Huntington Beach Art League

The Huntington Art League holds monthly meetings just a stone's throw from the beautiful ocean.  I attended the meeting on Wednesday and was really impressed!  All levels of artists from beginners to master class painters attend.  This month's demonstration artist was Bernard Fallon. He is from England and is an excellent photographer and artist in several mediums.  His demo at the meeting was a scene of a mountainside field - done in pastels.  The group has many submissions to their monthly art contest.  Mr. Fallon chose the winners in each category.  I felt lucky that my painting, Inkoiry, was selected as Honorable Mention, especially given the number and quality of work exhibited in the watercolor category.  Michael Allen (Punke)'s gorgeous painting received the blue ribbon.  He is one of the many art teachers that are members of HBAL.  I know it will be a great experience to be part of this organization.

FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS - PAGEANT OF THE MASTERS

The Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach is one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen!  We attended the special Gala tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The Pageant is part of the Festival of the Arts.  Live people in costume are placed in scenes within illusionally engineered backdrops from master paintings.  Then, the lighting is altered and, before your eyes, the people look "flattened" and part of a gigantic painting.

To quote the pageant website, "What is it? Ninety minutes of "living pictures" - incredibly faithful art re-creations of classical and contemporary works with real people posing to look exactly like their counterparts in the original pieces. An outdoor amphitheater, professional orchestra, original score, live narration, intricate sets, sophisticated lighting, expert staff, and hundreds of dedicated volunteers have won recognition for the Pageant as the best presentation of its kind."

Cameras were not allowed in the pageant, but we were allowed to take photos of the gala in the festival area. The Festival of the Arts exhibitors were truly a cut above. Their work was displayed in beautiful indoor/outdoor galleries that encircled the festival grounds. Included in this select group was Geri Medway, the watercolor artist that I watched demo last week in San Clemente.  Her pieces were even more remarkable in person.  I'm excited to begin a five-week series of lessons with her in September.

A note to the wise who may attend this in the future...take a coat.  This is an OUTDOOR amphitheather.  That would have been good to know.  I had to stop and buy a fah-bu-luz hoodie to wear over my dress so I could survive the chilly ocean-side Laguna evening!! It kind of spoiled my attempts to play dress-up!
Bring a coat, but DO plan to attend this sometime in the future.  It's unique and amazing!

EDIT:  I just found another blogger who posted professional photos of  behind the scenes and pageant.  Check it out to see more fully what the pageant looks like.  INCREDIBLE!  http://katenoelleblog.com/?s=cross+training&x=40&y=13

Nancy Goldman and Geri Medway

I had the pleasure today of meeting two fine California artists. One is a fellow blogger, Nancy Goldman.  She was volunteering at the Guggenheim Galley for the Orange Art Association's 14th Orange Open Juried Exhibition.  The show is great - including three of Nancy's excellent watercolors! Check out her blog http://nancygoldmanart.blogspot.com/.

Nancy told me about a demo in San Clemente which I attended this evening featuring NWS signature artist, Geri Medway.  I was so impressed with her work and her ambitious paintings of such varied subjects. http://www.gerimedway.com/geri.medway/Welcome.html

Meeting new artists around the country - and world - is part of the fun of being an artist!

Geri Medway's demo at San Clemente Art Supply was GREAT! She showed a slide show of fifty or more paintings. She was super generous with information about techniques she used to accomplish each scene. It was like a quick-fire class of painting after painting. It was a wealth of information for anyone with even minimal painting experience. She’d answer endless questions about each painting and tell the brush, the colors, etc. She had several unique combinations of colors that result in different qualities for each application. On each painting, she would point to a particularly challenging or unique area and say, “I did this and this by doing…” I took notes until my fingers cramped, so I’ll have to go sort it all out. What I particularly loved were her candid comments about mistakes. On two different slides she said something along the lines of, “Now this is, unfortunately, not what this painting looks like now. I 'ruined' it later by glazing this or that over it…” How refreshing and encouraging for an expert painter to be so transparent (pardon the w/c pun)! The biggest “take-away” I got from her demo is that she is willing to tackle anything. Her subject matters were extremely varied (eucalyptus trees, koi, creek beds, desert rock formations, geese, comic strips, marbles, Christmas ornaments, complicated palm fronds, sunlit barns, rusty gas pumps). Each were ambitiously difficult and excellently rendered with the attitude, “Can I do it?!” I loved her tenacity.

Skip Lawrence SWS Demo

The SWS workshop was sold out, but I had the privilege of watching Skip Lawrence paint a demo for our SWS May meeting.  His gestural style resulted in a fantastic painting within the hour.  In addition, Stephen Quiller was in town for another workshop and decided to join us in the audience!  What a treat to meet these two talented individuals!

National Watercolor Society 2010 All Member Show

We just returned from the NWS 2010 All Member Show at their beautiful gallery in San Pedro, CA.  It was particularly special because my son, his wife, and my granddaughter were able to attend with us. Mr. Bailey spoke to her and said, "Are you the little girl who went whale watching?"  Kylie loved being recognized from the painting. It was such a treat to see many admired artists' work. To me, it was an awe-inspiring learning experience to walk through the gallery full of NWS and AWS signatures, as well as artists from all over the nation.

The view from San Pedro is gorgeous!  We took Loa Sprung's advice to go see the Korean Friendship Bell and enjoyed the incredible overlook area.

61st Texas Watercolor Society Exhibition - Rockport Center for the Arts

My husband and I took a weekend trip to the TWS Opening Reception.  The Rockport Center for the Arts is a beautiful gallery that sits alongside the Aquarium, the Maritime Museum and Visitor Center on a small peninsula jutting into the ocean.  The building is surrounded by wonderful sculptures and a boatfilled harbor. 

In this photo, my husband is standing near the works of two of my favorite watercolor painters. Soon Warren's painting won the bronze award.  It was fantastic and could be "read" from across the room! That is John Salminen's painting behind my husband.  Salminen's won an award from Cheap Joe's.

We were awestruck by the Silver Award winner by Duncan Simmons.  Besides his obvious talent, he was an exceptionally nice guy, too.

Of course the star of the show was Nicholas Simmons' Best of Show winner! I am standing by it in the photo to the right. It was large and rich with textures and talent - very deserving of the top honor! 

Fellow SWS member, Barbara McNutt's painting was wonderful. Todd Chalk traveled all the way from New York with her gorgeous watercolor!

Of course we were thrilled that my painting, "The Ugly Duckling" was even included in the exhibition among such great company.

Art After 5 - Artscape - Honorable Mention

http://artafter5.com/
2009 - 2010 Artscape winners selected by Art After 5

Best in Show: “Red” by Angelia Ford (Photograph)

Honorable Mention: “Inkoiry” by Cheryl DeVoto (Watercolor)

Honorable Mention:“Pansy Panorama” by Nancy Medina (Oil)