Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Summer Brushstrokes

In this issue
We Paint ... the Springs
Meadowood Paint Out
Signature Status Members
Vi Working's dry brush demo
Tips from Tony Couch
Member News
Beyond BWS

We Paint … the Springs Sept. 21 - 23
The conference BWS is coordinating in collaboration with Ivy Tech is just eight weeks away, and the absolute deadline for registration is Sept. 1. If you are still deciding, consider these program highlights:

Your choice of program tracks
You can register for an all-day beginner’s workshop and come home with three small paintings and a quick introduction to the basics. All supplies are provided so this is a great way to “give it a try.” Jeanne Dutton and Nancy Davis Metz, both instructors for Ivy Tech’s Center for Lifelong Learning, will teach the beginners.

If you are an intermediate or advanced watercolorist, you have even more choices. On Saturday morning, you can choose from three sessions:

We’ve Got a Stamp for That. This session will explore the design element of texture through stamping, including the use of everyday materials, such as leaves, plastic, wax paper and sponges. Ivy Tech Center for Lifelong Learning instructor Linda Meyer-Wright will teach this workshop.

Managing Color to Create Better Art. Understanding color is essential to watercolor painting. In this session, Carol Rhodes, a Bloomington artist and IT instructor at IU, will cover the topics of saturation, tonality, key and purity of colors.

Concept, Not Technique. Sara Steffey McQueen, an art teacher and Bloomington artist, will inspire design ideas using a mandala, a visual tool that uses radial symmetry and symbolism to facilitate reflection and contemplation.

In the afternoon, intermediate and advanced painters will choose from two workshops, each taught by a professional Hoosier watercolor artist.

William “Bill” Borden of Hanover, Ind., will teach a three-hour workshop, “Watercolor Landscapes en Plein Air.” He graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art with a BFA in industrial design and worked as a designer at the Ford Motor Company Design Center in Dearborn, Mich.  He became interested in transparent watercolor as a student at the Cleveland Institute and has been painting landscapes since the early ’70s. He is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, Watercolor U.S.A. Honor Society and the Watercolor Society of Indiana. You can view his work at http://wbordenwatercolors.com .

Cathy Hillegas will conduct a three-hour session, “Watercolor Florals: Up Close and Personal.” Hillegas’s work has received numerous awards in national, state and regional shows. One of her paintings, “Transcendence,” is on the cover of Splash 13, which was published last month. To view her paintings, go to http://cathyhillegas.com.

Regardless of your choices, you will have six hours of quality instruction and painting time.

There’s more…
Both of the Saturday afternoon workshops will prime your creativity for Sunday’s paint out on the grounds of the French Lick Springs and West Baden Springs hotels. Registrants can choose to participate in a guided paint out led by professional artist Tricia Wente or to paint independently at any outdoor location that is part of the resort community. Registrants are encouraged to enter their paintings for judging Sunday afternoon on the West Baden Springs veranda. First, Second and Third Place will be awarded in both beginner/intermediate and advanced/professional categories.  The monetary value of the awards has yet to be determined. You may participate in the paint out without attending the Saturday sessions, but you must register by Sept. 1. The $40 registration fee includes a box lunch.

The social network
The conference schedule includes Friday and Saturday receptions, Saturday breakfast and lunch, and Sunday lunch. You can catch up with current friends and meet new ones. This event is being marketed to artists in Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois plus the St. Louis and Cincinnati metropolitan areas.

Nitty gritty details
Registration for the full conference is $199 and includes a Friday reception, Saturday breakfast, lunch and social hour, and the Sunday box lunch.

Saturday-only registration is $179 and includes breakfast, lunch and social hour.

Sunday-only Paint Out registration is $40 and includes a box lunch.

To register for the conference, call 812-330-6041 and be prepared to provide your choice of programs and credit card information. You may also register by going to http://bloomingtonwatercolor.org/conference/conferenceregistration.html; print out the registration form, fill it out and mail it with payment to Ivy Tech Center for Lifelong Learning, 122 S Walnut St, Bloomington IN 47404.

To make room reservations, call the French Lick Resort at 1-888-936-9360 by Aug. 20. Use code 0912BWS for the $189 discounted room rate. The BWS room rate cannot be guaranteed for reservations made after Aug. 20.

For those already planning to go…
Watch your email in the coming weeks for information about the conference and carpooling opportunities.

Deloris Schneider and Connie Brorson
Jo Weddle
Candi Bailey
Hot sun in the summertime
No one will argue that this is one of the hottest summers in memory. But way back in June when it was reaching only the low 90s, BWS did have a paint out at Meadowood. And it was the best attended of any paint out BWS has hosted.

Connie Brorson hosted the event, which included a delightful luncheon on the patio. By today’s standards the 92 degree temperature of that day seems cool, but at that point, it felt pretty steamy and painters were glad the site had so many shaded spots to paint.


 

Linda Meyer-Wright


Jerome Harste

Nancy Davis Metz
Three members achieve Signature Status
Linda Meyer-Wright, Jerome “Jerry” Harste and Nancy Davis Metz have been named Signature Members of BWS. They can now add the BWS initials after their names when they sign their paintings, display their paintings in special BWS exhibits and benefit from waived BWS show entry fees.

BWS considers applications for Signature Status every other year. The process includes evaluation of applicants’ resumes and a collection of their paintings. Tricia Wente and Betty Wagoner presented the Signature Member certificates at the June meeting.

Vi had everyone Working on dry brush technique

Members perfecting dry brush technique

Vi Working

The June meeting's program featured Vi Working instructing members on a dry brush technique. She provided prepared sheets of watercolor paper and led members through painting waves, beach and clouds.

Tips from Tony Couch (via Jerry Harste)
Jerry attended a 5-day workshop given by Tony Couch and has graciously passed along some of what he learned:

“No two areas of negative space should be the same.”
“Everyone believes a photograph; art, however, is always seen as suspect.”
“Don’t paint what is out there; instead invent a symbol and paint the symbol.”
“Never let any two shapes the same value overlap.”
“Never put one interesting thing under another.”
“On unity: Nothing should happen only once in a painting.”
“On painting nature: Everything in nature has to be grayed down.”
“Actively think variety every time you pick up a brush; change everything you can possibly change to add variety.”

Member news

by Sue Haverstock
All four of the images Sue Haverstock submitted to the Bloomington Photography Club’s juried show were accepted. The Opening Reception will be Friday, July 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Henry Hope School of Fine Arts Building in the Grunwald Gallery (formerly the SoFA Gallery). The exhibition will be open to the public July 27 through Aug. 2, noon to 4 p.m., except July 29 and 30. She took two of the photos in a junk yard in Car City, Ga., one in Story, Ind., and the general store photo in Bodie, Calif.

Mont St Michel
by Meri Reinhold

Meri Reinhold and her husband spent a week in Paris, a week traveling in Normandy, and a week in the Channel Islands. She says she has “tons of material, but so far, limited time to do anything with it.” She has completed one painting, “Mont St Michel.”

One of Jerome “Jerry” Harste’s mixed media pieces has been selected as a finalist in the abstract/experimental category of The Artist’s Magazine 29th Annual Art Competition. His name will be listed in the December 2012 issue of the magazine.

Sherry Redman will have a booth to sell her watercolor paintings at the Community Art Fair in Third Street Park over Labor Day weekend.

“Nature Play” is an abstract exhibit of collages and prints by Sara Steffey McQueen currently showing at the BY HAND gallery on the square. The exhibit will be up till the end of July.

A painting of a heron by Nina Ost received honorable mention in a show at the Suntan Art Center in St. Petersburg, Fla. She says the painting is “an outgrowth of pouring, splashing, dabbing background gratis Linda Meyer-Wright.”

Kathleen Rice is now showing her work at the Art Splash Gallery in the heart of the Art District in Carmel, Ind. Her solo show will be up through the end of August.

Beyond BWS
Sally Hedges is hosting a yupo and wine tasting event at Boondoggle Barn Winery Saturday, Aug. 18, from 5 to 8 p.m. The $55 class fee includes wine tasting and a full sheet (22 x 30) of yupo. A small supply list is available and the class size is limited. For more information, contact Sally Hedges via email (indystar3@comcast.net) or  765-792-0328.


Thanks to everyone who submitted news and images for this issue: Candi Bailey, Bob Burris, Tricia Wente, Sue Haverstock, Meri Reinhold, Jeanne Dutton, Deborah Rush, Sally Hedges, Jerry Harste, Kathleen Rice, Nina Ost, Sara Steffey McQueen and Sherry Redman