“Wash of Muddy Water” From Zain’s Southwest Series
Nov. 13 program
Abstract Adventures for the Overly Cautious
Bloomington Watercolor Society will meet Monday, Nov. 13, at the First Christian Church, 205 E. Kirkwood Ave. The business meeting will begin 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.
Zain Mackey leads this month’s program with something new and different!
“Abstract Adventures for the Overly Cautious.”
“Let’s put our charge cards to good use by using them to paint an abstract landscape,” Zain said. “Come see what it’s like to let your laughing inner artist let go and run the show. I’ll be demonstrating a wet-on-wet abstract technique using a plastic credit card. You’re invited to come paint with me. Prepare to laugh and have fun.”
SUPPLIES
- An old plastic gift or credit card
- A couple sheets of cold press paper, preferable rough, which add wonderful dimension. But bring what you have. Tape it to a board or use a block.
- Two to four tubes of your favorite colors. Tubes make it easier to put a dab of color on the edge of the card. I like using tetrads and I am a lush color junkie.
- A small palette of other colors in the event you are inspired to do negative painting.
- Brushes: a hake or mop brush to wet your paper. Other brushes, just in case.
- A spray bottle and water container.
- Paper towels.
- Something to protect your clothes! It can get messy.
“I will demonstrate applying acrylic links, granulating fluid, and possible other mediums,” Zain said. “These help to further satisfy your emotions for texture or composition and can really add to the work. It can also lead to disaster, and sometimes disaster turns out to be amazing.”
Nov. 10
Special curator-led tour of “Landscape and Abstraction in Watercolor 1780-1980”
Jenny McComas, curator of European and American Art at IU’s Eskenazi Museum of Art, will lead a tour for BWS members of the current exhibition of “Landscape and Abstraction in Watercolor 1780-1980” Friday, Nov. 10, at 3 p.m. Meet Nancy Davis Metz in the museum’s atrium at 2:50 p.m. Park in the IMU lot on Seventh Street and bring the ticket to the museum’s front desk for a 40 percent discount.
Holiday Party Announcement
Dec. 11, Monday, 6 p.m., Meadowood
2455 Tamarack Trail
Bloomington
Put on your holiday best and come to the annual BWS dinner party! Meadowood always provides a beautiful setting and delicious food to enjoy with your paint pals.
There will be a greeting card exchange, a bring-one-take-one event. Any greeting is perfect! It does not have to be a holiday card. (Blank watercolor cards will be available at the Nov. 13 meeting for those who need one.)
The menu includes:
- Elegant Chopped Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette
- Chicken Marsala
- Rice Pilaf
- Lemon Broccoli
- Holiday parfait
- Rolls
- Coffee, Tea, Wine
Please note on the reservation if you prefer a vegetarian option.
$20 per member or guest.
Reservation deadline is Sunday, Dec. 3.
Cancellation deadline is Sunday, Dec. 3.
You can reserve your spot beginning Nov. 13 at the meeting or online.
Watch for an email from Charlotte to find the link for reservations.
Hope to see you there!
Left: Allen Hunton Right: MarySue Veerkamp Schwab
Cancer Support Community and the BWS Gallery
New work from Allen Hunton and MarySue Veerkamp Schwab will hang through Dec. 15 at the Cancer Support Center of Bloomington. The gallery is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 pm., with the opening reception Nov. 17 from 4 to 7 p.m.
Stephanie Shelton, development manager at CSCSCI, developed the gallery and art program in cooperation with BWS. What began in September of 2022 has been a success for everyone. Thanks to the artistic talents and generosity of BWS artists, BWS Gallery has raised over $1,100 for art programs at the Cancer Support Community of South Central Indiana (CSCSCI). Estimating about $75 for each roughly 1.5 hour art class, this would pay the artist instructor fees for about 14 classes. Thanks to the three artists who have shared their talent by offering a class to the CSCSCI clients: Meri Reinhold, Sara Steffey McQueen, and Zoe Dean.
Stephanie thanks all who participated and says, “CSC is incredibly grateful for the partnership with BWS, and we look forward to continuing the partnership to increase sustainability of art classes for cancer patients, survivors, and families.”
Request for historical files
Linda Branstetter, BWS historian, asks anyone with info such as flyers of their shows to send them to her. She would like to put them in the history binder.
PDVNCH by Claude Cookman
Watercolor, gouache highlights and glitter 14 x 20 inches
Correct values let you
use color expressively
by Claude Cookman
In the first decade of the 20th Century, a group of French and Western European painters coalesced around the idea that color need not be realistic, but could be expressive. Chief among these “Fauves,” or wild beasts, were Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, Klees von Dongen and Maurice de Vlaminck. Their movement was short lived, but their idea resurfaces periodically.
In 2018, I was fortunate to attend a workshop in New Braunsfel, Texas, led by David Lobenberg, a contemporary proponent of Fauvism, who has branded his version as “California Vibe.” Lobenberg, who teaches at Sacramento City College, preaches one simple concept: “It doesn’t matter what color you use as long as you get the values right.” To expressive color, he adds numerous techniques for achieving texture with watercolor. You can learn more about Lobenberg and his style at these URLs:
https://www.stylemg.com/2020/09/29/330095/spotlight-on-watercolor-artist-david-lobenberg
https://www.lobenbergart.com/collections/60305
Since the workshop, I had not done anything with this approach. When it came time to prepare work for the Bloomington Portrait Group exhibition (At The Vault at Gallery Mortgage, 121 E. Sixth Street, now through Nov. 24) I decided to try it again. PDVNCH, a local performance poet, designer and one of our favorite BPG models, seemed the perfect subject. To Lobenberg’s method, I added texture techniques learned in a class with BWS’s own Jeanne Dutton. The glitter was my own idea.
It’s not perfect. I will do several things differently the next time. But it was great fun!
FMCCS online auction to benefit BWS Scholarship
It’s time for the 2023 FMCCS online auction!
BWS annually awards $500 to a graduating MCCSC senior pursuing a degree in a field of art. We have had three successful applicants in the past three years so now we need to refill the coffers.
The Foundation for Monroe County Community Schools (FMCCS) holds an online auction called “Reading, Writing, Bidding.” The 2023 auction will be “live” from Nov. 27 through Dec. 5.
EVERY ITEM SOLD BY BWS ARTISTS EARNS 50 PERCENT FOR THE SCHOLARSHIP!
Here are some ideas for items you can contribute:
- A set of original, unique hand-painted greeting cards. (BWS will supply the cards.)
- An original painting, matted and backed. (BWS has 16 x 20 plastic sleeves.)
- A personal or pet portrait.
- A one-on-one art class!
- A coupon for service from your company
If you would like to contribute an auction item, let Sarah Ward or Jeanne Dutton know.
Please submit your donation form by Nov. 15.
Include a jpg image of your item or a sample, a full description, and a note assigning the item to the BWS Scholarship fund.
Here is the link to donate:
https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/donate.action?auctionId=341726210
Here is the link to bid:
https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/auctionhome.action?vhost=fmccs
Direct questions to Sarah Ward, BWS Scholarship Chair, at info@bloomingtonwatercolor.org.
Irina Shishova, Viridian Moon gallerist and Laura Brown, BWS show chair, announce Char Dapena’s painting of her cat as the People’s Choice winner.
“We Paint…Things We Love!”
The BWS membership show of 2023 closed Oct. 28 with a nicely attended reception, good food, and the announcement of the People’s Choice award. Congratulations to Char Dapena for her win with the charming watercolor painting of her cat, “Deku.”
Many thanks to the numerous BWS members who entered the exhibit and contributed in some way, to Viridian Moon Gallery, and to Laura Brown, the new BWS show chair.
For those who were unable to visit the exhibition, please view it on our BWS SmugMug gallery here:
https://bloomingtonwatercolor.smugmug.com/We-PaintThings-We-Love/
Jean Thiery-Vietor
Jean died Oct. 26 at Cedarhurst in Bloomington after a long illness. Her daughter, Cathy Vietor-Braunlin said a celebration of life will be arranged at a later time.
Member News
Left: “Crusher” by Tim Lewis/Right: “Darling Oyster Bar”
Tim Lewis’s watercolor, “Darling Oyster Bar,” was juried into the 125th Annual Exhibition By Indiana And Ohio Artists at the Richmond Art Museum. This show opened Nov. 9 and runs through Jan. 6. Two of Tim’s watercolors are in the Watercolor Society of Indiana Members’ Exhibition at Fishers Arts Council at the Collaboration Hub in Fishers, Ind. This show’s reception will be Nov. 10 at 6 p.m., and the show runs through Dec. 2. His only new watercolor this month is “Crusher”, a 15 x 22 inch painting of a large rock crusher at a limestone quarry near St. Paul, Ind.
“House of Singing Winds” by Andy Roberts
“Monroe County Courthouse” By Andy Roberts
In September Andy Roberts participated in the Friends of T.C. Steele Show held at the Brown County Art Gallery. It was his first time to show at this beautiful gallery and one of his paintings was purchased. Andy submitted photos of his T.C. Steele painting, “House of Singing Winds,” as well as a new painting, “Monroe County Courthouse,” that he completed in October. Both paintings are Pen and Ink with Watercolor.
“On the Town,” a mixed media painting by Nancy Davis Metz was juried in to the SALI National Abstract Art Exhibition XIX. The show hung at the Garfield Park Arts Center in Indianapolis last month.
Beyond BWS
Viridian Moon is currently featuring art from students at five local Middle Schools: Jackson Creek, Batchelor, St. Charles, Edgewood, and Bedford. This a unique opportunity to see young artists experimenting with different media and styles from collages to drawings, painting to digital arts, with guidance from their most supportive art teachers. The level of art skills, creativity, and boldness of the students’ art pieces make us, grown-up artists, rethink many aspects of our own works. This show inspires great interest in the Bloomington art society as well as the general public, and fosters bonds between creative people of all ages. Come support our wonderful young artists, and get inspired by the fruits of their hard work!
Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 8, come vote for your favorite work! The top eight People’s Choices will receive awards.
The Gallery’s address is 1600 W. Bloomfield Road, Bloomington, IN 47403 (The entrance is from the lower parking lot)
Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/www.viridianmoon.art for updates.
Calendar
Nov. 10 Curator-led tour of “Landscape and Abstraction in Watercolor 1780-1980.” IU’s Eskenazi Art Museum. Meet in Museum Atrium at 2:50 p.m.
Nov. 13 Monthly BWS meeting, 6 p.m., First Christian Church
Nov. 15 Deadline for submitting donation forms for FMCCS online auction.
Nov. 17 Reception for Cancer Support Community Exhibit of work by Allen Hunton and MarySue Veerkamp Schwab, 4 to 7 p.m.
Nov. 27 – Dec. 5 FMCCS online auction
Dec. 11 Holiday Party at Meadowood, 6 p.m.
