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MCC has asked that our exhibit stay up for a musical performance in early January, so we will remove it Tuesday, January 11, between 2:30 and 3:30. If you can't be there at that time, please ask someone else to pick up your art for you. Note that this is after the opening date for our Arboretum exhibit, so art may not be transferrred from MCC to the arboretum. If you need to remove your art sooner than January 11, call Bill Franklin at 741-0960 or email him at physicsnerd@yahoo.com, so that he can arrange to replace your pieces with others. Please do not leave a blank spot on the wall.

Don Magid has established an enviable reputation in Waco as an artist and teacher. He gives lessons in his home studio, which is just across the street from the Waco Charter School where we usually meet. Several Art Guild members are currently enrolled in his classes (more details on the Classes page). Don is particularly good at portraits, his subject for our meeting. You won't miss this demo, Sunday, January 9, at the Waco Charter School, 615 N 25th Street. Come for refreshments and conversation at 1:30. The meeting and demo will begin at 2. First time visitors are free, so bring a friend. Also bring your work for our show and tell. We will also vote for our favorites among those works displayed.

Gloria Meadows and Charleen Isbell Met with third grade students three times in January to complete a acrylic painting project. The students were led through a series of steps from preparing the "canvas" (paper in this case) to the final image. First, they painted the entire page a light green. Then the students painted a tree with limbs and leaves on one side. Then the shape of a rabbit was outlined. Portions of it were painted brown or white, and some details were added. The children were allowed to take their finished product home to show their parents. They may also enter them in a year-end exhibit from which Letzler Award winners will be selected. Other members will present lessons in February and the rest of the school year. To be part of this, call Bill Franklin at 741-0960 or email him at physicsnerd@yahoo.com.

Many in the audience, including several visitors, are taking classes from Don, who told us that he enjoyed teaching, but especially liked painting portraits. He explained his purpose in sending out an information packet about the advantage of play. His mission is to use art as a means to teach creative skills which can be applied in many situations.

 

He used a photograph by Steve McCurry to explain composition and strong values. He emphasized pattern recognition and exploration of relationships as key elements of the creative process. At the left is a scribble sketch he made to explore these patterns. He demonstrated the first steps in drawing a face by marking the paper into fourths. He drew in the basic shape of the subject's face, placing the eyes along the horizontal line, and the nose and mouth along the vertical line. He chose one unit of length within the drawing to use as a guide to achieving the correct proportions.
 

For the large painting in his demonstration, he used as his subject the McCurry photograph. He had started with a toner on the white canvas to fill in all the pores. He had glazed the painting with very thin acrylic washes to get the basic shapes and colors. His palette consisted of cadmium red, cad light yellow, and ultramarine blue. He diluted his oil paints with one part varnish, one part linseed oil, and one part odorless thinner.
 

Using diluted oils and a bristle brush for the underpainting, he started putting in his dark values, observing the patterns they made throughout the painting. Turning the painting upside down frequently helped him concentrate on patterns of shape and color. He maintained a loose style, explored patterns, and kept measuring to make sure his proportions stayed correct. As he added middle and lighter values and more details, he used thicker paint and sable brushes.
 

When he began working on the faces, he turned the painting upside down again, explaining that it gave the right brain a chance to recognize shapes and values. He applied his brightest color between the lightest and the darkest colors on the face, blending and smoothing the paint with his little finger, and dragging the lighter shade into the darker. He showed how the planes of the face need to recede into the background. Some background color needs to be in the subject to unify the painting.

 

Don told us that painting takes time. Each session, like today's, is essentially an underpainting for the next session, as the final image emerges gradually from numerous layers of paint. In particular, he paints eye sockets at first, rather than eyes, to get the eyes located properly before adding details. The photo at the right shows the end of this session. We thank Don for a very helpful demo. Thanks also to Charleen Isbell, Nancy Cagle, Linda Green, Christine Niekamp, and Judy Franklin for bringing refreshments, and to those who brought their work for show and tell, examples of which are shown below. In the voting, Gloria got 1st, Julie 2nd, and Christine and Bobbie tied for 3rd.

 

                                  

    Nancy Cagle          Julie Cash          Judy Franklin       Charleen Isbell

 

                                  

 Gloria Meadows  Christine Niekamp    Kathe Tipton       Bobbie Watts

Only nine artists offered entries for the exhibit. We had to solicit a few extras from those who were around at 10 a.m. to get enough to fill the spaces. There are some very nice pieces, but more would have made a better showing. Below are photos of the exhibit, beginning at the front door and proceeding around to the right. Windows and other blank spaces have been removed. Also, to improve the format, the glass piece by Pat Blackwell is placed at the end, rather than in its proper sequence.

 

The reception was on January 16, which was unfortunately a cold and rainy day. Fewer than usual of our members showed up, and only a few others, some of whom appear in the photos at left and right. The photos below may tempt you to come on a better day. The art is much better seen in person than on this screen of course. The exhibit is open 9-5 M-F and 10-2 Saturday. However, it is usually taken with functions on Saturday, and sometimes other days. Best to call before making the trip (399-9204).

 

 

                Martha McKinney                                                                                   David Leifeste

 

                                                                Gloria Meadows                               Kay Lamb Shannon

 

                        Kay Lamb Shannon                             Bill Franklin                             Nancy Cagle

 

                                                                                Judy Franklin

 

                            Charleen Isbell                                                                       Kay Lamb Shannon

 

                     Charleen Isbell                                                                                           Bill Franklin

 

                      Pat Blackwell                                                                                 Christine Niekamp

 

                           Nancy Cagle                                                                                        Linda Green

 

                         Charleen Isbell                                                                                     Pat Blackwell

Gloria Meadows and Charleen Isbell Met with third grade students three times in January to complete a acrylic painting project. The students were led through a series of steps from preparing the "canvas" (paper in this case) to the final image. First, they painted the entire page a light green. Then the students painted a tree with limbs and leaves on one side. Then the shape of a rabbit was outlined. Portions of it were painted brown or white, and some details were added. The children were allowed to take their finished product home to show their parents. They may also enter them in a year-end exhibit from which Letzler Award winners will be selected. Other members will present lessons in February and the rest of the school year. To be part of this, call Bill Franklin at 741-0960 or email him at physicsnerd@yahoo.com.

The Art Guild of Central Texas has scheduled the following exhibits:

= January 5 - February 22 Carleen Bright Arboretum, reception Jan 9

= March 3 - aprox. May 5 (depending upon their concert schedule) MCC

= Exhibit rules are found on our Bylaws & Rules Page.