Once again, our recent outing to see the OAG FINE ART SHOW and the “somewhat classic” movie, “Princess Bride” at the Marion Theatre in Ocala was a lovely fun ARTventure!!!!. Although we didn’t wear our red shirts this time, we were able to easily spot one another as we only had 6 attending. As always, we had a lovely lunch at the Ivy on the Square restaurant and got to know one another better. We even had a chance to stop in at one of our favorite stores across from the restaurant and say HELLO to our friends there. BEFORE going to the show
Reservations were set for us to meet at 11:30 at the lovely Restaurant “Ivy on the Square” FOR A DELICIOUS LUNCH. We had a total of 6 interesting people MEET AND GET ACQUAINTED before entering the Marion Theatre to see the lovely OAG Art Show, The Art SHOW was quite impressive. I could see why we had a sale there. We then proceeded to the large Theatre to see the somewhat “classic” movie, “Princess Bride”.
Before entering the actual theatre to see the movie, we stopped in the historical LOBBY to see the OAG Fine Arts Show. It was very impressive!!! I can certainly see why we sold a painting there recently!!! Congratulations to the artist, member Mary Haley-Rocks.
WELL…….. You know me…I always have a fun time!!! Not only did I get to know 3 of our members BETTER, but I was actually shocked to see that the movie was quite enjoyable. It was like a “MEL BROOKS” Fairy Tale…kind of satirical…which was a pleasant surprise for us!!!
I think I can speak for all of us, this was a delightful afternoon spent getting to make new friends!!!!…and so reasonable…only $5.00 for the show!!!
Yours truly….Lee
PS MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR ANOTHER FANTASTIC EVENT: Saturday, May 14th at 3:00 we will be heading to the lovely Reilly Theatre in Ocala to see a live performance called: “ARTrageous”. Lee will make reservations for lunch first at the Braised Onion. Details will be sent out and posted on our WEB. Sign Up for Lunch at meeting but you must purchase your own show tickets. Lee couldn’t make the group purchase reservations. Tickets range from $25-35.
Meeting Apr 11, 2022 at 12 PM followed by a Presentation by Vivian Drawneek
Vivian Drawneek has elevated fabric collage to an art with her intricate fabric paintings. At OAG’s recent Exhibit “Stroke of Genius”, Vivian’s fabric collage “Contemplating” (inspired by Winslow Homer’s work “The Green Hill”) was awarded Second Place. Intrigued by her detailed fabric art, we invited Vivian to share her story.
At OAG’s April meeting Vivian described every step of her creative process. Vivian finds inspiration in photos, master works, patterns, coloring books, in short, everywhere! She begins her analysis by examining the photo for patterns and color values. A grayscale image helps with this step. She breaks the image into larger areas and continues to refine her line drawing with smaller shapes to capture texture and contrast. From her considerable collection of fabrics, she begins to choose pieces of cotton, blends, silks with colors and patterns that will meld to create beautiful painting.
Many of Vivian’s works are relatively small and created for decorative and artful pillow covers. Small panels may be combined to create a very special large quilt.
Once the line drawing is complete with value notations, a fusing tape (Vivian favors Steam-A-Seam 2 Lite) is ironed onto the back of each fabric swatch to be used. A lightboard is helps her transfer the pattern of each tiny shape onto the back of the fusing paper. Vivian then “fussy cuts” with very sharp small scissors. Each piece is laid on the pattern, similar to joining pieces of a puzzle, but overlapping the fabrics as needed. The backing fabric become an integral part of the design as the fabric pieces are ironed on carefully. A fusing matt used by quilters is helpful for this step.
When the fusing process is complete Vivian often decides to further embellish the piece with machine quilting to add more texture, detail, and interest to the work.
Even those members who may be experienced quilters gained a new appreciation for this beautiful artform. Anyone with a penchant for detail and a stash of fabric scraps would have fun creating small treasures like these. Thank you, Vivian!
Our trip to Winter Garden turned out wonderful. Some of us left from Summerfield at the Villages Art Workshop and others met and left from Leesburg to meet at the SOBO Gallery. In total there were 15 of us that came. We were very fortunate to have Sharon Repple join us who served as our tour guide in the Gallery and around town and John Ford join us as our photographer. We loved looking at the current show “Women’s Living Legacy” and two in our crowd, Joan Ford and Sharon Repple, were fortunate to have amazing pieces accepted which were on view. We then strolled the area viewing the beautiful murals, shops and gardens in the downtown area. We ended up stopping at Plant Street Market where we all had lunch from the variety of food vendors and enjoyed not only the comradery of our group but also wonderful food. The weather turned out beautiful and we made it to our cars just before the storms started moving in! Gail Bannock
Photograph contributed by John Ford Thank you, John!
From left to right: Debbie Ceres, Lisa Woodward, Cheryl, Jan Kiszonak, Bev Hennessey, Susan Fink, Vivian Drawneek, Linda DeLuca, Joanie Ford, Mary Haley-Rocks, Sharon Repple, Gail Bannock, Sandra Fox, Kneeling is Ramey Vogel. Thank you to John Ford who attended and was also our photographer!
Click to play the short video of the Mixer. ENJOY! VIDEO provided by MCA. Thank you!
What a delightful afternoon we spent at the Brick City Art Center for our very first “AIM” or “Artists’ Intergenerational Mixer”!! ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19TH AT 3:00. about 50-60 attendees SAUNTERED INTO THE BRICK CITY CENTER and seemed to be doing just what was suggested: they mixed with one another!!! Affixed on everyone’s shoulder, was a nice large NAME TAG from Lynn King our Veep who greeted everyone so nicely!!! Attendees followed the INVITATION’S SUGGESTION and brought their Business Cards to do some networking!!!
As co-Hosts, MCA and OAG did not know what to expect. We were just hoping to have a bunch of ARTISTS of all ages and Genres come together to get to know one another and discuss art and their world………..AND THAT IS JUST WHAT WE GOT!!!! Did we need to make any speeches? NOPE!!!! WE JUST TALKED!!!! Did we need to have any GAMES? NOPE!!!! WE JUST TALKED!!!!! Did we have to do any communal painting? NOPE!!! WE JUST TALKED!!!! Actually, we just kept “mixing”!!!!! Was there an age difference? YES!!!! DID WE NOTICE IT? NO!!!
Maybe it was the great punch , wine , drinks and light snacks that MCA provided with Ashley and her Staff’s Great HOSPITALITY and Music? Thank you Ladies!!!
OAG had a lovely number of our Members attend and I was really in awe because, when I approached the Visitors to give them some OAG Background, they did not SHUDDER AND WALK AWAY!!! They actually stepped closer to ask questions!!!! I HAD SUCH A GREAT TIME telling about our great ART ORGANIZATION!!!! I even was straightforward with them about why we wanted this MIXER? ….so we could get some ARTISTS to help us MODERNIZE our organization with some technology use!!! THEY STILL DID NOT EXIT, but gave me a card!!!! THey asked DUES questions and meeting and show questions. WOW!!! IT WAS TOTALLY AMAZING!
I CAME AWAY FEELING SO very upbeat for OAG and its future!!! I do believe having this Mixer WAS A VERY POSITIVE STEP FORWARD FOR US TO HAVE TAKEN TO SOLIDIFY OAG IN the art community as well as in the Ocala community and hope to plan for another one with MCA again in the near future. !!!!
OUR SINCERE THANKS TO MCA FOR YOUR WONDERFUL SUPPORT WITH THE REFRESHMENTS AND PUBLICITY AND IDEAS!!!!
Sincerely, Lee Asta, OAG President and your OAG Friends
Meeting Feb 14, 2022 at 12 PM followed by Critique with Joyce Zeedyk
Thank you, Joyce for an outstanding critique session. Your keen observations, thoughtful comments, and encouragement were inspiring and will help us take our artwork to the next level.
We had such a great Acrylic Workshop today with instructor Cindy Vener at the Brick City Center for the Arts gallery. We had seven members attending the event and all left with great artwork. Thank you, Cindy, for the great instruction and the kind encouragement while getting us to loosen up our paintings!
Click on a painting to see a larger image and move through all photos.
WOW! Lok at this! Thank you, Cindy! We had a GREAT time painting with you!!!!
After the OAG members’ meeting on January 10, 2022, Peg LeFebvre shared insights into her creative process of painting marvelous character portraits, from concept, drawing, then stages of painting. Peg often includes the person’s hands in the portrait because hands can convey so much about the person. Peg began her study of art with sculpture, a fact that she feels helps her bring dimension to images on paper. She begins each work with a contour or wire pencil drawing, then a full-toned pencil sketch.
Peg prefers to work on Arches 300# Cold Press, but even when using 140# watercolor paper she foregoes the preliminary soaking and stretching and works directly on the dry paper. Peg showed that a simple palette of Aureolin Yellow, Ultramarine Blue, and Permanent Rose can develop nearly every nuance of color needed for a portrait. Artists can experiment with other triads of Y-B-R for different moods and effects. Peg finds she needs only three brushes, 1 inch flat, medium, and smaller detail brush. Simplicity!
Painting began with her 1-inch brush. Peg allowed the yellow and red to mingle for flesh tones. The base layer is then allowed to dry before building up the facial structure in the next layer with gentle “kisses” of brush and paint to paper. As the portrait develops, intense darks add to the drama.
Thank you, Peg, for giving us valuable tips to improve our watercolor portraits. Most important, we need to believe in ourselves and invest the time, every day, to hone our skills. Thank you for believing in us!!!!
The photos below were taken by Gail Bannock and John Ford during the members’ meeting and Peg’s wonderful demonstration. Enjoy!
Photos of the Art-Venture Courtesy of Jan Kiszonak
Article contributed by Gail Bannock, program coordinator
What a great time we had on our OAG Trip to Leesburg today! Although only six of us were able to attend, we had a wonderful time! Some of us first stopped at the Villages Art Workshop in Summerfield and were amazed at the wonderful state of the art classroom, workshops, gallery space and art supply store carrying the basics they have at their location. We then proceeded to Hacienda Recreation Center in the Villages where President of the Visual Arts Association, Catherine Sullivan met us and discussed the art show on exhibit. It was such a wonderful selection of creative work that the artists painted after being inspired by one of the masters. Lunch followed at the Cracker Barrel in Leesburg which we all enjoyed. We then proceeded to DK Art and Frame Gallery. Dennis met us and helped us out with our art questions, purchases and entertained us as usual! Our final stop was the Plaza Lincoln Gallery where Kelley Batson-Howard met us and gave us some background and information about her Lump Family Portrait Show on exhibit. We were all in awe of her thought process, colorful canvases and fitting titles of her show. We’re all looking forward to the next OAG trip that we will be planning shortly for March 2022.
Article contributed by Lee Asta, President of OAG
Well, for those of you who were not able to make this trip, I hate to rub it in but: YOU MISSED A BEAUTIFUL DAY!!!
Thanks to the efficiency of our terrific SECOND VICE PRESIDENT, Gail Bannock, , our schedule proceeded like a well-oiled COG!!!
Gail set up Car POOLS so members could easily travel from Ocala, to Belleview to Summerfield on to The Villages and FINALLY, on to Leesburg.
The first group set off from Ocala to arrive at the Village Art Center in Summerfield. Jan Kiszonak and Ruth Dexheimer met Gail Bannock and they received a mini tour by OAG Members Wanda Boyd and Bev Hennessey. They found the physical set up of the large Workshop studio so impressive, they said it made attending a Workshop there very appealing. Lynn, Gail and Lee are meeting there with the owners to see if we can work out some future happenings at those facilities.
Ruth Dexheimer, Gail Bannock, Jan Kiszonak
Wanda Boyd, co-owner VAC
Village Art Center
From there the 3 Members met Lee Asta and Member Catherine Sullivan at La Hacienda Recreation Center in the Villages where Catherine Sullivan gave some interesting details about the show hanging there, “INSPIRED BY THE MASTERS” which is the Model for our February Show coming to the Brick Center for the Arts. We took some pictures to show you all in our Newsletter. The show is hanging till beginning of December and is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC without any ID! Try to see it for yourselves as we were really impressed with it!!!
Lee Asta’s Artwork
La Hacienda Recreation Center- “INSPIRED BY THE MASTERS” EXHIBIT
From there, four of us left for Leesburg and met Linda DeLuca at Cracker Barrel for a delicious lunch and some quick shopping in the Store, which was beautifully decorated for Christmas and other HOLIDAYS!!!
Gail Bannock, Linda DeLuca, Jan Kiszonak, Lee Asta, Ruth Dexheimer
Lunch and Shopping at Cracker Barrel
Gail kept us ON SCHEDULE so we arrived on time to met up with Dennis and his Mom Gail at DK Art and Frame Supplies in Leesburg. That shop is just a PLETHORA of ART GOODIES and Dennis was very patient to explain all the cool things we had questions about.
Dennis and Susan Fink
DK Art and Frame Supplies
The final leg of our beautiful adventure occurred at The Leesburg Plaza Lincoln Gallery in the Lincoln Car Dealership! I DIDNT EVEN SEE THE CARS! The art by our OAG member Kelley Batson-Howard was so mesmerizing that I couldn’t look around, but stayed totally focused on it!!!! Kelley graciously spoke about her art and the meaning of the Theme title: ”Lumps”. It was so lively and fun and inspirational! I couldn’t wait to get home to paint some LUMPS!
Well, as we said our goodbyes, our small group reiterated the good time we had together and we already started planning another Adventure: possibly with some journal painting (and of course) some lunch!!!!
Watch for what we are planning next…….and try to join us for another Art-Venture! Thanks, Gail, for all your hard work!!!!
Meeting at 12 PM Demonstration at 12:30 PM “Making a Sketchbook Journal”
We had a good crowd of about 22 people for Lee’s presentation. Lee Kline brought many of his sketching journals that he has done over the years and everyone seemed to enjoy his creativity, talent and passion for journaling.
Lee shared with the crowd that he sketches nearly everyday both indoors and outdoors. He shared with us many of his dozens of completed sketchbooks filled with amazingly creative sketches, paintings and narratives of not only the wonderful trips that he and his wife take throughout the world but also sketches of everyday life. He enlightened us and encouraged us all to spend everyday doing something creative with our artwork.
Meeting at 12 PM Demonstration at 12:30 PM “Creating a Painting from Your Photo”
OAG members were treated to an Awesome presentation by Joanie Ford! Joanie and OAG Program chairperson Gail Bannock received many, many thanks from those attending!!
Joanie Ford – Professional Photographer & Accomplished Artist – Photos for this article courtesy of Gail BannockJoanie Ford – “Creating a Painting from Your Photo”
Below are just a few crumbs from Joanie’s talk. Read on!
Camera Ready? Think First!
When photographing a scene, Joanie suggests that we stop before we click away!!!! Spend time looking at the scene Pick a good subject Think about cropping (zoom in) Take several different photographs Look for drama (lighting and focus) Be intentional Just because a scene is beautiful does not mean it will make a good painting Remember: Composition is the gravity that holds a painting together (Frank Webb).
Software
Joanie uses software to translate the reference photo into a well composed painting. Joanie keeps a visual reference sheet of many types of composition and studies the photo for a close match. She then applies her favorite software tools to look for the painting in her photo. Photoshop Elements $79 for editing the photo Value Study App – for making Notans and value studies (free) Saturate values for stronger contrast. FotoSketcher App – For showing you ideas (free)
Composition is KEY!
Ultimately, the painting is not about the subject. It is the COMPOSITION that matters. Crop to find the DRAMA. The area of greatest contrast becomes the focal point. To keep the viewer’s eye in the painting use branches or linear elements as “pointers” leading the eye to the center of interest. Arrange all shapes to integrate toward one place. Use light to lead the viewer to the focus, around the painting, and back.
Reverse (flip) the photo for a different view. Look for a possible S composition (see below). Re-position elements along a diagonal. Avoid bright colors at edges or corners that pull the eye outside the frame.
Think about the illusion of depth. For depth of view and atmospheric effects, add lavender.
Choose dominance of land or sky, never equal.
SIMPLIFY. Remove unnecessary objects. Focus attention on what is important and minimize detail in the rest of the painting. How much detail? The amount of information depends on the size of the painting.
Count areas of the painting. Too many? Look for strong value masses. The boat! Find areas that can be removed (a second boat), or cropped (at top of the photo) for fewer areas.
Apply the Principles if Art and Design: Simplification, Repetition, Rhythm, Balance, Dominance, Emphasis, Gradation, Contrast Harmony, Variety, Movement, Proportion, Leading Lines, Rule of Thirds, Rule of Odds, Triangles. Joanie showed us that there is much to consider before we begin a painting. She shared with us the tools that help translate what we saw through the camera lens, and how to use the principles of composition to bring our vision to life in a painting that draws the viewer into a magical scene. Thank you, Joanie!
