March 12 meeting
Plein air painting: Ready, Set, WAIT! Paint
Painting outside can feel challenging, frustrating, and sometimes overwhelming. But having a basic plan with a few logical steps can help an artist feel prepared, confident, and free to experience more joy. Alice Sharp will take BWS members through four basic steps to outdoor watercolor painting.
- Ready: Selecting a scene
- Set: Composition
- WAIT!: Value before color. This important step will be the focus of the presentation and the subject of practice exercises.
- Paint: Discovering your ideal simple palette
Members will need the following supplies: sketchbook or sketch paper, pencil, eraser, and a variable nibbed black marker such as an Artists Loft dual nibbed or a Staedtler Mars graphic 3000 duo. If you don’t have a variable nibbed marker, any wide nibbed marker such as elMarko or Marks-A-Lot will work.
Alice’s presentation will follow a brief business meeting that starts at 6 p.m., March 12, at the First Christian Church, 205 E. Kirkwood Ave.
BWS Scholarship deadline approaches
Bloomington Watercolor Society invests in the future of art by awarding a $300 scholarship to help a promising visual art student. BWS awards one scholarship annually to an MCCSC high school senior who is pursuing a degree in visual fine arts, arts education, architecture or design from an accredited college, university, or school of design. The scholarship award will be paid to the student for the purpose of purchasing art supplies necessary for the curriculum in which the student is enrolled.
Applications for this year are available online at www.mccsfoundation.org with a due date of 7 p.m., Friday, March 30.
Donations toward this scholarship fund are tax deductible and may be made any time to the Foundation for Monroe County Community Schools (FMCCS). Please specify BWS Scholarship Fund in the memo line and mail to 315 North Drive, Bloomington IN 47401.
Hidden Treasures of Indiana
to show April 3 – May 9 at Wylie House
by Kathy Barton
Upland Plein Air Painters of Bloomington Watercolor Society invites all BWS members in good standing to enter their 2D work in any media except photography. Work must have been created at least 60 percent in plein air paint-outs sponsored by Upland and BWS. For example, on-site work should — at the least — establish the composition and color notes.
The show will hang in the Wylie House Museum Bradley Education Center. The opening reception will be Saturday, April 14, from 2 to 4:30 p.m.
“We want to offer opportunities to those who like to paint small as well as large,” said Kathy Barton, who pointed out that the location is well suited to many small pieces in 8 X 10-inch frames or 10 X 10-inch frames. “We also welcome pieces in 11 X 14-inch frames or similar, and a few larger pieces up to 35 inches outside frame width.” The prospectus, titled “Hidden Treasures of Indiana,” is available on www.WePaintBloomington.org and www.bloomingtonwatercolor.org.
Kathy suggests work created at a paint-out often fits a precut mat. For example, a 5 X 7-inch greeting card fits a precut mat for an 8 X 10-inch frame. Both Hobby Lobby and Michael’s Arts and Crafts offer frames with mats and glass as a single unit as well as precut mats in standard sizes for reasonable prices. Check the prospectus for details on hanging hardware and wire location. Talk to Upland members about how to do this for a reasonable price.
Works can be sold from the show and replaced while the show is up. No commission will be taken from sales. Artists must make their own arrangements for sales transactions. Kristen Stamper or Kathy Barton can offer assistance, if requested, or they can sell for you if you are not available.
To enter the show, sign up with Penny Lulich at the March 12 BWS meeting. A $5 confirmation fee is due at sign up; the fees will fund a People’s Choice Award to be announced at the reception.
BWS Portrait Group schedule
Portrait Group sessions are open to all BWS members and their guests. Participants are welcome to work in any medium. Typically models pose for 20- to 25-minute segments, alternating with 5-minute breaks. Those who attend share the cost of the models, with a minimum of $3 and a maximum of $5 charged for each session. Sessions are every other Thursday from 1 to 3 p.m. The location with occasional exceptions, is the Banneker Community Center, 930 W. Seventh St.
March 8 Brycen Veach
Brycen Veach, who is majoring in fashion design at IU< is a student in BWS President Jane Matranga’s fashion illunstration course. Brycen represents a type of model we have not yet had, a male in his early 20s. He has a warm, open face, great smile, and billows of black hair.
March 22 Maria Pairitz
Maria Pairitz is an art major at IU.
April models to be announced.
May 3 Brother William Morris
An Indiana Legal Services attorney, Ivy Tech professor, and Episcopal deacon in training, Brother William Morris is best known as host of WFIU’s Soul Kitchen, an eclectic mix of musical genres from his personal collection. He’s also a closet artist and has expressed enthusiasm about modeling for our group. You can read a profile about Brother William in Limestone Post at https://www.limestonepostmagazine.com/big-mikes-b-town-william-morris-always-teaching/.
BWS helps LIFEDesigns raise money
The Week of Chocolate fundraiser generated more than $60,000 for LIFEDesign programs.
BWS contributed to the effort in a couple of ways:
- All the members who submitted artwork to the “We Paint … Jazz!” exhibit at The Vault. Kristen Stamper’s entry sold, providing 50 percent of its sale price to LIFEDesigns.
- Handpainted cards sold at The Vault, The Venue, and the Art of Chocolate event Feb. 10. Charlotte Griffin; Cassidy Young and husband Michael; Robin Edmundson, her husband Eric and daughter Claire Jenness, Carol Rhodes, and Jeanne Dutton all created cards or helped at the event.
At press time, card sales totaled about $200. Stephanie Shelton, chief development officer for LIFEDesigns, said: “We’re so impressed with how the sales of these cards has gradually increased each year.”
Jeanne Dutton and Carol Rhodes painted greeting cards at the event.
Robin Edmundson, Michael Young, and Cassidy Young. Robin and Cassidy painted cards at the event.
Steve and Candi Bailey at the Art of Chocolate Mardi Gras event
Upland
Plein air painters March schedule
All BWS members are welcome to join in at any Upland event. For more information on a specific event, email Upland@bloomingtonwatercolor.org.
Tuesday, March 6: T.C. Steele Studio paint-in or paint-out, hosted by Betty Wagoner
Tuesday, March 13: Wylie House Museum, hosted by Kristen Stamper
Tuesday, March 20: Abstract demo, hosted by Jacki Frey
Tuesday, March 27: Watercolor glazing DVD & bread baker, hosted by Kathy Barton
Friday, March 30: Nude model at IU Fine Arts, hosted by Claude Cookman
Juried art show
The Art & Soul of Bloomington III
summer schedule announced
B-town Vibe by Nancy Davis Metz was awarded Best of Show in last year’s Art & Soul show.
The Venue invites submissions to its annual juried show The Art & Soul of Bloomington, which celebrates Bloomington as “a place that nourishes the body, mind, and spirit of those who are privileged to call it home.”
Jurors will select 25 submissions for the show. All submissions must be original, created by the submitting artist, and available for sale, subject to The Venue’s normal commission. The jury panel consists of Gabe Colman, a professional art appraiser and curator of The Venue; William Hays, an educator, collector, and longtime member of the Bloomington art community; and an anonymous juror.
Cash awards will be given for Best in Show, Silver Best in Show, and People’s Choice.
To apply, contact The Venue at 812-322-1661 or Venueartshow@gmail.com. All formal applications will be made by email with attached photos where appropriate. Rules and details are available on the Prospectus on the website http://www.thevenuebloomington.com/art-soul.
Application fees paid before midnight June 15 will be $40 for one submission and $5 for each additional submission. From June 16 until midnight June 28 the fees will be $40 for one submission and $10 for each additional submission.
Show schedule
June 15: Early bird application deadline
June 28: Final application deadline
July 7: Grand opening and reception, 6 p.m.
Member News
The theme of “Professor Animalia’s Menagerie of Struggling Species: SAVE THE ANIMALS/SAVE YOUSELF!” is to raise environmental awareness through the sideshow banner genre. This concept reflects a culmination of Joe and Bess Lee‘s past experiences, both professionally and personally: Joe’s work with actual circuses and as an illustrator and Bess’s career as a public school art teacher and painter. The show will be a culmination of their experiences as individual artists and concerned citizens. It opens at the Blueline Gallery, 212 W. Fourth St., April 6, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. A percentage of all sales go to Earth Charter, a not-for-profit environmental agency in Indianapolis.
Lennie’s Restaurant has extended the showing of pastel works by Lynne Gilliatt and oils by Susan Savastuk through March 9. The restaurant is at 1795 E. 10th St., Bloomington.
Several BWS members have works in Lawrence County Art Association’s current show, “Tiny Treasures,” which continues through March 18 at the Wiley Art Center, 1402 J St, Bedford. The gallery is open 1 to 5 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. The show features miniature works in oil, acrylics, watercolor, ink, collage, and pencil. Penny Lulich, Candi Bailey, Robin Edmundson and Don Geyra are represented in the show.
Beyond BWS
Indiana State Fair competition entries open March 1. For watercolor information, turn to page 15 in the Open Entry Book that can be found at https://www.indianastatefair.com/state-fair/competitionscontests/indiana-arts-building/.
The Kentucky Watercolor Society will stage Aqueous, its major juried show of the year, Sept, 6 – Nov. 4 at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Lian Quan Zhen, internationally acclaimed watercolorist, will be the juror. Deadline for receipt of entries is July 1. The prospectus is not yet posted on the website, but you can email questions to kentuckywatercolor@gmail.com. Or check the website periodically: http://www.kentuckywatercolorsociety.org/competitions.html.
IMO
Social media users recognize IMO as an abbreviation for “In My Opinion,” and each month we close by giving you the chance to share your opinion on a specific question. This month the question is:
If you could paint anywhere in the world, time and money being nonfactors, where would it be and why?
Patty Uffman
Greece: Love the photos of the blues against the whites, the coastline, cobblestones, the craggy old men — not to mention the Acropolis and Mount Olympus!
Penny Lulich
There is no place like Maui for painting people and scenery, so if time and money aren’t an issue, that’s where I would go. And I would start in Makawao where you see horses being ridden right down the sidewalk on the main street of town, under the rain shadow of Haleakala.
Mary Jo Cannedy
I would love to paint in Tuscany, Italy. I have seen pictures and the landscapes look lovely. I have painted in the south of France and in Abingdon, England, so Tuscany is my next choice.
Meri Reinhold
Italy. The Tuscan countryside specifically.
Sandy Hall
My grandparents were born in the Netherlands. I would love to capture tulips during their spring festival. A canal with bridge reflections would be an equally challenging scene.
Lynne Gilliatt
Sardinia during Easter season during those pagan walks and festivals would suit me fine. … I love high holy days in other countries, having seen my first in Nicaragua years ago when I was in the Peace Corps there. Portugal and Lima, Peru, during dance festivals whet my appetite also!
Robin Edmundson
If time and money were not factors, I would go anywhere with a lot of water because I don’t really understand light and water and need to practice it more.
Jacki Frey
I could enjoy spending paint time along the harbors and inlets of Maine. Also I would like to return to the quaint and colorful coastal villages in France and Italy. All these locations have an array of boats, buildings, land, and sea to paint.
Candi Bailey
Where would I paint: New Mexico. I went to visit a friend about 1980 and was totally surprised by everything. I had expected to be in a brown desert, but the landscape was amazing!
Claude Cookman
We visited Savannah, Ga., in the late 1970s, and I’ve been trying to get back there ever since, now wielding my Urban Sketchbook and watercolor travel kit. As the oldest city in Georgia — founded in 1733 by Gov. James Oglethorpe, who organized his city plan around a series of squares fronted by elegant brick and wooden homes — Savannah is a time machine that transports the artist back to antebellum days. Featuring a major art museum, an Atlantic seaport on the Savannah River, numerous parks populated by oak trees bedecked with Spanish moss, plus the “Garden of Good and Evil,” more properly known as Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah offers the watercolorist a lifetime of motifs.
April question for IMO:
What’s your favorite triad of paints to work with? Pick three paints that play well together and share how or why you like them so well.
Send your 1- to 3-sentence response to Nancy Davis-Metz by March 21, and look for your opinion to be published in the April issue. Please use IMO as your email’s Subject Line.
