Jeri Greenberg, “Teetering”
2024 ‘Luminosity’
Juried Virtual Open Exhibition, Second Place
Exhibitions
Southeastern Pastel Society's 2024 Fall 'Luminosity' Juried Virtual International Exhibition
November 9th – December 21, 2024
The SPS Juried Virtual International Open Exhibition titled “Luminosity” again demonstrates to the art community just how luminous, vibrant, and versatile this medium behaves on varied surfaces. Viewers were invited to watch the Zoom awards ceremony held Nov. 9 at 3 PM EST. We are thrilled that 216 artists residing in 24 States and in 14 countries submitted 634 artworks. Artists entered only works they had completed in the last two years. The paintings could not have been displayed in any of our prior exhibitions.
It was not an easy choice for Juror of Selection and Awards, Corey Pitkin, a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America, to narrow down to 150 submissions.
As SPS contains artists at many levels of proficiency, we are on our third year of implementing two categories:
Master Division and Member of Excellence/Member Division. Our Master Division allows the individual to add SPSMP to their signature. The designation indicates the artist has won awards in three of our SPS shows.
Our organization has been showcasing the pastel medium for 37 years. We are grateful for our Sponsors who have supported SPS. We’d like to thank Austin Hamby at ShowSubmit for providing a user friendly exhibition website as well as working fluidly with the artists and submissions chair. Also, thanks so much to the volunteers at SPS who give their time to produce an exciting art exhibition.
We awarded over $4,300 in cash awards and gift prizes to 21 artists.
Juror's Comments
A predominantly self-taught artist, Pitkin’s award-winning work has been featured in The Pastel Journal, Art Renewal Center, Portrait Society of America, Pratique des Arts Magazine, and International Artist Magazine, and is held in collections across the world. He is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America and has achieved Master Circle status with the International Association of Pastel Societies. Pitkin teaches frequently online and regularly travels for in-person workshops. He currently resides in New York’s Capital District with his wife Esther and children Anastasia and Xavier.
Best in Show Award, Andrew McDermott, Busy Crosswalk
I was struck by the composition of this piece before I even knew what it was about. The series of diagonals convey the slow trudge of pedestrian traffic brilliantly. Upon closer inspection you see that many of the edges have been obscured by grays like the people are emerging from a fog of exhaust fumes. Once you get up close to the piece you can see that a few of the pedestrians are wearing surgical masks, taking what could be a random street from any part of the past 30 years and planting it firmly within the 2020s.
First Place Award, Jianjie Zhou, Snow Clearing
A landscape expressed as a precarious balance of contrasts. The cool right side of the stream bed seems to be rising abruptly out of the ground while the warm left side slides down a hill, both held in place by the flat gray and white surface of the melting ice sheet. Both sides of the stream bed’s primary shapes are complemented by the silhouette of a single mountain in the background.
Second Place Award, JeriGreenberg, Teetering
This energetically painted still-life is so expertly designed that it is almost purely abstract. Only the bare minimum amount of information has been conveyed to tell the viewer that these are apples on a striped tablecloth. The periwinkle blue in the background sets off the bright reds beautifully and adds even more energy to the bold marks.
Third Place Award, Teresa DeSeve, The Daughters of John Lidwell Durnin
Expertly composed and yet not at the expense of the emotional crux of the piece, this dual figure portrait is executed with an uncomplicated palette and refreshing directness. The pastel marks are left as marks without too much fussing. Varied rhythms of darks, reds, and violets within the composition bounce the viewer around a slightly right-of-center triangular design.
Exceptional Merit Awards
A tight and deeply shadowed left side of this pastel opens up to the airy and unbothered right side. The contrast of having an active section counterbalanced by a passive section of the piece illustrates this artist’s command of design.
Proof that less is more. With minimal rendering and just a handful of pastels, this artist has made edges the focus of this gorgeous portrait. The high contrast of the light-side eye draws your eye to the tenderly clasped hands, while the rest of the piece fades into a fog of lost edges.
In the hands of another artist a highly geometric design such as this could come off as cold. The use of patterning on the plate and sugar bowl bring an air of simple elegance and tradition.
An amazingly tense and yet hopeful composition using little more than a 3 color palette. The warm orange creates a beautiful halo around the cat’s two value violet silhouette. The use of dark green on the right helps to lose the edges of the hind legs of the animal and create a sense of mystery.
A gorgeous play of pinks, teals, and violets broken up ever so slightly with neutrals. The occasional linear and jagged marks make the viewer think of trees or flowers without being overt, and the textured background gives the entire piece movement.
Merit Awards
Stepping beyond a simple dual portrait of an older gentleman and a young girl, this piece is a symphony of textures, architectural shapes, and energetic marks. The use of teal on the left and top center add just the right amount of contrast to a vibrancy to an earth-toned palette.
Even without the splash of warms on the right this verdant landscape would pulse with energy. Every element in this piece feels as if it is flowing into those trees as they glow brighter and brighter with an ethereal presence.
A simple subject does not necessarily create a simple painting. The buildings in the background on the left balance the geometry of the containers and blinds on the right. The rounded bottles and mountains create a lovely counterbalance to the procession of rectangular patterns.
A striking design cleanly executed. The cast shadows complete the strong triangular composition that subverts the typical expectation of darks grounding the bottom of the design. I can’t help but think that there’s some symbolism at play between the War of the Worlds book and the radio as well.
Even though the middle section of this piece seems airy and open, the darker blue on top seems to be squeezing this middle section into the lower sliver of green. The pops of orange are like sparks being thrown off from the building pressure.
Honorable Mention Awards
The calmness of the sitter in this portrait is further emphasized by his blazer that gradually dissolves into the paper, highlighting the beautifully drawn hands.
The bold color, deep linear perspective, and strong geometric linework of this piece keep it on a razor’s edge between representation and abstraction.
This artist has used a very limited range of values to describe the space that the tractor inhabits. The darker reds of the tractor’s front vibrate against the same-valued greens in the treeline.
Ths expertly rendered and emotive portrait dissolves into an abstract explosion of the same colors, giving the piece vibrancy and life
A contemplative figure study that is as much about how the sitter adorns themselves as it is about the sitter themselves.
The bold and frenetic mark-making elevates what would otherwise be a simple still life, making the jacket appear to want to leap off of the paper.