Dustbuster News

Sharing your news with SPS members has become easier than ever!  We have a “Member Accomplishments” as well as a “Member Hosted Events” page dedicated to getting the word out! In addition, anything that you want shared will also be shared on the SPS Instagram feed which also populates on our FaceBook main page.  Member Accomplishments includes any awards, exhibits or publications. *Member Hosted Events includes workshops and art events that you are teaching or sponsoring in your area.  Basically, anything that’s happening in your art world can be shared with other members, followers and visitors to our website. We want to help you to get the word out there and to celebrate. Simply use the Share News Link in the box above or within the Members Only Area when you log in with your user name and password.  You don’t even have to wait for a specific date/deadline.  So, what are you waiting on?  Please share!

*only  workshops or events being taught or held by a member will be publicized. 

We are very pleased that our SPS Private Group page has grown to 183 members where a growing number are posting their work, sharing comments and ideas. Our SPS group page is a wonderful place for all of us to interact with one another and grow as artists.  

We are so grateful for our member artist’s that contributed their time to host learning events! Their lessons were focused on what they uniquely do as pastelists and were presented via pdf lessons, demos, live Zoom critique and slide decks.  Thank you to all those artists for sharing their knowledge and techniques!

One of the many benefits of utilizing the FB platform is that all of the previous lessons in pdf and video format are all stored in the ‘Guides’ section of the page. This means members can always access the lessons at any time.

• Monthly programs are free to members and are available the 2^nd Monday of most months. 
• Upcoming Programs can be found under the Events Tab on the SPS Website Main Page
• All programs are held via Zoom
  • You can register for a program by clicking on the registration link in the SPS program announcement email that will be delivered to your inbox approximately 5-10 days prior to the program.
  • Once you have registered for the program you will receive the actual Zoom link.

June, July & August: “STAY TUNED” as we are exploring Paint-a-Long Opportunities!!

• Join the Program Team: 
  • Collaborate with Joan Dromey, Carroll Pennington, Kaitlin Craig, Joanne Willoughby and Terry Metzler via Zoom
  • Suggest Program Artists/Topics
  • Meet the artists ahead of time
  • Have a “behind the scenes” look at how a program goes from an idea to a Zoom presentation.

  • Contact Joan Dromey or Terry Metzler if you would like to join the team and/or if you have suggestions for future programs and presenters.

In April, Debra Nadelhoffer provided a talk and demo on Dramatic Beginnings or Endings to the Day.   She covered how different surfaces impact pastels demonstrating 2-3 surfaces revealing the outcomes.   These decisions early on in the process can have a strong impact on the completed painting.

“Color, Light and the Portrait” with Christine Swann

Following the SPS 2023 Spring Exhibition opening reception, our juror, Christine Swann, conducted a two-day online pastel workshop for us on “Color, Light and the Portrait.”  Christine’s portraits have received recognition not only in the United States, but in other countries as well (China, France and Italy).  She is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America and is also an “Eminent Pastellist” with the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS).  This distinction is only held by 25 artists in the whole world.  She is an extremely knowledgeable and gracious teacher, very generous with sharing all the learnings she’s made over the years in her art career.

During the workshop, participants created a portrait, working from a reference photo (since the workshop was online).  We began with some fundamentals about constructing the base drawing of the human head.  As we moved into applying color, Christine shared with us her method of approaching pastels from the perspective of their “power” (intensity of pigment).  It’s a thought-provoking, fresh approach to using pastels that puts more emphasis on what the pastel gives you as it interacts with the surface.  It changes the focus from the traditional “soft versus hard” discussion.  This approach lends itself very well to layering and building up the values to get truly rich and vibrant paintings.

Christine has spent a lot of time researching the “science of light” and shared with us the importance of understanding how light travels, the color temperature of light as it moves across a surface and how shadows fall.  Having a solid grasp on these concepts is critical to the success of a painting, especially a portrait.

Our workshop attendees all agreed that we learned so much from Christine and can’t wait to put this into practice.  Christine lives in Greenville, SC, and conducts workshops throughout the year.  A list of her courses is available on her website at swannportraits.com.  She also has instructional videos available for purchase, so you can get self-paced instruction.  You can also subscribe to her weekly blog, where she shares ongoing thoughts and tips.  Studying with Christine will help you take your pastel work to the next level!

Member of Excellence –

• Awarded to any member whose work has been juried into 3 SPS national or International juried exhibitions.
• This MOE status allows the SPS designation to be added to the artist’s signature and credentials.

Master Pastelist  –

• • Members who have achieved Member of Excellence status and have also received a total of 3 awards in SPS National or International Juried exhibitions
  • This Master Pastelist status allows the SPSMP designation to be added to the artist’s signature and credentials.

* Continuous membership in SPS is a requirement of continuous point accrual for MOE and awards count for SPSMP designation. A lapse of annual membership will cause members to lose their MOE designation and points accrued.

About Registering and Receiving a link for an SPS Program:  SPS has to purchase an add-on fee if we have over 100 registrants attending our programs. 

• So please don’t register if you can’t attend the program
• The programs are recorded and a link is sent to all members, regardless of whether you registered for the program or not.

About the Waiting Room: 

When you open the zoom link you will get a message saying you are in the waiting room. It just means that the Zoom host, Program Chair and guest Program Presenter are still working out technical details.  

Volunteering: The SPS ZOOM Team is seeking additional volunteers to help with

• Managing Zoom programs
• Editing program videos
• Organizing Zoom events

If you are interested in joining a fun and creative team please contact Terry at zoomevents@southeasternpastel.com.

SPS continues to evolve as part of the global renaissance of the pastel medium.  We have become a sought-after community of pastel artists and Southeastern Pastel is actively creating new benefits for our members who are from around the world.  All benefits are made entirely possible through our member volunteer team. There is no better way to get engaged with the SPS society whether you’re new to pastel or an established artist.  We strongly encourage you to join our team and help further distinguish SPS as a premier pastel society.

One of our most recent volunteers says “though only 1 month new to SPS, myself and another new member volunteered for FB Admins of our new Private Group.  Mind you – we had no previous experience as a social media admin – but with the support of other SPS members we were able to help build and launch our new Group!  Best of all, it has allowed me to immediately start getting to know the leadership and engage with our fellow master pastelists – what a great way to truly become part of the Society!”   Allison Woodward, FB Administrator

Our most urgent needs include: Exhibitions Team Members— Media Support Team—graphic design & exhibition catalogue designer/creator.  Key criteria are strong organizational & communication skills,  To learn more about these opportunities and  to join our amazing group of volunteers, please contact Becky Postell at vpresident@southeasternpastel.com