LOCAL Ipswich artist Karen Christiansen was awarded Pastellist of the Year by the Pastel Society of Australia at its Annual Awards Ceremony earlier this month.
The annual competition attracts entries from pastel artists across Australia and New Zealand. This year’s exhibition had over 100 entries across five categories.
The two judges for the competition included Master Pastellist Lyn Diefenbach and Ipswich artist Deb Mostert.
The Pastellist of the Year title is awarded to the artist who has won places across several categories, and shows a consistent standard across all entries.
Ms Christiansen won first prize in the People category with a portrait of her son titled Larger than Life. She also won first place in the Abstract category with her work titled Aromatherapy. Her landscape titled Winter Day’s Farewell, was awarded second place in the Scapes category.
She has been painting with soft pastels for over 10 years, after previously painting with watercolour, oils and acrylics. She found the flexibility of the medium perfect, for when she had small children at home.
She loves the immediacy and forgiving nature of pastels and loves experimenting with the effects that can be created with pure pigment on various surfaces.
Last year, Ms Christiansen was recognised as an Accomplished Pastellist by the Pastel Society of Australia. She also had her work published in the Pastel Journal magazine earlier this year.
“Pastels allow me to work expressively and intuitively – to capture a fleeting moment or a person’s essence without overthinking,” she said.
“Winning Pastellist of the Year is such an honour, especially among so many talented artists. I greatly admire both judges as artists and people, so this made the award especially meaningful.”
Ms Christiansen teaches weekly classes at Chrome Street Studios through BelArts, as well as holding regular demonstrations for the Pastel Society events.
To encourage others to experiment with this wonderful medium, she will be conducting an introductory pastel workshop Soft Pastels: A Taster Workshop with another local pastel artist Benitta Harding.
The 31/2 hour workshop on September 26 will be at the Ipswich Art Workshop space.
