March Meeting

Hi Everyone! Sorry for the delay on this entry....I've been so befuddled with the whole "son away in boot camp thing" I cant keep my head on straight but it's getting better and I'm excited to be back on track again.  Many of our regular members were out of town for the March meeting so we had a nice small group but so much was shared!  I hope I can remember all of it, feel free to chime in if I forgot something....

First, we shared our challenge attempt of  either the "Green" challenge or Art in the Round....

Ruthann had a "vase accident" and turned it into a masterpiece!  I love how she made lemonade out of lemons!

Patti Vincent, who is joining us via email and blog until she moves to Dayton this summer submitted this painting entitled "On the Green" 6x6 oil on panel

Trish attempted to send hers via email but had technical difficulty but if you can try again Trish I'll post yours! (Trish is very busy with wedding plans but me will see her in June at the workshop!)

Erika shared her green flower 6x6 watercolor as well as her abstract entry for the upcoming Jules Olitsky show at the Toledo Museum of Art

We did spend a good deal of time talking about creating art that we don't necessarily understand or admire, for some of us it is abstraction, so the challenge for April is to take an image and abstract it....specific details will be on the NWO daily painters facebook page or email me for questions.

My attempts at Art in the Round (on an old record) and Green are below....

Green bottles are not easy to paint!  

Fred Lewallen blew everyone out of the water as usual by doing both challenges and his photo realistic rendition of Fred's Threads (haha, had to do it)

Fred is known for his realistic drawing capability and just recently started painting (I gave him his first lesson a month ago....I'd say he's doing pretty good for a beginner ;)  He just started a blog, to follow go HERE  and when he completes 5 paintings to sell, he will begin auctioning them on Daily Paintworks....He is one to watch for sure.  He also showed me the completed eagle that he drew for my fiance that I traded for some pastels and instruction,  I feel like I still owe him, the drawing is incredible.  He will be submitting it to a show, so I will get to frame it in the fall.

6x6 oil on panel

Fred drew his inspiration from the song title on the reverse "Peg O' my Heart" 

Fred also brought another of his first oil paintings, a portrait of his daughter.  He wanted an honest critique and Ruthann gave him some wonderful advice.  We look forward to seeing the changes next month!

We also discussed trying to find affordable yet quality 6x6 frames.  I have at least 40 6x6 paintings to put in shows but finding affordable frames is tough....suggestions on alternate display of these at outdoor shows is welcome as I'm at a loss!  

Finally, Ruthann shared a book she published from our challenge in January "30 Paintings in 30 Days"  We both agreed it was a very difficult and tiring challenge, but also rewarding and we learned a ton!  She showed me the dedication page which of course brought me to tears, given my already fragile emotional state, but I was very touched....then to top it off she emailed me that she forgot to show me the "Afterward" in the back.  Here is what is said: 

Who would have thought that a chance meeting of two artists that were almost neighbors, but had to travel almost 300 miles to meet at a workshop , could result in a provocative challenge of 30 Paintings in 30 days?

That’s exactly what happened for Kristen Dukat and I. The prize? Whoever “blinked first” owed the opposing artist a choice of paintings completed so far.

Kristen has turned out to be a great friend, as well as a fabulously creative and highly talented artist.

This challenge of productivity and trying to overcome the indecision of what to paint (there are always hundreds in my head), has proven that you just need to draw one out of the hat and command that the muse take over.

Maybe not a masterpiece in the lot, but I grew tremendously in my knowledge and confidence, while painting a few that I am actually quite proud of.

“Who won?”, you might ask; Let me say this, “There were no losers!”.

Sigh, more tears..........

See you next month! April 25th