April 11 – Meeting 6 to 7 p.m.
The April 11th meeting will be in person and online. If you are vaccinated and wearing a mask, you can attend in-person at the First Christian Church’s Great Hall, 205 E. Kirkwood. If attending the meeting in person, dress in layers as windows will be open to facilitate ventilation.
Free parking is available in thr IU Poplars Garage, across from the Runcible Spoon. Pay parking is available on the street and in the Fourth Street Garage, across from the former Waldron building.
To attend the meeting via Zoom, look for the link in an email from Joanna Samorow-Merzer or from Carol Rhodes
Program: ONE STROKE FLOWERS IN WATERCOLOR by Beverly S. Mathis
DEMONSTRATION:
For a change of pace, let’s do a painting in one sitting, without a detailed plan, and
have some fun. We will capture the simplicity and beauty of flowers by using your
watercolor brushes in a new way. And learn how to paint a loose watery
foreground. What you learn can be used for a framed piece of art, or smaller
pieces such as greeting cards.
SUPPLIES:
One piece of 140# HOT PRESS watercolor paper, such as a quarter sheet of Arches
or your favorite brand, or a page from a watercolor tablet, whatever you have.
Masonite board (or other waterproof board)
Masking Tape
Assorted WC brushes in lots of different sizes and shapes (round, pointed, blunt,
filbert, flat, etc.) Any kind of synthetic, blend or sable will work.
Transparent watercolors, and opaque gouache
Palette with plenty of mixing areas
Water container
Paper towels
No.2 or HB pencil, and kneaded eraser
Masking fluid, old brushes for applying, and pickup for removing
Old Windex pump bottle, or adjustable nozzle sprayer, that makes DROPLETS of
ater and not a mist
Inside BWS
A Request From Our President
In early March, Gabe Colman gave me a tour of the Teachers Warehouse located in a former Monroe County school. The Teachers Warehouse provides free school supplies for local teachers and their students. There are chairs, bookcases, shelves, backpacks, books, papers, notebooks, pens, pencils, knitting supplies, and so much more. Please check your homes and see what you have there that you could donate to the Teachers Warehouse. Every item matters. You can go to the website of theTeachers Warehouse for examples of what you can donate.
Joanna Samorow-Merzer
Ad Hoc Nominating Committee
The 2022-23 Nominating Committee is made up of Sarah Ward as the Chair and Zain Mackey and Meri Reinhold as committee members. The committee is eager to hear from anyone who would like to serve in the vacant slots for officers and chairs. Still needed — Someone to run for President and these committees chairs: Activities, Paint-Out, and Publicity. Contact Sarah Ward or any member of the Nominating Committee (see the Membership Roster for email addresses and telephone numbers).
Paint-Outs
Chair: Betty Wagoner reports the following:
- The May 21 paint out will be at the Wiley House.
- The June 11 and 12 paint out will be part of the Bloomington Garden Club Garden Walk. There will be a signup distributed to let members signup for a 2 or 4-hour slot to be an “Artist in the Garden” at one of 5-6 gardens that will be on display.
- The July 16 paint out will be at Hilltop Garden and Nature Center.
- The October 8 paint-out will be a Peden Farm.
Historical Note
Linda Branstetter, BWS Historican, sent in this historical note: In April of 2012, BWS had an art supply drive for Henryville Schools that were affected by the March 2nd tornado.
Outside BWS
Upland Plein Air 2022 Member Exhibition
The Upland Plein Air 2022 Member Exhibition will hang at Viridian Moon Gallery April 1 – May 15. The opening reception will be 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 2.
Votes will be taken for peoples choice awards so come and submit a vote for your favorite painting
T.C. Steele Historic Site
Cate Whetzel, Program Developers for the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites wrote to say: “Hello everyone! Please contact me if you would like to paint at the site for Arts of the Earth Day. Just a correction—the event is next MONTH, Sat. April 23, between 12-4pm.” (Cate can be contacted by email via the Indiana State Museum site on the Internet.)
Watercolor Society of Indiana
The Annual Watercolor Society of Indiana Membership Exhibit will be held at the
Second Presbyterian Church, 7700 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis from May 14 to July 8.
Deadline to register April 29th. $16 Entry. The Membership Exhibit Opening Reception
and Luncheon will be held on Saturday, May 14, 2022. 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm. $20 per person.
The 40th Annual WSI Juried Exhibit will be held at Newfields/Indianapolis Museum of Art, 4000 N. Michigan Rd., from August 5, 2022 – September 24, 2022. Deadline to enter is May 6th. Artist Ken Call, AWS, NWS, TWSA MS is this year’s juror. $35 for one entry. $45 for two entries.
Hoosier Art Salon
The Hoosier Art Salon in New Harmony announces its Spring Workshops:
John Michael Carter — 3-Day Portrait (April 25-27)
Mary Beth Karaus — 3-Day Still Life (April 25-27)
Douglas David — 2-Day Clouds and Skies (April 25-26) ;
Douglas David — 3-Day Lilacs, Peonies, and Hydrangeas (April 27-29
Workshops in New Harmony are not just about learning, they are about your experience with other artists! The April workshops are just three weeks away. Join the other artists who have already signed up.
Bloomington Portrait Group Moves Outside to Switchyard Park for Summer Schedule
The Bloomington Portrait Group will meet at the Switchyard Park Shelter from April 14 through October 27. Sessions are from 1 to 3 p.m., every other Thursday. The $30 model fee is divided among participating artists. The summer line-up includes some teenagers, the directors of Monroe County’s Habitat for Humanity and CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate), and Sylvia McNair, Metropolitan Opera star, two-time Grammy winner, and IU Jacobs School of Music emerita professor.
If you would like to be included in the announcement list, email BWS member Claude Cookman, who also directs the BPG.
From last September’s BPG exhibition at Viridian Moon Gallery.
Member News
NEW MEMBER: Our newest member, Marcie LeMasters, is ready to embark on a new phase of her creative journey. Marcie has been in Bloomington since 1970 while she was earning a fine arts major in photography from I.U. and much more recently enrolled in an online watercolor class during the pandemic. She says it piqued her interest and was a fabulous investment of $27.00! She has been a personal trainer and yoga instructor, is now semi-retired but still works as bookkeeper for A-1 Window Cleaning Services which her late husband started. Please join me in welcoming Marcie to Bloomington Watercolor Society!
Tim Lewis. I recently donated one of my original watercolors to WSI for their Colorvision 2022 Silent Auction. The proceeds for this auction will go towards watercolor classes for kids aged 5-12 at The Christamore House as well as demonstrations and classes in communiuties throughout Indiana. Donated paintings will hang at Sak’s Third Floor Gallery at Sak’s Fifth Avenue here in Indianapolis during the auction. More information about this activity is available at https://www.watercolorsocietyofindiana.org/Silent-Auction-2022.
Jacki Frey. Juniper Art Gallery and Gifts in Spencer is hanging their new spring show. I have 4 paintings in the gallery space for spring. Please check out their website at https://juniperartgallery.com or stop by, 46 E. Market Street, downtown Spencer.
Sandy Hall received best of Show in the Friends of TC Steele members exhibit, held in March at the Brown County Gallery, Nashville IN. Kudos to Betty Wagoner who organized this wonderful show.
Sandy teaches a watercolor class once a month at the Hancock Co Arts Gallery, 20 N State in Greenfield, IN. April’s topic is painting a feather.
This one is a study of my granddaughter using fluid acrylics and marker on yupo. I love to paint images that tell a story.
P. S. Forgot to include information about our Will Vawter Juried show. Due in May for June 4 entry day.Visit website for Hancock County ArtHere’s the brochure http://www.hancockcountyarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Vawter-Entry-Brochure-2022_Revised.pdf
MarySue Schwab. I recently won second place in the TC Steele Members show. My Painting is called, “Yellow Glen” and is oil on linen board. I have also been accepted in the129th Women’s Art Club Show in Cincinnati. The painting is a watercolor of pears on a tree called, “Study in Green.”
Susan Savastuk. My Boomingfoods Gallery B show closed on March 28th. I sold 30% of pieces and received 3 commissions during the 3 month show. $100 raised for Middle Way House.
I had 2 pieces in the Friends of T.C. Steele show at Brown County Art Gallery in Nashville.
One piece sold. Show closed March 27th.
__________________________________________________________________________
I entered the City of Bloomington Environmental Commissions’ Eco-Heroes Art Contest. This years theme is “Fighting Fragmentation”. The awards ceremony will be April 23rd @ 10:00 AM at Cascades Park. Email Ben Sharaf at environment@bloomington.in.gov for more information.
I also submitted one piece to the Upland Plein Air Show at Viridian Moon Gallery, runs from April 1-May 15th.
Finally, I also have a number of paintings hanging at the Art Alliance Center at College Mall.
Tricia Went. A triple portrait commission in acrylics has been consuming my studio time for the past 4- 5 months. Also, I have been showing watercolors and acrylics in several local juried shows, one recently in California, and two in the Elsinore Gallery in Salem, OR. This summer, I plan to be painting plein aire in the Willamette Valley Lavender Festival, which culminates with a two day July show in the Chehalem Art Center in Newberg.
I finally feel back in the groove after the move from Indiana, but I will always miss my BWS art family.
Weekly, now that covid is behind us, I am painting in McMinnville with several artists working in watercolor, critiquing and mostly socializing!
Kathy Barton wrote to say that her husband, Craig D. Barton, has received “Artist in Residence” status at Glacier National Park and at Crater National Park. She also has invited BWS members to come and see Craig’s photographic series, “Wide Awake and Dreaming” Show at the Monroe Convention Center, Ralph Rogers Room, Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Nina Ost. These two pictures are done by transferring photo to paper and then masking the area of lightest value and applying rose, yellow, gold and blue paint with a mouth atomizer. After the first coat is dry, you mask next lightest value and blow paint . Repeat for a few more applications until only the darkest area is not masked. When dry, peal and reveal. I’m still working on concentrating paint to control color. It isn’t cheating to do brush touch ups. I can forward specific instructions if anyone likes. The surprise at the end is fun!
Inspirational Tips & Techniques
Brenda Ueland in her book, “If You Want to Write: A Book About Independence and Spirit“:
“When Van Gough was a young man in his early twenties, he was in London studying to be a clergyman. He had no thought of being an artist at all. He sat in his cheap little room writing a letter to his younger brother in Holland, whom he loved very much. He looked out his window at a watery twilight, a thin lamppost, a star, and he said in his letter something like this: “It is so beautiful I must show you how it looks.” And then on his his cheap ruled note paper, he made the most beautiful, tender, little drawing of it. When I read this letter of Van Gogh’s it comforted me very much and seemed to throw a clear light on the whole road to art. Before, I thought that to produce a work of painting or literature, you scowled and thought long and ponderously and weighted everything solemnly and learned everything that all artists had ever done aforetime, and what their influences and schools were, and you were careful about “design” and “balance” and getting “interesting planes” into your painting, and avoided, with the most astringent severity, showing the faintest “academical” tendency, and were strictly modern. And so on and so on. But the moment I read Van Gogh’s letter I knew what art was, and the creative impulse. It is a feeling of love and enthusiasm for something, and in a direct, simple, passionate and true way, and you try to show this beauty in things to others, by drawing it. And Van Gogh’s little drawing on the cheap note paper was a work of art because he loved the sky and the frail lamppost against it so seriously that he made the drawing with the most exquisite conscientiousness and care.”
Calendar
April 1 – May 15 — Upland Plain Air Show, Viridian Moon Gallery
April 14 — Bloomington Portrait Group, Switchyard Park Shelter, 1-3 p.m.
April 23 — Art of Earth Day, T.C. Steele Historic Site, 12-4 p.m.
April 25 – 29 — Hoosier Art Along Spring Workshops
April 29 — Last day to register for Annual WSI Membership Exhibition
May 6 — Last day to register for Annual WSI Juried Exhibition
