About CPSA and DC210

Founded in 1990, the Colored Pencil Society of America (CPSA) is a nonprofit organization for colored pencil enthusiasts working to promote colored pencils as a fine art medium by sponsoring exhibitions and workshops, being involved in product research, and educating the public in general.

CPSA DC210 San Jose was founded in 1996 to support colored pencil artists in Northern California. The chapter has approximately 40 members across northern California and Colorado.

The organization strives to elevate the medium, educate others about it, and encourage innovation with its use. Some of the ways CPSA works to gain recognition for colored pencil include:

· Promoting colored pencil art and artists

· Sponsoring workshops and demonstrations

· Supporting the community and non-profits through donations of art, time, and fund raising

Explorations in Colored Pencil XII (ECP XII)

The annual exhibition is open to all artists 18 and over, working in colored pencil. We hold this exhibition to educate and inform the public at large, about colored pencil as a fine art medium. And to encourage artists working in colored pencil and let them know about CPSA and the large community of colored pencil artists they can join.

The artwork on display represents the diversity of colored pencil artists in experience, style, and subject matter. We hope this exhibition encourages viewers to look for more art using colored pencil, and to perhaps try this medium themselves.

Contact Us

Information about CPSA and CPSA DC210 San Jose, please go to our website at www.cpsa210.com or follow us on our social media sites at https://www.facebook.com/cpsadc210sanjose

In my work, the act of making is not a means to an end, but the core of the art itself. My practice is rooted in the "seed" of an idea, evolving through a dynamic, iterative process where composition, color, and texture must achieve a precise balance to form a cohesive whole. Working in series allows me to explore these ideas deeply, treating each piece as a step in a broader evolution of form and construction.

I am captivated by the elemental power of three-dimensional geometric shapes. Their simplicity and precise edges provide a framework for repeatable, visual compositions that bridge the gap between traditional craft and structural fabrication. Utilizing a hybrid of wheel-thrown and slab-built techniques, I create vessels that function as more than mere containers; they are stages for movement and interaction.

The interiors of these large-scale works serve as a platform where the "contents" become the most powerful visual element. Here, shapes penetrate or transition through the containing walls, challenging the boundary between interior and exterior space. Finished with low-fired glazes and fired in electric kilns, these objects celebrate the tactile pleasure of construction and the profound relationship between a structure and what it holds.

" My paintings are a personal tribute to atmosphere, light, movement—and the subtle presence of people within their surroundings. I aim to capture not just what I see, but the emotional undercurrents of a moment in time. I’m especially drawn to plein air painting, where being outdoors allows me to engage directly with the world around me. Immersed in a living environment—where people pass by, linger, or quietly inhabit a space—I respond with spontaneity and honesty. This immediacy brings a sense of raw energy and authenticity to my work. Every shifting light, passing figure, and fleeting shadow becomes part of the story I tell on canvas, helping me transform ordinary moments into lasting impressions. "

ARTIST RECEPTION

August 7 from 3:00-5:00 pm

Alcosta Senior & Community Center (9300 Alcosta Blvd, San Ramon, CA 94583)

“Whisper of Color” is about capturing the subtle magic of color in its quietest form. This exhibition explores color not as something loud or dominant, but as a soft, almost hidden element that hints at emotions, memories, or moods. It’s in those delicate shifts, the soft transitions, and the layered moments where color becomes a quiet conversation between the artist and the viewer.

In this exhibition, we invited artists to experiment with these quiet moments—whether through smooth gradients, barely-there hues, or complex layers that slowly reveal their depth. The goal was to create a sense of intimacy, where color feels like an internal experience, something that is felt more than seen. These works convey emotion, memory, or subtle shifts in mood, allowing viewers to engage with the pieces slowly and find meaning in the quiet details.

Artist Reception:

When: August 7 from 5:00-7:00 pm

Where: San Ramon City Hall (7000 Bollinger Canyon Rd, San Ramon, CA 94583)

Everyone's invited to "Flora in Focus," a flower-inspired art show put together by a small group of local floral artists. The show will run at the Livermore Public Library located at 1188 South Livermore Ave., Livermore, for the fourth consecutive year from August 1 to 31. A fun reception is planned for Saturday, August 29 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. Community members can enjoy refreshments, meet the artists & win unique raffle prizes at the reception!
Floral artworks in colored pencil, acrylic, watercolor, oil, gouache, glass, mixed media and East Asian brush painting techniques will be exhibited.

Participating artists are Helene Roylance, , Monique Makepeace, Charlotte Severin, Wei-Ting Chuang , Usha Shukla, Jenna Hobbs, Lynda Briggs, Tejal Shah , Ranjini Venkatachari, Rekha Joshi,  Peggy Kervin ,  Tuan Karsevar and the show's creator and organizer Meghana Mitragotri.

Read about our show in the Pleasanton Weekly

Show Dates: August 1 to 31, 2026

Reception & Raffle prizes: Saturday, August 29, 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Venue: The Civic Center Library, 1188 South Livermore Ave., Livermore CA

Contact Organizer: Meghana Mitragotri at meghana.ms@gmail.com , www.daintlymade.com

Tom Stahl is a San Francisco–based travel, landscape, architecture, and Burning Man photographer. He began photographing in 1987 after leaving his job to travel the world for 18 months. During that journey, he discovered that his most vivid experiences and lasting memories unfolded behind the lens. Since then, Tom has traveled to 60 countries across six continents — tracking lions in Zimbabwe, hitchhiking across the Tibetan Plateau, watching the moon rise over the Sahara, and chasing lemurs through the jungles of Madagascar.

Tom’s work centers on the vibrant colors and dramatic landscapes he encounters in remote and extraordinary places. Combining technical precision with a subtle touch of surrealism, he transforms fleeting moments into immersive, otherworldly compositions. Driven by curiosity and a love of adventure, Tom seeks to convey the awe of discovery, inviting viewers to lose themselves in the depth, scale, and beauty of our world.

Tom’s images have been exhibited worldwide and have won awards in numerous international competitions, including runner up in the 2017 Travel Photographer of the Year contest. Since 2023, his photographs have been displayed in five museums, including the de Young Museum and the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara. He has participated in twenty juried exhibitions and has held three solo shows. Tom’s book, Traveling Light: Photographs and Stories, was recently selected for The Griffin Museum of Photography’s 16th Annual Photobook Exhibition.

The show contains 22 of Tom’s favorite images from around the world. All of the images are for sale, to be delivered at the end of the show in July. 

If you would like to see more of Tom’s work, visit his website at tomstahlphoto.com, or follow him on social media via @tomstahlphoto.

Vibrant Respite 

 Vibrant Respite brings together a selection of paintings and collages to create a beautiful sense of lively pause in the shared civic spaces of San Ramon City Hall.

My work draws energy from the tension between seeming opposites—effort and ease, emotion and intellect, surrender and control. All my paintings are born as collage first, and it is through the making that I discover meaning. Every piece I create begins intuitively, with color as the emotional starting point. I collage only with papers I paint myself, and my final compositions balance playful chords of color.

I passionately believe art and the act of creating deepen our connection to what is most human in ourselves and each other. I live and work in San Carlos, Calif. with my family.

ARTIST RECEPTION:

Where- San Ramon City Hall

When: July 10, Friday 4-6pm.

Christopher Lloyd Tucker is a San Diego based multimedia artist who specializes in combining woodwork, metalwork, and digital art. Tucker thrives in situations that involve hands-on problem solving and exploring new materials, and his body of work reflects that, integrating new approaches and new media with each new phase of life.
While spending a great deal of his artistic career working in abstraction, Tucker has recently embraced more socially engaged versions of realism as a way of responding to our cultural moment. His latest body of work has been largely portrait based, relying on gestures and expressions as a vehicle for social commentary.

Tucker’s recent work has been an adaptation of digital drawing into three dimensions, with a thematic focus on the relationship of the human face and figure (and of marginalized and minoritized faces and figures in particular). The pieces submitted all began the same way, as a digital sculpture. They were then rendered and converted into a more simplified vector image. They were laser cut from a collection of exotic hardwoods or multicolored acrylic sheets and puzzled back together into a two-dimensional mosaic-like artwork and framed in a hardwood.

The work displayed here represents the last few years of the artist's practice.

Artist Reception @ASCC July 5th 5-7pm.

 "Hello, I'm Haruka and I'm an illustrator who has lived in San Ramon all my life. I make Japanese and Anime style illustrations, and I'm super excited to share it with you for my first ever solo exhibition. From sketches to full pieces, I hope to reach people with my visual style and character designs. Thank you everyone for your support, and I hope to see you there!"

The Way I Feel, The Way I See

This exhibition brings together two bodies of work that explore identity, perception, and
transformation through fine art portraiture. Moving between self-portraiture and conceptual
portraits of children, the work reflects both an internal and external way of seeing.

The Way I Feel presents self-portraiture as an intuitive and symbolic response to personal
experience. These images are shaped by emotion and informed by visual dialogues with artists
who have influenced me. A feminine reinterpretation of The Son of Man becomes a point of
departure, while references to Yayoi Kusama appear in the repetition of red polka dots, and a
quiet nod to Zinaida Serebriakova informs the exploration of femininity and presence. Subtle
surreal elements run throughout, creating a visual language that reflects emotional complexity
rather than literal narrative.

The Way I See turns toward children as subjects, where portraiture becomes a metaphor for life
and transformation. In the Russian language, there is a saying: “children are the flowers of life.”
This idea is embedded in each image through the integration of natural elements—flowers and
organic forms—that become symbols of growth, fragility, and change. The children are
presented in a space between reality and imagination, suggesting a state of becoming rather
than a fixed identity.

Together, these works form a dialogue between inner experience and observation. The Way I
Feel, The Way I See reflects a continuous movement between emotion and perception, where
both are inseparable in shaping how we understand ourselves and others.

The Harrington Gallery is excited to welcome back the 14th Annual Fresh Works Juried Exhibition. An open call to emerging and established artists throughout the Bay Area, visitors can expect to see works of oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, sculptures, and more. All exhibited artwork are original, completed within the last year, and not previously exhibited in Pleasanton.  

Reception & Awards Ceremony on Saturday, June 6 from 1:00 - 3:00 P.M.

Art Exhibit Hours: 
Wed – Fri: 10 AM – 5 PM
Sat: 10 AM – 3 PM

I first became enamored with denim jeans after attending an exhibit about the life and work of Levi Strauss at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. Previously I hadn’t given much thought to the ubiquitous jeans that I had been wearing all my life. Denim jeans as we know them today were created in 1873 with the introduction of the copper rivet to reinforce the pockets and seams on canvas work pants. California gold miners were in need of durable, long lasting pants and the Levi Strauss Company produced them from a strong cotton sail cloth originally from Nimes, France. The name denim is derived “from Nimes”. What I love about the fabric is how each garment takes on the individual shape of the wearer. Much like an old pair of boots or gloves that crease and fold over time, denim jeans start to resemble the bodies that inhabit them. The fabric is so unique, I try to explore every property it possesses. I start by disassembling the garments into all the individual parts, waistbands, inseams, and pockets then put them back together again in a new form. In this digital age, I derive great satisfaction by cutting the fabric by hand. Each pair of pants holds a personal story of the wearer which gets incorporated into my artwork along the way. I love the slow, meditative process of assembling my pieces layer by layer.

For this series, I wanted to offer a sensory experience of Summertime through content and color. I’ve selected a spread of media and art forms that showcase the lushness and jubilance during the emergence of the Summer season. I invite you to smell the salt air, taste the peaches, tromp through the forest, and sunbathe under an umbrella in this celebration of Summertime.