Thursday, March 31, 2011

Brushstrokes -- April 2011


Nature Mandala
by Sara Steffey McQueen
 In this issue
Peggy Brown workshop
Go outside – and paint!
For BWS members “of a certain age”
Inspiration: Sara Steffey McQueen
Gallery North’s “Special Offer”
T.C. Steele Art Trek
Member kudos
Tickler file






Presidential column
By Kriste Lindberg
Keeping in line with the spirit of the last Presidential Column, we're on a roll with creating new and refreshing ventures! For our meetings, we are introducing an exchange table.

Here’s how it will work:
  • The table will be devoted to the single function of exchange.
  • There will be items for loan, to give away, or to try while there (complete with signage to designate the separate areas).
  • The table will be "open" before the meeting, during the break time, and after the meeting.
  • Anyone who brings an item must take it back at the end of the night if no one has taken it.
We are in the process of refining the "rules" (gotta have 'em!) and will soon be sending a message with more information. A test run of the table will debut during our April meeting. As with all new ventures, revisions are expected as the table evolves.

Start your spring cleaning and bring in your goodies to share! If you do plan to bring them, you may want to arrive a few minutes earlier than usual.

See you soon.

May 28
Peggy Brown invites you into her art and BWS workshop
Nashville artist Peggy Brown says she paints for the challenge and joy of it.

“Knowing visual art must be seen to be heard, my greatest satisfaction comes when you concur with my feelings,” she said. “Then you too become a part of my marks on paper – and I always leave room for you.”

Brown’s workshop will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 28, at the First Christian Church, which is at the corner of Kirkwood and Washington. The cost is $55 for members and $65 for non-members.

Brown says she produces images “on, above and below the surface of the painting.” “I hope I invite the viewer to follow as I work and see the painting process from tentative beginnings to the final touch,” she said. “Some of the beginnings become non-objective abstracts. Some become landscapes or still life. All are collaborations between watercolor, the medium, and myself, the artist. I think we both enjoy ourselves.”

To get in on the enjoyment, reserve your workshop spot today. You can register and pay online by going to http://bloomingtonwatercolor.org/peggybrown.htm or going to the BWS Web site http://bloomingtonwatercolor.org, clicking the Activities link and then following the Peggy Brown link. Or you can mail your check made payable to Bloomington Watercolor Society to P.O. Box 5236, Bloomington, IN 47407-5236. If you are mailing the check, please send an e-mail that the check is coming to members@bloomingtonwatercolor.org . BWS will hold a spot for four days.

Perhaps the easiest of all registration methods is to bring your check to the April 11 meeting.

BWS members get first dibs on the workshop. After April 30, however, all remaining spots will be open to the waiting list of non-members. The deadline for all registrations is 5 p.m. May 14.
Cancellations must be made by May 14 for a full refund. Cancellations made after May 14 will not be eligible to receive a refund. However, an enrolled person may “sell” a registration to someone else; however, members@bloomingtonwatercolor.org must be informed of the changes.

April 11 meeting
Go outside – and paint!
Remember your mother telling you to go outside and play? Now that spring is finally beginning to pop, the new admonition is to go outside and paint.

At the April 11 meeting, Jacki Frey and Nancy Metz will prepare members for the first BWS paintout of 2011, which will be April 30 at McCormick’s Creek arched stone bridge. Jacki and Nancy will cover the usual logistics of what to pack and how to get there, but they will also suggest different ways to work outdoors.

So members can practice simplifying a busy scene, Jacki will bring copies of a photo and small paper viewfinders; members will then select an area of the photo to draw in a 30-minute sketch. Members should bring a sketch pad, a pencil and an eraser. Because it’s often more fun (and less intimidating) to be part of a group, Nancy will organize members into carpools or “support groups” for the first paintout.

Jerome Harste
The scoop on the Oops Eraser
While attending a Kentucky Watercolor Society workshop, I was introduced to the “Oops Eraser.” It is a very soft vinyl eraser that does not damage the surface of watercolor paper. Proponents say that it is able to erase pencil marks under watercolor, though I have found this to be not true in some cases. It measures 2-5/8 X 1-1/2 inches and is 5/8 inch thick. It is available online from Amazon and other fine art stores.

For members “of a certain age”
BWS exhibits at The Venue as part of Creative Seniors Month
Any BWS member 50 or older is invited to exhibit work at The Venue the first two weeks of May, a period that includes First Friday, IU graduation and Mother’s Day. Downtown will be packed with potential customers looking for Bloomington mementos and gifts.

BWS members are invited to set up to paint on The Venue’s porch or in the yard May 6, 7 and 8.

Appropriate content is expected, and only original artwork  -- no prints -- will be displayed.
To participate, e-mail Jeanne Dutton at Jeanne.dutton@att.net  by April 11.

Other dates for The Venue show:
April 26 – May 1: Deliver paintings to The Venue
May 3: Exhibit opens
May 6: First Friday Opening Reception at 5:30 p.m.
May 13: Closing Reception at 5:30 p.m.
May 15: Show closes

Gallery North announces “Special Offer”
Artists can now join Bloomington’s Gallery North at a reduced rate. The cooperative gallery has dropped its $150 joining fee and now offers membership for a $60 monthly fee for the first three months. The gallery charges 30 percent commission on sales.

Membership chair Jeanne Iler says benefits of membership include having a solo show or a joint show after six months, a friendly atmosphere that promotes a “club” feeling and a professional art gallery to display and promote your work.

Membership applications are available at Gallery North, 116 W. Sixth St., and at www.gallery-north.org. For more information, call the gallery at 812-339-5729 or Jeanne Iler at 812-876-8610.


Walk in T.C. Steele’s footsteps
BWS member Betty Wagoner and interpretive naturalist Brittany Swinford will lead “Art Trek,” a sketching walk at the T.C. Steele Historic Site April 23 at 10 a.m.

Bring a sketchbook and your choice of drawing media for an easy two-hour sketching walk. The “Art Trek” will depart from the upper parking lot near the T.C. Steele exit.

The event is part of the 26th Annual Wildflower Foray taking place at T.C. Steele and other
Brown County and Monroe County sites April 22 to 24.  For other Wildflower Foray events and schedule, go to www.tcsteele.org/links.asp or if you have questions about the sketching walk, contact Betty Wagoner at blw89@yahoo.com or 765-349-1210.  Betty will bring copies of the program to the BWS April meeting.

Member kudos
Sammye Dina Smith has a solo show of artwork featuring animals at Meadowwood April 8 to 27. The opening reception is 6 to 9 p.m. April 8.

The Indiana Artists Club, Inc., has juried “Cousins,” an oil painting by Tricia Heiser Wente, into its 79th Annual Juried Show at the Indiana Museum of Art April 16 to June 5. Nationally known artist Harold Gregor served as juror for the 2011 show.

Rose McCay is exhibiting her orb photography at Gallery North, 116 W. 6th St., Bloomington, April 1 to 29. The opening reception is 5 to 8 p.m. April 1. Making a few adjustments to her original photographs, Rose creates pictures rivaling vividly colored paintings with her digital images of this fascinating phenomenon. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Tickler file for your calendar
April 11 – Monthly BWS meeting, 6 p.m. , First Christian Church at the corner of Kirkwood and Washington
April 11 – Deadline for letting Jeanne Dutton know you are participating in the BWS show at The Venue for Creative Seniors Month
April 26 to May 1 – Deliver artwork to The Venue for Creative Seniors Month show
April 30 – Paintout at McCormick’s Creek arched stone bridge (just past the parking area for the waterfall) 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
April 30 – Deadline for BWS members’ registrations for Peggy Brown workshop (After this date, registrations open for non-members.)
May 6 – Opening Reception for Creative Seniors Month Show at The Venue, 5:30 p.m.
May 13 – Closing Reception for Creative Seniors Month Show at The Venue, 5:30 p.m.
May 14 – Deadline for ALL registrations for Peggy Brown workshop
Nature Mandala
by Sara Steffey McQueen


Inspiration
“Nature Mandala” melds spiritual, multicultural, healing and natural influences
Sara Steffey McQueen knew she wanted to paint big watercolors, so she purchased a roll of good watercolor paper and covered a wall of her studio – top to bottom – with it.

She didn’t know what she was going to do with it but recognized it as a departure from her usual M.O. of plein air painting.

The paper hung there untouched several months until finally she knew.

When Sara spoke about the 40-by-60 painting, ideas spilled forth as she enthusiastically wove together a lifetime of experiences and symbols. Sitting in an art classroom at Jackson Creek Middle School where she teaches, Sara traced her interest in mandalas to having studied eastern philosophy in college, which led to her involvement in Tibetan Buddhism.

Her middle school art curriculum centers on Tribal and Traditional, and her middle school students create mandalas. “I believe art can teach tolerance,” she said.

Sara says her spiritual path has often led to mandalas. Carl Jung and Hildegard von Bingen, a 12th century mystic, both did mandalas, she said. She traveled to the American Southwest on a Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship and was fascinated by the Native American’s sand paintings. And, of course, she has witnessed the creation of mandalas locally by Buddhist monks.

Sara also cites as an inspiration Judith Cornell, author of “MANDALA: Luminous Symbols for Healing.” Cornell uses light vibration for healing, Sara explained, a technique that has helped her “bring more of the inner world out.” For Sara, who is primarily a landscape painter, this was a major leap. “This was the beginning of my inner landscapes,” she said. Sara now creates personal mandalas for others, using symbols personal to the individual.

Another influence on Sara’s work is Judi Betts, who critiqued some of her work at a BWS workshop and advised her to “do more of her borders,” Sara said.

When Sara started painting what would become “Nature Mandala,” she said she knew immediately it would have primarily a red and bright blue border.  The Arabic and Sanskrit words for God, Aum and Allah, provide the border for “Nature Mandala.”

“Travel really has enriched my world,” Sara said. As a chaperone for People to People student tours, she has visited Australia three times, Italy and France. She also received a second Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship that allowed her to research sacred trees in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.  She titled the grant “My Search for Celtic Roots.” The tree motif is a powerful personal image given that Sara’s husband is an arborist.

Although Sara has traveled the world, the trees in “Nature Mandala” are right outside her patio door.

Do you have a painting you'd like to talk about? E-mail nmetz@indiana.edu to volunteer to be featured in a future Inspirations column.