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VERMONT WATERCOLOR SOCIETY
| February 2014 |
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HUBS
Hub news can be found in the new "HUB NEWS" section in the main body of the newsletter. If you have Hub related questions please contact Pamela Dexter,Director of Hubs:
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Facebook
If you are a Facebook user and a current VWS member, please consider joining the Vermont Watercolor Society Facebook group. This is a place for members to share their work, and information about shows and events. Click here to join.
We have also created a Vermont Watercolor Society page. This is a public place where VWS will share announcements and other information. Members are welcome to share their work and announcements on this page as well. Please share the page with your friends.
Newsletter Submissions
All member events , workshops and show announcements should be sent to :
Newsletter article deadline is the 20th of each month.
Please put "VWS NEWSLETTER " in your title. Thank you!
Submissions must be fully written and spell-checked with accurate punctuation in order to be included. This saves our volunteer editor much valuable time so that she can return to painting.
If you have images, please send them in JPG format as an email attachment. It is extremely helpful if images are labeled with a file name related to the content.
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
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Mark Nielsen
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VWS is supporting our volunteer teachers!
Let me tell you a heartwarming story. It begins in the classroom with a growing number of volunteering VWS teachers. Through them, the VWS is sharing the pleasure of watercolor painting with young and old alike. We, the VWS, are buying these students up to $50 in materials each to make these courses possible to offer though schools, hospitals, and other non-profit institutions. These teachers will be sharing their experiences through articles in snippets in the coming months and years in their own words, but here is an overview.
Shanley Triggs volunteered to teach 10 adults thought the Milton Recreational Department for a 5 to 6 week basic watercolor course this last September. "This would be such a boost to this program in Milton. There are no painting classes offered here. I initiated the watercolor workshop and people loved it. " Shanley's daughter is a videographer and pulled this recording of the class together for us http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgiXFoEGAoQ
Claudia Carl and Ginny Joyner teach a 12-14 week watercolor course to students at Champlain Valley Union High that reaches 16-17 students. The VWS is helping to pay for the watercolor paper in this class.
Lynn Pratt just taught six sixth graders through the Mettawee Community School in and afterschool program they are running. Here is what Lynn wrote to us: "I met with the 6th grade art class today and brought in some of my paintings to show them and talk about what the class will entail. The kids were so excited and already some had signed up. Very exciting! They had over 20 min of questions about all the things they would get to do and were so excited about the supplies that they would get from VWS. They thought that was the coolest thing that they would be donated for them, especially to keep. The three kids that had already brought paperwork in were so in awe that a watercolor society was buying materials for them to have. I think it made a great impression on them, especially since half of our school is below the poverty level and this is something they could never dream of being able to do if the materials were not supplied. Such a great program, I am so excited!"
Lynn Cummings is volunteer teaching at Spectrum once a month for 2014. Her first class is 1/31/14. The VWS will be providing materials for these sessions. Spectrum is located in Burlington VT and serves teens and their families struggling with problems related to substance use. Lynn is expecting between 5 and 10 students. Lynn is also utilizing the VWS DVD library to create evenings to collectively watch one of our instructional DVD's and then to experiment with watercolors based on the information in the DVD. She has held one at the Charlotte Senior Center and has one planned for Dragon Boat Organization 2/7/14.
Rebecca Gottesman is offering an extension of her Artist in Residence at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center with free lessons once a week for 6 weeks in her studio in White River Junction for people who have chronic pain. She is planning to limit this offer to 7 students. The VWS will support her by underwriting some of her material costs up to $50 per student.
Have I warmed your heart? If you volunteer teach and you think this program might help you reach those who would not otherwise be able to afford to learn watercolors let us know. We, the VWS may be able to help you reach them.
Best Regards.
Mark Nielsen, President
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VWS Spring Meeting
Mark your calendars for April 27, 2014. More details coming soon. Questions? Email claudiaec@yahoo.com.
Framing & Matting Guidelines for All Shows*
Mats: sole or top mats will be white or off white. If a bottom mat is used, it may be white, off white or colored. Filets may be used. Mats are not required for all paintings, but if you are not framing your painting, archival spacers must be used.
Frames: frames must be sturdy, in excellent condition, and must be professional quality. They must have picture wire attached to the back from which to hang the painting.
The following are not acceptable for VWS shows:
- Float frames
- Table top frames
- Damaged frames or frames that are disjointed at the corners
- Saw tooth hangers
- Duct tape, masking tape or other non-professional-looking materials used on backs of frames.
- Sloppy construction as seen from front or back
Persons accepting paintings at drop off are instructed to not accept paintings if they do not meet these guidelines. Thank you for your cooperation.
*Occasionally there are special shows where other guidelines apply, which will be described in that show's prospectus and/or other communications. Otherwise, the above guidelines will apply to all VWS shows including hub shows.
This information can also be found on the VWS website:
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VWS
WORKSHOPS AND PROGRAMS
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VWS DVD LENDING LIBRARY
VWS has created a lending library. Videos may be previewed on Creative Catalyst http://ccpvideos.com. The current list includes:
Chen-Kee Chee
Saturated Wet Technique
Tony Couch
Painting Barns in Watercolor
Carl Dalio
on Color Power
The Path to Visualizing Energetic Color
Linda Kemp
Negative Painting Techniques
Mark Mehaffey
Painting a Dramatic Landscape in Watercolor
Birgit O'Connor
Waves, Water and Clouds
Ann Pember
Painting in the Flow of Watercolor
On High Plate Illustration Board
Soon Y Warren
Vibrant Watercolor Techniques: Water
Frank Webb
Using Your Head, Heart & Hand
Donna Zagotta
The You Factor:
Powerful Personal Design in Opaque Watercolor
If interested, email Claudia. She will send the video with a self-addressed envelope for return after 2 weeks. Please open the package carefully so that we may re-use it. Suggestions for additional videos to Claudia, claudiaec@yahoo.com. Donations for this program are welcome.
JOHN SALMINEN
June 23-27 2014
Realism Through Design
John Salminen is coming to Vermont June 23-27, 2014 and If you haven't signed up yet this is the time! Send in your deposit so you don't miss out on an unforgettable experience with an exceptional internationally renowned artist. Even if the style of Johns artwork might be intimidating to you let this be a challenge to get you thinking and seeing your process differently. I am so excited to have someone of this caliber coming to teach us. This has been 3 years in the making and you just don't want to miss it. Just start setting aside a bit of money now in the "ART EDUCATION" piggy jar and by April 29 you could have it all! Questions? Email claudiaec@yahoo.com.
 
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Burlington/St. Albans Hub News
Life Drawing/Painting
These sessions, which started as a hub activity last fall, have expanded and now are open to other artists in the community. Any artist can attend these sessions which now meet in the upstairs classroom at Black Horse Art, 277 Pine St., Burlington. There is a model every Wednesday night from 6 - 9 PM, and every Sunday afternoon from 2 - 5 PM. Participants must register in advance by contacting Black Horse Art Supply at: 860-4972. Charles Norris-Brown is organizing discussion sessions for the VWS members who attend these sessions. You may work in whatever medium you wish, and there is no instruction.
Hub Volunteers
Our hub is still in need of greater volunteer participation for both hub and full VWS activities. We'd love to have a volunteer (or two) to coordinate painting pickups and dropoffs, organize carpools to various activities and other small tasks. Without volunteer efforts, there will not be any activities, as VWS is an all-volunteer organization. Please let me know what you are willing to help with, and if there are other events that you'd like for our hub to offer. (email: Lynn.Cummings@uvm.edu)
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Each month we feature a VWS member in this newsletter. This month we welcome:
 If you had asked me to describe myself two years ago I would have said I live in Vermont, am a wife to a wonderful husband and mother to two great kids. Now I happily add watercolor artist to that statement! In college I studied architecture at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, MA graduating cum laude, third in my class. During college I took many different kinds of art classes, one of them being a watercolor painting class, but I did not have time to pursue it further due to my heavy architecture class load. After I moved to Vermont, I worked as an architect for a Manchester, VT firm until I had my daughter, Ashley. I then started my own firm, Pratt Design, so I could stay home with her and my son Timothy who came two years later. I loved doing architecture and being able to be a mother at the same time. It worked perfectly for me until my daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 5. I found that having a professional life and taking care of her needs did not go well together. As I was slowly phasing out of architecture, I started taking some fantastic painting classes with other talented Vermont artists and fell in love with it all over again. I tried doing the traditional watercolor style of painting with flowing washes and soft blurred edges and found that my perfectionist nature from architecture carried over into my painting as well. It doesn't seem to matter if I'm doing a one minute sketch or a forty hour painting, I like things to look just so. When you draw stairs in an architectural drawing, they have to be exact, or once they are built, they will not get you to the next floor. In the same way, every detail of my paintings has to be realistic and authentic, or the entire watercolor does not work for me. In my paintings, I enjoy focusing on certain details and highlighting them, instead of focusing on the entire scene. The hinge of a door, the peak of a roof, a single window of a house. I believe when you take one element out of the whole, it gives you an entirely different feeling. Many small features all come together to make what a person would normally envision when they think of a barn, let's say. But when you only focus on the hinge of the barn door and a few boards, it puts that small piece in an entirely different light. You notice how the sun hits that one object and the shadows it forms; the roughness and grain of the wood and the character and texture of the rust on the metal. That one piece seems to become the most important element, and you begin to notice how unique it is and the feelings that it evokes. You notice things about it that you would never become aware of if you just painted the full barn. There is so much more character in those small elements that I really like to show in my paintings. When I start something new in my life, I tend to go all in. Starting something cautiously or not putting everything I have into it is just not how I work. Sometimes this works out well for me... and sometimes not so much. I was happy to find that with painting it was definitely the right way to go! I have stopped doing architecture completely now and I am full time painting. I do art shows and fairs throughout the year and have been very busy doing commissioned pet portraits. I am thrilled to have just earned signature status in the Vermont Watercolor Society as well as the North East Watercolor Society. In January of this year I started teaching watercolor classes as well which I absolutely love! I started with a kid's class for the 6th grade at my daughter's school. The VWS donated the supplies for each student and I offered my teaching services for free. The class is 6 weeks long and it is going great! I also started doing adult classes during the day and they went so well that I will have my next session starting in March in the evenings. The classes are going better than I could have ever imagined and I am loving it! I found they have inspired me to paint even more so I have something new to show my students each week.
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Welcome New Members
- Robert Chamberlin
- Gail Duncan
- Joan Handschumacher
- Victoria Jeffries
- Nancy McGowan
- William Sharpe
Jean Cannon
Jean Cannon will be teaching two watercolor classes through the UVM OLLI program. OLLI stands for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and it for people over 50.
Beginning watercolor, Tuesdays, March 11 - April 1, 5:30 to 7:30
Level 2 Watercolor, Tuesdays, March 8 - 29, 5:30 to 7:30.
Tony Conner
Workshop
"Watercolor Simplified", Sat & Sun, Feb 15 & 16 - North Bennington. Long believed to be a difficult medium, it is often watercolors' unique working characteristics and process that are the cause of frustration. Whether you are a beginning watercolor painter, or have been working with the medium for some time but are still finding frustration, this class is for you.
The weekend long class will teach the techniques and skills required for successful watercolor painting. Over the course of the two days, we'll cover the fundamental elements of successful watercolor painting. More info - http://tonyconner.com/2013/12/28/watercolor-simplified-weekend-workshop/
Classes
"Watercolor: Go With The Flow", Monday Evenings 6 - 9pm, Feb 24 - Mar 31, Class offered through the Vermont Arts Exchange, North Bennington, Vermont (802) 442-5549. One of the most unique characteristics of watercolor is the movement of color in a flowing wash. In this class we'll work on creating these flowing washes and using them to make both abstract and representational paintings. To register contact Vermont Arts Exchange.
"Painting Studio: Painting The Found Object", Friday Mornings, 9:30am - 12:30pm, Williamstown, MA. During the winter months it can be hard to paint outside. Interior studies of found objects- from a pet's leash to a book on a bed stand- offer great opportunities for keeping observation skills sharp as well as playing with different color and composition. In this class, students will sketch and paint simple objects from varying points of view and with different focal points. Special attention will be paid to color mixing and placing values in a composition. This class is open to those working in any paint medium who want to dig in and work on their skills at any level. Class is offered through IS183, Stockbridge, MA - contact them to register - www.is183.org or (413) 298-5252.
Online Exhibit
Winter Hundred - Online Exhibit of One Hundred New Paintings.
The overall challenge is to produce 100 paintings in 100 days - more or less. In addition to the 100 paintings, the challenge includes a goal of producing as many of them "en plein air" as possible. Only the weather is likely to keep me from painting outside, on location. The paintings will be posted in an exclusively on-line exhibit, one per day, for 100 days from January 20 - April 30, 2014. The works will all be for sale on-line, with mats and backing but without frames. The exhibit can be seen at http://tonyconner.com/2014/01/20/1st-annual-winter-hundred/.
Workshops/Classes
January 30 & February 6, 12:30 - 3:30 PM, "Painting Snow", Charlotte Senior Center, Charlotte. Call 425-6345.
Robert O'Brien
Robert's painting "Blue Silk" was accepted into this year's 147th Exhibition of the American Watercolor Society which be held April 1 - April 20 at the Salmagundi Club in New York City.
Kate Reeves
Kate has a solo show in Woodstock, Vt. at the Norman Williams Library. Running now until Feb 11th 2014 upstairs in The Mezzanine Gallery. 'My Winter World' Watercolors by Kate Reeves
29 watercolors expressing my passion for winter.
Sarah Rosedahl
Sarah's painting of a northern saw-whet owl appears on the cover of the Women's Rural Entrepreneurial Network (WREN) winter "WRENzine".
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Green Mountain Watercolor Exhibition
CALL FOR ENTRIES
Deadline: April 28, 2014
Green Mountain Watercolor Exhibition - 3rd annual - June 27 to July 26, 2014 in the Mad River Valley (Waitsfield) Vermont. 2000+ visitors/23 paintings sold in 2013. Juror: Robert O'Brien AWS, NWS - cash and merchandise awards. Prospectus/digital entry form: www.valleyartsfoundation.org. Information: GMWE@moosewalkstudios.com or 802-583-2224
Norwich Library
Artists from VWS will exhibit their watercolor paintings from Saturday, January 4 to Thursday, February 27 in the Norwich Library Community Room. The library will host an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, January 17.
The exhibit will include paintings by Sue Bridge, Jennifer Brown, Cynthia Crawford, Nancy Dean, Jennifer Dembinski, Kathy Finnigan, Rebecca Gottesman, Nan Green, Debbie Hamilton, Owen Hamilton, Vickie Herzberg, Judy Miller, Katherine More, Kate Reeves, Deborah Rice, and Jo Tate.
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It is very exciting to have Holbein, USA as a VWS Partner. Being a Vermont based art supplier and full time supporter of arts and the artists who make them, it is a perfect fit for both of us. Please get to know Holbein and support them not only because they are one of our partners, but because they are a world leader in colors and mediums for artists. The Landgrove Inn is the premier, all-in-one lodging, dining and fun space in which to create, exhibit and learn. Check out the 2010 workshop schedule at Landgrove Inn, or call 802 824-6673. Tom and Maureen Checchia, owners. |
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