MINUTES - MAY , 2013

Minutes May 1:

Deb started our May meeting by making a couple of announcements concerning the up coming show at the Barn. Registration forms for the show were on the back table at the meeting.  Shirley passed around a sheet for members to sign up to sit the show.

Joan O’Leary then introduced the young artist that will receive the Young Artist Award from the Club. Justin Toland is a freshman at the Art Academy.  He brought in samples of work that he had done for his drawing  and color theory classes. He is an amazing young artist and is extremely delighted to receive the scholarship money. We then took a short refreshment break before continuing the meeting.

Deb started the second half of the meeting by passing around the membership book so everyone there could check their information to verify that it was correct. She also asked for a show of hands of members that were staying for the open painting. She had extra paints, brushes and paper with her for those who wanted to stay but hadn’t brought supplies. There was also a tracing if someone needed an idea for painting. Deb hopes that members will start participating in these after meeting sessions and consider them as free lessons.  She would also like more members to bring in their work for the after program critiques.

The blog will now have an ad for membership, an application form, and a form for dues.

Marilyn Bishop suggested that we look into a service that would put out announcements to the members. She mentioned that Constant Comment does this for about $12. Deb said she would look into it since there has been so much trouble with members emails. Marilyn also stated that there still are about 6 or 7 DVD’s missing from our library. She is hoping members will check and make sure they have returned the DVD’s that they have borrowed.

Deb reminded everyone that the show at the Barn is juried for first, second, third, and honorable mention  prizes.

Announcements:

Art Local a 2 day show by the Springfield Township Arts and Enrichment Council is May 3 & 4.

Bethesda North show opens Tuesday May 7 from 6 -8. Rhonda  Carpenter and Larry Sparks both have pieces in the show.

The Rising Sun Art show is opening Friday May 3 from 6 - 9. Deb Ward has a painting in the show.

Marilyn Bishop has her work in the Wyoming Wine Shop. It starts on May 3 from  5 - 7.

Rhonda Carpenter announced that the Art After Dark Show at the Campbell County Library is July 26. Rhonda is in it along with Jo Hogan and Marlene Steele.

Check the blog for all of these shows.

Treasurer Report:

Sally went through the expenses and income for the club as usual. If you haven’t paid your dues see Sally after the meeting.

Sally then gave a report about the up coming show. The club helps subsidize some of the show expenses since the entrance fee does not cover it all. Entry fee is $10 for 1 and $15 for 2 paintings. A sheet was sent around again for refreshment sign up. She also said she needs some one to bring punch. Registration forms need to be in to Joyce Grothaus by May 17. Marilyn Bishop is the one in charge of publicity. There will be no postcards available this time since we missed a meeting in March when that needed to be done. Members need to remember that there is a 20% commission at this show which each individual will have to take care of themselves.

Programs:
Our nxt program will be Carol Carter known as one of the foremost watercolorists in America.   She will bring samples of her work and discuss her paintings.

Minutes by Kathy Kuyper

MINUTES AND PROGRAM - APRIL 3, 2013

Minutes from April 3 Meeting

Deb gave a warm welcome to everyone since last month meeting was canceled due to the winter weather.

The first order of business was to remind everyone that membership dues are due. They are $45 and  Deb would like everyone to fill out the membership information form that she sent by mail and email.

We had two new people join the club: Linda Henke and Nancy Beers. Both are students of  Rhonda Carpenter.

Marilyn Bishop sent a message through Deb that we have several DVD’s missing from our Library. It’s important that when signing these out  that you list your name and phone number along with the title of the DVD. The DVD should only be signed out for a month.

There have been some problems with emails that are being sent to certain addresses ( fuse net, zoom town, cinci rr). This is due to someone hacking into to these email addresses.  Rhonda said they might appear in your spam folder since they are trying to do a better job of screening mail through  these accounts.

Scholarship:

Joan O’Leary announced that the Art Academy  had selected a talented young man who is a freshman  for the scholarship. He will attend our May meeting to accept the award.

Workshop:

Christopher Leeper’s workshop is this weekend from 10 to 4 April 5,6, &7. There is still room if anyone is interested in join the group. Let Rhonda know after the meeting.

Feature Artist:

Joyce Grothaus is the feature artist this month. Deb would still like more people to volunteer to do this.

State of GCWS:

Deb’s goals for the club are to create an environment of companionship and camaraderie . She would like to have more interest from the members for volunteering for jobs and more interest in the Blog. Some of her goals for the club are to continue to have workshops and to have more members stay after the meeting for the paint sessions. The club’s accomplishments are having 2 workshops, purchasing a projector  and having high quality programs.

Deb also listed projects and the expenses that we have incurred:

KHAC art show  - $8.

Evergreen show - $375

Workshop - $321

Programs - $1180

After meeting painting Session -$40 per month

Deb also thanked the core group of members that continue to show up at the meetings .

Treasurer Report:

Most of our income this month was from membership dues and the workshop. We also made a donation of $50 to Hospice for Mary Marxen.

Announcements:

The women’s Art club show opens  April 5 & 6 from 1-4 pm. Awards are presented April 7,  1-4 pm. There are several members that made it into this show.

Southwest Indiana Art Guild  show opens Saturday April 6 from 5 -8 pm.

Deb was accepted into to the Georgia Watercolor Show. She is also starting beginning watercolor classes in her home on Monday evenings from 6 - 8 starting April 8.

Larry Sparks announced a call for artists for the Springfield Twp. Show the first weekend in May.

Diana Marra announced that she has a show opening in Wyoming at Bilog Bistro April 9 - May 5.

Shows:

We will have 2 shows this year. The first show will be a juried show at the Barn in June and the second show will be at Evergreen in Oct. You may enter 2 paintings for $10. We need volunteers to help hang the show, to type up title cards and programs, and also for refreshments for the reception.

Minutes by Kathy Kuyper

Program:

Roger Ross a member of the club presented the program on “ What you should know about watercolor paints”. 

Roger gave us a lot of information on paints:  what there made of, how they are made, color sources, and much more. I will try to give you a brief report on the program but there was so much information that it is difficult to cover it all.

He said paints are made of pigment, a binder, and a filler. The filler gives the paints the buttery substance. It’s important to look at the pigment numbers to know if it is a good paint.. You will find the pigment numbers on the tube such as PR83 for Alizarin Crimson.  There will also be a number for color fastness.  These numbers are roman numeral starting with I -V.  The best pigments are the ones with a color fastness of  I or II.

Pigment colors come from several sources.

Earth - raw sienna, (heated it becomes burnt sienna)

Vegetable dye - rose madder

Powder mineral - Lapis blue

Man made color - Prussian blue

Roger went through each color giving us the history of the pigments, color fastness, and how it has changed over the years. Even now they are finding that some of the pigments such as cadmiums are potentially dangerous.

One of the paints he recommended was Daniel Smith for overall quality.

CHRISTOPHER LEEPER WORKSHOP, April 5, 6 and 7, 2013

For the second time, Christopher Leeper, award winning Ohio artist and past President of the Ohio Watercolor Society, came to Cincinnati to give a 3-day landscape workshop to the Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society members - April 5, 6, and 7, 2013. 

Chris is a wonderful artist and a great teacher, sharing a lot of information in a fun and energizing way. 

Those who were in the workshop learned how Chris paints his day landscapes and his night landscapes. 

Daytime landscape demo in progress:

Nighttime landscape demo in progression:

Chris discussed and reiterated several things to help make us all better painters:

1) Don't use tube greens by themselves.   Even if you have tube greens, mix something else in there to give you something different and think about your warms and cools when it comes to colors.  

2) Check your values and put in your darkest darks early so you have a guideline of how dark you should go and how your medium values hold up when those darks are in the painting.

3) Put down some warm colors as an underpainting because you can always make a warm cooler (can't always make a cool warmer without getting muddy color).

4) When you do a value study, just use your regular pigments but grey them down a bit - that way you get to paint instead of doing black and white value studies with pencil or marker.

5)  Don't be so afraid of painting darks!

Photos and text submitted by Rhonda Carpenter, Program Chair

FEATURED ARTIST - JOYCE GROTHAUS



Joyce Grothaus with her two latest paintings

How long have you been a member of the GCWS and why did you join?

 I have been a member of GCWS for one year (Feb 2012).  Susan Grogan invited me to a meetingand after attending in January, 2012, I concurred with her opinion that I could learn a lot from belonging, and that I would enjoy being with the other members.


Anna's Chicken

Have you held any positions with the GCWS; if so, what positions?

No, but I did help work on one of the Art Shows.

What are some of your artistic achievements?

 Getting the paint on the paper in a way that is pleasing to me is my first achievement.  I have participated in both GCWS Art Shows in 2012, and attended the Christopher Leeper Workshop.  I was responsible for initiating a display of our paintings from Susan Grogan’s class, at the Miami Township’s (Clermont) Super Senior Saturday, and also a display in the Miami Township Civic Center.


My Brother Jeff

Describe your usual procedures for creating a painting.  Where do you get your inspiration for paintings?

Inspiration & Procedure – The vast majority of my paintings are inspired by photographs that I have taken specifically for that purpose; or from photos that my husband (who is very talented in photography) has taken over the years.  I love to try all kinds of subject matter – landscapes, scenes, people, animals, nature, buildings, or still-lifes.  Many of my paintings are chosen from trips we have taken in the last few years.   I have not painted en plein air – only in class, at GCWS, or at home in our glassed-in porch (great light), usually transferring the photo onto the paper, then doing the background first, and moving forward.


Fun at the Shore

How long have you been painting?

My only previous art experiences occurred during my 8^th grade summer, when a lady gathered the neighborhood kids in her yard once a week to draw and paint – (Little do we know what influence we can have on someone – many years later).  I also took lessons on Saturday mornings during my Freshman year of high school (charcoal and pastels), from Ms. Eileen McCarthy in Covington, KY, who was a student of Frank Duvenec.  It has been wonderful these last 3 years to have another chance to enjoy the world of art!


From Our Window

Are you a teacher?

No, I am not a teacher.

Flowers at the Art Shop

 Where do you see yourself in the future?  (i.e., is painting a hobby; will you enter shows; do you see yourself teaching?)

For the foreseeable future, I want to continue painting for my own enjoyment, and entering the GCWS Art Shows, and other venues as they become available.

Coastal Maine



MARCH MEETING CANCELLED

Due to weather predictions for Wednesday, March 6:

The March meeting is CANCELLED.

Please mail your 2013 dues checks to our Treasurer.

See you in April!

PROGAM - FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Tamera Lenz Muente

Our program “Travels with Sargent:  Watercolors by an American Master” was given by our guest speaker, Tamera Lenz Muente, Assistant Curator at the Taft Museum of Art here in Cincinnati.

Some highlights of the presentation (with notes taken in the dark!) follow:

Sergeant was born in 1856 and spent the first years of his life in a rather nomadic existence, as his parents traveled throughout Europe.  His mother, a skilled watercolor artist, taught him much about art, and by age 11 he showed talent as a budding artist.  By age 14 he had become a skilled watercolorist, filling pages of sketchbooks with paintings from his travels with his parents. 

His travels brought him into contact with the paintings of the Old Masters from which he learned much.  He began studying at the Ecole des Beaux Artes in Paris at the age of 18, having applied and been accepted at the ripe old age of 18.  By age 21 he was showing annually at the Paris Salon.  His work was primarily portraits of wealthy socialites, writers and artists.

Sargent traveled 3-4 months a year and became a consummate traveler, as comfortable in luxury as in rusticity, and learned to travel well on a small budget.  He was capable of long hikes to remote locations, and was not afraid of camping, all while carrying a trademark white parasol!  A typical day would begin with breakfast around 7:30 and continue until the light failed, with only a short break for lunch or afternoon “siesta” during hot weather.  His traveling companions complained that he was a “workaholic”.

Siesta

Simplon Pass:  The Lesson

Pater Harrison (or Siesta)

While living in Paris he painted the socialite Virginie Gautreau.  His painting proved so scandalous (showing the thin strap of her dress falling from her shoulder) that it left his reputation ruined in that city.  (The painting was later “repaired” and the offending strap painted on top of her shoulder).  He then moved to London, taking up residence in Whistler’s former studio, and spent some years living in London and Boston, painting primarily portraits of London nobility and wealthy Bostonians.

Madame X (Virginie Gautreau)

Sargent continued traveling annually, making quick watercolor sketches of his traveling companions, as well as the cities of Europe and America.  However, he did not paint the typical tourist view, preferring to paint more mundane scenes of every day life.  While in Venice, Sargent would often paint from a gondola, painting the water reflections of the canal rather than the grand buildings; the underside of the Rialto Bridge; and the quiet alley ways as seen from the canals.  While in Carera, Italy, he painted the Carera marble quarry and the workmen among the slabs of marble; laundry hanging from a line; scenes from daily life.  He referred to these quick sketches as “snapshots”.

A Mosque, Cairo, 1891

Carrera Workmen

Escutcheon of Charles V

Rio de Santa Maria Formosa

The Rialto (Grand Canal)

Venetian Canal Palazzo Corner

Venetian Doorway

During WWI Sargent traveled in North America since travel was impossible in Europe.  Since he loved hiking and painting the Alps in Europe, he was drawn to the Rocky Mountains, both US and Canadian.  While painting Lake Louise in Canada he complained of the tourists and moved to a more remote location, where he ultimately complained about the snow and noise of the waterfalls he was painting!

Camping at Lake O'Hara

From there he went to Florida in the winter and fell in love with the light.  It was here that he painted not only rich socialites such as John D. Rockefeller and Charles  Deering (founder of International Harvester) but also the flora and fauna, such as the palmettos, palms and alligators – all resplendent in the sunlight.

Charles Deering

Muddy Alligators

Palmettos

In 1918 he returned to Europe and worked as a war artist, painting with troops at the front in France.  Once again, however, he did not paint typical battlefield scenes, but smaller, more intimate paintings of hospital tents, and soldiers bathing and resting, and the aftermath of battles, ruined buildings with implements of daily life scattered among them.

Camp With Ambulance 1918

Wheels in Vault 1918

Tommies Bathing

Around 1920 Sargent was commissioned to paint several murals in Boston, among them murals for the Museum of Fine Art and the Boston Public Library.

Mural at Boston Public Library

Between 1900 and 1914 Sargent painted 700 watercolor paintings!

In 1909 he sold his first watercolors when the Brooklyn Museum of Art bought 83 – practically all he had on display at that show.

In 1912 the Boston Museum of Fine Art purchased 25 of his watercolors.

Sergeant died suddenly in 1925, sitting up in bed while reading Voltaire.

* * * * *

Tamera gave a splendid PowerPoint presentation and spoke eloquently about Sargent’s life and paintings.  We thank her, and hope to have her back again with another wonderful program!

Photos gleaned from the internet (courtesy of www.johnsingersargent.org)

MINUTES FROM FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Since our Secretary is on vacation in New Zealand this month, your intrepid President endeavored to take minutes of the meeting (while participating in the meeting) as well as take notes of the program (while in the dark), so here goes!

The weather cooperated and we had a good turn out for a mid-winter meeting!

The bell was rung to bring order to the meeting.  Once everyone settled down, I read a quote:

“Art is very subjective and not everyone will always like it.  It is a matter of perspective.  What is important is that YOU like it.”  I think this is very true and appropriate – at some point you must quit listening to those who critique and decide that you have accomplished what you set out to accomplish, and that the painting satisfies YOU and it is finished.

Mary Marxen’s death and Memorial Fund was discussed.  Joan Miley passed around an envelope for those who wished to donate to The Mary Marxen Memorial Fund.  The money will be used at a later date to fund some sort of project at the Cincinnati Art Club.  Eileen Hulsman is in charge of this project and you may contact her about a donation.

I then asked if anyone had tried to make postcards or notecards using Marilyn Bishop’s technique from the prior meeting and Joan Ammerman said she had made 20!  Several other hands were raised; everyone enjoyed Marilyn’s demo in January.

In going through some old minutes, I came across a note that will be beneficial to all members, but specifically to our newer painters.  If you are planning on putting a painting into an upcoming show, bring it in for critique!  It’s a good way to utilize the eyes and ideas of our members, some of whom have years of experience in shows.  Critiques can help all of us, no matter where we are in our painting journey.

New Business

Annual dues are due in March.  An email including the dues form (mailed to those with no email) will be sent out by mid-February.  Several people elected to pay their dues at the meeting.

Rhonda Carpenter is accepting checks for the Christopher Leeper workshop in April.  Please get your $50 deposit check to her immediately – made payable to GCWS and mailed to her address (which is in our membership book).  If we have not filled the workshop by February 13, we will open it to the public.

We are using our new projector for the first time at today’s meeting!  Thanks to Rhonda and the abilities of our guest speaker, it worked seamlessly!

Treasurer

Since our Treasurer was ill, I gave a brief report explaining expenses during January.

Young Artist Award

Joan O’Leary reported that the Art Academy is in the process of making their selection for a qualified student and will give her that information later this spring.

Blog Featured Artist

Sally Wester is the featured artist for January, and I asked for more members to come forward for future months.

Guest

Malachi Lawrence, recently retired from GE, was our guest.  We hope he enjoyed the meeting and will become a new member.

  

Announcements

Information about the upcoming Women’s Art Club competition was placed on the back wall.  If you are interested in entering, you can contact Marilyn Bishop or Janet Vennemeyer, or go to the Woman's Art Club website to download an application.

The OWS traveling show is now in Sidney, Ohio.  The closest it will come to Cincinnati is Troy, Ohio.  To see a list of the venues, check out the Ohio Watercolor Society website or go to Deb Ward’s blogspot. 

We will offer a workshop this fall by Fran Mangino.  More information will be forthcoming.

Minutes by Deb Ward (I hope I didn’t overlook anything!