“Portrait of Jacqueline,” a work completed by Terry Lennox, associate professor of art at Eastern Connecticut State University, won the 2015 Prize for Pastel at Slater Memorial Museum’s 71st Annual Connecticut Artists Exhibition in Norwich.  Lennox completed the portrait as part of her sabbatical leave project. The exhibit ran through March 20 at the museum.

“I confess to amazement at the number of entries, and am thankful for the opportunity to see the types and quality of work produced in our state,” wrote Cynthia Roznoy, Mattatuck Museum curator who juried the exhibition. “I looked for work that was fresh —with no clichés, no typical/overdone subjects and no sugary sentiments. I responded to work that was technically fine; demonstrated skill and the ability to communicate; and sought out work that addressed social content or that took some risks. Terry Lennox’s “Portrait of Jacqueline” is an excellent character study. Her use of the pastel in bold and dramatic colors in a painterly technique won her the pastel prize.”

Lennox described her process in producing the portrait: “Lately, for my artistic research, I have been studying secular and religious portraits by Renaissance artists, particularly those created in Florence, Italy. I traveled to Florence and to museums in the United States to see the actual works to better understand the physical process of painting and the scale of the artworks. My current body of work features paintings of people I know well. These contemporary portraits all have an emotional narrative—either through facial expression, light direction, things held or scenes in which they are posed. The “Portrait of Jacqueline” is my own interpretation of a pose from Renaissance Annunciation scenes, wherein Mary leans toward the angel’s light with a self-assured, yet pensive and expectant gaze. “Portrait of Jacqueline” will be in Lennox’s gallery, Francesca Anderson Fine Art/Portraits North, in Lexington, MA for the 30th Portrait Show, April 18–May 30.

Another Lennox work, “Portrait of Lucia by the Window,” is also featured on the gallery website. For more information on Lennox’s work, visit: http://www.fafineart.com/index.html, http://www.fafineart.com/upcoming_show.html or http://www.fafineart.com/portraits/OtherP.html.