New Member Showcase 2021 Online Exhibition April 15, 2021 to May 31, 2021
Karen Duckles Sandy Fisher Kevin McCants Anna-Maria Nikolova
President’s Message Dear New Members, Welcome to the Pasadena Society of Artists! Thank you so much for joining us as our new 2020 members. I am thrilled to welcome you and excited for the richness your perspective and work will add to our group. The Board and I hope to serve you in many ways and are eager to get to know you and your art! I, for one, am excited to view this new member exhibit and am grateful to Larry Rodgers and the exhibitions committee for organizing it. I know I really enjoyed being a part of the show when I was a new member. Please make sure to acquaint yourself with the PSA website, especially the Board of Directors and Committee Chairs page, so you can connect with the right people for inclusion in member news, for social media opportunities, to get questions answered, etc. And, make sure to get your profile up on the site so we can learn more about you as well. I personally hope you will make time to participate in our meetings, demo opportunities, and future exhibitions because we are better together. It’s great to have you with us. Please feel free to reach out to me at President@PasadenaSocietyofArtists.org. Sincerely, Shaney Watters
A Short History of the Pasadena Society of Artists and the Membership Selection Process The Pasadena Society of Artists came into being in early 1925. Benjamin C. Brown, the “dean of Pasadena painters,” sent out a notice to local painters to discuss the formation of a society for local artists. The consensus was that the Pasadena Society of Artists should be formed. Attending this meeting were Benjamin C. Brown, Edward B. Butler, Maud Daggett, Antoinette De Forest Merwin, Louis Hovey Sharp, F. Carl Smith, Orrin A. White, Wallace LeRoy De Wolff, and Frederick A. Zimmerman. Seven more artists then joined PSA to form the founding charter members. They were Herbert V. B. Acker, F. Tolles Chamberlin, Alson S. Clark, John “Jack” Frost, Jean Mannheim, Katherine B. Stetson and Marion Wachtel. It has been suggested that PSA was formed out of the desire of the founders to exhibit their contemporary work, which was not acceptable in exhibitions of the California Art Club. The first Annual Juried Exhibition was presented in April 1925 at the Pasadena Art Institute located in Carmelita Park, now the site of the Norton Simon Art Museum. The PSA founders stated that “the standard will be high and only work of real merit will be accepted.” PSA continues to adhere to the guiding statement of the founders by accepting new members by juried submission. The juried submission process has been an integral part of PSA membership from the very beginning. The Membership Chair asks five or more experienced members to form a jury. The jury then reviews all of the submitted artwork, statements, and biographies/resumes. As part of this review process, each individual member of the jury will note which submitting artists have qualified for membership based upon quality, execution and presentation of artwork, and professional activities and achievements. The Chair then calls the jury together to review and discuss each artist. These discussions can become very spirited at times! Once the final selections have been made, the artists are notified within two weeks of their acceptance into PSA.
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Table of Contents President’s Message & PSA History 2 Table of Contents
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Karen Duckles Green Leaves Red Flowers Red Leaf Torn Leaf
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Sandy Fisher Hypnotic Peony 8 Desert Jewel 9 Rabbitbrush Reverie 10 Room to Roam 11 Kevin McCants B.G. Punk The Shoes in Window #4 12 B.G. Punk The Dress in Window #5 13 The Watcher in Window #6 14 Selfie Expression in Window #5 15 Anna-Maria Nikolova Les Danseurs du Cirque 16 Dancing Whales 17 Bergamo 18 The Dream 19 PSA Board of Directors
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Catalog Production Team
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Call for New Members
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The Pasadena Society of Artists wishes to acknowledge and thank the Jeanne Ward Foundation for its continuing support. The Pasadena Society of Artists wishes to acknowledge and thank the Pasadena Arts League for its support. Cover artwork courtesy of the artists: Top right: Sandy Fisher, Karen Duckles, Anna-Maria Nikolova, Kevin McCants Copyright held by artist. All rights reserved.
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Green Leaves Karen Duckles Oil on Canvas 30" x 20"
The inspiration for this series of paintings is the beauty that can be found in disintegration and decay. The Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, the appreciation of the transitory and imperfect nature of life, informs this work. In the paintings, partially obscured ghost images refer to the uncontrollability of nature and the impermanent quality of life. Imperfection and degradation are central to it. (continued on page 6)
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Contact information: karenduckles@gmail.com
Red Flowers Karen Duckles Oil on Canvas 30" x 30"
Contact information: karenduckles@gmail.com
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Red Leaf Karen Duckles Oil on Canvas 30" x 24"
In our culture, youth and vitality are celebrated almost exclusively, yet disintegration, death and decay are also an integral part of life. In these paintings I am trying to recast this part of the life cycle as something beautiful that should be appreciated.
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Contact information: karenduckles@gmail.com
Torn Leaf Karen Duckles Oil on Canvas 30" x 24"
Contact information: karenduckles@gmail.com
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Hypnotic Peony Sandy Fisher Oil on Panel 16" x 12"
I view the landscape as a visual symphony: complex, yet innately understood from within one’s soul. Each major element such as a tree, rock, shrub, or creek is like a note on a musical staff. Some are repeated in rapid succession and others are solitary and widely dispersed. There are passages in the scene which are painted quietly and slowly through the use of soft edges and abstract shapes. Other passages are louder and marked by increased contrast, chroma, and detail. There is rhythm and harmony in this natural world and confirmation of the Divine. It is the song in my soul, which I translate onto canvas when painting a scene. (continued on page 10) Contact information: sandyfisherfineart@yahoo.com 8
Desert Jewel Sandy Fisher Oil on Canvas 13" x 20"
Contact information: sandyfisherfineart@yahoo.com
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Rabbitbrush Reverie Sandy Fisher Oil on Panel 10" x 8"
My primary body of work consists of small representational landscape oil paintings. The majority of them are started en plein air, as it provides me with the best opportunity to observe and capture the nuances of nature. I then focus on finishing the painting in the studio by reflecting on my initial response to the scene and making any necessary adjustments to recreate that feeling of wonder. Additionally, I draw on reference photos for more detailed, larger-scale works including landscapes and other subjects ranging from botanical to architectural.
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Contact information: sandyfisherfineart@yahoo.com
Room to Roam Sandy Fisher Oil on Panel 8" x 10"
Contact information: sandyfisherfineart@yahoo.com
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B.G. Punk The Shoes in Window #4 Kevin McCants Oil on Panel with Glaze 49" x 24.5"
Recently, he has been influenced by John Singer Sargent and inspired by the 2012 Bergdorf Goodman homage to the 80s punk fashion exhibit “Punk: Chaos to Couture” then featured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Along with the store’s exceptional window design and the fashion, he was captivated by the ever-bustling streets of New York and its architecture. As described by the Met’s Director, Thomas P. Campbell, “Punk was chaotic, anarchic, and iconoclastic. It was also heroic, artistic, and virtuosic; and it changed the nature of creativity irrevocably.” Kevin created “Bergdorf Goodman Reflection,” his first series of paintings, to explore the use of glazing to capture images floating inside out and outside in of one another in a visual lyricism and controlled chaos that reflects his musical roots as well as his embrace of the multiplicity of images – the static and active merged for a moment in time. (continued on page 13)
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Contact information: umcleball4u@gmail.com
B.G. Punk The Dress in Window #5 Kevin McCants Oil on Panel with Glaze 49" x 24.5"
The second series was “Through the Window Humanity Interrupted,” in which he used oil washes to create similar interactions as the Bergdorf series, but using windows from Los Angeles, California. This was followed by “Reflections Mannequins Portraits,” which combines both earlier techniques and other methods to focus on the latent personalities conveyed by mannequins that prompt actual humans to purchase something with which they inherently identify. In between the first two series he created a succession of loosely painted shoe images. (continued on page 14)
Contact information: umcleball4u@gmail.com
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The Watcher in Window #6 Kevin McCants Oil on Panel 49" x 16"
Having spent the last 18 years instructing painters, briefly for Larry Gluck in his schools and later providing private instruction in the basics of fine art, Kevin’s core philosophy stresses the critical importance of sound drawing skills. Kevin believes drawing is the foundation on which all artistic techniques stand, whether embraced literally or rejected consciously. He has observed that without this skill, all other skills fall short. His primary goal as a teacher is to teach drawing techniques by which his students can locate and correct the drawing mistakes that can lead to other painting missteps. (continued on page 15)
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Contact information: umcleball4u@gmail.com
Selfie Expression in Window #5 Kevin McCants Oil on Panel 40" x 30"
Kevin is ever striving to push the limits of what can be achieved using pure imagination and/or any medium he chooses as the vehicle to move his work forward. Along with the three series mentioned earlier, he also has a series “More,” which is a small sampling of other sketches and paintings representative of his evolving practice.
Contact information: umcleball4u@gmail.com
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Les Danseurs du Cirque Anna-Maria Nikolova Acrylic on Canvas 28" x 20"
“Les Danseurs du Cirque” and the “Dancing Whales” express different emotions. These two paintings are about the enjoyment of life. Life is about the little moments of happiness and about deriving pleasure in what you do. Life is meant to be lived with its ups and downs. Sometimes, you just have to follow your heart and do spontaneous things. I want the viewer to feel these great emotions that are part of our lives. (continued on page 18)
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Contact information: annamnikolova@gmail.com
Dancing Whales Anna-Maria Nikolova Oil on Canvas 38" x 22"
Contact information: annamnikolova@gmail.com
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Bergamo Anna-Maria Nikolova Acrylic on Canvas 32" x 24"
My paintings emit bright, colorful, joyful, and expressive colors. I am inspired by the events that are occurring around me. For instance, the painting “Bergamo” was painted during Italy’s pandemic. COVID-19 caused many to lose their lives or become hospitalized. In this painting, I express the fact that people are going through different situations, but are still feeling hopeful while the dark reality of the pandemic is surrounding them. (continued on page 19)
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Contact information: annamnikolova@gmail.com
The Dream Anna-Maria Nikolova Oil on Canvas 20" x 20"
“The Dream” is about childhood amusement and panic. The painting shows how children are having fun, but since they are very young, they can’t imagine or understand the terrifying and dangerous reality that surrounds them. This painting and “Bergamo” evoke a bipolar response.
Contact information: annamnikolova@gmail.com
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Pasadena Society of Artists Board of Directors 2021 - 2022 President: Shaney Watters President@PasadenaSocietyofArtists.org Executive Vice President: Robert Asa Crook VicePresident@PasadenaSocietyofArtists.org Vice President - Exhibitions: Lawrence D. Rodgers Exhibitions@PasadenaSocietyofArtists.org Recording Secretary: Rhonda Raulston Secretary@PasadenaSocietyofArtists.org Treasurer: Kathleen Swaydan Admin@PasadenaSocietyofArtists.org Director of Communications: Debbi Swanson Patrick News@PasadenaSocietyofArtists.org Director of Grants: Kruti Shah Grants@PasadenaSocietyofArtists.org Director of History & Archives: Robert Asa Crook Historian@PasadenaSocietyofArtists.org Director of Membership: Marion Dies Membership@PasadenaSocietyofArtists.org Director of Programs: Patricia Jessup-Woodlin Programs@PasadenaSocietyofArtists.org Past President: Victor Picou PastPresident@PasadenaSocietyofArtists.org Member at Large: Art Carrillo MembersatLarge@PasadenaSocietyofArtists.org Member at Large: Liz Crimzon MembersatLarge@PasadenaSocietyofArtists.org 20
www.PasadenaSocietyofArtists.org FB: PasadenaSocietyofArtists IG: @pasadenasocietyofartists
Catalog Production Team Exhibition Chair: Lawrence D. Rodgers Director of Communications: Debbi Swanson Patrick Editor: Alison Davies Treasurer: Kathleen Swaydan Technical Lead: Rhonda Raulston Instagram Content: Emily Suñez Facebook Content: George Paul Miller Webmaster: Fred Chuang Catalog Designer: Lawrence D. Rodgers Cover Design: Karen Hochman Brown
Artwork appears courtesy of PSA members. Copyright held by artist. All rights reserved. © 2021 Pasadena Society of Artists www.PasadenaSocietyofArtists.org
New Members Showcase Reception at McGinty’s Gallery at the End of the World February 2020 Altadena, CA
New Members Showcase Reception at Towns Burr Gallery January 2018 Burbank, CA
New Members Showcase Reception at Towns Burr Gallery January 2017 Burbank, CA
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Call for New Members Are you an artist? Throughout Pasadena Society of Artists’ 96-year history, works by PSA members of have been sold at major auction houses, collected in important art collections, and displayed in museums throughout the United States and Europe. Our legacy is immense! Would you like to be part of our organization? We are always looking for new, dedicated members. Our artists work in all media and styles of drawing, painting, sculpture, and photography. All have been juried into the society. New Member Screenings for the Pasadena Society of Artists are usually held twice a year, in the spring and fall. Please go to our website at www.pasadenasocietyofartists.org for more information. Because of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the next PSA New Member Screening will be conducted via a virtual, electronic process. Submissions will be accepted between Sunday, April 18 and Friday, April 23, 2021. If you are interested in becoming a member, please complete a Membership Inquiry Form, found online, and contact our Director of Membership, Marion Dies. If you miss the current April 23, 2021 deadline, Ms. Dies will notify you when the next screening has been scheduled. Qualifications considered for membership include the applicant’s dedication to artistic standards of excellence, professionalism, accomplishments, skills that benefit the Society, and the artist’s future potential. Applicants submit three (four if a virtual screening) pieces of artwork representing current media and style, created in the past two years. Artwork submitted is judged by presentation, talent, and originality. We encourage perseverance; a number of our members have been offered memberships after having been declined multiple times. Former members include Charles White, Walter Askin, Jirayr Zorithian, Conrad Buff, David Green, Enjar Hansen, Frode Dann, Jae Carmichael, Leonard Edmondson, Mildred Lapson, Paul Sample, Hanson Puthuff, Sam Hyde Harris, and many more. We look forward to welcoming new artists to the Pasadena Society of Artists as we approach our 100th anniversary in 2025. 22
Pasadena Society of Artists P. O. Box 90074 Pasadena, California 91109
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