EXPRESSIONS:
2025 International Online Show
Welcome to the 2025 PSC International Online Show EXPRESSIONS
PSC Members and Non-Members
Show Co-Chairs are Xenia Sease and Jennifer Riefenberg
February 1 to April 1, 2025
Show will remain online until our next online show posts but sales end April 1, 2025
JUROR AND JUDGE – Vianna Szabo
IAPS-EP, PSA, PSWC-DP, MWCS, GLPS
Using expressive color, Vianna interprets the world around her to tell a visual story. Whether she is working in pastel, oil or watercolor she’s inspired to capture a moment by painting light and atmosphere to express emotion. Vianna believes painting is a journey of creative study and encourages her students to learn the fundamentals so they express their own artistic voice.
She exhibits regularly in national juried shows and is a popular and passionate instructor who teaches workshops nationally and abroad. She has a BS in Education from Eastern Michigan University but credits her art education to books, long hours at the easel, and the generosity of talented friends. Vianna is a signature member of the Pastel Society of America and has achieved Distinguished Pastellist status in the Pastel Society of the West Coast. She was inducted into the International Association of Pastel Societies Master Circle in 2011 and achieved Eminent Pastelist status in 2015 and earned signature member status in the Michigan Watercolor Society in 2020 and signature membership in the Great Lakes Pastel Society in 2022.
https://www.viannaszabo.com/ | Vianna Szabo YouTube
My Criteria
It is an honor to jury a show of fellow pastel painters, and the quantity of quality in this exhibition made the process difficult. There are 10 award winners but I could have easily given five times that amount. Congratulations to all of you who are in this show.
What I look for is a clear visual story through design. This is based on interesting shapes, simplified value patterns, edge narratives, a color palette that supports the story and mastery of the medium. The paintings chosen check all of these boxes and also represent a wide array of subjects, approaches and pastel applications.
Best of Show
“The Snowman” by Anne Gee
10×8″, NFS
This is a painting I kept coming back to and every time it made me smile. The artist celebrates a simple everyday scene through shapes that express the joy of a child playing in the snow. There is very little detail except for the distressed look on the snowman’s face. It is this lack of detail that invites the viewer in to explore the gesture of the child, the distance of the background and the color palette of a clear winter day where the blue of the sky reflects into the snow.
First Place
“St. Joseph with Baby Jesus” by Fabio Cuffari
55.1×24.8″, NFS
This is a technically masterful painting reminiscent of the Renaissance but with a modern feel. The drawing is impeccable. The use of chiaroscuro focuses our gaze on the man, baby and flower creating a triangle of interest. The figures are surrounded by different textures that add mystery in the shadow areas. The saturated complementary colors of the cloth anchor the painting adding to the glow of light.
Second Place
“Circle Of Love” by Sam Collett
20×15″, NFS
The beauty of this double portrait comes from the feeling of connection between the two figures. The portraits are stylized and express so much feeling. The lift on the left side of the girl’s mouth and the relaxed eyes speaks of comfort and security as she leans into the man whose downward gaze feels equally relaxed. The dominant orange analogouspalette contributes to warmth of the scene while the shapes of blue green in the background add interest.
Third Place
“Sundown towards Rum” by Tony Allain
10×24″, NFS
This painting showcases powerful design through interesting value shapes and bold color. The artist has painted a scene of great depth using mostly flat shapes. The rocks in the foreground are the only shapes with structure created by subtle value shifts. The rest is posterized yet recedes with the dulling and lighting of color. The sky and its reflection on the sand stand out with bold color applied with confident strokes.
Terry Ludwig Award
“Snowy with Clouds” by Mary Ann Pals
12×12″, NFS
“This painting is not only a majestic portrait of a Snowy Owl, but it is also a stunning study of white on white. While the bird is mostly light value, its form and the texture of the feathers are modeled using a rainbow of subdued colors. The soft yellow clouds and blue sky add horizontal movement. All of this is a perfect backdrop for the dark-rimmed intent stare of the bird.
Honorable Mentions
“The Arena” by Jeff Slemons
10×8″, NFS
The strong design of this painting comes from the artist painting the top half a dark value with the light of the hat, her shoulder, the top of the horse and rope standing out in contrast. In the bottom half the contrast seamlessly switches to light background with the silhouette of the horse as dark. The gesture of the rider and horse feel natural and make us wonder what she sees in the abstracted background.
“Wet Day on Georgia Street” by Andrew McDermott
16×16″, NFS
Edges are the narrative of a painting and in this scene the mostly soft edges tell us about movement on a busy city street where the lights reflect on the wet pavement. The red glare of the turn signal captures our attention first but the dark of the car joins with the dark of the bus. This moves our gaze to the dark line along the back building and brings us back to the street. The mark making is exquisite and the contrast of a few hard edges against the mosaic of soft edges creates misty atmosphere.
“Frank’s Place” by Dave Stout
9×12″, NFS
The crisp atmosphere of a sunny winter day is captured by the soft foreground of blue snow highlighted white where the sun hits the tracks. The bluish snow and sky sandwich the complementary strip of orangish trees and buildings covered with winter light. The buildings have structure but not details. The detail is saved for the curve in the tracks speckled with dirt. The rest of the painting is more peripheral which adds to the feeling of a crisp clear winter’s day.
“Figure, Stretching” by Amy Fichter
53×32″, NFS
A mosaic of color creates this figurative painting. The flesh is sculpted using darker blues where the form turns under and lighter warmer colors where the form is hit by light. This artist knows anatomy and focuses on the modeling of the torso which make the figure feel strong and weighted. The legs fade away at the bottom. This unusual approach is successful because of the artist’s understanding of anatomy and form.
“Cosmology” by Shannon O’Dunn
10×10″, NFS
What stands out with this summer scene of trees and field of flowers is the perspective. The artist puts us at the bottom looking through the flowers and up to where the trees meet the sky. The edges of the tree against the sky vary in value and color and the wisp of clouds on the left add to the feeling of peace. I am especially impressed with the foreground flowers. They feel natural in their placement, with only a few of them being detailed and the rest are just suggested shapes that the viewer interprets as flowers.
A special thank you to Terry Ludwig Pastels for their award sponsorship.