Pages

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Texas PSOA Members to be Part of a Group Show, Opening November 30

Submitted by Suzie Baker
Artist Suzie Baker at Third Coast Gallery, Galveston, Texas. Opening November 30, 2013

I'm Pleased to Present my work at
Third Coast Gallery, Galveston
with Fellow Artists 

Opening and Art Walk
November 30, 6-10pm

Exhibition Dates, November 30 - January 13 Like Artist Suzie Baker Exhibition Opening - November 30, Galveston on Facebook
Galveston Boat Yard, 18x14", oil on linen                                            


Test of Time, 6x9", oil on linen

Repose, 16x20", oil on linen
Sherman Lake, Maine, 12x16", oil on linen   


2413 Mechanic, Galveston, Texas  / www.thirdcoastgalleries.com / 409  974  4661
 
Copyright © 2012 Baker Art and Design Studio, All rights reserved.
 Baker Art and Designs Studio
www.suziebakerart.com
 832 316 3363

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Solo Show - Lenore Prud'homme

Houston artist Lenore Prud'homme will have her solo show debut, "Romancing the Figure," November 2-30. Click the image for details:

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Artist Spotlight: Edna Krueger

Edna Krueger of Odessa, TX, is this month's Spotlight Artist. If you would like to be in the spotlight, please email your information to Anna at annarosebain@gmail.com

Artist Edna Krueger in front of her booth
display at the Permian Basin Fair
This month's Spotlight Artist, Edna Krueger, was chosen as the Featured Artist for the 2013 Permian Basin Fair in Odessa, TX. She has shared some photos from her booth, as well as some snapshots of her sketch journals, which she draws or paints in on a daily basis.

More of Edna's booth display

Edna created this display for the fair, which educates
the audience on how she develops her sketches and paintings.
Artist Biography:



Interview with Spotlight Artist for October/November, Edna Krueger:

1) When and how did you first became seriously interested in art?   I don't remember a time that I didn't see art as a serious subject to me. I would guess I became serious about perusing a career in art while in high school. It really stuck when I was a senior and looking at college the next fall.

2) What is your training, and what medium(s) / subject matter do you work in?    I started out of high school doing drawings for business cards and later went into commercial art. I worked in all kinds of businesses dealing with anything from film stripping to pen and ink illustrations to full color art to be printed. This was before personal computers, making it a requirement to develop many skills in different media. At that time it was mainly in ink because of its easy reproducing aspect.

It was during my time out here in West Texas that I had an instructor that stressed learning as many medias as possible that I ran across pastels. I had never really worked much with the media and at first hated it for the grid feeling under my fingers. But during my last year in college I worked so much with it that I fell in love with the intense colors! There was no mess with mixing them nor were there hash chemicals although you have to mind the dust. Besides pastel though, I work in many medias which include: ink, graphite, oil, acrylic, watercolor, colored pencils, and charcoal. It's part of my instructor Pam Price's influence plus my background in commercial art.

As for subject matter, I have always loved animals and people!! I drew horses as a child till my mother said please draw something else! So that's when I started drawing people. This fits me because I'm a people person and love getting to know folks and what and why they do things. I'm one of those that love to study people at an airport or other public places. That's why I carry a journal with me almost all the time.
Watercolor of a little girl, by Edna Krueger
The front page of the "People" section in
Edna's sketch journal

3) What do you express in your work? The main goal I have in mind when working on a piece is how to portray the soul of this scene or being. I want the observer of my art to feel that person's attitude or the feeling of a place--to convey the soul of what they are looking at. I'm also a history buff and want to be as accurate as possible in what the viewer sees (coming from a family that has a lot of history of our own, about 400 years worth).


4) What artists/professionals have been your  biggest influences?    There are so many! I look up to many of the instructors at the portrait conferences. I admire Daniel Greene along with his wife Wende Caporale whose book, "Painting Children's Portraits in Pastel," has helped me many times! I also admire Chris Saper and how she is able to pick up on various skin tones. I use her book, "Painting Beautiful Skin Tones," as a teaching tool and had learned so much from it. I love Judith Cardducci's work with pastel and how she uses color in a fun way, that little spark in her art is enjoyable! Also, for all the work she does to inspire others--that's a true teacher!  My art instructor in college at UTPB, Pam Price, was a very big influence on me and many other student artists. I love Van Gogh for his use of color and line, and for his ability to show everyday people doing ordinary things in such a glorious way. But I think the one I love most is Rembrandt. He was another kind of colorist in that his art really does glow! I love the use of shading he does in his paintings moving figures around in space and conveying depth. Wow, what an artist!!


5) What do you do to gain new inspiration for your work?    I think I have a mind that doesn't ever turn off. There's always something that I want to draw or paint. A lot of inspiration comes from observing people and how they move and deal with life. Quite often, my journals help give me a starting point for exploration. Because of my love for people I am inspired by activities folks do. I have interest in music (it was a minor in college), which, along with theatre, also provides artistic thoughts. I'll take a small sketch pad or journal with me to a concert and try to capture the feeling of the movements of the musicians while they are playing their instruments or a dancer as they move around on stage. It may not look like a masterpiece but it trains the eye to pick up on conveying movement and emotion while building your skills.

6) What would you like to be doing with your art ten years from now? I'd like to become much more controlled and loose at the same time. That's something I see in all the great artists' work. John Singer Sargent was such an artist. To me a master knows how to convey something without over doing the work. She or he keep it fresh-feeling. That is truly hard to do. I don't know if I'll ever be famous or not, that's not the point. The journey and experience along the way make it all worth it.

7) Do you set goals for yourself concerning the making of your art?    Yes, but not as well as I should sometimes. Life gets in the way, but you have to keep your eyes fixed on where you want to go. I try to meet deadlines, but also save time to draw or paint just for me. I sit down and write out what I'm going for this week, next month, and farther on. Then I come back to the list every so often to keep on track.

"Tom Girl Beauty" - pastel - by Edna Krueger 
8) Are you happy with your job choice as an artist? Do you have any regrets in this career choice or things you would have done differently? I love doing art, it's all I ever wanted to do for a career except for maybe singing which is another area I studied. But art was always first on the list. The only thing I would've done differently is to have been more committed to getting my degree in art sooner in life, and I would have gone into teaching art at a young age. I didn't know till much later in life that I enjoyed teaching so much. I don't teach in the school system because it has become too difficult to do at this time in my life. Yet I love teaching in a small group or one on one. I do plan to start teaching small workshops in my area and this is another turning point that I look forward to.

9) Any fun or interesting facts about yourself that you'd like to share?  My other love is music! I was very blessed to be born with a singing voice and have enjoyed doing parts in musicals in live theatre here in West Texas. We have several live community theaters in the area and I've been blessed to be in many productions. One of the lovely things about theatre is making lifelong friends in the plays and musicals. There's something for everyone to do in a production so you get a creative fun group of people of various backgrounds. I am also a Christian. I have seen and experienced things that many of us would call miracles. My faith has played a large part in shaping who I have become. Am I perfect? Oh, help me NO!! But I have learned to put troubles in the hands of One Who is bigger than I.


"Queen Bee" - pastel - by Edna Krueger

The cover page of the "Travel" section of Edna's
sketch journal. 
10) Best piece of advice for other artists?   Draw or paint as often as possible. Keep a sketch pad or journal along with at least a pencil, eraser, sharpener in a small bag to put in your purse, car, or wherever you wish. Make sketching ideas or scenes in your journal a habit to not ever break. It will be amazing how far your skills will develop in a short time. 

Search out the ones you admire and learn from them if possible. If not able to get with them, look at their work, their books, and videos. Study the paintings of those you admire. Learn from them, gain insight then teach it to others. By teaching others you have to think about what you do, why you do it and how to do it and therefore reinforce what you know. Want to learn something? Try teaching it, that will in turn teach you as well.

Some of Edna's supplies for travel journaling

CONTACT THE ARTIST:
EDNA KRUEGER
Email: ednakrueger@att.net

Monday, August 26, 2013

Artist Studios - Texas Edition!

Since we didn't have a Spotlight Artist for August, I decided to do a special blog post on artist studios (I got the idea after spending an entire weekend giving my own studio a makeover). These Texas artists were kind enough to open their studio doors and give us a little glimpse of their world. Whether working out of a closet or a grand-scale room with north light, these artists are making the most of their space and being creative in their problem-solving for storage, easels, lighting, and much more. Rosslyn Duncan has been spending the summer in Europe and shares some of her experiences there. Michael Holter uses a separate room as a gallery space. Cheryl Cousin shares her tiny space with children and finds that she can still create while using table easels instead of larger ones. Vicky Gooch turned her game room into a studio, and Julie Barbeau discovered a way to use shutters to have consistent natural light all day without north-facing windows. Bob Shepherd discovered both the ideal studio wall color, as well as a great way to hang artwork without destroying the walls.

Be inspired, fellow artists! We are all in this together! :-) (And THANK YOU to those who contributed to this post!)                        

- Anna

Rosslyn Duncan: "I have been to Paris and have spent three days marching round the Louvre Museum which was fabulous. At one point I asked in my best spoken French if I could possibly have a small stool so I could draw some of their marvellous sculptures, only to spend ten minutes waiting as they brought round a wheelchair. Guess I wasn't looking my best!!! What a laugh Brenda and I had about that one. Also, we managed to get locked in The National Gallery, in London which was crazy and wonderful at the same time. We got to re-visit all the halls as we were guided out by staff. Whilst in Paris I managed to stock up on wonderful books about Van Eyck, Michelangelo's drawings, and a massive edition of Leonardo de Vinci's complete works. This book is huge, filled with all his drawings and paintings. I have included some images of my studio here in London, one at the Wimbledon Studios, where we have around 250 artists working in the same building. I also have a rather untidy one at home too. Very lucky lady. I am writing an essay on the latest Vermeer Exhibition at the National Gallery here in London, which was a joy to attend as they were playing the same instruments that are depicted in his paintings, with the 16th century songs. At the Portrait Gallery in London, Brenda and I viewed the recent BP Portrait award which was filled with quite a range of different portraits. This year it was a mix of photo-realism and more expressive painting. Unfortunately no photos were allowed from this gallery. Cheers, Rosslyn Duncan."

photo 1- Aisha, my model in my studio  with skulls.
photo 2 - Very tidy studio showing my walls which allow light to filter through.
photo 3-  A very untidy studio, I am afraid this is usually how it is.
photo 4 - A collection of some skulls I collect.
photo 5-  Another view of the studio.








Ceci Luepnitz: "This is a pic of my studio...it is my favorite place to be!! It is on the 2nd floor of the home that we built in College Station."




Michael Holter: "The first is a shot of my studio done with my iPhone and Photosynth (it stitches together a series of images into a panoramic view).

My studio space is at the back side of our house with large windows going out to the patio and pool area. The main area is about 14x20 and as you can see is packed with all the '
stuff' that goes with this kind of work. Everything happens in this room with my computer, printer and scanner in the corner (where I was standing as I shot the photo). I have another room that acts as an extra viewing (gallery) area and storage for frames and more 'stuff'. And paintings hang throughout the house as well.

The second image is of my "other" much more spacious studio that God built for me. I love this one best. And we share with anyone who wants to use it. - Michael"




Michael Gillespie

Deborah Allison: "After years of painting in the back rooms or garage, I've finally moved my studio to the front room of a 100 year old home on the main street in town. So it serves as gallery as well as studio with lots of natural light. It also has tract lighting to supplement.  Years ago, at the Portrait Society Conference, I won the Hughes easel and I love that I can roll it around as needed and finally, I am painting a large enough painting to warrant the easel!"




Teresa Elliott



Cheryl Cousin:  "I live in a small two bedroom apartment with my youngest daughter, who is a senior at UTEP and my oldest daughter's 13 year old son, who decided he wanted to finish the 8th grade here in El Paso.  I use to have a full size sleeper sofa and a chair, but I got rid of them last summer when I started grad school.  I have online classes at the Academy of Art University and have rearranged my work space several times based on the advice of my instructor and fellow classmates. I had a little leeway, but no longer.  I'll have to make do with this space until the end of school year when my grandson goes home to his mom.  Due to the lack of space, I started using table top easels and the lightweight aluminum easel in the picture.  I have a wooden French fold-away easel with the drawer, but it takes up too much space."



Vicky Gooch:
Image 1: "About six years ago we decided to move into a big new house in the suburbs. New homes have game rooms and media rooms and just a lot more space than older homes.  So we asked the builder to plumb the house for a wet bar.  We put in a shop sink instead!  This is my clean up corner.

Image 2: It is a suburban game room so it comes with grand windows and a cat tree.  I love the big windows and my quiet green view over the yards and pond. Sometimes I need to supplement my lighting so I have added a custom light fixture to imitate light from the window.  The thing that looks a bit like a trash can beside the cat tree is actually an air filter designed to remove odors and make painting in the house a bit safer.

Image 3: This is where you will find me!  Besides my easel, I have a large work table, taboret, still life stand and computer stand on wheels.  I can rearrange things to suit my needs.

Images 4-5: This is my model stand.  I modified something meant for a large group.  I can easily set this up or put it away without help and yet it is very strong.  I love to paint from life but I can't do that every day.  Every once in a while I hear of a studio space opening up in one of the studio buildings in Houston and I get very tempted because it's so quiet out here. But then I look around and count my blessings!"









Edna Krueger: "I use the wooden pop sticks you get with ice cream or can buy in craft stores. I prefer using ones I've had the pleasure of eating the ice cream 1st then wash them, paint a solid color & mark the name of the items on that shelf. I use the ticky tac puddly that you use to post names cards of your work to walls with when displaying for an exhibit. Stays in place till you move it and does no damage to the shelf that I know of. Helps in finding items in the studio.

For containers holding supplies like office supplies etc. I have fun with it! I use decorative duck tape and colorful scrapbook paper and create labels on the ends of the storage boxes. This is more fun to look at than a factory box. I haven't gotten all of them but am close to finishing that project. I hate not being able to find something and wasting time hunting what I need down! I may have a lot of things in my studio but I also teach many different medias with my students and need to have the supplies on hand. I also like to work in many different mediums which is a throw back to my commercial art career days. It may be a mess but its an organized one."





Anna Rose Bain: "My husband and I have rented our current house for the last five years. I use the entire front room - which is a large open space originally meant to be used as both a dining room and a formal sitting room - as my studio. The studio is the first thing you see when you walk into the house, so it's convenient to have painting students and clients over. I enjoy the high ceilings and being able to stack my paintings 'salon style' on the walls. I can also bring my Santa Fe II easel all the way up without worrying about hitting the ceiling, so there is room to work on bigger paintings if I so choose. My only issue is lighting; I have a south-facing window and an east-facing window. I make due with 5500k fluorescent bulbs in softboxes attached to light stands (all available at CowboyStudio.com), and these do a great job of replicating natural light. As far as storage - WOW! I miss Wisconsin and having a basement! But my husband built a model stand for me, which holds stretcher bars and other supplies below it. He also built a great big storage shelf for all my canvases, frames, and miscellaneous supplies. The shelf is tucked inside my office, away from the main viewing and working area."
Image 1: View from the front door when you walk in
Image 2: View from the other side, looking towards the front door.



Julie Barbeau: "My dream of finding a large studio with north light windows has never come true.  I've had this "bonus room" studio less that two years.  Although the space is great with the high ceilings and wood floors, controlling the light from so many windows has been difficult.  Little by little I have made improvements to control the glare from various windows.  The mini windows face north but they are so small and high that the glare was killing my eyes.  I bought valances in various colors, including these off-white ones in the photo and dark grey.  That stopped the glare from that side.  Next I added sheers behind the wood blinds on the large southeast double windows.  This is the main light source for the studio.  Depending on the cloudiness and time of day I can open the shutters or adjust the shutters slats or pull the sheers to the side.  This is giving me enough light to paint from natural light all day. Finally I had to set up a room divider draped with black velvet to block the light that was coming up the stairs from the high entry windows.  The studio is painted a blueish gray to mimic north light.  I have Blue Max full spectrum bulbs (5500 K, 93 CRI from fullspectrumsolution.com) in the studio lights.  But I prefer to use natural light when ever possible."





Bob Shepherd: I recently finished redoing my studio.  When we built our home we were lucky in that the builder was able to pop the ceiling up an additional 2 feet to their current height of 12 feet.  The studio is above the garage and is around 400 square feet.  Originally the space was a true white but that was pretty boring.  When we all met at the Portrait Society of America I queried many artists and came up with the color I used.  It came from Pamela Blaise and Scott Burdick's blog.  It is Benjamin Moore's #1490 and  am very happy with the color.  I painted the new color up to the picture rail and left the white on the ceiling.  The smartest thing we did was the picture rail.  All pictures are hung from brass hooks using clear plastic wire.  I use a minimum of nails."




Note from your ambassador: I hope to hear from more of you for another "Studios: Texas Edition" feature in a couple of months. Till then, I hope you found this helpful and inspiring!

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Current Member Exhibitions - Fall 2013

Exciting exhibition news from several of our Texas PSoA members!

If your work is currently on display somewhere, please send me the info at annarosebain@gmail.com, so I can post it to this blog post! 

Alice Betsy Stone of Fort Worth, TX, currently has several of her paintings on display at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens Restaurant. They will be on view and available for sale during the months of August and September. For more information and to plan your visit to the restaurant, go to http://fwbg.org/restaurant/.


Lilibeth Andre of Houston, TX, will have a solo exhibition from September 9-November 3, 2013. Information below:

Fechas Patrias: A celebration of Mexican Independence

Talento Bilingue de Houston (TBH)
333 S. Jensen Dr.
Houston, Texas 77003

The opening reception will be on September 13, 6-9pm

The closing reception will be October 18, 6-9pm

If you have any questions about the event or the venue, please contact  TBH at (713) 222-1213 or visit their site at www.talentobilingue.org

In this show I will be exhibiting a series of works from my Mexico Series. These pieces reflect the love I have for my cultural roots and my artistic evolution over the last eight years. I hope you can join me to share this growth and to kick off the exhibition on September 13. Invitation below:


Michael Gillespie of Crandall, TX has two pieces in the Richeson75 Figure/Portrait exhibit at the Richeson Gallery in Kimberly, WI, September 16-October 25.

He will also have one piece in Sunnyvale First Baptist Church's Art Festival, Worship Creatively," August 25-31. Reception: August 24, 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The show will also be on display at Lavon Drive Baptist Church, September 8-15.

Carol Devereaux of Dallas, TX, will have a pastel portrait, "Vincent", in the American Women Artist's 16th National Juried Exhibition at the RS Hanna Gallery in Fredericksburg, TX. Hers was one of only 60 selected out of 857 entries. Opening reception November 1.


Gene Dillard of Plano, TX has a summer exhibit at the Courtyard Theater in Plano. Includes portraits and his Cowboy Pop pieces. The theater is the site of Country Western concerts throughout the summer.

RAIL STATION STUDIOS EXHIBT AT COURTYARD THEATER 

The Courtyard Theater is hosting a special exhibit featuring artist Gene Dillard and photographer Gaby Pruitt.

In the lobby area, an exhibit of the unique "Cowboy Pop" paintings of Gene Dillard add a bold splash of color to the contemporary theater setting. The very large canvasses are a tribute to Western comics of the 1940s and 1950s.

The Courtyard Theater is located at
1509 H Ave  Plano, TX 75074

The exhibit is on view daily and will be the visual focus for events scheduled at the Theater during the summer. As a continuation of the Downtown Face-to-Face project initiated by the Historic Downtown Plano Association, a selection of paintings and photographs will be exhibited at the Courtyard Theater for 12 weeks this summer. The paintings and photographs by Rail Station Studios artists Gene Dillard and Gaby Pruitt were created to celebrate the character and characters who occupy the colorful downtown Plano district. The collection was donated to the Assistance Center of Collin County and 100% of proceeds from sales go to support the work that the Center provides to the citizens of Collin County.


Rail Station Studios is located at 1013 15th Place, #101 in Historic Downtown Plano  214-403-9171  www.railstationstudios.com

Ann Kraft Walker of the Woodlands, TX, will have six paintings in Insight Gallery's Fall Show, opening September 6. She will also have a painting in OPA's Western Regional Show and one In Cumberland Society Juried Exhibition in Nashville.

Anna Rose Bain of Garland, TX has had her painting, "Twin Arts," juried into the International Guild of Realism's 8th Annual International Juried Show.


Her piece, "Nurturer," has been accepted into thCatherine Lorillard Wolfe Club 117th Annual Open Exhibition October 1-25, 2013 at the National Arts Club in NYC. She has also had two pieces accepted into the Richeson75 Portrait/Figure competition.