The Colored Pencil Painters Guild opened the first of their three –juried shows in 2018 on Sunday afternoon with a reception at Lake Miona Recreation Center. Twenty-nine phenomenally talented colored pencil painters participated and ribbons were awarded by outside judges.
“We call them paintings because we consider colored pencils an art medium and want to separate it from what people associate doing with colored pencils when they were in school,” said Guild president Renee Conboy.
Looking at the pieces, you can see why Conboy wants to make that distinction. It really boggles the mind to realize the pieces you are looking are all done with colored pencils; many appear at first glance to be watercolors or even photographs.
Jan Jones, awarded an Honorable Mention, had fun with her piece titled Flu Season. “Basically it is a still life from all the items in my guest bathroom,” said Jones. “It seemed appropriate since the January show is right in the middle of flu season.”
Jones moved to The Villages in 1999, worked for The Villages for a few years, and found herself fully retired and looking for a hobby in 2004. She took a class and discovered she really loved color pencil painting.
“What a great choice I made,” said Jones. “Not only do I love the medium but the Guild is such a wonderful organization of great people who really support and help each other.” Over the years Jones went from student at the Lifelong Learning Center to teacher at The Enrichment Academy. She and first-place winner Sue Franz co-teach a colored pencil class concentrating on portraits.
Franz’s winning piece was drawn from a photograph she took of a little boy during a beach visit while on a cruise. The drawing almost appears to be a photograph; the intricate detail of the scenes reflected in the sunglasses worn by the little boy is amazing.
“I used a magnifying glass to see and pencil in that part,” said Franz. A life-long resident of Japan until she and her husband moved to The Villages in 1998, Franz had done a little drawing and painting on her own as a hobby. Like many Villagers she started at the Lifelong Learning Center under the tutelage of Nan Klein. Now as a teacher she does the demos, freeing up Jones to do the talking. “I enjoyed painting too, but it is messy, and smelly and it takes time to set-up and take-down, I would rather be drawing,” says Franz.
Second place winner Tom Kunath and Award of Merit winner Bob Koudelka agreed with Fields regarding the ease of colored pencil painting. Kunath entered a drawing of his ten-year old granddaughter entitled Ivy. Kunath started with colored pencils about a year and a half ago. “I saw one of the exhibits and said you’ve got to be kidding me – that’s colored pencil,” said Kunath. “I was really drawn to it; I like detail.” He and his wife cruise often and he loves the fact that with just a pad and his pencils he can find a quiet place on the ship and draw. “I try to complete one piece each time we go on a cruise,” said Kunath.
Koudelka started colored pencil painting when he retired and moved to The Villages. “I knew I could draw, but being in the corporate world, I never had the time,” said Koudelka. He likes this medium because he sometimes has limited time to work or is interrupted and can easily get back to it. “Without all the set-up necessary for painting, I can sit down and work even if I only have fifteen minutes,” said Koudelka.
The show at Lake Miona Recreation Center will be up until April. Currently the Colored Pencil Painters Guild also has a show at the Rohan Recreation Center that will be up in May. Their next juried show, a show of miniature drawings – a first for the Guild, will go up at Lake Miona Recreation Center on the third Sunday in May.
In addition to their monthly business meetings, the Guild conducts many workshops each month. For more information about the Guild and to see their event schedule, go to www.pencilpainters.com.
