once they go too dark.  On the sanded surface, you can keep changing the color, adding whites or light tones on top of darks, nothing is a problem.  But on paper that type of option is lost very quickly.  I started the background by layering two to four different shades of Caran D’ache Aquarelle pencil colors and then blending the colors with a wet brush.  Then I started in with Prismacolor pencils, first using Limepeel, then Grass Green, Olive Green, Peacock Green, Black Cherry and some Dark Umber.  Certain lighter places have some Yellow Ochre in them, and most places (except the darkest darks) are burnished with a pale light blue.  I know it’s not the most simplistic approach, but I love the color transparencies that one can achieve by layering this way.

My drawing “Amber Bowl” is currently in the Academic Artist Association’s 60th Annual National Exhibition in Springfield, MA, and was awarded the Windsor-Newton Award.  The big red letter day fast approaching for all of us colored pencil artists is the announcement of the jurying results for this year’s  CPSA International Exhibition, which will be made public on April 26th.

My colored pencil drawing “Amber Bowl” was awarded First Place in the Graphite, charcoal and colored pencil category of the Artists Magazine’s On-Line All Media competition.  I am so honored to receive this recognition for my work, especially as there are so many fine entries for them to judge from.  I spoke with Chris McHugh, the Managing Editor of The Artists Magazine, who told me that there were over 1,800 entries this year.  You can see all of the first place winners and honorable mention award winners at The Artists Magazine.

In spite of my lack of blog entries lately I have been working hard.  I’m planning to post a photograph of my latest drawing, last written about  on February 11th, by next Monday.  So please check back soon!

I am posting a photograph of the finished fish tank drawing “Shhhh”.  I may end up tweaking it a little, but basically it’s done.  It’s an unusual drawing for me, and it took longer than I had anticipated it taking.  I am eager to move on to something new!

I also have news to share, which is that my drawing, “Garden, Late Summer” was juried into the Colored Pencil Society of America’s 17th Annual International Exhibition, which will be taking place from July 9 – August 29, 2009 at the Hudgens Center for the Arts in Duluth, Georgia.  The show was juried by Graham C. Boettcher, who is the William Cary Hulsey Curator of American Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama.  Approximately 125 works were selected for inclusion in the show.  In addition, I will be receiving my “Signature Status” by having had my work juried into three shows within ten years.  Also receiving her signature status will be fellow artist, Lynda Schumacher from Michigan.  More information about the show can be found by going to the CPSA web site, www.cpsa.org.

I have had several pieces juried into national shows recently. Currently I have artwork accepted into:

• Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts 97th Annual Juried Exhibition in Mystic, CT, “Bird’s Nest”
• “Out of The Blue” at the Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro, MA, “Last Year’s Remnants”
• Colored Pencil Society of America’s 16th Annual International Exhibition, Seattle, WA, “Still-life with Broken Wings”

Last night was the opening reception for the Attleboro Arts Museum’s 85th Anniversary celebration show “Out of the Blue”. The museum requested artwork that incorporated the color blue for consideration in this national juried show, as the museum’s logo is a vivid teal blue. Over 800 entries from across the country were submitted, from which juror selected about 120 pieces. It was a fun and vibrant show with a wide range of artistic styles, mediums, sizes, and shades of blue. At right is a photograph of me taken by my piece “Last Year’s Remnants” (at top, over feather piece) at the opening last night.

I am excited to report that my colored pencil drawing “Bird’s Nest” was a semi-finalist in American Artist’s 70th Anniversary Competition. There were nine colored pencil drawings selected as semi-finalists, and three won prizes. Currently my drawing is highlighted on their website, and you can read the article by clicking on the following link:

http://www.myamericanartist.com/2007/10/colored-pencil-.html

The news just went on-line two days ago.

I will have the first working photograph of my new drawing posted tomorrow. Thanks for your continued interest in my artwork.