Yesteday: A Rainbow and Brush & Palette Meeting

A rainbow seen from the patio:

 And Brush and Palette met:

Gary Hauschulz, talented and determined artist, provided B&P its February meeting demonstration.  Interspersed with some of his favorite cartoons, Hauschulz emphasized a quirky sense of himself as a maker of art.

Speaking of quirkiness and nonconformity, Hauschulz took home the Colorado Wine Fest 2012 poster prize, one he painted with Colorado wine.

He urged everyone to pursue passion with passion.  There’s a time to scribble, a time for perspective, a time to get real, and a time to become yourself.  He says there is then a “time to move on.” Gary used the hours of a clock to lead participants through the natural stages of artistic development, including the tough times when most people quit, but artists continue on.



Participants were led through the face of the clock, crayons in hand, symbolizing personal growth at each stage from babyhood (one o'clock on the face of the clock) into adulthood (eleven o'clock), with guided imagery at each hour.  Participants were challenged to go beyond their perceived limits in art:slides of Pollack and others' abstract art were displayed.  They pushed through their limits.  So can YOU!

Linda won the Mini Show and pocketed ten dollars for her score.

Brush & Palette October Demonstration

With the 2015 Brush and Palette Fine Arts Show paintings creating a Hollywood backdrop (89 entries) on the Grand Junction Art Center walls, Ann Kurz Chambers took center stage with her demonstration on October 15, 2015.

A multi-faceted artist with a published book of wildflowers, cranberry products, and more, Chambers showed how to create landscapes with oils on pieces of wood previously gessoed with a white background. 

Her creations are unique, and she paints quickly, proficiently. She emphasized that all art supplies and items are conserved, no matter the age of oils in tubes. She returns to her paintings that have been long neglected, perhaps laying against a corner of her studio, and fine tunes them in multi media ways using gesso and layers of paper or found objects. 

Chambers often uses hardwood by-products supplied by her son. Most of the wood provided by her son is special Engelmann spruce wood that he uses in his violin making.

Recap of Chambers’ demonstration:

Supplies:

oil paints, turpentine, turpentine in spray bottle to retain moisture on surface, Liquin, panels of wood, fiberboard, canvas, canvas board, masonite, gesso, brushes, rags, protective gloves

Method:

• Apply several layers of gesso to chosen surface object
• Apply the layers several times, laying on more gesso in the opposite direction of the prior layer
• Sand lightly after each gesso layer has dried
• When background is to your liking, apply oils (saturated with Liquin for ease of application and to aid in drying)

Several Finished Chambers’ Objects:

Brush & Palette 2015-2016 Begins Anew

Fall has arrived and it brings a new year to the Grand Junction Brush & Palette organization.

Last week, Sarah Dishong from Interiors, Etc. presented the September program, discussing current framing trends.  She asked that members bring in one finished, unframed piece of artwork so that she could make specific presentation and framing suggestions. Sarah discussed material trends, design and balance for matting and framing.

Sarah suggested the artwork sample above be framed with a lighter frame and either a fillet or white matt to offset the piece.

Trends for the coming  year include:

• using lighter colored fillet or matts so that the painted work is not distracted by colors
• using lighter colors around the artwork in a more neutral hue will not be off-putting to the buyer of the art
• using barn wood for frames has not come back into vogue
• metallic frames are still somewhat dated, not coming back soon
• likewise, colored metallic frames are also somewhat dated
• using lighter creams or whites for fillets/matts are suggested, especially for pieces that one wants to sell

Sarah Dishong, on the left, with Deborah Robinson, Show Coordinator for the Brush & Palette club.  (Picture taken at the Art Center, where monthly shows are held for the Brush & Palette organization.)

left to right: Emilie Olbert, Brooks Powell

Lise MacGregor, pastel artist, won the September Mini-Show

Next month, the Brush & Palette will meet on October 15, again at The Western Colorado Center for the Arts, aka "The Art Center."

The October presentation will be given by Ann Kurtz Chambers, mixed media artist.  Ann will demonstrate techniques of painting on miniature gessoed wood panels with oils.  She will also show how to prepare the wood panel, and show a fun, fast two-stage process that will create an abstract painting.  All are welcome, and we are always on the look out for new members and presenters!

Watermelon Socks?

Have you heard of picture yarn?  Well, Abi Grasso from Colorado Springs dyes it up in all kinds of colors with graphics that make pictures when knit.  She has an Etsy shop here.

Example: my watermelon socks

A neat trick, and the pictures are either closer together or conversely, further apart, given the size needles you use for knitting.  At one time, Abi dyed Santa Claus yarn, but it is not available this time of year.

This watermelon yarn was knit on size 1 needles and I was oh, so careful, to make the stripes match up because that is my OCD (my little tiny problem) that comes out in my knitting.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with Elise working on a new website for The Grand Junction Brush and Palette Club.  We put together pictures but we need many more for greater punch to show off this club.  It looks like only my photos are on there now, because others have not yet sent theirs in.  This is where you can see the Brush and Palette new website.  

Next week's program on April 16 at the Artist's Haven in Grand Junction will be a not-to-miss activity with Jim Brock.

He says:

My work is accomplished for its meditative possibilities. It is reflective of my interest in contemplative art that explores nature´s dualities, serendipitous qualities, and inherent spiritual mystery. 

There are three things that my work is teaching me – what to paint and what not to paint, when to start and when to stop, and when to have at it alone and when to ask for help – all dual, serendipitous, and spiritual.

Jim Brock 

Brush & Palette Club

Yesterday was the second demonstration of the year for the Brush & Palette Club in our town. Dani Tupper showed her techniques of applying watercolor paints diluted with water, using spray jars filled with the watered paints. She introduced, new to me, the idea of using spray webbing over her paper.  She said one could also use the Halloween type webbing available in bags at hobby stores around that season, and that it would give the same effect.  She would pull apart that type webbing and cover the paper with the wispy material prior to applying the paints. 

Tupper applied spray webbing (available online) to the 140 lb. Arches watercolor paper, securing it onto her paper with tacks.  Then over the webbing she sprayed on her colors, allowing them to dry. The webbing was then pulled off the paper, and various pools of color emerged with textures giving differing effects.  

You can access Dani here at her home website and see some of her beautiful works.

Below is one of her paintings in process.

Linking with Fiber Arts Friday and Freshly Finished Fridays, I have made several crochet book covers for writing journals.  The inside of this one uses Mardi Gras material in like colors of purples and greens and blues. The flap is convenient for holding my mechanical pencil.

The journal cover is an idea with some directions given on Elizabeth's blog, and she even has one featured on Google images.  I tried to channel her crochet talent, but did not end up with one nearly as pretty as hers using granny squares shown here.

I leave you with lemon yellows and pictures of a pie and lemon water from organic lemons shipped from a Florida backyard directly to friend Norma, who shared some with me.  When one is given lemons, after all, one MUST make a pie.  This one I made just before Brush & Palette Club, and it haunted me throughout the demonstration.  It had to be tasted (after dinner of pot stickers, I must say it was pretty palatable).