Annual Member Exhibition
Jan. 16 - Feb. 28, 2009

Ed Schneeflock, President
Jeff Gallant, Treasurer
Guy Biechele
Nowell Francis
Luis Gonzalez
Chuck Heidorn
Vicki Heidorn
Janet Reed
Sally Sargent
EllenSchneeflock

Help us write a grant proprosal for art administration and an art center.
Contact Nowell Francis at [email protected]

 

A QUESTION ANSWERED
by Sally Sargent

 
As an artist, the most common question I'm asked is: "How do you come up with ideas for your work?" Many artists who are asked the same question will cite the "right side of the brain" concept. And we can all pretty much agree about that, so it is a big part of the answer. The right half of the brain is where most creativity occurs, but you also use the left side of the brain to organize your thoughts into communicable ideas.
 
How do I use the right side of my brain for creativity? One way is during sleep, you can get many ideas for creating and resolving problems in painting.
 
I work in five different media: watercolor, acrylic, pastel, paper collage and mixed media. Mixed meaning I use all the above in one painting. As a collagist, paper of all kinds excites me. Here is one good example: I have been a secretary for most of my working life. Over the years I have opened tons of work-related mail, many of which were invoices or bills. The envelopes that mail comes in always intrigued me. The paper inside of the envelope is patterned in different designs and usually in various shades of gray, blue or black. Some will have the company's name or logo printed over and over. They are all different.
 
I started collecting the envelopes and had been thinking of some way to incorporate them into a piece of artwork. During sleep, I dreamed of my younger sister working on a quilt. The next morning I woke up really excited. I used the power of dreaming to my advantage. I knew what I was going to do with all the envelope patterns. I planned on making an envelope quilt out of paper. I got together with my sister and asked her for some patterns on quilting. I picked out a simple design called a pinwheel.
 
I finally assembled the piece but wanted to go a step further by alternating the pinwheel pattern with blocks done in cancelled stamps. I stamped the middle of each block with one of my rubber stamps of a circular design and then I used embroidery thread in the middle of each stamp. It is titled: "Envelope Quilt - the best part of bills". I think it is a good example of how dreaming can enhance your work. Read more

Lori MacDonald will be teaching acrylic painting in a variety of classes for artists and non-artists.
Go to Lori's website and click on "classes" to learn more www.macdonaldartist.com