EBAG Participates in Community Outreach Program

Photograph by FROgard Butler

On October 17th at the Oktoberfest in Todos Santos Park in Concord EBAG participated in a community outreach program to teach children about art and painting.  Children learned how to use water colors.  They experienced many different types of brushes and chose to make lovely paintings ranging from dry brush style to wet on wet.  It was truly surprising to see the concentration on their faces and the joy with which they painted.

Keiko Stong and FROgard Butler were there to help, along with the California Watercolor Association.  Both Keiko and FRO are members of the CWA as well as the EBAG.  It was a pleasure to be there and participate with our youngest community artists.  It was a wonderful opportunity to serve these young artists.

On the same day EBAG participated in the Girl Scout Fly Away Fiesta at Sugarloaf Open Space in Walnut Creek.  The event was well attended by over 150 brownies and girl scouts.  The children moved from booth to booth participating in Environmental Activities.  They included representation from the Audubon Society, Save Mt. Diablo, Worth A Dam (save the beavers), and many others.  Each booth had an activity for the girls to participate in.  FROgard Butler was there to represent EBAG and help the girls with their art work as they decorated draw string back packs and Cheryl Reynolds was there taking lots of photos.  The event was fun, well attended, and in a beautiful location.  The girls and parents appreciated EBAG’s help.

On the following Wednesday I received the following email from Meredith Davis of the Girl Scouts:

From: Meredith Davis

Subject: MANY THANKS!!

Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 2:37 PM

I can’t thank all of you enough for making the Girl Scouts Flyway Fiesta at Sugarloaf Open Space last Saturday a truly awesome event!  We hosted more than 200 Girl Scouts of all ages – from Daisy Girl Scouts in Kindergarten to 11th and 12th grade Ambassador Girl Scouts.  I was walking around all day, and everyone – including the parents – was having a blast.  All of you are to be commended for bringing wonderfully fun activities that captured their interest while they learned a great deal.

On behalf of the Girl Scout Council of Northern California, I extend our appreciation of all your efforts.  We look forward to working with all of you again to bring exciting opportunities to our girls as part of our Green By Nature initiative.

Best regards,

Meredith

Report Prepared By:

FROgard Butler

Education Director

Photographs by FROgard Butler

Atelier Interactive Acrylics

Photography by FROgard Butler

The fifteen EBAGers in attendance at our October meeting learned interesting facts about this relatively new brand of acrylic paints. Atelier rep Tricia Poulos Leonard demonstrated how these slow-drying acrylics can be mixed with water and applied to watercolor paper using watercolor painting techniques. She also showed how the dry paint can be brought back to life using the special “unlocking formula.” To do this, she had begun a painting of pears on canvas earlier in the day. By meeting time, the canvas was dry to the touch, but when she sprayed on the unlocking formula, the paints returned to their wet and blendable state. In addition to the unlocking formula, Atelier also has mediums that can “fix” a paint layer so it can be unaffected by the unlocking formula, slow the drying process even further, or bind paint or collage materials to a variety of surfaces. Similar to Golden Paints “open” line of slow-drying acrylics, Atelier, from the Australian paint products company of Chroma, touts more versatility, and therefore a more rewarding painting experience. One EBAGer won the grand prize of a bag of Atelier products, including a set of 12 paints complete with a demo CD, four mediums, and a fine mist water sprayer. Go to chromaonline.com to learn more.

Pleasant Hill Art, Jazz & Wine Festival

(Photographs by Wenda Pyman and Nina Tyksinski)

Crescent Drive and the plaza were indeed overtaken by the Pleasant Hill Art, Jazz & Wine Festival on the mild-weather weekend of October 10 and 11. EBAG successfully staged two days of working artists, as requested by the realty development company that allows us to use the empty storefront at 105 Crescent Drive.

Thank you’s are in order for our set-up and take-down crews of Walter Crew, Nina Tyksinski, Joan Alexander, Cynthia Tubbs, FROgard Butler, Kori Kisielprice, and Keiko and Bill Stong who worked together handling our display panels and patio umbrellas. We were represented by jeweler (and painter) Rana Miller-Owen and photographers Mark Pemberton, Wenda Pyman, and Kasia Kessler (whose large format camera on tripod, complete with the black shadow cloth drew plenty of interest). One of our colored pencil artists, Glynda Dixon, particularly enjoyed interacting with several family groups, letting the children experiment with her impressively organized colored pencil collection. Participating painters included Walter Crew, Lorraine Botsford, Roz Zinns, FROgard Butler, Kori Kisielprice, Sandy Cornelius, Christopher Georgeovich, Wendy Oliver, Elizabeth Kennen, Nina Tyksinski, Joan Alexander, and Keiko Stong. Painter Sandy Cornelius expressed how beautiful the afternoon (Saturday) was on the plaza, and how she may have found a new member for EBAG, a woman who became very excited at the thought of joining an active and supportive group such as EBAG. As always, our guild benefits when any of us can spread the word about all the positives EBAG offers, such as our monthly membership meetings (with either speakers, demos or critiques), website exposure, exhibit opportunities, and fun outreach events.

Kasia was great in bringing her 6×7 film camera as well as her monster 4×5.  People were fascinated with the equipment, especially the younger ones who only know digital cameras. We distributed a lot of EBAG info.  There were a lot of positive comments with our photography and art work.  People like to see the artists in action.  The location was great, lots of people that filtered through there and enjoying the music.

We thank everyone for their involvement, even if any names were inadvertently omitted.

Abstract Realism

On August 18, EBAG member Egmont van Dyck gave an inspiring and informative presentation of his creative method, which he refers to as Abstract Realism. A failed attempt to hold the monthly meeting at our normal location of the Winslow Center, due to having the wrong key, turned into a successful meeting at member FROgard Butler’s nearby garden home. We caravanned over to FRO’s, leaving a note with her address on the door of the Winslow Center.  Two additional guest visitors found their way to FRO’s and showed up just as Egmont was beginning his talk. We apologize for any inconvenience this last-minute change of venue may have presented to anyone else coming to attend the meeting.

Photo by Mark Pemberton

Egmont uses his career experience in graphic design and professional photography to create his current works of fine art. Applying torn scraps and staples he collects from billboards, particularly Berkeley telephone poles, to either canvas or recycled wood pallets, Egmont creates thoughtful collages that not only follow the basic principles of design, but also document sociological events. He showed us a painting he developed based on an actual section of the Berlin Wall to commemorate the end to that era. His works are reminiscent of the abstract collages of  Rauschenberg, but are actually realistic renditions of sections of industrial walls and cluttered billboards he has observed with his keen artist’s eye, hence his term: Abstract Realism.

Second Annual Beaver Festival

Photo by Erika Goldstein

Three EBAG members helped at the Second Annual Beaver Festival on Saturday August 1st in downtown Martinez.  FROgard Butler, Keiko Stong, and Cheryl Reynolds helped the children create beaver tiles for a future wall display near the Alhambra Creek in downtown Martinez.  Sponsored by the group Worth a Dam, the festival had good weather, good turnout, and many environmental booths, as well as many children activities.

Children and Art go hand in hand and we love to help encourage them to create.  The event was lively with tours of the creek and four different bands playing throughout the day.  It was a perfect opportunity to share both an appreciation of art and environmental responsibility.  We hope to be there again next year and see even more EBAGers participate.  Perhaps a booth with EBAG artists doing pleine aire painting would be a good public educational opportunity.  See you then!

Thank you to Keiko, Cheryl, and FRO for encouraging and helping the children create the tiles.  We look forward to seeing them on display in the future.

The Nitty Gritty of Art Galleries

Arthur Scott King explaining proper framing and matting. (Photo by Egmont van Dyck)

On July 21, Arthur Scott King, curator of the art gallery at Diablo Valley College gave a wonderful presentation about the operations of art galleries.  He presented a wide-ranging discussion about many topics that are of great concern to artists seeking to display their work in the most effective manner and what art directors expect to see.  There was an extended discussion on proper framing and matting of artwork.  This included an excellent presentation on color theory and colors effect on the perception of artworks.  Scott also explained what art directors and curators expect to see in the way of proposals for an exhibit.  Most proposals and portfolios today are presented on CD or DVD, something I didn’t realize.  The meeting ended with a lively Q&A period.  It was a highly entertaining and educational experience.

Guest's Choice Winning Photograph by Egmont van Dyck

We also had our final Meeting Art Contest. The Guest’s Choice went to a black and white photograph by Egmont van Dyck. Congratulations! First place went to Nancy Robinson’s figurative acrylic, second place to FROgard’s van Gogh ceramic, and a tie for third place to Nina Tyksinski’s abstract acrylic and new member Mark Sloane’s color photograph. Thank you to all artists who have participated in these contests.  In the future we will focus on quarterly salon-style group critiques as a way to benefit from sharing our art, the next being the subject of our September meeting.

Watercolor Maestro

Use the impasto technique with watercolor? Add a couple of drops of enzyme from an ox’s gall bladder to reduce surface tension of water, allowing for easier distribution of washes? From lifting preparations to permanent masking fluids, Winsor & Newton’s Education Advisor, Christine Hanlon demonstrated ways to turn watercolor painting into a painting medium more versatile than ever before imagined. She even demonstrated a simple paintbrush washing technique that none of us had ever seen. EBAG’s June meeting informed, entertained, and inspired. Our monthly art contest fell by the wayside due to the length and intensity of the demo, but we thank the artists who brought in work to share regardless. Did you see FRO’s ceramic of a van Gogh?

Join us in July to listen to DVC’s art gallery curator Arthur Scott King talk about the ins and outs of the gallery business.

Photo by Egmont van Dyck