CREEDE— Pastel and oil painter Jan Thompson has been selected as the honored guest artist for the 30th Annual Taste of Creede event to be held May 26-28 of Memorial Day weekend.
A nationally known painter and co-owner of Loverings Gallery in Creede, Thompson has participated in this venue for many years. She will be painting on Main Street of Creede both days of the festival. The 30th anniversary t-shirt will display an image of her painting with a view of the Commodore Mines.
Thompson grew up in the southwest and attended the University of Oklahoma majoring in commercial art. She studied at the Art Students League in New York City and at one point had a successful exhibition at the Cork Gallery at the Lincoln Center. Her varied career includes magazine production at Phillips Petroleum in Odessa, Texas and fashion illustration and jewelry manufacturing in Albuquerque, N.M. After 15 years in the jewelry business she and her husband John moved to Creede to open their gallery and where she could devote full-time to her work.
She is a signature member of the Pastel Society of America, the Colorado Pastel Society, Pastel Society of New Mexico and more. She divides her time between studios in Creede, Chloride, N.M. and Tubac, Ariz.
During this weekend Main Street of Creede will be blocked off and artists will be demonstrating Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Sunday they will be working from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. At 1 p.m. a host of artists will participate in the “Quick Draw,” a one-hour paint-out where the public can view artists gathered together to paint a variety of subjects in drawing media, watercolor, acrylic, oil and other media. At 2:30 p.m. these same works will be displayed and auctioned off with earned revenues going to the 2019 Taste of Creede event.
Another event for the weekend will be the Silver Chef Competition at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. This involves local chefs cooking on Main Street using the same ingredients with judging and food tasting to follow.
At 4 p.m. the Creede Arts Council will host the opening of the 15th Annual National Small Print Exhibition. This event features original small etchings, woodcuts, lithographs and silkscreen prints from printmakers all over the United States. At 7:30 p.m. that evening the Creede Repertory Theatre will open the play “Barefoot in the Park.” This play will again be shown on Sunday evening.
Everyone is invited to celebrate Taste of Creede. For more information, contact the Creede Chamber at 719-658-2374 or [email protected].