Lopez Artist, Steve Hill, has been selected to be Fine Art Juror for the 43rd National Ocean Shores Juried Fine Art Show. This expanded show will be held at the new Convention Center, April 20-22, 2012, at Ocean Shores, WA. Nearly $10,000 in awards will be given to artists from all over the U.S.

Hill was awarded “Best of Show” for his pastel painting “Winding Down” in the 2011 exhibit, which was painted en plein air in the Skagit Valley, shortly before the old farm building fell down. Juror, Arthur Egeli, noted oil painter and juror, selected Hill’s piece from several hundred entries nationwide.

Hill will also be leading a 3 day workshop in beginning and intermediate level pastel at the convention center, in April. He teaches pastel and plein air landscape painting workshops at Dakota Art Center in Mt. Vernon, and in the San Juan Islands, where he has a workshop scheduled next September at Canoe Island French Camp, on Canoe Island, among others.

He and his wife, Judy, have just returned home from a 7 week painting trip and 2 major art exhibits: his opening in New York City at Agora Gallery (November) and the prestigious 2011 Florence Biennale (December) in Florence, Italy, where he was one of eleven artists invited to represent the U.S., showing with over 600 artists from 60 countries. www.windsweptstudios.com to view Hill’s latest works and blogs from his recent painting trip.

Hill’s work shows locally at Crow Valley Gallery on Orcas Island and Windswept Fine Art Gallery on Lopez Island. www.associatedarts.org for details about the 2012     Ocean Shores Exhibit.