November Issue

MONTHLY MEETING
Monday, November 14, 6:00 pm
First Christian Church, Bloomington, IN

After a short business meeting, 1st VP and Signature Member, Nancy Davis Metz, will present the following program:
“Grisaille: Adapting a Traditional Oil/Acrylic Technique to Watercolor”
Grisaille (pronounced griz-eye) is a painting technique that uses gray tones to establish a 3-dimensional shape. Artists used this technique as early as the 13th century, primarily in creating altarpieces. Oil painters sometime apply transparent glazes over a grisaille to introduce color.
We will adapt this traditional technique to watercolor to create two or more apple paintings. Here’s what you should bring:

Grisaille apple by Charlotte Griffin

Apple
Watercolor paper
#8 or #10 round brush
Hair dryer
Permanent Alizarin Crimson
Phthalo Blue
Winsor Yellow or Quinacridone Gold”

BWS Calendar for the remainder of 2016
Tuesday, November 15, 10 am – 1 pm, Upland Plein Air Painters (see below)
Thursday, November 24, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Monday, December 5, 2 pm – 4 pm, Drop off paintings for the membership show, “We Paint…the Bicentennial!”  Monroe County History Center
Tuesday, December 6, 6 pm, Holiday Party at Meadowood.  (See below)
Friday, December 9, Opening Reception, 7 – 9 pm, History Center

HOLIDAY PARTY
The annual BWS Holiday Party will take place Tuesday, December 6, at Meadowood.  It’s always a fun gathering with door prizes and a watercolor activity.  This year, it’s a Holiday Card Exchange.  Here’s how it works:  You paint a holiday card – any holiday you choose!  Be sure to sign it as the artist.  Bring it along with a matching envelope, of course.  Then, all those who bring a card get to choose one to take home.
The menu is Chicken Marsala, Elegant Chopped Salad, Broccoli with Lemon Zest, Rice Pilaf, and dessert.  Wine will be served.
Tickets are $22/members; $24/guests.
You can make your reservations at the November meeting from BWS treasurer, Patty Uffman, or any officer.  A PayPal button will be set up on BloomingtonWatercolor.org and activated on Tuesday, November 15.
Watch your email for a message with all the details, coming soon!

MEMBER ACTIVITIES
Grant Wood Workshop
What a success! Fifteen people enjoyed learning new techniques and each completed at least three pieces.  Thanks to Jo Weddle for her help in setting up and cleaning up, and to Grant for putting together a great session in such a hurry.

Students engrossed in Grant’s workshop lesson

Sea spray painting by Char Dapena

Bob Florini painting boats at the workshop

BWS Upland Painters
From Claude Cookman
“Overcast skies, cool temperatures and election-day obligations did not deter a hearty group of regulars from attending the BWS Upland plein air session on Tuesday, November 8. The venue was Bloomington’s Miller Showers Park, between College Avenue and Walnut Street north of 17th Street.
Although most of the autumn foliage had fallen, there were still plenty of motifs from wild flowers to water lilies, bees and butterflies, trees of all varieties and a babbling brook. A hawk and three mallard ducks were sighted. Limestone walls around the park’s pools provided linear contrast with the organic forms and great opportunities to practice perspective.
Miller Showers Park, which performs the ecological function of purifying storm runoff before it flows into Cascades Creek and eventually into White River, also provides great visual opportunities for the artist. Instead of grand vistas, most motifs are on the intimate scale. Strongly recommended, if you have never worked there.”

Kitty Garlock at Showers Park

From Kristen Stamper:
‘The final gathering of the plein air painters will take place November 15, 10 am – 1 pm, at Don Geyra’s studio.  After a holiday break, the Upland Plein Air Painters (UP) January organization meeting will be at 10 am on Tuesday, January 17 at Jacki Frey’s house.  All are welcome! This is a great time to join Upland and get involved. The only requirement of membership is that you host one of the weekly paint-out events in the next year. Joining will keep you up-to-date on all the paint-out details. At the meeting, we will work on our calendar for the winter and spring seasons of 2017. Then enjoy a pitch-in lunch social.
“UP will start up again with paint outs in February 2017. UP may host a few add-on sessions in the meantime, but these are not firmed up yet.  Watch the next issues of Brushstrokes for news or email UP at upland@bloomingtonwatercolor.org ”

CLASS OFFERING
From Signature Member, Sara Steffey McQueena
“Since retiring from teaching art for 30 years, I have found a new way to work with the Creative and bring together my love of the Spirit, Beauty, and the celebration of the divine feminine deeper into my life, and on canvas. I have been working with Flora Aube for a couple of years in her process “The Art of Allowing.” Her methods encourage intuitive “listening” and looking at the painting to ask what wants to be created, instead of following the “outer critic.”  This process has deepened my experience and my joy of painting. Instead of “teaching”, I will be facilitating you in your own discovery of a feminine portrait from within. We will work with your own sense of the divine and your symbols and intuition.
“In 2017 I will begin offering one on one classes sharing the process of allowing a painting to awaken our “within sight” and help guide you and midwife your own experiences with the Divine Feminine and her many expressions.  No prior experience is necessary, only an open heart and a desire to express the face of the “unknown SHE”.  You may contact me for more information. This class is for women at this time.”

COMMUNITY ARTS AWARD and ARTS NIGHT OUT
Congratulations to our friends at the Lawrence County Art Association on their award!
The event takes place Friday, November 18, 5:30 – 7:30 pm at the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut Street here in Bloomington.
5:30 – 6:30 pm – Workshops and Gallery Exhibits
6:30 – 7:30 pm – Awards Ceremony and Sweeney Todd, an excerpt performed by Ivy Tech Student Productions
Miah Michaelsen, emcee
The 2016 Community Arts Awards winners, juried by an independent community group, are:
Ted Jones – Winner, Arts Advocate
Rhino’s Youth Center – Winner, Arts in Education
Monroe Convention Center Bloomington Indiana – Winner, Arts in Business
Lee Williams – Winner, Special Citation
Lawrence County Art Association/The Wiley Art Center – Winner, Regional Arts Service Award
Enjoy an entertaining night out with the arts as you peruse the art galleries and enjoy art workshops, offered in 15-minute intervals to allow guests to experience more than one art form.  And excerpt from Sweeney Todd will be performed by the Ivy Tech Student Productions.  Refreshments provide, and a beer and wine bar available.  http://services.bloomington.ivytech.edu/artsawards/index.html

Have a wonderfully grateful THANKSGIVING and just
gobble till ya wobble!

Brushstrokes is the (almost) monthly
newsletter of the
Bloomington (IN) Watercolor Society

Jeanne Ellen Dutton, Editor
BloomingtonWatercolor.org
WePaintBloomington.org
info@BloomingtonWatercolor.org

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