Joe Lee in Clown Costume
Member Meeting: Monday, August 14, 6 – 8 p.m.
Business Meeting:
BWS’ August Meeting will be held at First Christian Church beginning at 6 p.m. Enter through the Washington Street door; the door code will be sent by email. The meeting will not be on Zoom.
Program:
Joe Lee said this about the August program: “I will be posing in my “Jolais” costume and makeup. I will demonstrate the makeup application, and talk about the significance, symbolism, and history of clowning using illustrations I have put together over the years.”
Following Joe’s presentation members will be invited to do his portrait, applying all they have learned about drawing portraits from last month’s BWS Meeting (see the entry “Five on the Floor! Five artists demonstrate portrait methods, field questions at the July BWS meeting” in this Newsletter).
Members can use any art materials they wish (charcoal, pencil, watercolor, gauche, etc.). So Remember: Bring supplies and enjoy a portrait session sponsored by BWS and featuring Bloomington’s favorite clown and political cartoonist!!
Inside BWS
We Paint…Out of the Box
Join us at The Waldron Arts Center on August for a final reception from 5-8 p.m. We Paint…Out of The Box has attracted a lot of traffic and gained a few new BWS members.
If you wish to see the exhibit before August 4th be aware that the hours have changed since we hung the show.
We have new pickup dates. You may pick up your work during these days and times:
- Wednesday, August 9, from 5:45 to 7:45 pm
- Friday August 11, from noon to 3 pm
Waldron’s NEW Summer hours: Wednesday and Thursday 12-5 pm; Friday 12-8 pm. Saturday/Sunday, by appointment only. To make an appointment, contact info@seeconstellation.org.
BWS Membership Show: “We Paint…Things We Love”
“Bottoms Up!!” by JCHarste
Show chair, Laura Brown, encourages members to work on paintings to place in the member show which is titled “WE PAINT…Things We Love”. The show will be from September 23 through October 28 at the Viridian Moon Gallery. The dates to remember are the following:
- September 13, provide images (pictures taken of work before putting glass in front of the painting) for use in publicity and for the online gallery.
- September 15, deliver framed painting to Viridian Moon between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
- September 23, opening reception 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
- October 28, closing reception 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
- Members should read details for the show in the show prospectus.
AUGUST PAINT OUT at OWEN VALLEY WINERY
Sat Aug 12th 11:00am – 3:00pm
Owen Valley Winery, 401 Timber Ridge Road, Spencer, IN 47460.
It’s nearly Harvest time at Owen Valley Winery and the vibrant green leaves and plump grapes are filling up the vines. This beautiful country setting is ripe for a paint out. Bring your brushes and your vintner’s spirit to the Paint Out on August 12th. The gate will be open at 10:45 (so you may come in and set up for an 11:00 a.m. start). The winery officially opens for business at 12:00 noon, but arrangements can be made for wine to be served when you set up. Please reach out to April @ nablespics@gmail.com or Zoe @ stevezoedean@gmail.com by Friday 8/11 5:00 pm with any early requests. Otherwise, when you want to stretch your legs, wander into the winery for a tasting, lunch and a slice of their famous house-made cheesecake at noon. This is a 3-generation family-run winery, where the vino is produced and bottled with a heart for craftsmanship. A member of Indiana Grown, Owen Valley is on the Indiana Uplands wine trail with Butler, Oliver, Brown County, French Lick, Huber, Winzerwald, Best Vineyards and Turtle Run wineries. PLEASE NOTE: Due to ATC and Health Department regulations, no outside food or alcohol is permitted. You’re welcome to bring your water bottles and coffee cups.
Owen Valley Winery, 491 Timber Ridge Road, Paint Out August 12th. Check out more on current events at the winery @ https://www.facebook.com/owenvalleywinery.
If you are interested in carpooling check with Charlotte Griffin who has volunteered to coordinate such efforts.
Directions: (Using GPS directions is not recommended, better to follow the directions below as you drive)
Coming from 46 West out of Ellettsville.
46 West. Turn left on Hwy 43 at the light just before McCormick’s Creek State Park. Proceed 2.5 miles, Turn Right on Freeman Road Go .8 miles Turn Left on Timber Ridge Road. Proceed on Timber Ridge Road 2 miles. Owen Valley Winery will be on the Right.
Coming from the South side of Bloomington via 3rd Street (48 West passing by the airport)
Proceed West on 48/43 passing the airport, and toward Whitehall about 4.2 miles. 48 splits off at Whitehall. Stay toward the right on 43.
Continue through Whitehall on 43 for 7.8 miles and the beautiful country drive. Turn left on Freeman Road Go .8 miles turn left on Timber Ridge Road.
Proceed on Timber Ridge Road 2 miles. Owen Valley Winery will be on the Right.
BWS Members Collaborate with the
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
In mid-July a half dozen BWS members volunteered to “Paint Rocks” in support of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). The rocks that were painted can be seen by participating in the AFSP’s 2023 Bloomington Out of the Darkness Walk held on Sunday, October 22, 2023.
Some of the rocks painted by BWS Members. Photo compliments of Charlotte Griffin.
Eskenazi Museum of Art Live!
On July 15, the Eskenazi Museum of Art invited BWS members to come to the museum and paint as part of its “Art Live” program which the museum described as a “convergence of music, art, and community.” Several BWS members participated including Claude Cookman, Joanne Shank, and Leslie Asher. Below is a photo of Leslie Asher in the midst of painting on the second level of the atrium in the museum. When asked about the experience she said, “Painting at the Eskenazi Museum was really fun. I would definitely do it again.”
Five on the Floor!
Five artists demonstrate
portrait methods, field questions
at the July BWS meeting
It all started with Penny Lulich. She suggested a session titled “Four on the Floor” to BWS program chair Joanne Weddle. Penny’s idea was that four BWS members would paint portraits, while members kibbitzed and asked questions. Somehow, a fifth artist got added, and the whole enterprise shifted into higher gear. Five artists — Penny, Meri Reinhold, Deborah Rush, Jane Matranga, and Claude Cookman — demonstrated their methods, materials, and skills in the portraiture genre at the July 10 Bloomington Watercolor Society meeting at the First Christian Church. Despite working in the same genre, they produced extremely varied results, not merely because of the different content but because of their unique approach and handling of the materials.
Below are photos of the artists in action, their finished works, and their reflections on portraiture. Digital reproductions are never as good as seeing real work. Therefore, the five artists have agreed to bring their actual paintings/drawings to the BWS August meeting so you can see their final portraits in a mini exhibition.
Penny Lulich • Anna at the Creek • Watercolor
There are many ways you can paint a portrait, and I painted this one rather quickly and without a color photo to help me. I painted this because it inspired me with the beauty of the innocence of a young child exploring a creek for the first time, and I let values and shapes guide me.
Skin tones. The most asked question at my table, was, how do you make the color for the skin tones. I use Winsor & Newton “light red”, and go from there, adding other colors when needed such as burnt sienna, opera pink, cad red, and manganese blue hue.
Understatement. Someone said, “I can’t wait to see how you handle the rock that the child is sitting on.” I didn’t handle it very much, because I didn’t want the focus to be the rock, but rather the child. I hope it looks satisfactory.
Future. I felt like we had a good evening, and it was fun for everyone. I hope we do this again in other genres.
Penny Lulich takes a round brush to the portrait of her granddaughter, Anna, playing in a creek.
Meri Reinhold • St John Friend • Watercolor
Motivation. I am fascinated by the human form and love to draw it. The human face has so many incredible variations. It always captures my interest. As a member of the Bloomington Portrait Group, I was able to enjoy endless variety in features, from young people to elders and everyone in between; some in ethnic costume, some with instruments, even one young man with a snake wrapped around his neck.
Advice. As I teach drawing, I hear comments such as “I can’t do hands or teeth” or variations of that. But I can tell you that drawing is drawing is drawing…. It’s ALL the same and what you learn is perspective and the relationship of shapes and contours to each other.
Meri Reinhold works on her portrait as a BWS member looks on.
Deborah Rush • Anne • Watercolor
I’ve been drawing people since I was a child. A lot of times that’s the only thing you have to draw. If you want to draw, there are usually people around.
Objective. Other than a likeness, it’s capturing a spirit. It doesn’t have to look exactly like the person, but it has to have their character.
Method: I usually start with an oval and the line for the eyes and also down the middle of the face. And then I start drawing the eyes. They’re very, very important. And then I carry on from there, because everything is connected: do the eyes, come down the nose, do the mouth. And then refine. But it’s a very rough drawing.
You almost have to work in layers. I start with a thin layer of the darkest color — to get started, to get past that white-paper thing.
Anne. Part of it was her pose, part her beautiful coloring: the red hair and the pale skin. It’s like: you see something and it strikes you; it’s something you want to capture. Also, I had done a portrait of her at a Portrait Group session, and I didn’t like it. So, I wanted to do something better. I’m still not satisfied. I think I could work on it for another four hours, but I know I won’t.
Questions. Most of the questions were about the colors I was using for the skin tones. That seems to be a big mystery for people. And everybody uses something different. … I use new gamboge and opera rose, which is a pink. And when you mix them together in any strength, it looks like methylate, for people who are old enough to remember what that is. So, it’s a hideous color. But when you water it down and put it on paper, it’s a nice, sparkly skin tone. It’s absolutely appropriate, I think. It doesn’t get muddy.
Advice. The whole thing can be daunting. But if you start doing small studies of eyes, a nose, mouth. And don’t worry about how they all go together. But get familiar enough with those features that you know what the shapes are — any intricacies — then it’s much easier to put them together in a face.
Under the watchful eye of Barbara Coffman, Deborah Rush picks out a tube of color for her painting of Anne.
Jane Matranga • Elsa Schiaparelli • B&W charcoal
Drawing and painting portraits is perhaps my favorite form of art making besides designing clothes. I’ve drawn “figures” and “faces” since I was a toddler!
Objective. Early on, my reason for doing portraits was to capture a likeness and make sure the facial feature proportions were accurate. That is still important but, now I want to infuse the portrait with character, the subject’s and some of my own. I hope to accomplish that by being more loose with paint application and by using some unexpected, bold colors.
Model. I chose to draw Elsa Schiaparelli because she is my fashion idol. The image I used was a black and white photograph from the 1920’s so I used black and white charcoal on grey paper.
It was fun to create a portrait as people watched. It reminded me of doing portraits on the boardwalk in Atlantic City one summer.
Questions. Most people asked me questions about my painting of my parents on the velvet top I had on display.
Claude Cookman • Toni Morrison • Charcoal
Motivation. I’ve been trying to learn to draw since 1994. For me drawing is about seeing in a concentrated, purposeful way. In his book “Why We Draw,” Frederick Franck expressed it best: “I have learned that what I have not drawn, I have never really seen …” The human face is complex. We can always discover new facets.
Method. I’ve been drawing portraits seriously since the Bloomington Portrait Group launched in January 2017. After several frustrating years, I discovered a method published by Andrew Loomis in 1943. It lets you establish the structure of the head plus the proportion and arrangement of the features from any angle. I work in many different mediums but for the BWS session, I chose charcoal. I started by covering the paper with powdered charcoal, which got rid of all that intimidating white. It also let me draw negatively by erasing with cotton swabs, a chamois skin, and a kneaded eraser. I did the block-in with vine charcoal. It’s extremely malleable; you can erase and redraw endlessly. When I got the structure and tonal values down solid, I moved to compressed charcoal for dark values and charcoal pencils for fine details. I used a white charcoal pencil for a few small highlights on her face. Pardon my enthusiasm, but I also like charcoal because it’s great fun. Creating gradients, softening edges, or blending tones is like finger painting in grade school. I have more than 8 hours in this drawing, and am still not satisfied. I stood during the entire time, at BWS and also in my studio. This kept my arm off the table, allowing for gestural strokes, and let me step back from the drawing frequently to evaluate proportion, tones, transitions, etc.
Motif. I chose to draw Toni Morrison, the Nobel laureate in literature and one of my favorite authors. The reference photo captured her face, but I gave her a sad expression. At a time when politicians attempt to deny America’s history of slavery and the systemic racism that prolongs that era and when police officers still summarily execute unarmed young black men with impunity, I tried to imagine the sad wisdom that Ms Morrison expressed in “Beloved” and other novels, then convey it by her expression and dramatic tonal contrast.
With a vine charcoal stick, Claude Cookman blocks in his drawing of author Toni Morrison.
Outside BWS
“On MY Journey” by Zoe Dean
Cancer Support Community
Mon Jul 10th – Fri Aug 25th
Cancer Support Community Building, 1719 W 3rd St, Bloomington, IN 47403.
Zoe Dean is the featured artist for July/August at the Cancer Support Community. Her show is titled “On My Journey.” Gallery hours are Tuesday toThursday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. but visitors must make an appointment to avoid conflicts with other activities at the center. Make appointments by contacting Stephanie@cancersupportscin.org or call 812-233-3286.
Call for Artists: The Venue
Grand opening and reception: September 3, 2023.
Dave at the Venue invites artists to submit work for The Venue’s Juried Art Show, a part of The Art & Soul of Bloomington. APPLY NOW to participate. The prospectus can be found on the Venue’s website: http://thevenuebloomington.com.
The Venue is pleased to answer all of your questions by your calling 812-322-1661, emailing venueartshow@gmail.com.
Reminder: Call for entries for the Friends of T.C. Steele Member Art Show.
T.C.Steele, “Selma in the Garden” (Internet photo)
Show dates: August 25-September 23, 2023
Registration deadline: August 10, 2023
Closing reception: September 23, 2-4 pm. Features a guided tour of the Brown County Art Gallery with an emphasis on the history of the Brown County. Art Colony and an online tour of the T.C. Steele Trail.
Prizes awarded in all categories:
1) Professional
2) Amateur/Emerging Artist
3) Youth (18 and younger
4) Best-in-Show: $1000
All art media accepted, including photography.
Youth are encouraged to enter. (Parents, grandparents and art teachers/tutors, please encourage youth artists to enter their artwork.). Frames for youth artwork will be loaned for the duration of the show. We will frame the work at time of delivery of artwork.
The show is on exhibit during the Brown County Art Colony weekend that features paint-outs at T.C. Steele State Historic Site and Nashville.
Not a member? Join the Friends at time of registration.
Learn more at: tcsteele.org/2023-member-art-show-registration
For more information contact Betty Wagoner.
Hancock County Art Gallery
Hancock Country Arts along will be hosting a Regional Portrait Society of American Exhibition on August 11th and 12th. In addition to exhibition there will be demonstration by artists creating portraits. Guests also are invited to take part in the annual Greenfield Chocolate Walk festivities.
The Exhibit opens August 5th at 11 a.m. and closes August 26th at 2 p.m. Hancock Country Arts Gallery, 20 West North Street, Greenfield, IN.
Watercolor Society of Indiana
WSI invites members and friends to attend the 41st Annual WSI Juried Exhibit at Newfields/ Indianapolis Museum of Art. The show runs from August 4 to September 30, 2023. On August 6th at 2 p.m. there will be an opening reception and an awards ceremony in the DeBoest Lecture Hall & Bret Waller Gallery at the museum.
WSI is also hosting a 3-day workshop (October 4 to 6) with Michael Holter at Second Presbyterian Church, 7700 N. Meridian Street. The topic of the workshop is “Watercolor Impressionism: Landscape/Cityscape.” For more information and costs go to WSI’s website.
Impressionistic landscape by Michael Holter
Friday, August 4 & Saturday, August 5
West Baden Springs Hotel • Garden & Veranda
Local artists will be painting in the West Baden Springs Hotel garden and on the hotel veranda. The paintings will be displayed and available for purchase Saturday, August 5th, in the West Baden Springs Hotel lobby.
Artists for Climate Awareness
Have you ever noticed trees with knitted sweaters around the Courthouse in Bloomington? Artists for Climate Awareness will be a “tree hugger” this year with its own sweater! Artists for Climate Awareness are raising money toward the “Wrapped in Love 2023″ tree sweater project for Middle Way House. Sara Steffey McQueen and her women’s group have already planned a knitted/crocheted design. The tree Sara has reserved is near the corner of Kirkwood and Walnut, across from Uptown Cafe. (A highly trafficked location! ). Deadline for donations is September 8.
Viridian Moon Gallery
The Viridian Moon Gallery will be hosting an Upland Plein Air Exhibit starting August 9th with an opening reception on August 12.. Here is the link to the event: https://www.viridianmoon.art/events
Membership News
Joanna Samorow-Merzer. “George and Viola Taliaferro,” a painting by Joanna Samorow-Merzer, was accepted into the KWS Aqueous USA National Juried Exhibition. The exhibition is scheduled between July 27th through September 16th at the Preston Arts Center, 2660 S. Green Street, Henderson, Kentucky 42420.
“George and Viola Taliaferro,” by Joanna Samorow-Merzer
Timothy Lewis. Nothing new to show – working on 4 commission paintings right now. I do have a couple of items of note:
- The Watercolor Society of Indiana’s Annual Juried Exhibition will open on August 5th in the Waller Gallery at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. The show will have 45 of the best watercolors in Indiana on display through the end of September.
- My watercolor, “Old Hamilton County Jail”, was included in the Nickel Plate Arts’ Noblesville Nostalgia show in Noblesville from July 6th through Julyt 29th.
“Old Hamilton County Jail” is a 16” x 12” watercolor using QoR paints on 300# Arches cold-pressed w/c paper
Patty Uffman. I asked Patty Uffman if she would mind my publishing her limerick (a ode to Carol Rhodes as an outgoing president) in the Newsletter as so members who were not at the July meeting might enjoy it. She agreed, so here it is: To Carol from All Of Us.
OUR HEARTFELT TRIBUTE
She has inspired us year after year.
We respect her as both a leader and peer.
Founding member of BWS…
Who’s this person? Take a guess!
Carol Rhodes is the one we honor here!
With every office she has dutifully held
From Prez on down, she’s always excelled.
Talented, yet humble…
Catching us if we stumble…
With Carol on board, we’ve all been propelled.
Carol has always stepped up to the plate,
Arriving early for set-up – she’s never late.
Need something done?
Carol Rhodes is the one!
She has the knack to make us look great!
Wherever she’s present she offers a smile.
She’s just a nice lady to talk with a while.
She’s done more than most
And knows how to host,
And is quite accomplished as a true technophile!
Carol’s a gift, we all must conclude.
Her dedication we all have viewed.
She has served us
But now, no more fuss.
Carol’s a model – just not in the nude!
- Patty Uffman – On Behalf of Bloomington Watercolor Society – June, 2023.
Tricia Wente. Here are a few photos from a July event held here in Oregon. Every year there is a Lavender Festival and 150 artists are encouraged to paint up to 5 works during a period of 3 1/2 weeks at the lavender farms throughout the Willamette Valley. The paintings must be within certain sizes, and painted plein air. It is always a fun time since usually we have great weather. It culminates with a two day art exhibit for the public to enjoy at the local Newberg Arts Center. Of course, I sampled the wine at the Durant Winery which is my favorite site to paint.
Robin Edmundson has an exhibition at the Vault at Gallery Mortgage from August 3-Sept 29.
You are invited to attend the opening reception on Friday, August 4 from 5-8pm. 121 E 6th St. #1, Bloomington, Indiana
Robin Edmundson, ‘Evening, Wabash River’, watercolor, 10×14 inches.
Kathy Truelove Barton.
Gazebo at Farmhouse Cafe and Gardens
Painting by Kathy Truelove Barton
2022 Watercolor on paper with Acrylic white highlight on the gazebo. This painting was done with three layers of Daniel Smith watercolors.
Kathy’s painting was exhibited at the Will Vawter Show, hosted by Hancock County Arts, at Twenty North Gallery. The show came down in July. Three other Bloomington artists also exhibited; Betty Wagoner, Irina Shishova (owner of Viridian Moon Gallery, and Katya Alexeeva.
Laura Brown. These are a few examples of the paintings I’ve done for the July World Water Color Month hosted by @doodlewashed on Instagram . The first is called “Diversion” (the road sign); the second, “Flavor” (the boulion cubes). Each piece is approximately 5.5 by 8.5 inches.
July World of Watercolor paintings by Laura Brown
Joanne Shank. Here is the poster and description of the show I’m having at the Venue during August.
The blurb for the show reads: Joanne Shank is fascinated by the energy of movement and how that can be expressed in her artwork.
She enjoys sketching musicians while they are performing. The music inspires the lines as she tries to capture the essence and energy of the moment. The exhibit will have a number of large drawings of musicians playing a variety of instruments.
Joanne is also inspired by the energy in spontaneity that she captures in small finger paintings. She has made large acrylic paintings in an effort to duplicate this movement and energy. Being a dancer as well as painter, Joanne finds satisfaction in trying to express movement in a large 2D format.
Joanne works in several different styles. She will have her watercolors on display at the Bloomington Open Studios Artists Exhibit at the Backspace Gallery, with an opening reception the same evening, August 4th. See her work at both places!
Joanne adds a personal note: On July 15th, I participated in the event at the Eskinasi and drew musicians in two bands that played. The musicians loved the drawings, so I gave them away. Wore my BWS badge proudly! Appreciated the opportunity. Thanks
Calendar
August 1 – August 25. Zoe Dean’s Exhibition, Cancer Support Community Center.
August 3 – September 29. Robin Edmundson Exhibit, The Vault.
August 4 – August 5. West Baden Garden & Hotel Vernada Paintout.
August 4. Reception, “We Paint…Out of the Box,” Waldron, 5-8 p.m.
August 4 – 27. Joanne Shank’s show at the Venue. Opening Reception: August 5.
August 4 – September 28. WSI’s 41st Annual Juried Exhibition, Indianapolis Museum of Art.
August 5 – August 25. “Portraits.” Hancock County Art Gallery, Greenfield.
August 12. BWS Paintout: Owen Valley Winery, Spencer.
August 14. BWS August Meeting, 6-8 p.m., First Christian Church.
August 25 – September 23. T. C. Steele Member Art Show.
September 23 – October 28. BWS Membership Show, Viridian Moon Gallery.
September 3. Grand opening and reception, Art and Soul of Bloomington, The Venue.
October 4 – October 6. WSI’s 3-Day Workshop with Michael Holter, First Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis.
October 22. “Out of Darkness Walk,” American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)
