Saturday, April 30, 2011

Diane Arbus

Taking pictures is like tiptoeing into the kitchen late at night and stealing Oreo cookies.

Friday, April 29, 2011

TOP 40 JURIED COMPETITION

Jurors:
Jeff Alu, OCCCA
Rex Bruce, LACDA



juried competition
click here for registration

Open Call: LACDA 'Top 40' Juried Exhibition


Jurors:

Jeff Alu—Curator, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art
Rex Bruce—Director and Curator, L.A. Center for Digital Art
Enter our juried competition featuring digital art and photography. Entrants submit three JPEG files of original work. All styles of artwork and photography where digital processes of any kind were integral to the creation of the images are acceptable. Video stills are acceptable. This call is international, open to all geographical locations.

Multiple entries are permitted, seperate entry fee required for each set of three images submitted.

Winners:
Forty winners will be selected. The selected winners recieve one print up to 24x36 on museum quality paper to be shown in an international group exhibition in our gallery. The show will be widely promoted and will include a reception for the artists.

Deadline for Entries: May 23
Winners Announced: May 30 (All entrants will be notified by email)
Exhibit Dates for LACDA: June 9-July 2, 2011
LACDA Artists' Reception: June 9, 2011 7-9pm (Downtown Art Walk)

Two easy steps to enter...
Register here:
http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=218678
Upload images here:
http://lacda.com/UploadPage/forms/form1.html

Winners will be asked to FTP, overnight or express post high resolution files to the gallery for printing.
Entry Fee:
Registration fee is $30US

File uploads are the only accepted submissions maximum of 1.9MB each. Please do not send materials to LACDA. All materials sent to LACDA will not be viewed and cannot be returned.

Winners will be asked to provide high resolution images for final output. Entrants may be asked to provide more examples of their work and more detailed descriptions for consideration.

Online registration only.
For questions email us at lacda@lacda.com.
No phone calls please.
One (1) entry covers three file uploads.
URL for image upload is in confirmation page and confirmation email.
Complete Prospectus (please read)

OPEN CALL FOR ENTRIES: Los Angeles Center For Digital Art Juried Competition
Los Angeles Center For Digital Art
107 West Fifth Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
http://www.lacda.com

Description:
LACDA announces an open call for our juried competition featuring digital art and photography. Entrants submit three JPEG files of original work. All styles of 2D artwork and photography where digital processes of any kind were integral to the creation of the images are acceptable. This call is international, open to all geographical locations.

Winners:
Forty winners will be selected. The selected winners recieve one print up to 24x36 on museum quality paper to be shown in an international group exhibition in our gallery. The show will be widely promoted and will include a reception for the artists.

Deadline for Entries: May 23, 2011

Winners Announced: May 30, 2011

Exhibit Date: June 9-July 2, 2011

Artists' Reception: June 9, 2011 7-9pm (Downtown Art Walk)

All entrants will be notified by email. No phone calls, please.
Winners will be asked to FTP, overnight or express post high resolution files to the gallery for printing.
Entry Fee:
Registration fee is $30US

Jurors:
Jeff Alu—Curator, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art
Rex Bruce—Director and Curator, L.A. Center for Digital Art

Submission Rules:
Registration and submission are done through our web site only. File uploads are the only accepted submissions maximum of 2MB each. Please do not send materials to LACDA. All materials sent to LACDA will not be viewed and cannot be returned.
Images must be under two megabites in size (up to 1.9mb). Winners will be asked to provide high resolution images for final output. Entrants may be asked to provide more examples of their work and more detailed descriptions for consideration.

Sales of Artwork:
All artwork will be offered for sale. Gallery retains 50% of all sales. Winners retain ownership of all unsold works. All artwork remains the intellectual property of the winner. Winner agrees to allow use of their images for promotional purposes only.

Gallery Information:
Los Angeles Center For Digital Art is dedicated to the propagation of all forms of digital art, supporting local, international, emerging and established artists. We have an ongoing schedule of exhibits and competitions, and produce editions of wide format archival prints.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Holy Vacuum Tube, Batman

So why no three dimensional art?

Sure the South Coast is full of painters but why are the sculptors few and far between?

Sculpture is an ancient and demanding discipline, the stock and trade of many great artists. Italy has them by the flock and even the modern art folks have produced a practitioner or two. But here on the South Coast the three-d guys are scarce as hen's teeth.

It is true that our landscapes and seascapes and skyscapes make painting the choice tool for a working artists, but even with the deck stacked against sculpture artists are a maverick breed so there ought to be one or two.

It is a strain of Puritanism that keeps the flat work guys in the majority? Sculpture almost cries for the human body, nude, or even naked or better yet nekkid. So is it squeamishness that keeps the artists away from the the bronze?

Can't be, there are nudes showing up in many juried shows around the area, even the venerable Expressions West show at the Coos Art Museum has a coupla nudes. (They are very good nudes and most tasteful and sensitive so you can bring Aunt Louisa from Boston and she won't rip a stitch or snap a support garment.) So the flat art guys don't shy away because there are naked people being used as a subject. Why no sculpture?

The Student Art Show had a coupla sculptures and yes, they were nudes, so the kids don't have any inhibitions about the subject. Hmmmmmmm?

We are guests in the land of ours. Oh our government made a big show of writing treaties and promising “Til the wind no long blows”, but the folks who were here first got a pretty rough deal. Now of course they are taking it back one dollar at a time in their casinos, but the point is they were great sculptors. Their transportation, their fishing equipment, even their honorariums were sculptures. (Totem poles, get it and for the record, the most honored postiton on the totem pole register was the bottom of the pole. So like most expressions swiped from other people, “Low man on the totem pole”is all wrong. He's the Big Guy.) So the original artists of the South Coast were not afraid of three-d.

Even the television folks have gotten into the act, they are making three-d televisions, because they have made the sets so good that they never go out anymore and with solid state electronics the only reason to buy a new set is if it has brand new bells and whistles so every year or so the TV guys way over the Pacific make some new gimcrack and tout it as the neatest thing shince sliced bread, to make you suffer television envy and go out and buy a three-d television. (They can't seriously think three-d is a great advance in movie making? Think Vinnie Price and the House of Wax although, Phyllis Kirk did do a pretty good bosom heaving considering she had no bosoms to heave, but that's another story altogether, and she was better in the television version of the Thin Man which was not nearly as good as the original Thin Man.)

So if everybody is doing it why hasn't sculpture become a force on the South Coast? We have everything which would make a Renaissance sculptor drool, we have whole forests of wood, great slabs of stone and some wildly exotic compounds that Michelangelo never heard of, (Don't be silly, we have Amazon is the stuff isn't right here in our own backyard so we can search the world and have it here overnight by FedEx.). So where is the three-d art?

Anyone out there? Does anyone care? Draw me a map, show me a sign and if not blaze a trail. Sculpture is an ancient tradition which should be a vital part of any art community..

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Sarah, Los Cerros Middle School, 1999

Art is a shadow of what a person is thinking... a small glimpse of what they hold inside. Little secrets, regrets, joys... every line has its own meaning.

Call for Artists

Call for Art - Theme "Nature" - Apply Now (Posted: 4/22/11) -- A Thematic exhibition "Nature" by Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery is a juried competition. Awards will be for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. A Group exhibition of the top five finalists will be held online for the month of June 2011. Thereafter, the artworks will remain online in the Light Space & Time Archives with links to the artist's websites. Apply through the website. Deadline: May 29, 2011. $10.00 for 2 entries and $15.00 for 3 or more, up to 5 entries.

Call for Artists

The Tuxedo Show "Your Best Dressed B&W Photography" (Posted: 4/20/11) -- New Pixel Art Connection seeks photography entries for an exhibition June 15 - July 13 at the ABC Custom Framing & Gallery in Denver, Colorado. Cash Prizes for Juror's Selection; 1st, 2nd & 3rd Place. The purpose of New Pixel/Art Connection is to foster the experience in the joy of creating and owning art, while helping different charities. New Pixel/Art Connection provides an avenue for artists to participate in an artistic and competitive environment, sell and win prizes for their work, and support non-profit charities. This exhibition is open to all domestic photographers, both amateur and professional working in digital or traditional photography. Alternative and experimental photographic techniques are welcome. $25 for 3 images and $5 for each additional image. Deadline: May 27, 2011. Visit website for prospectus. Questions? Contact Nicole Guidi at nicole@newpixelstudios.com or call 303.478.8448.

Call for Artists

Diversity/National Juried Photography Show: Call For Photographers (Posted: 3/17/11) -- The Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts in Blue Mountain Lake, NY announces a call to professional and amateur photographers, 18 years of age and over, for a juried exhibition, August 26th - September 24th. Total Prizes $2050. Jurors: Lang Elliot, Nancie Battaglia, Barry Lobdell. There is a non-refundable entry fee of $30/ members $20 / first three images, additional images $10 each. Deadline: May 27, 2011. Download the prospectus (PDF format) for more info. Questions? Contact Cornelia Tobey at cornelia@adirondackarts.org or call 518-352-7715.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Sunday, April 24, 2011

The Big Bunny Hops

No, it has nothing to do with Hugh Hefner's birthday, although I do wish him well, I don't think his birthday is anywhere near Easter.

I hope you had a happy Easter and your hutch was filled with friends and family and of course I hope all of your eggs were golden.

So let's talk about eggs, some golden and some not. A very nice person came up to me this week and said, "I went to your site but I couldn't make anything of it. I thought it was like your homepage and had all of your art and stuff."

That was a very nice surprise. I never thought anyone would care to see my art so it was surprising. And no The South Coast Trawler is not my home page. (I probably would have a hard time filling even one page much less an online gallery.) I never planned for The South Coast Trawler to be about me at all. It is about art and art happenings around the South Coast. Now I do sometimes figure in that art scene, but I try to keep this from becoming a place where one artist brags and everyone else applauds.

In fact I try to do two things cheer everyone else on to bigger and better things and get the word out about what everyone is doing. So no, this isn't a place where I post my own art.

But this being Easter and a day of rest, I thought I would post a coupla things I have been experimenting with so that you'd appreciate how much you like not hearing what I am doing!



I can't enter the Maritime show, I'm not a painter, but I did do a maritime piece. I think it has sort of a nice touch and I hope the Coasties like it.



And I like Charleston, so even the gas shack has a sort of appeal for me.



And of course since its egg rolling day what else but a field of whatever they are a field of.

So have a Happy Easter and tomorrow we'll go back to REAL art.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Ava Richey's Art News

Hi Everyone,

This coming Monday, April 25th we will meet 12 - 3 p.m. at Old Town Pizza in the McNair building at the corner of 2nd Street (Hwy 101) and Delaware in Old Town Bandon. Rain is predicted so we are back inside. :(

I'll be working at the Gallery that day. If the weather turns out to be beautiful you can go out on the picnic tables, or over to the boat basin to paint. :) Hopefully it will get warm enough to be outside soon.

Thanks.
Ava
-------------------------------------------
Art Information:

FYI: New listings have asterisks *** next to the date.
-----------
15% off Colored Pencils and Pastels, sets & open stock, through April at Bandon Artists Supply 541-347-4482.
------------------------------

Current Shows:
---------------------------------------------------------
Southern Coos Hospital & Health Center, Bandon
"Bright & Bold" Works by S.L. Donaldson, Tim Greathead, Michael Ousley and Yvonne Ousley. Show runs through June.
--------------------------------------------------------
13th International Collage Exhibition & Exchange Show on the web at http://virtual.tart.co.nz/default.htm
Look for work by local artists Susan Lehman, Pat Snyder and Connie Zane, among artists from around the world. If you love to make collage art you might like to join in the next show at this website hosted by Dale Copeland.
------------------------------------------------------------------
March 18 - May 6, 2011
Umpqua Valley Arts Association, 1624 W. Harvard, Roseburg
"Printmakers on Paper from the Coos Art Museum Collection"
Artists include Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers, James Rosenquist and NW artists Glen Alps, Tom Hardy, Lyle Matoush, and Erik & Nelson Sandgren, among others. Curated by Pat Snyder and Del Smith
Additional current exhibits at UVAA are: "eXpressions" by Oregon Fiber Artists; "Explanation Unintended" metal by Jim Lockwood; "Purely Pastel", and in the Student Gallery are Wooley Center and Milo Adventist Academy.
---------------------------------
Bandon Library Cases through April:: Amber Shelley Harris and Anwawilanci "Willow" Isham. Walls: Bonnie Stewart
------------------------------------
Bandon Artist Supply, 175 2nd Street, Bandon
Watercolors by Sharon Jensen
through April 29, 2011 Tuesday - Saturday 10 - 5 p.m.
----------------------------------------------------
"Lighthouse 2.0 Juried Art Show" at Whistling Gallery, 5 miles south of Bandon on Hwy 101. Show includes local artists Susan Lehman, Valentina Alonso, Ron Miranda, Carol Miranda, Sheri McGrath and Laurel Sweigert as well as artists from as far away as Portland.
Show runs through April 23, 2011
541-404-7336 whistlinggallery@gmail.com
--------------------------------------------------------
Coos Art Museum, 235 Anderson Ave, Coos Bay, OR
"Expressions West 2011", "Erik Sandgren: Confluences", David Castleberry "Arriving at the Gates of Spring", and "Plein Air Painters of the South Coast". Shows run through May 28, 2011.
----------------------------------------------------------
**** Gallery open with new hours in Bandon
Seebird Art Gallery, Hwy 101 south edge of Bandon (at Seabird Mini-Storage)
Open Wednesday - Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Gregg McCall 541-347-7201 www.seebirdartgallery.org
------------------------------------------------------
*****New Schedule of Classes offered at Sage Place
go to: http://sagegallerybandon.com
Also: September 30th & October 1, 2011 at Sage Place
"Art As Improvisation" with internationally recognized instructor Sas Colby. She currently teaches workshops in Taos, NM; Mallorca, Spain; and at the San Francisco Center for the Book. Cost will be $190 for the 2 day workshop. Additional information including registration forms will be available within 30 days. See Sas' work at www.sascolby.com
-------------------------------------------------------
******Monday, April 25, 2011
Joanne Drapkin will be giving a talk and slide-show on her recent trip to Mexico at the Bandon Public Library Monday evening. For more information and to RSVP : jbdrap1550@yahoo.com
-----------------------------------------------------
******Call to Artists--New show on Bandon Boardwalk, May 20, 2011 deadline
"The Year of the Rabbit" (with a tip of the hat to the White Rabbit)
$10 entry includes an 18" x 24" board to paint on. Boards can be picked up at Port of Bandon and Bandon Artists Supply. Work must be able to withstand 3 months of wind and rain so seal/varnish the boards well. Interpretations of rabbit / hare encouraged including studies from life, from literature, from Wonderland, Peter Cottontail, etc. The public will vote for their favorite, and prizes will be given out on Cranberry Weekend in September. Anne Sobbota will serve as juror. Amateurs and professionals welcome. Room for 179 panels...so get hopping! questions? contact Victoria Tierney 541-347-9862 or Gina at the Port 541-347-3206.
---------------------------------------------------
****Sunday, April 24, 2011 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Roaring Sea Arts Openhouse at Roaring Sea Studios, Port Orford
Artists, writers/poets, musicians invited to attend and/or show/perform. RSVP
Contact Donna at 541-332-4444, or Suzanne at 332-0540
The Kammeroque Ensemble, Lachlan Miller and others to perform.
--------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 Entry Delivery Deadline
Easy Lane Frames & Select Art Gallery in North Bend is seeking entries for the May/June art show "The Skies Have It!" 541-756-7638 Deliver April 27 & 28th, 10 -5.
--------------------------------------------------------
*******Wednesday, April 27, 2011 5 - 7:00 p.m.
Backstreet Gallery, 1421 Bay Street, Old Town Florence
541-997-8980 http://www.backstreetgallery.org
After Hours Reception: meet Meredith Draper and see her "Altered Art".
-------------------------------------------------------
*****Thursday, April 28, 2011 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Gold Beach Episcopal Church
Easternmost end of Moore Street.
Figure Drawing. To confirm & for more information contact Alexandra alexandra@portraitsbyalexandra.com
--------------------------------------------------
*****Mondays May 2, 9, and 16, 2011 10:00 a.m. - 12:00
Easy Lane Frames & Select Art Gallery, North Bend 541-756-7638
"Palette Knife Workshop", Instructor Carolyn LeGrand.
Cost $45. All experience levels welcome. Explore techniques to express form, texture and contrast. Supply list available at the gallery.
--------------------------------------------------
*****Thursdays, May 5, 12, 19 & 26, 2011 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Easy Lane Frames & Select Art Gallery, North Bend, 541-756-7638
"Beginning Watercolor" Instructor Sherry Howk. Some watercolor experience needed. Learn new techniques and how to employ them into a painting.
---------------------------------------------------
Saturday, May 7, 2011 Postmark Deadline
Call to Artists for "18th Annual Maritime Exhibit"
Coos Art Museum 235 Anderson Ave, Coos Bay, OR 97411
541-267-3901 http://www.coosart.org
Show runs July 30 - October 1, 2011
------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, May 8, 2011 10:00 a.m.
Annual Mother's Day Plein Air Paintout at Shore Acres
Bring your lunch and a beverage and paint in the beautiful gardens.
For more information contact Joni Goodman Fox at goodfox05@yahoo.com or 541-217-8242
----------------------------------------------
*****Saturday, May 14, 2011 3 - 5:00 p.m.
Backstreet Gallery, 1421 Bay Street, Old Town Florence
541-997-8980 http://www.backstreetgallery.org
GALA Art Walk Reception with guest artists Ramona Welzel and Liz Johnson. Themed artwork show "Roadies and Rhodies" will be on display May 3rd through June 6th.
------------------------------------------------
Monday - Friday, May 16 - 20, 2011
Wrights Custom Framing, Brookings, OR 541-469-7900
5 Day Watercolor Workshop, Larry Johnson, Instructor.
------------------------------------------------
Saturday, May 28, 2011 1 - 4:00 p.m.
Harris Beach State Park, One Mile North of Brookings, OR on Highway 101
Plein Air Paint Out. Critique at 4 p.m. at the bottom of the hill where the restrooms are located.
*Come at 10 a.m. and enjoy the Azalea Festival Parade and Art Show before the Paintout. http://www.wildriverscoastart.com
------------------------------------------------
Call to Artists Submission Deadline June 1, 2011
Billy Smoothboars and Whistling Gallery announce the themed show of "Dunes of the Pacific Northwest". Cash prizes awarded based on entry fees for Best of Show, 2nd and 3rd places. For prospectus go to http://www.whistlinggallery.com and click on "Events & Specials" and scroll down to the show information. Or contact Whistling Gallery at 541-404-7336.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Call to Artists Deadline June 8, 2011
Umpqua Valley Arts Assn
1624 W. Harvard, Roseburg, OR 97471
http://uvarts.com/call-to-artists
2011 Umpqua Plein Air "Location, Location, Location"
All artists of all abilities come participate, Thursday and Friday, July 14 and 15, 2011. Check website for prospectus and entry form. Three locations for painting, 30 artists per location, so fill out your entry forms and get them in early. Arts Center is hosting the first Umpqua Plein Air 2011- Location, Location, Location on July 14th and 15th. Juried and cash awarded. It will be a wet hanging in the building, a really nice event for artists, including a catered dinner the night of the paint out, with music, for the artists to mingle and talk about the day. The next morning there will be demo/lectures included by Charles Waldman of California. oils, Phil Bates pastels, and Vinita Pappas watercolors
------------------------------------------------

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Photoscape to the left of me, cannons to the right of me...

As you know, I like free. One of the best free things I have laid my hands on lately is Photoscape. It is a photo editing suite which is not as powerful as PhotoShop, but costs a whole lot less. Now this may come as a surprise to you, but I already use three photo editing programs, PhotoShop Elements 5.0, Faststone Image Viewer and GIMP, so another photo editor looks a lot like overkill, or maybe just greed.

But it isn't, each one has something special and if you use them right you get some wonderful and dramatic things.

And they come in really handy when you get a sad and lonely black and white photo, holding a bit of irreplaceable family history, on loan from your sister-in-law and given up only in exchange for a pint of blood and the life of your first-born, should anything happen to the print.

That's right it was a print, no negative and a small one at that, probably an original Polaroid. Which means washed out, scratched and faded, pale, white on white, get out your strong glasses print. So the first job was to make sure it was computerized. I used the scan board from Faststone Image Viewer to scan it in and once it was saved I had this to work with...



Okay, it could use a little work. I brought it up in PhotoShop Elements 5.0 and used the Auto Correct feature and when it was through I had this.



Much better and I scanned it in at 600 dpi, that's dots per inch or a bunch of dots making working with it much easier so that when I enlarge it it will not turn into a pointillist masterpiece.

I took the scan and ran it back through Photoscape, using the Backlight feature which in effect moves the light source around the corner and makes it come from behind which means nothing to you, but it makes the details stand out better.



Not at all bad for a print from before the War. Once more through Faststone, this time using the resize feature to increase the pixels so that when it is enlarged to wall-size for hanging in a museum, say like for the Thunder show, it won't fade into gray mush.


Click image for larger view

Pretty good for what I started with.

And why should I care about all this? I'm a painter and never work with old photos and if I did I'd take them to a professional and let then do the work. And you'd pay $25.00 an hour and the result might not even be this good. My sister-in-law had to wait three months for the last picture she tried to have cleaned up and enlarged. And after ninety days what she got wasn't good enough to frame.

No, it won't work on every picture. and no it won't make every picture a fantastic subject for a painting, but it might just make a piece of a photo usable for your work. See cleaning up a magazine shot can be helpful if your budget doesn't allow for traveling to Outer Mongolia for dinosaur eggs or visiting Mexico, watch out for kidnappers and rebels, to get that amazing shot of the Great Pyramid, just at sunrise. You'd' be amazed at how often all you really need is a piece of a picture and if your arms haven't grown any longer than mine, you just can't hold the darned thing far enough away to make out little, bitty pieces. No I can't say I've ever tried using a magnifying glass with bifocals. And if holding a brush, palette, picture, magnifying glass, cup of coffee and squinting sounds too challenging, you might try a little photo-assist from one of these great programs.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

The Year of the Rabbit


Click image for larger view

Here is the info: The show is called "THE YEAR OF THE RABBIT" (with
a tip of the hat to the White Rabbit); it cost $10 to enter and for
that you get an 18" x 24" panel, which can be picked up at Bandon
Artist Supply, or at the Port of Bandon.



The work must be able to withstand 3 months of rain, wind and sun down on the Bandon Boardwalk; it must be in by May 20th and will be put up by Memorial Day weekend.


Any interpretation of things rabbit (or hare) is
encouraged....whether studies from life, from literature, from
Wonderland, Peter Cottontail, etc. etc. etc......We'll let people
vote on their favorites at Tony's Crab Shack or the Bandon Fish
Market, and Anne Sobbota will also serve as a juror and prizes will
be given out during Cranberry Festival in September.

The show is being funded by a grant from the Coos County Cultural Coalition, SAGE KIDS, and by AVK Arts, a foundation whose mission is to promote art in public places.

Amateurs and professionals are all encouraged to submit entries....we have room on the boardwalk for 179 panels....so get hopping!!!
For more information call Victoria Tierney at 541-347-9862 or call
Gina at the Port (541-347-3206)

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Left Coast Jazz

If you weren't at the opening of Bright and Bold at the Southern Coos Hospital, (And why exactly weren't you), you know nothing about the talented musicians of Left Coast Jazz. This is very sad, it's like finding out there's no Easter bunny. But you don't have to morn, weep and wring your hands, because the ole Trawler has gone out and dug up the schedule for the next few shows.

Playing this Friday April 22nd 4 to 7pm at the red fish in pt orford,w bassist Gary Robertson. Also on May 6th w Gary and...May 20th w Julie Hawthorne,at the red fish. April 29 and 30th We'll be The Left Coast Jazz Trio At Bandon Bill's from 6 to 10 PM. Will feature Jan Kaplan and a surprise guest.

Now if you haven't been to the Red Fish in Port Orford, you've missed out again and while you are there, you can take a stroll through the Hawthorne Gallery. But you really are there to listen so don't waste too much time eating.

Now I admit to being an old time lounge act guy and I haven't really found anyone to replace Lana Cantrell or to make me stop and listen up like Ramsey Lewis, until I heard Left Coast Jazz. You can listen, talk, plot, plan or just relax they will wrap you in music and drain your troubles away. This kind of sound usually requires the sin and squalor of the big city, but Left Coast Jazz makes smoky clubs and crowded tables unnecessary, try them once and like me you'll be waiting with a worm on your tongue for their website to be up and running. ((Of course I'll keep you informed until that happens.)

Monday, April 18, 2011

Shinan Barclay's Ceramic Art


12 YEARS RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBIT

Shinan Barclay's Ceramic Art



Now through April 30th, Shinan Barclay’s ceramic art and pottery will be on display in the lobby of the Coos Bay Library. "Stunning! Gorgeous colors. These are collector's items," remarked, Donna Avery, PhD, of Chicago, an art connoisseur. Shinan's art has been displayed locally in the Maratime Exibit, at Bay Moss Gallery, The Artist Loft, Cottonwood Gallery as well as a one woman handmade tile exhibit at Southwestern Oregon Community College.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

News from Easy Lane Frames & Select Art Gallery

We invite you to participate in our May-June art show. Entries need to be delivered to the gallery on April 27th or 28th from 10:00-5:00. Show will be up the first week of May. The show is entitled: “The Skies Have It”. In these political times with voting “The nays have it” or the “Yeahs have it”….we thought as artists we should strike back and say they are wrong. All landscape artists know the skies determine with their ever changing colors, clouds, wind and temperatures. All of the pieces in this show feature an interesting sky. All mediums have been invited and there are no size limitations; so it will be an exciting show. We are changing things up and having the art show judged by a professional and ribbons will be awarded for “Best of Show”, second place and third place. These awards will be announced during ArtWalk on May 12th at 7:00 PM. Please come and support these artists.

There are new classes coming up at the gallery:
-“Palette Knife Workshop” taught by Carolyn LeGrand. Mondays: May 2, 9 and 16th from 10:00 to 12:00 noon. This class is open to students of all abilities. “If you can frost a cake, you can paint wonderful florals using a palette knife, acrylic paint and molding paste. Students will explore techniques to express form, texture and contrast. Cost is only $45. Time is ticking, call today to sign up. Supply lists are available at the gallery.
-“Beginning Watercolor” taught by Sherry Howk. Thursdays from 10:00-12:30PM on May 5, 12, 19, and 26th. Cost is $60. This class is open to those who have some experience with watercolor but want to grow. The class will determine the areas to be covered. Come and learn new techniques and how to employ them into a painting.

We are a full service custom frame shop ready to serve you. Come in and see our new frame samples and innovative mats. We are happy to give you a bid on your framing. Just stop by with your project and see what we can do. We always give a 10% discount on any framing order for a BAAA member. We look forward to seeing you.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Ava Richey's Art News

Hi Everyone,

This coming Monday, April 18th, 12 - 3 p.m., we will be painting on the Bandon Boardwalk.

We can have lunch at the newly remodeled Fish & Chips Chowderhouse, or Tony's and then paint on the boardwalk.

If the weather is less than perfect we can paint in the Gazebo building.

Hope to see you there. 541-297-6118
Ava

---------------------------------------------
Art Information:
FYI: New listings have asterisks *** next to the date.
-----------
15% off Colored Pencils and Pastels, sets & open stock, through April at Bandon Artists Supply 541-347-4482.
------------------------------

Current Shows:
---------------------------------------------------------
Southern Coos Hospital & Health Center, Bandon
"Bright & Bold" Works by S.L. Donaldson, Tim Greathead, Michael Ousley and Yvonne Ousley. Show runs through June.
--------------------------------------------------------
13th International Collage Exhibition & Exchange Show on the web at http://virtual.tart.co.nz/default.htm
Look for work by local artists Susan Lehman, Pat Snyder and Connie Zane, among artists from around the world. If you love to make collage art you might like to join in the next show at this website hosted by Dale Copeland.
------------------------------------------------------------------
March 18 - May 6, 2011
Umpqua Valley Arts Association, 1624 W. Harvard, Roseburg
"Printmakers on Paper from the Coos Art Museum Collection"
Artists include Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers, James Rosenquist and NW artists Glen Alps, Tom Hardy, Lyle Matoush, and Erik & Nelson Sandgren, among others. Curated by Pat Snyder and Del Smith
Additional current exhibits at UVAA are: "eXpressions" by Oregon Fiber Artists; "Explanation Unintended" metal by Jim Lockwood; "Purely Pastel", and in the Student Gallery are Wooley Center and Milo Adventist Academy.
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Bandon Library Cases through April:: Amber Shelley Harris and Anwawilanci "Willow" Isham
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Bandon Artist Supply, 175 2nd Street, Bandon
Watercolors by Sharon Jensen
through April 29, 2011 Tuesday - Saturday 10 - 5 p.m.
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"Lighthouse 2.0 Juried Art Show" at Whistling Gallery, 5 miles south of Bandon on Hwy 101. Show includes local artists Susan Lehman, Valentina Alonso, Ron Miranda, Carol Miranda, Sheri McGrath and Laurel Sweigert as well as artists from as far away as Portland.
Show runs through April 23, 2011
541-404-7336 whistlinggallery@gmail.com
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Coos Art Museum, 235 Anderson Ave, Coos Bay, OR
"Expressions West 2011", "Erik Sandgren: Confluences", David Castleberry "Arriving at the Gates of Spring", and "Plein Air Painters of the South Coast". Shows run through May 28, 2011.
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****Call to Artists Submission Deadline June 1, 2011
Billy Smoothboars and Whistling Gallery announce the themed show of "Dunes of the Pacific Northwest". Cash prizes awarded based on entry fees for Best of Show, 2nd and 3rd places. For prospectus go to http://www.whistlinggallery.com and click on "Events & Specials" and scroll down to the show information. Or contact Whistling Gallery at 541-404-7336.
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Friday, Saturday & Sunday, April 15, 16, 17, 2011
Manley Art Center, 433 Oaks Street, Brookings, OR
541-469-1807, manleyart@frontier.com
Three Day Watercolor / Pastel Workshop, Marge Heilman Instructor.
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Sunday, April 17, 2011
"Make It, Print It!" Instructor dorothea tortilla will provide you with fresh ideas for making printing tools from simple objects and methods for applying them. Learn "Faux Silk-Screening" technique and an easy collagraph technique. Beginning thru experienced welcome. $35 includes materials. studioblue@mycomspan.com
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****Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Call 541-347-2567 for time and location (and more information) of Bandon Playreaders "The Bay at Nice" by David Hare. Everyone is welcome--no acting experience required. Fun and educational.
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****Thursday, April 21, 2011 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Gold Beach Episcopal Church
Easternmost end of Moore Street.
Figure Drawing. To confirm & for more information contact Alexandra alexandra@portraitsbyalexandra.com
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Wednesday, April 27, 2011 Entry Delivery Deadline
Easy Lane Frames & Select Art Gallery in North Bend is seeking entries for the May/June art show "The Skies Have It!" 541-756-7638
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Saturday, May 7, 2011 Postmark Deadline
Call to Artists for "18th Annual Maritime Exhibit"
Coos Art Museum 235 Anderson Ave, Coos Bay, OR 97411
541-267-3901 http://www.coosart.org
Show runs July 30 - October 1, 2011
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Sunday, May 8, 2011 10:00 a.m.
Annual Mother's Day Plein Air Paintout at Shore Acres
Bring your lunch and a beverage and paint in the beautiful gardens.
For more information contact Joni Goodman Fox at goodfox05@yahoo.com or 541-217-8242
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Monday - Friday, May 16 - 20, 2011
Wrights Custom Framing, Brookings, OR 541-469-7900
5 Day Watercolor Workshop, Larry Johnson, Instructor.
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Saturday, May 28, 2011 1 - 4:00 p.m.
Harris Beach State Park, One Mile North of Brookings, OR on Highway 101
Plein Air Paint Out. Critique at 4 p.m. at the bottom of the hill where the restrooms are located.
*Come at 10 a.m. and enjoy the Azalea Festival Parade and Art Show before the Paintout. http://www.wildriverscoastart.com
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Call to Artists Deadline June 8, 2011
Umpqua Valley Arts Assn
1624 W. Harvard, Roseburg, OR 97471
http://uvarts.com/call-to-artists
2011 Umpqua Plein Air "Location, Location, Location"
All artists of all abilities come participate, Thursday and Friday, July 14 and 15, 2011. Check website for prospectus and entry form. Three locations for painting, 30 artists per location, so fill out your entry forms and get them in early. Arts Center is hosting the first Umpqua Plein Air 2011- Location, Location, Location on July 14th and 15th. Juried and cash awarded. It will be a wet hanging in the building, a really nice event for artists, including a catered dinner the night of the paint out, with music, for the artists to mingle and talk about the day. The next morning there will be demo/lectures included by Charles Waldman of California. oils, Phil Bates pastels, and Vinita Pappas watercolors
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Call to Artists by the Springfield Arts Commission
Need not be residents of Springfield to enter.
Seeking submissions for show that will run from mid-June to mid-July at City Hall Gallery. The theme is "What Makes the Ordinary Extraordinary?"
2-D and 3-D accepted. See website for gallery guidelines. http://www.SpringfieldArtsCommission.org Register in advance by contacting Carrie Schindele-Cupples, Arts Commission liason: 541-726-2237, or scupples@springfield-or.gov All artwork must be delivered by 3 p.m. June 15, 2011.
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Thursday, April 14, 2011

Hung Jury


We don't spend nearly enough time being grateful for our jurors. If you are on trail for murder and the jury brings in a not guilty vote then you're grateful, but what if it is a lesser crime, like...oh...I don't know...like submitting art to a juried show.

Do you ever stop to think about what the jury for a show goes through?

First and foremost they have the nasty job of suspending subjective taste and trying to find an objective answer to an inherently subjective question, “What is best?”

I can't answer that question. I know what is best for me and it is pretty exclusive. I know when I suck and that is a lot more often than I'd like. I know when in one of those rare moments I hit it out of the park. There's a spark, a something that says this is the one. But what I don't know is “What is best?”

That is the question every jury is trying to answer. And if you think it should be easy try doing it. I did and it ain't easy.

An old pal asked if I'd jury a student art show. (You know to start sweating anytime an old pal asks you a question dontcha?) I said sure and to myself I snickered, “They're kids, how hard can it be to sort through the kitties and the cows and find something that's okay?”

So in my innocence I said, “Sure.” Then the art started pouring in and it wasn't good student art, it wasn't good art, it wasn't even great art, it was fantastic, in every color of the rainbow, every technique and every discipline. Just great!




Just great, this was a lot more than I signed up for, I was actually going to have to think. Rats!

So I started the work of going through it. I did a round of sorting out the best and got nowhere. I started over and still got nowhere. There was too much in the good category. I started over.

This time through I took out the things I could honestly describe as bad. There's always some, no matter how you do it some bad art works its way into every show. Okay so that took out a few. Then how to make the next cut. (Maybe those guys on American Idol aren't so silly.)

I worked very hard at not giving in to my own preferences, I am a photographer so photography has a natural pull for me, but you shouldn't let that influence you, if you can.

Took the better part of a four day weekend to cut the show to a set of three, and although I am satisfied I did the best I could, I might not do it that way if I had to start over. Fortunately for me there are other jurors who get a vote and the final is based on all of our work, thank God.

So the next time you get selected out of a show and curl your lip and snarl, “That *&^%$ judge screwed me!” Think again. That judge gave it his best shot at a process that can't be done, not here, not now, not anywhere.

Oh yes, take a look at what I did and see if you think I did the job.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Celebrating Collage



Click Image for larger view

Just in case your glasses aren't strong enough or you just don't read instructions, this show at Umpqua Community College features Susan Lehman. In fact if you don't like art, don't want to leave the house or can't work up any energy for anything except free cash, you should still go, (There's no cash), because our own Susan Lehman is featured and you really ought to get out and support the artists of Coos County and if that isn't enough what about the print show on loan from the Coos Art Museum curated by Pat Snyder, who is, a local artists and you ought to go and support Pat even if you don't want to stand up for Susan and if you do want to stand up for Susan then you have even more reason to go. Boy, am I glad that paragraph is over...

So just to entice you, those who weren't moved by the impassioned persuasion of the above wonderfully crafted paragraph, here are some visual aids...



Jon Leach, show curator, on the right; artist Keith Pace from WA on the left.



Work of Donna Watson, Cynthia Herron, and dorothea tortilla. (Following photographs)





And for even more en in the enticing department, there are more pictures. We did photographs earlier in case you weren't paying attention.



Work of Suzan Fant of WA, Pat Snyder of Coos Bay





dorothea tortilla and Susan Lehman, both of Bandon.





all photographs courtesy of Susan Lehman

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

"Printmakers on Paper from the Coos Art Museum Collection"




During the late summer of 2009 I was delivering some artwork for a show at Umpqua Valley Art Association (UVAA). After unloading I had a casual discussion with their Gallery Manager, Aleta McGee. While visiting, I mentioned that I had an interest in printmaking and was trying to build a program at Coos Art Museum (CAM) in Coos Bay. She admitted to having little information about printmaking and believed that the Roseburg community was in the same boat.

As I was getting ready to leave, she asked if I would curate a printmaking exhibit that she would schedule for 2011 and I told her I would give it some serious consideration and get back to her.

The next month or so I considered different ways creating a Fine Art Printmaking exhibit. Would it be an Invitational, a Juried Competition, or a collection from a Portland specialized collection. Through this brainstorming it dawned on me that the answer lay right under my nose - CAM's Permanent Collection had a 'treasure' of prints including many internationally known artists.

I talked to Steven Broocks of the Coos Art Museum (where I am a regular volunteer) about the idea of a traveling exhibit from the CAM print collection. He didn't hesitate and agreed. We decided to use this opportunity to outreach to the Roseburg area and show some of the highlights from the museum's extensive collection. I got back to Aleta to let her know that she would have a printmaking show for 2011 and she was ecstatic and thought it would be very educational for their community.



It was the fall of 2009 and it was a comfortable timeline from then until a 2011 exhibit. My first activity was to get a list of the 230+ prints and assort them into the four main categories of Intaglio, Relief, Planographic, and Stencil (Serigraphy) because each needed to be a part of the educational print exhibit. Some of the prints were not yet framed, so those were eliminated but still left well over 150 to select as a traveling show.

The next step was to look at all available framed prints for the best examples of each process. When completed, I had 75 selections. Aleta and I had agreed that her gallery space could accommodate 35-40 works. I knew that I wanted each print to be accompanied with a brief history/info about each artist. I went through the files of each artist and those that had little to no biography I eliminated. That brought the total down to 60+. The final step to eliminate 20 more prints was the most frustrating step to curate - many fine prints had to stay home.



Getting it down to about 50, I got together with Del Smith, our most valuable caretaker of the CAM permanent collection, and met on several occasions over the course of the remaining 6-8 months, discussing and choosing which would best represent both the collection's breadth and the different aspects of the printmaking process." She gave incredible assistance with her outstanding organizational and writing skills.

We made sure that the show would be represented through all processes including engravings, etchings, drypoints, woodcuts, linocuts, lithographs, serigraphy, monotypes & monoprints, and collagraphs.



We, also, wanted internationally recognized artists Ramore Beardon, Gabor Peterdi, Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers, and James Rosenquist to be included along with Northwest artists Glen Alps, Tom Hardy, Lyle Matoush, and Erik & Nelson Sandgren to list a few.

The final steps of the process was protective shipping, carefully loading and delivering, and documentation. CAM Director, Steven Broocks and I carefully delivered the works and Aleta and her volunteers took over after we delivered.

"Printmakers on Paper from the Coos Art Museum Collection" is currently beautifully displayed at Umpqua Valley Art Association until May 6, 2011.

When the exhibit returns to CAM, it will be all organized and ready as the board at CAM is behind this exhibition traveling to other venues.

http://www.patsnyderartist.com/wp/

Monday, April 11, 2011

The Best of The Best

Just how good are you?

I'll admit I'm only average. But that doesn't keep my form trying. I enter every show I think I can qualify for and I do the best to submit an image which is dramatic, interesting and visually stunning.

And yes I even enter the shows where the painters play. Not because I think photography is inherently better, I don't, but I do think on the South Coast the painters have all the top guns. You don't learn a thing by playing with folks your own size. You have to go play with the Big Kids if you want to grow. Sure you'll get a skint knee of two, maybe even get your nose out of joint, but if you want to get better that's where you have to play.

The Oregon Coast Photographer's Assn. is a wonderful place for photographers to learn, swap ideas and just commune. The people are nice, the organization is great and they are very, very active. If you are a dedicated photographer there's no better place to meet new friends, pick up news or just yak about equipment.

http://www.oregoncoastphotoclub.com/

Unfortunately, for me, I tend to spend far too much time talking about new equipment, suffering Nikon/Cannon envy or just talking. You want to be really shut out of a conversation get two photographers together and casually say, “The new Nikon is supposed to be far better than the Cannon...” You won't get in a word for the next four or five hours.

So I try to stay where people don't think PhotoShop is the most interesting piece of software ever developed. And it also helps me see in a different way.

Photographers work hard at developing their Eye. That's the way they see the world. Back in the Jurassic Period, when Kodachrome was a good general purpose film and Ektachrome at ASA 64 was fast stuff in deed, I was an eighty-five millimeter guy. It helped that I had a F1.4 85 m/m Komura producing 83 line per millimeter and it could see in the dark. I still see in that short telephoto way even though I use a digital camera these days.

Part of developing that Eye is to see the way other people see the world. Yes, even if they are painters. I learn a lot from painters. I was talking with one, a local, from Charleston, Plien Air painter who likes to talk but for the purposes of this entry shall remain nameless and we were talking about shows and entering them. I mentioned another local, who goes by initials only and shall also remain nameless, and I said, “You see her work everywhere. She gets out and works hard at finding a way to stay in the Public Eye. The sage of Charleston agreed and mentioned that he no longer enters because he's too old. That's too bad, he has a fine hand and many styles and still works at the top of the craft and should really enter because he has a lot to teach but at an age when most of us will be hunched in the corner, drooling on our shoes, with or without medication, I guess he has a right. But the point is clear, if you aren't at an age where if you were wine you'd be called vintage and fine, why aren't you entering?

Okay, so Expressions West and the Maritime Show don't take anything but painting. I repeat that's not fair, but them's the rules. If you don't like them go out raise a bunch of money, put the arm on the Man in the Carpeted Office and do your own show. And while you are raising the money, putting the arm and thinking about what you want for a theme, think about who you will let in. Do you want the best images or just the best paintings?

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Bright and Bold


This afternoon the Southern Coos Hospital hosted the gifted painters of the Bright and Bold show. And in spite of some dark clouds all of the artists were there and willing to share their gifts with the crowd. It is rare to get time alone with one artist but for four such talented people to give up their weekend to meet and greet the public is like Haley's Comet, miss it just once and you're out of luck for the next seventy-three years.

Mile Ousley and his charming wife Yvonne were there. Next time you get a chance to button hole Yvonne ask her about her tapestries. They were in the break room at the hospital, but I'm sure with a little coaxing you can get her to give you the inside skinny on the whole thing. And as long as you are in an investigative mood ask Mike about the looms he has built for Yvonne's work. He does all of the construction and crafts the looms from all sorts of natural woods. Sounds like a future show to me. Maybe if we talk it up we can get the Man in the Carpeted Office at CAM to give a listen?

S. L. Donaldson was there along with her faithful native companion, even if he was more interested in the cookies than he was in looking at fine art. Takes a lot of maturity to pick art over cookies. Hey Scout, where exactly were those cookies?

Tim Greathead was also there but like many of the patrons of the show he got captured by the delightful sounds of Left Coast Jazz. Keyboard and bass, add cool school jazz and stir, gently so as not to bruise the tunes, then sit back and relax. But do get up before they have to run you out of the hospital, it's really a place for sick folks and not a lounge.

So you missed the really, big shew, but here in tiny pictures is a glimpse of what you could have been doing.



S. L. Donaldson walked the halls explaining the finer points of really fine art...



People got excited about what they saw...



Dorothy Tortilla and Susan Lehman taking in the tunes...



Left Coast Jazz made things very mellow...



Some people just got lost in the crowd...



Yvonne rubbed elbows with the troops...



Tim let the jazz take him away...



Rick and Joanie pow-wow with Victoria...



But for some it was all about the art, sound and seen...

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Expressions West Opening

The Coos Art Museum was full of art and art fanciers last night as the 2011 Expressions West show opened. The variety and quality of the show was exceptional and the availability of the artists made the opening a wonderful chance to see the art and hear from the creators how they turned air into art.



Archi maned the door...



The patrons studied the work...



There were High Brows...



Tunnel vision...



Searching for hidden meanings...



The Man in the Carpeted Office made everyone welcome...



There was one to one time with the famous...



Artists exchanging views...



Pictures on the Post Office walls...



Double secret hand signs...



The juror offered his views...



While Charles explained it all...



There was time for reflection...



and then, one last look.

Aren't you sad that you weren't there?