hiI always look forward to seeing what painting will grab the PleinAir Salon monthly award. This time, Terri Ford takes the win for her painting, “Lover’s Point Blues,” which I’m sure you’ll agree is a fabulous painting!

I asked Terri Ford about her inspiration for the piece.
“Lover’s Point Blues was a workshop demo. I love the spot and have painted this scene numerous times as a demonstration. When I did this one I decided to approach it in a more monochromatic/tonal way. The blues worked perfectly since my underpainting usually begins with NuPastel Spruce Blue so the values were all established with that colour to start with.
It was also a moody coastal morning so doing it all in blues seemed completely appropriate. I just added some neutrals as needed.
There’s a great advantage to painting the same spot repeatedly. Your familiarity helps you explore new ways of approaching it. I encourage beginners to feel free to return to the same place to see how the paintings evolve.”
Sage advice!

And did Terri have any advice for those thinking about entering the PleinAir Salon?
“When entering the PleinAir Salon, you do have the option of entering the same painting in numerous categories. As per the words of August Judge Lori Putnam, doing so increases your chances of the painting getting noticed. Also, I try to enter my best or favourite paintings.”
Here are a couple more winning pastels by Terri to inspire you!


Award-winning artist Terri Ford is an Eminent Pastelist with the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) and a Master Pastelist with the Pastel Society of America (PSA). Her pastels have appeared in many publications including Plein Air Magazine, Pastel Journal, American Art Collector, Western Art & Architecture, Pratique de Art, and “coffee table” books Pure Pastel and 40 Maitres de Pasteles. Terri is a popular instructor and has juried and judged many competitions. See more of her work here.
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Three More Pastel Winners from the August PleinAir Salon
Three pastels won Honourable Mentions and I thought you’d be inspired by them. The winning artists are Louise Renée, Martina Zingler, and Susan Nicholas Gephart.



And, by the way, it was a pastellist who took home the Best Portrait/Figure award in August. Check out all the August winners.
I do hope this will encourage you to enter. You can’t win if you don’t take this step!
So be sure to ENTER!! The deadline is 31st October.
And that’s it for this time,
Gail