September will be a busy and interesting month. Labor Day has a different feel to it, now that the kids go back to school in August. Even if you don't have school age children, you may have noticed a change in the neighborhood patterns and social scheduling. The groups to which I belong are dormant during July and August. They all start up again in September with art club meetings, painting groups, charity work, singing, and teaching. (I love being retired!)
The Los Angeles County Fair opens every year in September. This year I have work on display there in the Millard Sheets Gallery with my colleagues from the Mid Valley Art League (MVAL). I remember visits to the Fair in past years as being fun-filled, energetic, endurance tests! I never even realized there was an art gallery. Too bad, because I would have loved the chance to take a break in a lovely, calm, air-conditioned space filled with beautiful and curious pictures to admire. This is my first year there. I am not sure if I will find the busy flow of people that I remember from my own visits, or if the art gallery will be as foreign to most Fair-goers as it was to me.
They asked each of us from MVAL to lead a one-hour workshop. I was hesitant. My oil paintings take much longer than an hour, and you need quite a bit of set-up materials.
What can I teach in an hour? I realized that I have taught drawing lessons to all ages of school children for many years. My lessons all fit within a 40 to 60 minute time frame because that's all the schedule would allow. Okay. I agreed. The children use pencil, fine line markers, and/or crayons. For this workshop we will use colored pencils which allow for more sophisticated use of color blending. So, if you are headed to the County Fair on Friday, September 18th, head on over to the Sheets Art Gallery. I'll be starting at 1pm and you will be taking home your drawing masterpiece in an hour. You will also take home an increased understanding of some basic artistic guidelines such as how to compose a picture, how to create a sense of depth and distance in your picture, and how to make use of the color wheel.
Most of my time at the Fair will be as an artist demonstrator. This will be a great time for me to get some work done! I will set up my plein air easel and work on paintings in the same way that I do when I am outside. I will have to work from photos, but the plein air work will have already been started when I gather my source materials.
September 19th will be the most interesting day. The California Art Club is organizing a daylong "paint-out" at the Fair. CAC artists will paint wherever they choose at the Fair throughout the day. They will bring their work to the Gallery in the afternoon for a showing. This is similar to my regular schedule on Thursdays, when I paint out with Mid Valley and we gather to show our work at lunch. The difference of course is that the showing at the Fair will be judged and awards given. I am looking forward to seeing which artists accept this challenge. Their paintings are sure to be an explosion of that fun-filled energetic endurance test that sums up the exerience of attending the County Fair.
Hope to see you there!
Monday, August 31, 2015
Friday, August 21, 2015
Recent Works
18x24 oil
Desert Reeds
12x9 oil
Daisies
12x9 watercolor
I have been working on keeping my website current at rosinamaize.com. Sorry to have been quiet for so long on this blog
I decided that I really need to learn how to get my work out of the house and into locations where they can be seen. My art seen now! I spent the spring months figuring out what to do and applying to places. I put almost all of my paintings in the La Canada Public Library in July. They wanted some "playful, child-friendly" works to decorate the children's section of the library. I didn't have much time, so I pulled out my watercolors and did about 6 watercolor sketches. It reminded me how much fun watercolor is!
I have a busy schedule for Fall also. I was accepted as an exhibiting member of the California Art League. I have entered several pieces into their Gold Medal Show. Now I wait to hear if the juror accepts any of them. Through the Verdugo Hills Art League, we have a chance to show a few pieces at White's Gallery in Montrose. My teacher and mentor, Margot Lennartz has shown her work there for years. I consider it an honor to be able to put my work up there! Also through an art club, I will be an artist demonstrator at the Sheets Gallery at the LA County Fair. The Mid Valley Art League has several walls of paintings on display there, including four of my paintings. I am going to be there painting on September 17th, 18th, and 19th, and the following week on the 25th and 27th. Plenty of people should be coming through the gallery because it is indoors and air-conditioned!! Stop by and say hello when you visit the Fair. (Check my website for the exact times.)
Later in the Fall, I have been accepted to show my work in Sierra Madre at the Fall Festival hosted by the Foothill Creative Arts group. That will be on November 6, 7, and 8. I was also accepted to put up a booth at the Montrose Artwalk on November 21st.
Meanwhile, I am keeping a steady schedule of drawing, sketching, and painting. I am going to have to make a major resolve to finish a number of these paintings that are so close to being done. For now, I am being patient with myself and doing as much as I can. I look forward to posting them here and on my website. Stay tuned!
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