ctps board

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Holly Read

I began an interest in artistic expression while frequently visiting my grandmother, a 5th grade art teacher. Her talent still impresses me; she created many oil paintings. My mother was also an excellent artist. I have turned to artwork often as a form of meditation. I enjoy creating work that reflects God’s beauty in the world. It is my hope that I can inspire others to pursue their form of artistic expression as meditation and a positive way to express their inner beauty. 

Sandra Slaughter

I was always very conscious of the beauty in nature. In El Paso, where I spent my first 70+ years, the mountains and sky were a daily wonder. In middle school, I took some private art lessons and worked in charcoal and oils. Then I got busy with life and left art behind. About 4 years ago I connected with a pastel teacher and began taking weekly classes. I immediately fell in love with the medium and was thrilled to find CTPS when I moved to Georgetown. 

Alora Johns

My love of art started early. I cannot remember a time when art was not important in my life. Pastels were introduced to me in middle school and it has been a love story ever since then. I paint the people, places and things I love and those scenes that catch my imagination. 

Jan Frazier

Art has been the driving force of my life since I was a child. I began my formal training at the University of Kentucky where I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art Education. A short while later I moved to Austin, Texas, where I began pursuing art as a full-time profession. Read more: http://www.janfrazierart.com 

Jane Copeland

I have been involved in creative endeavors all my life including various crafts,  glass blowing and ceramics, and as a child, a most memorable Christmas present was a Jon Gnagy Learn To Draw set. But I didn't start painting until 2012, when a friend introduced me to pastels. I have delighted in demonstrations and workshops by favorite pastel artists, most notably Margaret Dyer, who awakened in me a fascination with the human figure. I love capturing gesture, and telling a story. 

Sue Kernan

I have had a colorful life brought into full expression with pastel art. 

Debbie Been

My interest in art began, as with many, in childhood and was reinforced through exhibits in elementary and high school.  I was nine or ten when I traveled with my mother to New Orleans for studio sessions with a pastel artist.  I watched and drew while he worked on his portrait of her.  After the sessions he looked at my drawings and encouraged her to buy me a set of pastels, which she did.  That was my introduction to and the beginning of my love for pastels.  I attended LSU and USL (now UL-Lafayette) and graduated with a BFA-Studio with a double major in painting and photography. While I have primarily painted in oils, I have returned to pastels periodically over the years.  I love their brilliance and immediacy.  I joined CTPS to learn more about this beautiful medium .

Karen Pickels

I have been drawing since I was a child growing up in Houston. As a teen growing up in North Austin, I expanded to oils, acrylic, ceramics, and screen-printing. My Grandmother used oils and I believe had high hopes that I would as well but alas, I loved drawing. Always have. Pencil, ink, charcoal, and now pastels. The immediate gratification of laying down pastels and seeing my subject emerge so quickly has me hooked. 

Julie Choate