Fur and Feathers in Colored Pencil

 The beautiful colored pencil illustrations by Heidi Snyder and Dorothy DePaulo have amazed me since I first encountered them.  So intricate and detailed, many of them look photo-realistic.  Hanging on the fabric wall in the Members' Gallery through the end of May is a nice selection of their botanical and wildlife pieces.

Heidi and Dorothy offer workshops at the Lakewood Arts Council Gallery on occasion, the most recent being Feathers and Fur in colored Pencil.  For materials, I did buy the suggested 24 pack of Prismacolor Pencils, but I also was glad I'd saved all those student packs of colored pencils my kids demanded at the beginning of each school year.  The secret ingredient in these artists' recipe for a striking work is drafting film.  This semi-opaque substrate allows for luminosity and subtle effects, and is very forgiving.  Not only did we draw on the front of this double sided drafting film, but we also used some different techniques on the back.  And to learn these secrets, you'll just have to sign up for their next class!

 During the first session, we all worked on a photo of a fluffy squirrel, some of us slower than others.  But the amount of talent in that classroom was impressive! As I walked around to peek at everyone's progress, I found the students were all enjoying the process -- starting with the face to give the little guy some personality.

Dorothy says to start with the eye, so they can watch you as you work. During the second session, we finished up our squirrels, talked about backgrounds and mounting, then started the second project, a cute little bird.

I'm so thrilled to learn this new technique and look forward to drawing some of my own photos.  The only problem is when do I find time for my watercolors, or pastel, or collage or...  So many mediums, so little time!

Artists Choice Reception Memorable

Kathy Berls' glowing sunflower painting, untitled, was presented by her husband, Dick, and son, Scott, to the City of Lakewood in a moving memorial and reception for the Artists Choice Exhibit at the Lakewood Cultural Center Thursday evening.  Kathy Hodgson, City Manager of Lakewood, also spoke of Kathy and her enormous contribution to the arts community, calling her the "mother" of art, being responsible for the purchase and placement of much of the sculptural installations in the city, being an advocate for youth, and a founding member of the Inspire Arts Week in Lakewood.

Many attended the evening reception and enjoyed dessert and punch, and applauded the award winners.

  Juror Mark Silvers, although not present at the festivities, said the quality of the show was incredible and would have given at least 25 awards instead of the 9 maximum. His comments on the award winners are as follows:

1.     Kathy Berls Award – Oil Design                                                                                

     “Pampered” oil, Barbara Benik                                                                                 

      A true artist sees art in everyday life as Barbara has done in this well designed painting of her canine couch potato catching some rays on the couch. She has edited out all of the distracting visual elements in the scene to create a composition of shapes, values and colors in which she expertly answers the question, “what is light doing?”  The powerful arrangement of a few shapes, the subtle variations of warm and cool colors and the attention to detail  in Barbara’s painting showcase her excellence as a painter. She leads the eye into  the painting on the bottom right along the shadow of the couch cushion to the dog's face where we pause for a few enjoyable moments in the play of light and shadow on the dog. Then Barbara leads you out of the painting with the dark edge of the top of the couch.

 

 

2.     1^st Place Award                                                                                                                    

    “Along Duck Creek”, pastel, Donna Sorensen                                               

     This pastel landscape by Donna Sorensen is about as good as it gets Her painterly realism and attention to detail create an artistic illusion of a scene along Duck Creek inviting you to stop and savor the play of light in the grasses and on the surface of the water. Along with a great composition we are treated to a great variety of shapes and a strong visual structure of light and dark values. The icing on the cake is the amazing attention to detail and interaction of hard and soft edges. Donna’s landscape is a feast for the eyes and an inspiration to all of us fellow artists.

 

3.     2^nd Place Award  “Their  Labor”, charcoal , Lyn Dam  

     The foundation of this excellent drawing by Lyn Dam is a strong design. Hidden within the drawing is a story that we think we know part of but we wonder about the details. The subject of this drawing grips us emotionally while the draftsmanship holds our attention with the expert use of a wide range of values and orchestration of hard and soft edges to direct the eye to the center of interest; the workers young focused face.

 

 

4.     3^rd Place Award ” Visitors”, watercolor, Carla Stoltzfus  

     Carla’s painting is a wonderful modern still life. She designed the shapes well with a good interesting use of the negative spaces.

 

 

5.     Merit Award 1, “Chaos in the Forest”, watercolor, Andrew Dubois    

     Andrew’s painting is an exciting and vibrant expression of the basic visual notes of a landscape. If this were a musical piece it might be a very lively and interesting movement of modern jazz. There is a great sense of movement and rhythm throughout with the powerful use of lights and darks, warm and cool colors and bright and dull hues. The expressionistic use of brushstrokes creates a composition on the verge of chaos and yet beautifully balanced.

 

 

6.     Merit Award 2, “Three Koi”, oil, Vina Dam                                                        

      A simple subject handled with artistic excellence. The key principles of design here are movement and rhythm. The dark negative shapes are designed well with the rhythmic swirling shapes of the fish. The use of white leads the eye through the composition well. The realism is accurate and yet painterly in a beautiful way.

 

 

7.     Merit Award 3. “Peregrine Falcon”, color photograph, Paul Gesso                 

     This is an incredible photograph with a delicately balanced composition. The light hitting the golden colored weeds balances the dark area on the left to bounce the viewer’s eye back to the falcon. The falcon is captured and presented in such a way as to beautifully focus on the individual animal.

 

 

8.     Merit Award 4, “Afternoon at Sedona", acrylic, Sandra Danley            

     Sandra’s painting of a waterfall and pool captures the play of light upon the water beautifully. She creates interest with a good variety in the arrangement and shapes of the rocks. The balance of light and dark values and warm and cool colors leads the eye through the painting well.

 

 

9.     Merit Award 5, “Iris”, acrylic, Katy Haas                                                                

     This painting of an iris has an attention to detail that is amazing. Katy designed the dark negative shapes with good variety and also created a beautiful play of light with the dark shadows on the flower. The use of warm and cool colors on the flower gives good depth, and the shadow shapes lead the eye throughout the composition.

 

Congratulations to all the happy award winners!  The Artists Choice exhibit runs through June 14 upstairs at the Lakewood Cultural Center, 470 S. Allison Pkwy in Lakewood.  Hours are 8-5 M-F, 10-2 Sat.

LAC Gallery invaded by Cats, Dogs and Birds!

Cats, dogs and birds invaded the Lakewood Arts Council Loft Gallery today.

 The Third Annual Tails of the Painted Cats debuts at the LAC starting Monday, with a reception Thursday, May 9 from 6:30 -8 pm.  Jane Dorsey, director of the program, helped set up the cats in the loft space today.  In came a cat painted like an adorable puffin, a mosaic cat glowed in shades of blues and greens, a cheshire cat with scenes from Alice in Wonderland grinned mischievously, patchwork cats showed off their colors vividly and patriotic cats were dressed in red, white and blue.  Twenty-one cats in all will be available for viewing and bidding on -- with proceeds going to a good cause, to help the shelter cats at Cat Care Society. 

On the walls hang 2D artwork from local artists, depicting cats, dogs and birds.  From soft pastel kittens to bright acrylic birds on a wire, to graphite fluffy dogs, you'll fall in love with these beautiful portraits of our companion animals.  And check out Jane Dorsey's papier mache violin-playing lion when you walk in the door -- so cute!  Love the rhinestone studded violin!

And downstairs in the LAC Members' Gallery, even more critters have found a home.  Animals of all shapes and sizes are hung on the walls.  Come on into the gallery to see the exhibits, and be sure to attend the open reception this Thursday.  This is your purrfect chance to find a piece of art you can't live without!

Janet Nunn Workshop: Landscapes in Watercolor

New techniques, new materials, a structured class and a finished painting – Janet Nunn’s workshop, Landscapes in Watercolor, offered a very enjoyable way to spend a Friday.

Janet’s enthusiasm and enjoyment of her craft is evident from the beginning – immediately  learning all the students’ names and showing confidence that we can all complete a landscape painting by following the steps outlined in her handout.

First, she showed us the finished version, a scene of Bear Creek Lake painted with Dr. Ph. Martin’s Hydrus liquid watercolors, which we were all anxious to try out. These allow for very vivid colors and ease of mixing.  Now being manufactured close to home, in Golden, Colorado, the company started out in 1935 with inks for coloring cartoon cels.  Thirty or so years later, the company expanded into fine art supplies which resulted in the Hydrus watercolors.

Janet mentioned a few other products she is partial to: Pebeo Drawing Gum and Fabriano watercolor paper.  She prefers Pebeo brand masking fluid because of its fluidity – it goes on like paint and doesn’t gum up, and Fabriano paper because it is a plant based paper – even Leonardo DaVinci used it.  Past problems with grease marks on other paper brands that use animal fat in their production led her to become loyal to Fabriano.

With our quarter sheets of watercolor paper Scotch taped (yes, Scotch tape!) to our boards, we drew in basic contour shapes of the scene then began masking certain areas as designated in her diagram.  Happy to share all her products, I tried the Pebeo and found it to be much more pleasant to use than my gummy old standby.

Breaking out the new paints, a few drops (Dr. Martin’s comes with eyedroppers in the bottles) on the palette were more than enough to paint in a glowing sky area.  While that dried, Janet demonstrated the next step, then sent us back to work.  She is a very “efficient” painter, for whom the convenience of Dr. Martin’s speeds up the painting process.  She doesn’t give her students time to “overthink” while painting, so the results end up fresh and clean.

On to the water next – three glazes of gorgeous color that give a glow to the water, like there’s gold to be found in that thar river!  What fun brushing on these intense colors, watching them exploding onto the paper, mixing together to achieve an impression of a secluded creek.

Janet continued to demo the steps outlined in her handout, giving individual attention to each student.  Along the way in her painting career, she has also picked up many handy tips, which she freely passed on to us. For instance, an easy mask pickup is a strip of masking tape, leaving the masked area much cleaner than rubbing with a crepe pick-up square.  And for applying masking fluid, a pastel color shaper is the ideal tool, and cleans up so easily.

Details were added to complete our masterpieces, then it was time for a critique.  With all of us having painted the same scene, it’s interesting to compare the similarities and differences of each.  But all had a soft glow in the sky and a serene feeling of water running by.

 Thank you Janet Nunn, for a fun and educational journey to Bear Creek Lake!  Janet Nunn’s watercolors can be viewed at www.janetnunnwatercolors.com  A live stream broadcast of her painting “Poppies, Bold and Bright” can be seen at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/dr-ph-martin-s

Stefan Begej's "Fragmentation Series"

Artist in the Spotlight: Stefan Begej

By now, if you've visited the Lakewood Arts Council Gallery and viewed the Ken Caryl Art Guild exhibit upstairs in the loft gallery, you've probably wondered, Who is this Stefan Begej?  and What's with his installation of musical instruments blown to bits?  There's even Buzz Lightyear who definitely hit infinity and beyond.  

Well, Stefan Begej is one of the newer members of the Ken Caryl Art Guild, and he has suddenly exploded onto the art scene with a series of artworks he call his “Fragmentation Series”.

                                       Stefan Begej

His artwork involves mixed-media sculpture in which found objects are modified to achieve a desired purpose and visual effect.  For example, he says, “a musical instrument or baseball bat might be fragmented to portray the effect of excessive exuberance, or a clock crushed to portray emotions of anger or exasperation.” 

                                  "Exuberance #7"

When first viewed, a reaction to an “exploded” musical instrument might be one of shock.  But gleaning insight from the title leads to an understanding that the instruments are actually portrayed in “moments of extreme musicality and were simply unable to withstand such exuberance.”

                                 Exuberance #5

                               Exuberance #1

This unique idea got its start in a class he taught for home-schooled kids called “Mechanism Workshop” where mechanical devices were disassembled and studied.  Stefan’s background is in engineering, computer science and robotics, but this hands-on work, more practical and functional than purely artistic, turned, two years ago, to a “desire to make things meant to evoke feeling and emotions rather than satisfy a utilitarian end,” he says.  After exploring photography, painting and quilting (his mother was a seamstress and insisted he learn how to sew), he settled on his current interest.  His future plans are to create pieces with specific venues in mind – fragmented musical instruments associated with jazz clubs, hard rock events or classical music concerts, or, as he says, “any other absurdities that might pop involuntarily to mind.”

In creating these quite large sculptures, Stefan first unscrews or pries open his preferred object, then begins to employ other tools such as a hammer, jeweler’s saw, knife, chisels and even an axe, which he confesses is not the most pleasant process to watch or perform!  He then organizes, photographs and studies the arrangement of the pieces to create the most visually arresting composition.  Pieces are arranged on a black canvas covered panel and mounted with screws or silicone adhesive. 

 Stefan’s artwork can be seen at Rox Bar & Grill and The Antler Café at Deer Creek Golf Course in Littleton, and at the Lakewood Arts Council Gallery.  For more information and photos, see his website at www.stefanbegej.com or contact him at Stefan@stefanbegej.com or 303 973-5042.