2026 Members Show

Open to all Pastel Society Members, this annual show is not juried, though awards are presented. Artists are typically allowed to enter two pieces, with some restrictions on size. More details will be published here as they are available.

Location: Arapahoe Community College, Littleton, CO

Sarah Blumenschein makes her home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Even though creating art was her first passion and first choice of a degree, she ended up earning a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering. As a result, she spent 14 years working as an engineer before retiring to raise children and start working on her art again, using pastels as a medium. 

Initially, Sarah wanted to paint landscapes, but found herself more excited about still-life painting due to the variety of colors, shapes, textures, and reflective surfaces possible. She enjoys painting both and often experiments with mixing a still-life with a landscape.

The pastel medium is appealing to Sarah because of the immediacy of the color and the ability to build layers of colors. Her selection of subjects is often based on a desire to find and replicate the way light bounces around a scene or setup. For that reason, glass, china, and other reflective surfaces are often featured in her still life paintings. Flowers are a favorite subject, whether as part of a still life or as found in nature. Sarah enjoys the challenge of capturing a strong sense of light and creating the illusion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional surface. With each painting, Sarah hopes to inspire an emotional reaction of joy or happiness in the viewer.

Sarah entered her first art exhibition in 2003 and was honored to be awarded 2^nd place. Since that time she has won many local, national and international art competitions, including 1st place in the Still Life Category of “Artists Magazine” 2009 Annual Art competition, Grand Prize in “Pastel Journal” 2010 Pastel 100 annual competition, “Best of Show” in the 2014 New Mexico Masterworks competition and the 2015 Pastel Society of New Mexico National Exhibition, “The Pat and Bob Suggs Award for Still Life and Floral” in the 2021 Pastel Society of America “Enduring Brilliance” Exhibition, and 1^st Place in the Open Division of the 2021 International Association of Pastel Societies Web Show. In addition to awards, Sarah has also earned Signature status in the Pastel Society of America, Distinguished Pastelist status in the Pastel Society of New Mexico and Pastel Society of the West Coast, and Master Circle Status in the International Association of Pastel Societies. Her artwork has been featured in magazine articles in both “Artists Magazine” and “Pastel Journal.”

Show Chairs: Christine LaFortune & Sandy Marvin

WATCH FOR THE CALL TO ENTRY IN THE PSC NEWSLETTER.