Each year, the Colored Pencil Society stages an international colored pencil show, always in a different location. Artists are welcome to submit a slide of a piece of their artwork, and the slides then go to a juror who makes the final determination on which works of art will be displayed in the show.

Once an artist has been selected to exhibit in three shows, she is granted signature status, which, according to Scannelli, means that when the artist signs a work of art, she is permitted to put the initials “CPSA” (Colored Pencil Society of America) after her name.

Scannelli, now in her 33rd year with the New Philadelphia City Schools, earned signature status when she was accepted into her third show, held in Chicago. She previously had been accepted into shows staged in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.

Just making the final cut is a feat. According to Scannelli, the final drawings selected for exhibition are pared down from more than 1,000 original submissions.

The drawing which earned Scannelli signature status is titled “The White Tag” and features a grouping of wood planes lying across a table. Previously selected were “Beyond the Locked Door,” a drawing of a lock hanging from a door; and “The Sentinel,” a drawing of an Italian soldier on the front of a flying buttress.

All three of Scannelli’s drawings can be seen at the Web site www.sharperart.org.

Scannelli said she usually works from a photograph she has taken. “Then, I include what I want to include, or take out what I want taken out,” she said.

Pencil drawing has always been one of Scannelli’s favorite art forms. “There is a different way you can use them to make the color look more realistic,” she said.

Scannelli said she also enjoys making polymer jewelry, creating stained glass windows and digital and hard photography .

“Art was always something I wanted to go into,” Scannelli said. “I started cartooning as a kid. It’s just something I’ve always done. When I was involved with Little Theater of Tuscarawas County I did a lot of work with sets, some of which I actually designed.”

Scannelli attended the show in Chicago this past summer, which was held in the downtown Pallet and Chisel Gallery.

“It was kind of wild, to see my work hanging with other artists whose work I was familiar with,” she said.