New at the Gallery

Change out days at the gallery always bring in new art and new artists.  It's always fun to see the creative pieces our co-op artists have to display.  Come on in to see a selection of their works -- and in the meantime, meet our newest artists, Pam Milld with her mixed media,
 

 and Melinda Christenbury with her oils.

 

Mary Runkels is another new co-op artist with a collection of 3D art. 
 
And just for fun, I've included here a new piece of jewelry from Carol Broere, made with lace -- how beautiful!
 
 Just perfect to adorn the neckline with a flowy summer dress!  Always something new at the Lakewood Arts Gallery!

Artists Choice -- Juror's Comments

 
The opening reception for the Lakewood Arts Artists Choice Exhibit was attended by the juror for the show, Pat Fostvedt.  She told us all a little about herself, then explained her reasons for choosing all the award winners. 
 
The pieces were all very creative, all unique, she said.  Each piece was an abstraction of sorts, meaning the artists' own interpretation of their subject. 
 
Only merit award winner Carolyn Tegeder's collage, "Taking Shape" was non-representational.  She chose this piece because of it's unique shape, and neutralized colors.  Never use colors that viewers can identify and name, Pat told the audience.  It's important to neutralize and modify your colors. 

However, Ray Harrison's "Coyboy's Dream" was full of vivid color, and she loved his unique interpretation of a horse.  She wasn't the only one who appreciated this piece, as it sold the first day of the show (and even got more than one offer!)  Congratulations to Ray on his merit award and sale!

The third merit award winner, "Top Knot Man", a photograph by Andi Sahlen, was a photo-shopped creation of a character she met while visiting Easter Island.  Again, Pat appreciated the creativity of this photo.

A third place ribbon went to me, Gail Firmin for my watercolor, "Girasole".  Pat loves flowers and paints them often herself, but doesn't like to choose too many to win awards. However, she appreciated my creative take on a pot of sunflowers.  The treatment was different, and noted how some of the edges were lost into the background, and added that the lettering also lent itself to a successful composition.

Camilla Williams' watercolor/collage entitled, "Canyon Roads" made an impression on the juror, enough for a second place ribbon.  She loved the coloring, the subtlety of the warm hues pushing certain areas forward while cooler blues made other areas recede.  Pat surmised that Camilla must have had a "dialogue" with the painting, letting it speak to her in order to complete it, not knowing exactly how it would turn out.

First place went to Carolyn Belfor for her watercolor/collage, "No Fly Zone".  Pat again loved the creativity and noted that this was such a unique piece.  One topic she discussed regarding the use of collage was the choice to use materials created by the artist vs. preprinted materials, which could cause copyright issues.

The last piece of advice Pat offered to artists is to paint adjectives, don't paint nouns.  I thought this was quite a unique, creative bit of instructional food for thought, and one I plan to integrate into my art and teaching.  Thank you for your thoughtful jurying, Pat!  And your helpful insight and inspiration!

Encaustic Workshop with Carolyn Berry

 
Carolyn  Berry was a textile and jewelry major in college and became a fiber artist before she found her calling with encaustics.  Taking workshops and classes from teachers such as Danielle Wolf and Linda Robertson made her realize she could combine her love for so many artistic elements such as texture, textiles, drawing and painting in one medium -- wax.

Encaustic art is not a new phenomenon; there are examples of detailed portraits rendered in wax from the ancient Greeks and Romans.  Examples of Egyptian Fayum portraits from 200 AD still exist today.  Google Fayum portraits and be amazed at these lifelike renderings -- each a portrait associated with a mummified body, painted on wooden boards and laid to rest with the deceased.
 
Painting with encaustics and pigment required the use of fire to melt the wax which could be dangerous.  So when oil paints were invented, they essentially replaced encaustic painting.  However, this expressive medium has been making a comeback in recent years.  Diego Rivera was known for his use of encaustics in the 1920's, as was Jasper Johns in the 50's.  There is even an Encaustic Institute in Santa Fe.

Carolyn started out her workshop by giving her students an overview of encaustic's history, and explained the techniques and procedures prior to us getting started.  And of course told us what not to do if you spill hot wax on your skin (don't peel it off, or it will take your skin off with it!)

 
Pans of hot wax--beeswax and damar resin, were liquified on a hot plate and ready for us to start creating.

The 5 hour workshop introduced us to fusing the hot wax to our gessoed boards, how to use overlay, collage, transfer and painting with pigmented wax.  Time went quickly in our creative states and everyone had fun putting together 4 pieces of encaustic art.
 
 Carolyn had provided all the material and tools to make this workshop fun and educational.  Take her class if you get a chance!

Juror's Abstract Thoughts

Juror Patricia Rucker had a difficult job of culling from over 100 entries, the Expressions in Abstract call for entry.  She chose a nice selection of abstracts for the Lakewood Arts Gallery's Expressions in Abstract show which now hangs through the end of March.  At last night's opening reception, she spoke about her process for choosing award winners.  A good abstract must adhere to the same rules of design elements and principles as any other work.  Good composition, value structure, line, texture etc must be evident in an abstract just like in a non-abstract work she says.  She also looks for what dominates in a painting.  Referring to the award winners, she pointed out that Carolyn Tegeder's two merit award winners emphasize shape.  Carolyn is a shape painter, Patricia noted.  Russ Ahren's piece, the second place award winner,  is essentially non-objective (not a requirement for an abstract), but shows such good presentation.  Even the framing of his piece complements the textures evident in his work.  And she found Jane Dorsey's first place winner such a striking painting.  It is a representational rendering of a mountain scene, but the colors and textures were what qualified it for a first place winner. Thank you Patricia for all your hard work!

Happy Birthday Barbara!

 
Last night's First Friday at the Gallery was cause for celebration!  Lakewood Arts Council founder, Barb Tobiska celebrated her birthday in style with the attendance of many friends, family, former students and art associates.  The gallery was packed -- over 200 visitors enjoyed the festivities and Expressions in Abstract show.  Juror Patricia Rucker spoke about the award winners and her jurying method and awards were handed out.  The Bad Astronauts with their luminous jellyfish entertained everyone.  Munchies were plentiful and of course there was cake! Happy Birthday Barb!

Soup's On!

 
 
There was more than a soupcon of soup at the Lakewood Arts soup tasting event last night --in fact, there were 11 different soups to taste, which made judging the best a difficult task!  From vegetarian lentil, to creamy ham and potato, spicy chili and even a sweet dessert soup,
 
the crowd enjoyed sitting down to a bowlful of deliciousness and going back for more.
 
 
Crockpots made space for the feisty Instapot newcomers, and lots of powerstrips kept it all hot.  The cooks and visitors sampled as many as possible, mopped it up with cheesy bread and when all were sitting back in their chairs fully satiated, the judge and jury counted votes and declared it a ham and potato win by an overwhelming majority!

 Congratulations to Sheila McFather!  With the prize basket placed in her outstretched arms she had to laugh and say her kids will be amazed since she really doesn't like to cook.
 
 Coulda fooled us, Sheila!

Artist in the Spotlight: Joel Witliff

How did you get started in creating art?

I started drawing in grade school to keep myself entertained, doodling in the margins of notebooks and homework papers. Later I attended Rocky Mountain School of Art and Design and took all the art classes I could but I didn't graduate because I had no care to enroll in the core classes like English and Math.

 
What is your favorite medium and why? 

Currently, I am enjoying mediums that allow me to work on canvas. In the past, I was mostly a digital artist creating illustrations for game companies and publishers. However, much of what I do starts out in my sketchbooks with a sharpie, over a cup of coffee. That is the intimate side of art for me, where anything goes, and no one needs to know what I am up to.

What are your favorite subjects?
 
While you don't see it much in the paintings I display people and figures are my favorite subjects, both real and imagined.

 
Do you have a vision for your work?  For a body of work that you would like to create?

In the future, I would like to move towards painting ideas. The crazy thoughts in my head would like to have an outlet. It's difficult though because I have a hard time breaking self-imposed stigmas of what fine art painting "should" be. My influences early on were the illustrations on fantasy and sci-fi book covers. I would like to go back towards relying more on my imagination and less on reality but in a more conceptual way. As far as what’s next on the horizon we will see. It will be as much of a surprise to me as anyone else.

 
How did you find out about the Lakewood Arts Council and Co-op?  What do you find most
enjoyable or beneficial about being a member?
  
I met Viv, a member of LAC, through a chance encounter and found out about the gallery. It took a while for me to come around and have a look see, but I was very attracted to the idea of meeting other creatives and being an active part of the local art community, as opposed to what I was doing, which was being holed up in the studio watching paint dry

What’s next on the horizon?

My art is constantly in a state of change. Most changes are brought about by just getting bored and wanting to try something new. I have the attention span of a squirrel and in addition to that, I am insatiably curious.