Pastel Tones is dedicated to pastel colors and their visual interaction. The focus is placed on softness, balance, and tonal subtlety, exploring how muted hues shape atmosphere, rhythm, and emotional distance through careful color relationships and controlled composition.
We invite contemporary artworks built around pastel tones or their combinations. Works may be abstract or figurative, digital or traditional, provided pastel colors remain central and defining. We are interested in cohesive palettes, restrained contrasts, and compositions where gentle color decisions determine the overall visual structure.
March 1, 2026 — Applications open
March 25, 2026 — Application deadline
March 30, 2026 — Notification of winning artworks
Gold Award
— Digital certificate
— $100-$200 cash prize
— Featured at the top of the art show page
Excellence Award
— Digital certificate
— $30 cash prize
— Artwork placement on the art show page
Curator’s Choice
— Digital certificate
— Artwork placement on the art show page
Finalists
— Artwork placement on the art show page

Květinová poezie
·
2025
Olga Tkachová
Foamiran
An original 3D floral artwork handcrafted from foamiran. This piece is not only a beautiful decorative element but also a work of art that will bring elegance and a unique style to the home.

Excellence Award
The Fire In Your Eye
·
2022
Photography
Cooper's Hawks are regular backyard visitors in the Winter months. When I looked out into the yard and saw this bird perched on the back fence I grabbed my camera, already with a long lens attached and crept up to the fence line to shoot this bird right as the light from the setting sun shined between the houses and illuminated its eye. The long lens and short distance to the bird created the beautiful, blown out pastel background seen here.

Excellence Award
Cove
·
2014
Acrylic
The water mirrors this conversation. Silvery blues blend with soft aquamarine and hints of reflected stone, the surface neither fully still nor restless. Gentle brushstrokes blur the boundary between sea and sky so that the horizon feels less like a line and more like a merging—air dissolving into water.

Excellence Award
Ethereal
·
2026
Renee Keil
Pastel and acrylic gesso on canvas
Ethereal Garden Drift invites viewers into a subtle world where abstract floral shapes gently dissolve into one another, framed by soft pastel tones that evoke a sense of calm and quiet wonder. The piece balances delicacy and movement through a harmonious blend of lavender, pink, yellow, orange, and green hues, each layered thoughtfully to create depth without overwhelming the composition. Fine, flowing lines weave throughout the canvas, suggesting the organic growth and lightness inherent in a natural bouquet, while textured brushstrokes and pencil-like marks add tactile richness. The painting’s open, airy arrangement allows the forms to breathe, capturing a fleeting moment of nature’s grace suspended between abstraction and memory. This work demonstrates a fresh approach to pastel on canvas, lending a contemporary softness that is both inviting and contemplative.

Curator’s Choice
Field of Flowers
·
2024
Textured acrylic painting
I wanted to produce a colourful, abstracted field of flowers - as if the viewer is looking out of a window ie: the frame - on the scene. The piece is textured and sanded to produce 'broken' colours and uses muted, yet colourful delicate pastel shades. The vibrant blooms burst with life and colour, inviting the viewer to gaze out onto a joyful, sunlit landscape brimming with natural beauty and a sense of peaceful escape. This artwork will add a pop of colour to any area and brings nature's glory into the interior environment.

Curator’s Choice
Panther Chameleon
·
2005
fiber-reactive dyes and resist on silk
Panther Chameleon 18"x24" (Skeleton Hibiscus and Monstera vine) Belying the names, I think of rainbows when I see this adorable lizard, lace when I see these hibiscus flowers, and impressively large leaves on the monstera vine. 29.5" x 36" framed

Curator’s Choice
Prince Edward Island Sunset
·
2018
Digital Photography
A land of sweeping coastlines and breathtaking vistas, Prince Edward Island (PEI) is Canada’s smallest province, known as the "Garden of the Gulf" for its lush landscape, red sandstone cliffs, and iconic red soil. Located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, this Maritime province is famous for its beaches, potato farming, and as the birthplace of Canadian Confederation. This photo was taken from the back deck of my summer home on the island.

Curator’s Choice
Riding High
·
2025
Soft Pastel
18" x 24" This painting is a Montana cowboy in the high country of Jardine (on the north border of Yellowstone National Park). He is participating in the Hells-a-Roarin' Horse drive in Gardiner, Montana which happens every Memorial Day Weekend. An event which includes a huge auction with 100% going to providing "off-road" wheelchairs for disabled veterans. They drive 150 horses from Gardiner to their summer home up a winding mountain road 8 miles. Mid-way, we all stop for a break for a cool drink and the horses get to roll in the high meadow. My reference photos.

Curator’s Choice
Valley
·
2023
Painted ABS
Through poetic translation and abstraction, mountains and landscapes become symbols of emotional expression, serving as windows to convey sentiments. Bright sunshine, lush mountains, and azure seas are translated into calming images of travel scenes. From poetic lyricism to abstract interpretation, the space between form and meaning lets one express thoughts and reconnect with old dreams.

Curator’s Choice
Cherry Blossom
·
2026
Tim Hoover
Photography/Digital Art
Portrait Photography and Digital Art of an Asian woman in cherry color. Pastel background that I created to enhance the image.

Curator’s Choice
Pelican Mountain
·
2025
astrophotography
Pelican Mountain evokes a sense of familiar - a mountain landscape - but in reality it's a violent, dynamic, turbulent cosmic stellar nursery located in the Milky Way. Pelican Mountain, a detailed area of the Pelican Nebula, located in the Cygnus Constellation about 1,800 Light Years from Earth, is printed on metal and is available in two sizes: 30" x 50" and 40" x 70"

Curator’s Choice
Canyon Impressions 2
·
2025
watercolor and ink
This is an abstract watercolor and ink composition with a layered washes of warm pink, lavender, pale blue, and dusty rose. Scattered across the surface are ink lines forming loose geometric shapes—triangles, polygons, and angular fragments. The painting is an impression of my experience hiking the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Curator’s Choice
Sweet Kiss
·
2025
Teh Guat Hwa Monica
Pastel
A stack of freshly baked macaroons.

Curator’s Choice
Take Me To Where The Wild Things Grow
·
2024
Yildiz Grodowski
Acrylic
Take Me To Where The Wild Things Grow is part of the Into The Woods series. It tells the story and the belief that there is no age for discovery, for curiosity. Having someone to do it with you is nothing more than a miracle.

When Words Aren't Enough
Adi Zur

Relic of the Past
Adi Zur

Tranquil Retreat
Adi Zur

Field of Flowers
Alison Adams

Heaven
Alison Adams

Noboru
Alison Adams

The Fire In Your Eye
Andrew C Strom

Hydrangea in green
Anne Carter

express 05
Barry Smylie

Panther Chameleon
Beth Surdut

Red Stem Filaree
Bruce Fayman

Lantana and Gazania
Bruce Fayman

Tulle Rainbow
Cher Pruys

Love Hearts
Cher Pruys

Profile of Anna
Courtney Panzer

Prince Edward Island Sunset
Curtis Fedder

Glass Office Tower at Sunset
Curtis Fedder

Royal Ontario Museum at Sunset
Curtis Fedder

Toronto Metropolitan University Student Learning Center 3
Curtis Fedder

Toronto Highrise at Sunset
Curtis Fedder

Estremos
Fred Hecht

Free Spirit
Fred Hecht

Memories
Guido Corazziari

Pretty in Pink
Heather Nicole

05. 07. 25.
Jack Farkas

12. 22. 25.
Jack Farkas

Riding High
Janet Rawlings

Contemplation
Janet Rawlings

Valley
Jason Shih

Wind
Jason Shih

Etude 04
Jean DOULLIEZ

Etude 05
Jean DOULLIEZ

Etude 06
Jean DOULLIEZ

Disney Steel Pastel
Karen Safer

London Pastel Blooms
Karen Safer

Pastel Playa Dawn
Karen Safer

Pinemento Pastel
Karen Safer

Serene Peach Skies Pokhara
Karen Safer

Pelican Mountain
Kenneth Naiff

Cove
Kerry

Amongst the Angels
Kerry

Koi Pond
Kerry

The right to dream
Krystyna Vinogorodska

Tropical Beach
Liz Alpert

Christ Resurrection
Mary Anne Kinane

Suspended in Quiet Motion
Michele L Knox

Květinová poezie
Olga Tkachová

Letní symfonie
Olga Tkachová

Jemnost v rozkvětu
Olga Tkachová

Sugary Confinement
Paco Martin

Emerging Patterns
Pat Isaacson

Morning Brew
Ramesh Jhawar

Ethereal
Renee Keil

Yellow Daffodil
Sara Davies

Canyon Impressions 2
Steven Bogart

Lemon Tulips
Sylvia Bandyke

Mary Pat in Highland Park 2
Sylvia Bandyke

Sunlight on a Row of Trees
Sylvia Bandyke

You Pick
Sylvia Bandyke

Sweet Kiss
Teh Guat Hwa Monica

Cherry Blossom
Tim Hoover

Double Trouble Meerkats
Walt Anderson

Take Me To Where The Wild Things Grow
Yildiz Grodowski

You Must Believe In Spring
Yildiz Grodowski

Keep Your Hands On My Shoulder
Yildiz Grodowski























