Congratulations to Janet Sullivan of Missoula, Montana, for her winning pastel, Midsummer Storm (10x8), in Carole Katchen’s August Creative Spark challenge. The artist won a 75-piece workshop set of Mount Vision Pastels (thanks for your generosity!). The challenge was to put a neglected color to work. Here’s how Sullivan did so:

“Working primarily as a landscape/plein-air painter here in Montana, my dominant color palette consists of blues, greens and the many other grayed down hues available. In fact, the Mount Vision storm set is centrally located in my collection.

“During one winter here in Missoula, I looked out my window day after day to see a white fog hovering over the ground covered with snow. Even the bare tree branches had thick layers of hoarfrost. After days of this dreary gray and white scene, I decided to pull out those neglected colors that pile up and get shoved aside.

“I live on a hill over looking the valley and watch the storms roll in and out of town. Using the sky, trees and river below as a subject, I went to work harmonizing bright colors that work well together.”