A Hypertufa Afternoon

In preparation for the upcoming LAC Garden Tour, the very creative Ann Quinn came up with the idea of making hypertufa planters to give as thank you gifts to the host gardeners, as well as to sell at the gallery.  What is hypertufa you ask?  It is a combination of Portland cement, perlite or vermiculite and peat moss.  This moist mixture gets molded into forms, decorated and dyed if desired, then after being cured for a couple of days, unmolded and readied for planting.  The resulting planters are lightweight and somewhat porous, making an ideal vessel for outdoor plants. 

A few of us gathered at Ann's house on Saturday and played in the mud! 
 
What a mess, but we donned our rubber gloves, some a little fancier than others, and mixed the ingredients then stuffed our molds and set them aside in garbage bags to cure. 

In the meantime, Ann took us on a little tour of her own garden, which was featured in the LAC Garden Tour a couple of years ago.

 I was so impressed that she had already harvested enough greens from her "hoop" vegetable garden to enjoy a salad.
 
 Crabapple petals rained down on us as we walked through her yard, laughing at her squirrel visitors and her sense of humor on her hand-painted garden post.

Even her front yard is in bloom with tulips and other flowers (I still have snow in mine!)  But the highlight is her homemade Little Library at the edge of the sidewalk, which attracts the neighborhood kids and adults alike.  Take one, leave one and enjoy.  And even the library itself is planted with sedums on the roof.

The hypertufa pots will be ready to unmold soon, so look for them at the gallery during the Garden show and Garden Tour. 

Sunday Sights at the Gallery

Sitting the gallery today, I marveled at the art of the LAC's newer members, along with the creations of members who've been with the Co-op for a while.  I listened to the patrons laughing and enjoying their libations at the Westfax brewery next door, and watched little kids run around the Casa Bonita courtyard.  It was a fairly quiet day, but here's some photos from my day.
If you haven't been into the gallery for a while, stop in and see what's new!

No Foolin' -- First Friday was Fantastic!

April 1st, and being a First Friday Art Walk, brought out the masses for an enjoyable evening of socializing, listening to music and of course, viewing the art!  
 
The Lakewood Arts Council Gallery was packed with visitors sampling the wide assortment of munchies, sipping wine and moving to the sweet sounds of The Sugar Factory. 


 
Lynnette Kupferer was demo'ing the fine art of mosaic-making and many of the Co-op artists were in attendance to talk about their art.
 

And nearby, the 40West Gallery was hosting a show which included the artwork of LAC's own Kathy Ross. 
 
 
Belmar's Block 7 was busy as well, with Valkarie Gallery and others staying open till 9 for a block-long art walk.  

If you missed this one, come on out next month on the First Friday, when Lauree Bartee will demo ceramic tile making and the Musical entertainment will be provided by Les Baca and Brian Sapp.

Try a new medium -- alcohol inks.

So many mediums, so little time!  Watercolors, acrylics, pastels, colored pencils -- I have them all and love to create, but tend to concentrate on what I know and am familiar with.  But I recently became intrigued with the relatively new medium of alcohol inks.  Even though they've been around for at least 10 years or so, I hadn't really noticed them until I saw a sampler pack on the discount rack at Aaron Bros and decided I must try them. 

Although there may be others, it seems the two main brands of alcohol inks are Jacquard Pinata Inks and Ranger Adirondack Inks.  Doing a little research for helpful hints on technique and materials needed, I found that they work best on non-porous surfaces (such as YUPO, ceramic tiles etc) and are permanent when dry.  Rubbing alcohol is used to thin the ink, added to the substrate to create different effects, and also cleans up the ink.  The containers themselves are squeeze bottles, so the ink can be applied directly to the work surface.  Straws are useful to blow the ink around, and brushes, Q-tips or other tools can be employed in painting with these inks.  The colors are vivid, and metallics add to the finished look.

There are numerous YouTube videos, tutorials on Pinterest and pieces for sale on Etsy using these alcohol inks.  Check them out and become inspired to create your own masterpieces while having fun with alcohol inks!

Art Bids and Bites Event -- January 30, 2016

  

The gallery underwent a stunning transformation Saturday night in preparation for our latest fundraiser!  The donated artwork sold by silent auction was displayed throughout the month of January, while art from well-known area artists became part of the live auction at the end of the evening.  Many volunteers were on hand to set up the event using the lists of ‘to-do’s’ from organizers Katy Haas and Sanarie Boyet. So many helpers in fact, that everyone had a chance to relax and get a first taste of the food treats before our guests arrived!  The classroom area became a dining room for the wonderful buffet dinner provided by Culinary Wave Catering.  The jewelry display cases became the drink bar, and delicious hors d’oeuvres were everywhere!  After the dinner, LAC President J Bisant began the activities with a raffle of gifts for the participating artists.  The highlight of the evening was the live auction which began with Pat Bisant as our auctioneer, aided by her sidekick service dog, Jake.  Jake was around to make sure the bids climbed as high as possible!  A wonderful evening was had by all!
Submitted by Ann Quinn

Wyeth Exhibit at the DAM -- one more week to see it!

I had visited the Wyeth Museum in Rockland, Maine a number of years ago and immersed myself in the art of three generations of the Wyeth family — N.C., father of Andrew and famous for his illustrations, Andrew, and son Jamie.  With the Wyeth exhibit ending its run at the DAM, I reserved a snowy Sunday to enjoy their works.  My husband, Bill, and my 94 year old dad, who has done some watercolor in the past, both enjoyed the exhibit and marveled at the diversity of both Andrew and Jamie’s talent.

The exhibit starts out with a portrait of Andrew, painted by son Jamie, and a portrait of Jamie as a boy, sitting in a field with an introspective gaze, painted by his father. Throughout the exhibit, both of their work is interspersed, grouped more by theme than chronologically. Both painted landscapes, animal, portraits and nudes.  Both employed a variety of mediums: graphite, ink, watercolor and tempera.  A video shows Jamie at work using fingers, Qtips, toothpicks and his own saliva to create his large watercolors on cardboard. Informative plaques explain technique, philosophy, humorous ramblings and history of their craft. I learned that, “Both Jamie and Andrew had rigorous artistic training.  They would practice drawing contours and geometric forms as well as working from live models.  Constant practice trained them to become acutely observant.  Both came to understand that such a background ultimately allowed them to work more freely and instinctively.”

I have always loved Andrew Wyeth’s watercolors for their austere beauty, and the fine detail he achieved with his drybrush technique.  But I was surprised at how much I enjoyed viewing Jamie’s work as well.  It often made me laugh with his humorous subject matter, and his narrative available on the audio tour at the DAM.  Jamie loved painting animals.  From his own pet dog with a painted ring around his eye (Jamie’s doing) to the seven deadly sins depicted by sea gulls, to the black faced sheep with such heavily textured wool, I was amused and intrigued. 

He went so far as to have a dead cow carcass shipped to Monhegan Island where he lived, in order to attract ravens so he could depict their likeness. 
 
He attracted the island’s Maine Coon cats by enticing them with catnip.  This resulted in his Maine Coon Cat painting. 

We spent an hour and a half viewing this comprehensive exhibit, spanning a number of rooms, but could have spent even longer.  If you haven’t made it over to the DAM to see it, I highly suggest making the time to do so,  before it leaves next Sunday.