PSWC Signature

Submitted by Gary on Thu, 04/24/2014 - 15:34

PSWC Signature Award

It was a terrific honor to receive signature membership status this month in the Pastel Society of the West Coast. PSWC, I believe, is the largest and most influential of the regional pastel societies in the United States. It took me four years to reach that goal though if I'd been more aggressive in the early days, I'd have made it a year earlier.

To attain signature membership in PSWC one must acquire three points. Two of them have to come from acceptances into their international show, Pastels USA. The third point can come from either a third acceptance into that prestigious show or by winning a place award in the biennial juried members show.

My first year to get accepted into Pastels USA I had two paintings get in but since I was not yet a member when the jury sent out its results, the acceptances didn't count for me. I got one painting in the following year, none in 2012 and one last year (2013). I needed one last point and happily I was awarded First Place in the Members Show this year by Kim Lordier, pastellist par excellence! Not only was the award a great way to start off the show year but to get signature status as a result was an extra bonus.

My advice for anyone trying for a signature membership or thinking they might want to is sign up for the organization BEFORE you get the jury results! Yes you do have to pay your dues but membership usually gets you a discount off the show entry fee and that helps a little.

At this point I think I have all the signatures in pastel societies I could ever want (and more than I ever planned to try for). It's nice to have them and I'm sure they help advertise a person's standing in the art community. I will most likely use PSA on the front of paintings because it's a national organization and well-recognized. However on the back of each painting I adhere a certificate saying who painted the painting and when. On that I use all the signatures I have at the time the painting is completed.

On the right hand side of this post you can see the paintings that got me the points for PSWC in the order they were awarded, from top to bottom. It's a great organization with wonderfully artistic and supportive members. I look forward to showing with them for years to come and participating in their other activities as far as I am able. My thanks to PSWC President, Tina Moore, for calling to let me know I had won and to Kim Lordier for that very special award! Thanks also to the hard-working volunteers of PSWC that make their great shows possible.