Mercy Center - August 2015

Thursday was another gift -- a perfect morning with sun and a cool breeze for 10 artists -- Tina, Hans, Kay, Kaleigh, Terry, Rosemary, Patty, Betsey, my friend Bonnie, visiting from Iowa and out with us for the first time, and me. Bonnie worked in the sun on the beach, working in oil and fast. She was ready to leave when most of us were in the middle. But it was fun to include her in my view, and I was happy that I got her in before she packed up. Tina also worked from the beach. Everyone else chose a patch of shade, or in my case, an umbrella, which, along with the breeze, made the morning blissfully comfortable.

As we were wrapping up, Lucia (Peggy A's daughter) showed up to visit and give us an update on Peggy, who is at Whitney Manor, recovering from a hip repair. It felt almost like old times, having Lucia there for our wrap-up and Peggy at least in mind. Most of us had brought lunch, so we sat and chatted for a while. After the wrap-up, instead of having lunch, Tina went back to the beach to finish her painting.

Next week, since we had nothing on our schedule, Rosemary invited us to come to her home, which is always fun.

Mercy Center

 

More New Directions for Suzanne Siegel

I received this class listing and registration form from Suzanne. I know some of you have been interested in her classes and in her evolving style.

COLLAGE : A MORE PLAYFUL APPROACH TO YOUR ART

By nature, collage is a playful process, and can lead to more original and expressive ideas. Paper collage is a wonderful way to re-think design and color, to generate new ideas, take risks within a small format, produce quick studies for larger works – and the collages are genuine art works in their own right! In this class, we will look at the work of a few well-known collage artists, explore compositional strategies, focus on color harmonies, and engage in ways to generate original ideas through guided exercises. A perfect class for anyone who wants to create strong compositions and explore new color ideas. A group critique will be held at the end of each class.

This class is suitable for artists who paint in any medium, and any genre. We will be making small size collages that can convey large scale, with hand-painted 90 lb. papers and gouache or watercolor. In the first class, we will hand paint a full spectrum of small size papers to be used for the remaining weeks. If weather permits, we will have at least one week outdoors to draw from nature. This is a class that promises to be non-stop fun while generating many new ideas, from beginning to end. Materials list will be provided upon registration.

8 SATURDAYS, BEGINNING SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20th, 9:00AM – 12:00PM - $360.
 (NO CLASS OCTOBER 25th)
________________________________________________________________________________

REGISTRATION FORM
To register, select the body of the registration form, print, complete, and mail.

________________________________________________________________

A MORE PLAYFUL APPROACH TO YOUR ART THROUGH COLLAGE

CLASS LOCATION:

Stony Creek Studios

152 Thimble Islands Rd

Branford, Connecticut

PLEASE SEND REGISTRATION & PAYMENT TO:

Suzanne Siegel

890 Maple Hill Rd.

Guilford, CT 06437

8 weeks, $360. -  beginning Saturday, September 20^th, 9:00 AM-12:00PM

(NO CLASS October 25^th)

limited enrollment, please register early.

NAME_________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS_____________________________________________________________

CITY, STATE, ZIPCODE__________________________________________________

E-MAIL ADDRESS_________________________________________________

PHONE________________________________________________________________

AMOUNT PAID__________________________________________________________

Call to Paint -- Thursday, 14 August 2014 -- 8 AM

Greetings to All,

We have Mercy Center on our schedule for this week. If you have not visited Mercy Center before, it is off Neck Road in Madison, and you can find full directions on the blog.

We will need to be mindful of a silent retreat going on while we are there. Not that we are a rowdy group...

They're saying that the rain will blow through tonight and tomorrow, leaving us with sunshine for Thursday. That would be nice.

The gazebo by the sea is a nice place to have lunch, so byo.

I'll hope to see you there.

/j

Down by the Riverside Festival and Exhibit

Greetings to All,

This is a paint-out opportunity paired with a Festival paired with an exhibit opportunity. The festival will be held at Riverside Park in New London, from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 PM on Saturday, September 13. Artists who wish to start and/or leave earlier may do so. With the Festival less than five short weeks away, the Riverside Conservancy has set an August 30 deadline for artists to register. The Art Show and Reception is scheduled for Saturday, October 18 at Union Station in New London. 

This will be the fourth annual Riverside Festival. Last year, Cheryl, Keiko, Elena, Jeannette, and I (did I miss anyone?) participated in the festival and entered our paintings in the exhibit, and at least three of us sold paintings. Cheryl had sold a painting in the prior year's show.

The festival is a fun time, with not-too-loud live music, food, arts and crafts and activities for families. But with all that activity, the park has plenty of space so that if you desire a more quiet space, you can find it. There is no entry fee, and the festival provides lunch for participating artists. The site is basically a woodland setting, but it does have some frontage on the Thames River, and I assume they will trim back the foliage again this year, so that there are site lines to the water. There also is a short pathway over a railroad track to water's edge, with views of the Coast Guard station up-river, the soaring highway bridge down-river, and boats passing.

The opening reception for last year's art show was extraordinary. The exhibit space is a very nice dedicated gallery with good lighting,which felt both spacious and intimate. They managed to pack the space with both artists and people who came prepared to buy paintings. The food and wine were exceptional and were presented beautifully. And the acoustics allowed for comfortable dialog. Artists who sell paintings are encouraged to make a donation to the Conservancy, but all donations are voluntary. 

I hope we can have a CTSA contingent again this year, and I encourage you to consider participating. New London is about a 50 minute drive from Guilford, but it's easy driving on the highway, and the park is not far from the highway exit. 

If you're interested, please let me know as soon as possible, so that I can register us by the 30th.

/j