Calendar. See selected works from In The City on page 9. Volume III Issue 1 January 2014

Transcription

1 The Volume III Issue 1 January 2014 Calendar Let me begin by saying Happy New Year to everyone. As your newly-elected President, I ve taken over the helm, or, perhaps more precisely, the master painting of CAL for the next two years, barring impeachment or a coup by the Board of Directors. Of course, since I m a sculptor, dealing with a painting will be a learning experience. So will being the President of this group. Fortunately, I ve got a highly motivated and experienced Board of Directors to help me keep on the straight and narrow. I want to thank and congratulate Teri Starkweather, our outgoing President, for her excellent work over the past two years. We ve gone through some major changes and significant growth under Teri, and it s my job to maintain the momentum. I also want to thank Marian Fortunati for her service as Exhibits Chair, John Paul Thornton as Programs Chair, Trice Tolle as our Treasurer, and Reece Holland as Newsletter Editor for the last two years service. My first task is to ask you, the members, to volunteer to serve on the Exhibit Committee. We plan to use an on-line service to process entries for our upcoming exhibits. This will significantly reduce the work required by the exhibit committee, but we still need people to manage various tasks. With an active committee of three or four people, each member will only need to spend a few hours working to carry out duties for each of our four or five exhibits this year. I desperately need to hear from you if you can spend a little time supporting the club in this very important way. It is the only way we can continue to put on our excellent exhibits. No experience is needed, just a willingness to help. Computer skills can be basic or, for some of the tasks, not needed at all. (Cont. on p. 2) See selected works from In The City on page 9 Take-Down of Magical Take-In of In the City: January 11, 2014 (NOTE: change from the Prospectus!!) 9:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. ********************** CAL Exhibition: In The City Show runs from January 11, 2014 through March 28, 2014 Reception/No-Host Bar: January 18, :00 5:00 p.m. Blinn House 160 N. Oakland Ave. Pasadena, CA ********************** Future Board Meetings: Wednesday, January 8, :00 p.m. Wednesday, February 12, :00 p.m. JURYING IN FOR NEW EXHIBITING MEMBERS (Information TBA) ********************** Winter Holiday Brunch (with Demonstration TBA): Sunday, February 23, :00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. Blinn House 160 N. Oakland Ave. Pasadena, CA ********************** Future 2014 Show Themes: April: Celebrating Women July: Summers Past December: Gold Medal: All That Glitters

2 Page 2 The Creative Edge January 2014 (President's Message cont. from p. 1) Next, if anyone would like to serve as a member on our Board of Directors, we would welcome you. We always need new members with a wide variety of ideas and opinions to keep the group fresh. We meet once a month on the second Wednesday of each month rotating between various members homes. The Board meetings are always interesting and everyone has an opportunity to participate in decisions and be heard. Experience is not necessary, just a willingness to help guide the organization. Occasionally we receive notice of an opportunity to put on exhibits at venues smaller than the Blinn House. We received one early in December from the Madrid Theatre in Canoga Park. They had three, one-month openings available early this year, and we accepted their invitation to exhibit. We had to move rapidly to secure the dates, so I invited the membership via to let me know if they wanted to participate. Twelve people responded. From the responses, it looks like we will be featuring one solo exhibit and two small group exhibits during January, February, and March! I hope to see everyone at the reception for our first new exhibit of the year at the Blinn House. Entries have been received and exhibitors and award winners selected for the In The City exhibit. I ve seen the images and they are excellent. The reception and awards ceremony will be on Saturday, January 18, 2014, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Finally, I hope you will be able to attend our annual Winter Holiday Brunch at the Blinn House on Sunday, February 22, 11:00 to 2:00 pm, where we will have a demonstration and other interesting activities. Details will be in next month s newsletter. Save the date!! Feel free to contact me either by , Kronney@aol.com, or by phone, if you are able to volunteer for the Exhibit Committee or Board of Directors. Sincerely, Ken Ronney President, California Art League CAL Member (and Sponsor) Pastimes for a Lifetime is offering a New Student special on Groupon Marketplace: $55 for 5 Drawing with Graphite 101 classes. Originally $110,00. Includes Project Booklet. In This Issue: Page(s) New President's Message... 1, 2 Calendar of Events... 1 LA Art Show... 2 CAL Board... 3 Member News! Art Studio Secrets... 6 Norm's Corner... 7 CAL 2014 Renewal... 8 Success from Magical... 8 In The City Images... 9 Sponsors From CAL Member Michael Donegan: The LA Art Show, the largest and most successful platform for contemporary and traditional art in the West, returns to the Los Angeles Convention Center, South Hall J & K, January 15-19, Produced by the Palm Beach Show Group, the 2013 show was a record-breaking success with show hours extended to accommodate more than 50,000 energetic collectors. Participating galleries reported strong sales and more than twenty-five million dollars in transactions were made throughout the 4-day show with many more recorded post-event. The LA Art Show is unique in the art world, providing collectors with an expansive breadth of galleries that crosses contemporary, historic and print genres. Acquired by the Palm Beach Show Group in 2012, the LA Art Show celebrated its most successful show to date in its inaugural year under new ownership. The LA Art Show's distinctive 'fair-within-a-fair,' features four sections in the 180,000 square foot exhibit hall: A Modern & Contemporary Section, Historic & Traditional Contemporary Section, Vintage Poster Section and the LA IFPDA Print Fair. Each section is carefully honed to meet the needs of serious collectors and allows galleries the opportunity to connect with like-minded collectors. If there are CAL members who would like to make plans to visit the show as a group and perhaps arrange to meet for lunch in the on-site cafeteria or a glass of wine at a nearby restaurant afterwards, please let our President, Ken Ronney, know.

3 Page 3 The Creative Edge January 2014 CAL Board President Ken Ronney...(818) ; kronney@aol.com Vice President Candace Doub... candhd@gmail.com Lucie Hinden had paintings in December exhibiting at Segil Fine Arts in Monrovia and Arena 1 Gallery with Women Painters West. Treasurer Trice Tolle...tricetolle@aol.com Secretary Ginger Linden...lindengk@aol.com ************************************************* Programs Chair Teri Starkweather teri@teristarkweather.com Exhibits Chair Acting: Marian Fortunati... marian@fortunatifineart.com Membership Chair Candace Doub... candhd@gmail.com Communications Chair Lisa August... (818) ; augstudios@aol.com Correspondence Chair Marie Thomas...marielinda@dslextreme.com Exhibit Committee Norm Beal...(818) Ken Ronney...(818) ; kronney@aol.com Up Close Lucie Hinden Small Group Exhibit Location Co-Chairs Rita Hamilton...hamiltonpictures@att.net Ken Ronney...(818) ; kronney@aol.com Historian Norm Beal...(818) Mailing Chair Dorothy Shepherd... ladypainter71@yahoo.com Newsletter Reece Holland... gr-home@pacbell.net Photographer Veronica Stensby...vezzosa@earthlink.net Hospitality Sally Wells Cook, meetings Barbara Schwartz, receptions Paradox of the Frame with Lucie Hinden If you have any news about shows you are in, etc., please let me know as I would love to include it in The Creative Edge. The deadline for submitting anything for the February newsletter is January 15, You can reply to this , or it to me at gr-home@pacbell.net Reece Holland, Editor, The Creative Edge Beth Summers was juried into the Agriculture Show at the Santa Paula Art Museum located at 117 N 10th St., Santa Paula. This show runs through February 9, (Continued on page 4)

4 Page 4 The Creative Edge January 2014 Member News Continued Judy Heimlich has an ongoing exhibit at Councilman Englander s office in Chatsworth at the Northridge Historical Exhibit-The Oakridge Estate (Pictured below). Judy is also exhibiting in Portraits of the Garden (Iridescent Iris - below) at the Descanso Gardens located at 1418 Descanso Dr., La Cañada Flintridge, CA The show runs from January 12, 2014 to March 31, Michael Donegan also had two paintings showing at Segil Fine Arts in Monrovia during the month of December. Michael said it was a good-looking show with some well-known artists like W. Jason Situ and Lynn Gertenbach also participating. Terry Romero Paul had a painting accepted into the NVAL 30th Annual Juried National Show for 2013 at the Carter House Gallery in Redding, California. The show runs from January 28, 2014 to March 1, The Oakridge Estate Judy Heimlich Still Life: Florence Terry Romero Paul Arline Helm had three paintings in the Glendale Art Assoc. Holiday Salon at the Eagle Rock Art Center in December. Karren de Gorricho and Barbara Tabachnick were juried into the Icons of California show at La Galeria Gitana located at 120 N. Maclay Ave., San Fernando, California There is a reception on January 25, 2014, from 6:00-10:00 p.m. Iridescent Iris Judy Heimlich Descanco Fountain Karren de Gorricho

5 Page 5 The Creative Edge January 2014 Member News Continued Mission Garden Karren de Gorricho Long Beach Composite Barbara Tabachnick Good Morning Gregory Radionov Gregory Radionov will be having a one-man show at the Madrid Theatre from January 14 to February 4, The Madrid is located at Sherman Way, Canoga Park, CA There will be a reception on January 16, 2014, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. In the Shadows - Hobo Grebory Radionov

6 Page 6 The Creative Edge January 2014 Renew Your Inspiration! By Marjorie Sarnat It's a new year. Get out of your studio physically or mentally, and renew your inspiration. Whether you go on an outdoor outing or an imagination excursion, the trip is rewarding. Some inspiration boosters: Shop For Ideas Visit flea markets, museums, and stores. Grab your journal and go anywhere you'll find visual stimulation and sketch. A New Look Observe your backyard, kitchen, or studio. Re-visit local architecture. Imagine new ways to portray familiar sights. Nature Besides grand scale, notice details that are often overlooked. View things from unusual vantage points. Microscopic Visions There's a thriving world you can see only with a microscope. Even cheap ones provide endless reference for compositions. Gatherings Three's a crowd, so grab your journal and sketch. Crowds provide gesture poses and examples of human variety. (Where are those fashion police when you need them?) Libraries You'll encounter new ideas and offbeat concepts. Pick a book at random and peek inside. Libraries are also great places to sketch people. Poetry Poems are words that paint pictures. A painting is a poem without words. Food Artists have painted food since cavemen depicted deer on their cave walls. Perhaps they were our first starving artists. Science Fiction Mysterious sightings and phenomena let you depict things as you alone interpret them. Sacred and Religious Motifs The ankh, cross, or yin-yang can be uplifting for both artist and viewer. Mythology Here, there be dragons, mermaids, and ancient gods, all rich in symbolism. Experiment Go outside your comfort zone and try new techniques and materials. View Masterful Artworks The more insight you have about art the better you can evaluate your work. Actual paintings radiate emotional vitality that photos cannot match. Supreme Inspiration Therapy Paint what you love, and often! Marjorie Sarnat is the author of the Art Studio Secrets series of books available on Amazon. She leads workshops on mastering color, acrylic surface treatments, and more. Visit to learn more. Wishing you a happy, healthy, and artistically fulfilling 2014! A Mysterious Sighting Is it a headless figure walking through the mist, an ancient dragon emerging from the sea, or a rising tsunami? No, it s the Horsehead Nebula. This Hubble image inspires artistic interpretation.

7 Page 7 The Creative Edge January 2014 Women of Amphissa By Norm Beal The gatherings at Elusis known as the "Mysteries" were the most famous religious ceremonies of ancient Greece. Their central issue was the relationship of Demeter and her daughter Persephone, who were generally worshiped only by women. These events were connected to, and now often confused with, the Rites of Donysos, with which they were regularly combined. Donysos was the patron of the theatre, from which most of the tragedies of the Periclean age were produced. He was, however, a fertility god and, conveniently, the God of wine. The theme of these rites was the principal of renewal, fertility and the initiation of new young candidates into the related sacred secrets. This was accomplished by the reenactment of the union between the Sky God Zeus with the Corn Goddess Demeter, thereby unlocking the gates of Paradise to the initiates. To reveal the identities of the priests and officials connected to the "Mysteries" during their lifetime could be a capital offense. These ceremonies included sham fights along with and much music and revelry. Effigies were constructed from corn and earth as well as clever uses being devised for phallus. These efforts were intended to produce excitement, hypnotic trances and erotic feelings, the goal being to become possessed by the gods. The process featured not only ecstatic dancing and wine, but opium and mushrooms or toadstools, which were seen as originating not from seed but from lightning, thus holy. Once totally stoned, they became known as Bacchantes. As a wrap-up, the participants gathered in the fields in order to simulate the fecundity of the earth by coupling upon the ground. Lawrence Alma-Tadema with his Women of Amphissa (1887, 48" x 22") produced one of his largest and most spectacular works and his last major Greek subject. Here, he depicts a dated historical event, based upon Plutarch's Moraia, a text on the bravery of women. The incident occurred in Amphissa on the road from Mt. Parnassus in 350 b.c. There, the local women gave shelter and protection to a group of young Maenades who, being exhausted by their religious frenzy, lay asleep. This being an enemy community made them vulnerable to assault. Waiting until the strangers woke in the morning, their guardians fed, and then escorted them to safety. Alma-Tadema's paintings were acknowledged by his peers as being the most accurate representations of daily life in Greece and Rome, to the extent that generations of history books featured them as examples. In this painting, while employing his usual careful research and meticulous technique, Alma-Tadema also managed to include the face of his wife, Laura Epps, as one of the local women. The painting was so well received that it won the medal of honor at the Paris Exposition Univarselle of Women of Amphissa Lawrence Alma-Tadema Amphissa was the capitol of an annual festival in honor of the god Bacchus. In 350 B.C., the territory was over-run by an army from Phocis, stirring fear that the Bacchantes would become vulnerable after their celebrating to attack by the enemy soldiers. The women of Amphissa consequently stepped in to protect the sleeping Bacchantes throughout the night, guarding them from being ravished by the opponent. Alma- Tadema portrays dawn at the Amphissian marketplace the morning after, its women serving food, standing watch, and caring for the exhausted Bacchantes. It should be noted that the color white dominates the artist's palette. The sky, the flowers, the awnings, the pillars, the floor tiles, and the robes of many of the women are all some shade of white. The presence of this shade suggests redemption for the Bacchantes, and mercy on the part of the providers. There seem to be few scenes in art history depicting women helping women. David, echoing Poussin in his Rape of the Sabine Women, depicts the heroic Hersilia instilling peace in the face of Roman/Sabine war. Alma-Tadema, instead of a single heroine, portrays numerous female benefactors, blending them among those in need. The Women of Amphissa, therefore, portrays humanity- and femininity, at their best.

8 Page 8 The Creative Edge January Membership Renewals Due Your current CAL membership expires on December 31, 2013, and must be renewed. Membership renewal charges have not changed: Exhibiting Members and Associate Members are $ A second member living at the same address (i.e., spouse or partner) is $ Patron renewal is also $ If you have any problems, call either Candace Doub at or Ken Ronney at , or contact Candace by at candhd@gmail.com. Candace Doub Membership Chair ***************************************** We are very happy to announce that three pieces sold during Magical at the Blinn House: Renewals can be made by mailing your check or money order made out to CAL, to our new Membership Chair, Candace Doub, CAL Renewal, Northcliff Dr., Santa Clarita, CA, or via our website, using a credit card and PayPal. Renew until 01 Jan 2015 To renew on-line, log on to the website. From your member page, begin with the box Sharon Weaver s Beachfront Next, click the box UPDATE AND NEXT. A Review and confirm message will appear. Click CONFIRM AND PROCEED WITH PAYMENT. Balance due $45.00 (or $25.00) will appear. To pay with PayPal, click PAY ONLINE. A PayPal screen will appear. Use your PayPal account or sign in as a guest and fill out all information, select phone type, enter phone number, then click REVIEW AND CONTINUE. A confirmation of payment screen will appear. Click PRINT RECEIPT if you want one. Jacquelyn Fox s Lit From Within Payment is complete. To verify all is OK, click RETURN TO CALIFORNIA ART LEAGUE, INC. In a few seconds the CAL screen will appear. It will indicate Payment Successful, and indicate payment and invoice. You can review or print them, or ignore this and return to any other part of the website. Renewal is complete. You will receive several s regarding renewal. The first few may say your renewal is not complete. Ignore them. The next ones will show complete renewal status and a PayPal receipt, which you may wish to print out. This completes renewal activity (whew!) Victoria Hill's Tranced

9 Page 9 The Creative Edge January 2014 Images from In the City The following images are among the works that were accepted into In the City at the Blinn House. I DO NOT KNOW WHO WON ANY AWARDS! This is merely a representation of the different works in the show! All of the winners will be featured in the February issue of The Creative Edge Mirror Image Nancy Angelini- Crawford Sunset at the Disney Concert Hall Veronica Stensby Keeper of the World Ocean Level Eugene Seregin Tournament House Roses Lynne Fearman North Hollywood Park AM David Aswad From The Window Rea Nagel Reclaim The Land Marilyn Stempel

10 Page 10 The Creative Edge January 2014 Sponsor Services We would like to thank all of the generous sponsors of California Art League. Helping keep art alive in California! If you would like to become a sponsor reaching over 250 CAL member artists and their colleagues, friends, and associates, by promoting your creative products and services, contact Trice Tolle at or tricetolle@aol.com. It s easy and inexpensive.

11 The California Art League P.O. Box Encino, CA