Davenport, WA artist Casey Klahn was awarded the Master's Circle status from the International Association of Pastel Societies, June 8th, 2019. The award is indicated for his achieving the IAPS master's status in 2017, when he secured a fifth point in the international association's system for recognizing artists achieving either awards or exhibition placement.
Klahn is a past member of the Northwest Pastel Society, and a signature member of the Pastel Society of America. He is represented in the contemporary marketplace of various social media platforms, and teaches art workshops internationally.
The award of Master's Circle is signified by a bronze medal coated in 18K gold, struck with a design of a rose rendered by IAPS founder and former president, Urania Christy Tarbet. On the back is engraved the awardee's name and date of the award. An artist may use the letters IAPS/MC to indicate his or her status, and in Klahn's signature the letters PSA are also used to note his status as a signature artist in the Pastel Society of America.
The pastel medium is among the oldest mediums used by artists. It is composed of pure pigment and the least amount of binder or body necessary to make a paste, which is then dried and forms a stick similar to a crayon. The difference being that a crayon is of gross materials, and the pastel of the finest. Pastel artworks are considered the most archival colors, even exceeding oil paint for lightfastness. Contemporary pastelists enjoy the availability of archival surfaces now, compared to the past when some paper substrates were of a fugitive nature. One of the formal qualities of pastel that Klahn enjoys is its ability to portray bright, pure color, which is a keynote of contemporary visual art.
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