Pikes Peak Pastel Society

Annual Juried Show

Pikes Peak Pastel Society presents
its 2025 Annual National Juried Show
at Library 21c

October 1 – 30, 2025

Our National Juried Show was beautiful; it opened in the afternoon of October 1 and ran through October 30. A total of 40 artists entered 110 paintings. 48 paintings were juried into the show. Our juror, Lorenzo Chavez, did a wonderful job of selecting paintings for the show and selecting the award winners.

Below are our award winning entries, and all the entries. Thank you to everyone who entered. And a huge thank you to all our Sponsors who make the awards possible!

Awards with Comments 
from Juror Lorenzo Chavez

Best in Show
Betsy Cook
Melancholy Echos of Fado

There is such a strong center of interest and lots of emotion in the painting. It has great color harmony with analogous colors. It has a great variety of shapes and a strong focal point. All the lines lead to the figure, the lines from the guitars from the back wall and even the wine glass point to the focal point. It’s a very classical composition and a beautiful use of lost edges.

First Place
Angela Lieu
I’ll Keep You Safe
Love the spot of light on the shoulder; lots of emotion and tenderness in the subject matter. It’s amazing that someone (with just pastels) can pull out the type of emotion that this painting does. The overall color is very muted with small flashes of bright color that maintains the mood of the painting.
Second Place
Patrick Harron
Cairngorms
I can feel the spirit of the place, feel the rainstorm coming. I sense that the artist was hurrying to get it down so they could paint the emotion of the place before the rain hit. The design consists of the radiating lines technique—moving you to the middle of the painting. The centering of the trees is daring. There is a flash of red against the gray green that is wonderful. When you look at it closer the surface is coated with brush work that adds to the movement and adds an element of drama. The painting is a small gem.
Honorable Mention
Becky Johnson
Red Fox Portrait
Very strong piece; strong shape and would look great 10 times the size of it; very powerful portrait and shape. Very strong drawing; color temperature contrasts; biggest impact is the shape.

Honorable Mention
Joyce Bonilla
Lone Tree

Drawn to this painting because it’s a great rendition of something we see every day, a tree. Loves the reflected light in the shadow planes that makes the painting glow; it is sonice to find beauty in the simple things.

Honorable Mention
Lyn Farrell
Rocks in Garden of the Gods
Great handling of the subject matter of the rock; shows the power of the rocks in a delicate way; play of the cool shadows against the warm light; and texture parts against the smoother parts; like the composition. Lots of interaction of contrasts in the painting. Dynamic energy is good.
Honorable Mention
Marilyn Feaster
Love Potion No 9
Big reason is the title on the bottle; color harmony works well; the triangular shape of the composition is great; love the text in the painting.

 

 

Sponsor Awards

Dakota Pastels Award
Mary Sexton
Road to Nowhere

Like the high horizon line, giving a feeling of vast space and loneliness. The painting has a strong emotional component. A great variety of shapes. It is overall nicely done. Like how the posts are situated in the background; arranged almost musically.

Blick Award
Brian Sauerland
In the Flow
Painting is very fresh with splashes of color; directional movement of the water is well done. The movement of light and dark in the rocks is nice with contrasting warm and cool colors. The high key colors of the rocks are quite nice.
FrameTek Award
Billy Moro-Wey
I am Not Alone
The painting has a lot of linear value that creates a mysterious element. It has a story behind it and that raises questions in our minds. It brings a strong emotional element to the painting.
Terry Ludwig Award 
Diane Edwards
Fall in Santa Fe
This one has soft edges and a strong good focal point, using value to highlight the focal point. There is a beautiful musical rhythm to the flower shapes; all are unique; there is an abstract element to it even.
Royal Talens Award
Patrick Kochanasz
Lone Aspen
Love the tall format and how it makes you feel. This painting feels more like it’s in a different medium, but it’s pastel, which is wonderful. It is balanced with wonderful positive and negative shapes that have lovely movement and wonderful variety. Love the long format.
J Luda Award
Marcia Ballowe
Mounture Creek Reflections
Grew on me more and more as I looked at it; has a nice quietness and a wonderful sense of design; light is handled very subtly and it has created a focal point; great color harmony with violet and green.
Jack Richeson Award
Dan Rich
Moonlit
Very daring; lots of horizontal lines; he’s made it work because of the variation in the horizontal shapes. It should not work but it does. Makes me want to look at it more deeply. Great variation in shapes. The moon has a lot to do with the impact of the painting.
PastelMat Award
Chad Greene
Emerald Haze
Reminded me of Andrew Wyeth; love the drips on the bottom; love the green tonalism throughout; the joyful part is the invitation to come in closer; wonderful textures throughout the piece. The drips make it for me.
Earthberry Award
Matthew Atkinson
Red Elk’s Dance
This approach to pastel is very unique and have never seen anything like it; the technique is original and stands out; very strong piece that is drawn extremely well. It is such a strong painting; almost at a loss for words.
 
Canson/MiTientes Award
Carey Pelto
End of the Line
Very well drawn painting. Love the green and violet color harmony. It has an overall nice quality. Love that he was daring enough to put the sunflowers in the corner.

Academy Art & Frame Awards

Betsy Cook
Celestial Convergence

Dan Rich
Lake Dillon Gold

The Show