We have had a great weekend at ORVAG with Frontier Christmas.  Artist’s showing their creative work,  the smells and sounds of the Holiday’s, good friends stopping by to shop, chat, enjoy the spirit of the season and well wishings to all.  If you left before the bagpiper arrived, he was great and you missed a treat.  The Guild will be open on the 9th and the 16th from 1:00-7:00 pm  for all of the community and members to get together and share in the “Holiday Spirit”.  Refreshments will be served. 

It was great news to hear that Betsy Baltzer won first place overall for Fine Art at last week’s show at the Morehead Art Guild’s annual art competition.  The painting – “It’s Good To Be Queen” won Baltzer the title.  Betsy is an artist living in Maysville, KY, and one of the founding members of the Ohio River Valley Artist Guild.

Congratulations Betsy!

I heard that a few other guild members took home awards.  I don’t know the details, but the comittee that sends the guild’s press releases to the paper should find out and let the whole community know.   We are very proud of them.

Claudia, Toby, Vicki and I setup the display at the Maysville public library.  This year, we thought that instead of highlighting individual member’s artwork, we would highlight our service to the community.

The display showcases some of the artwork and photos from art camp.  Along with two slideshows with pictures of camp, and our other activities.  In between pictures, the slideshow has announcements for our upcoming events like our auction.

The display also has information about how to join the guild, and an announcement for the Edgar Allan Poe Art Contest.

I think that if we show the community what we are bringing to it, they will be more likely to support us in the future (like at our shows and auction).

Below is a rough draft I came up with for an application for the Art Contest.  We can make the applications available to the school art teachers, and in other art venues.  I’ll also make them available for download on the ORVAG website.  We may be able to have them available on the museum’s website .

Please use this blog post to make suggestions/improvements and have a conversation about the event.

CALL TO ENTRIES

The Ohio River Valley Artist Guild and Kentucky Gateway Museum Center invites you to participate in a special art contest illustrating works from the book, GREAT TALES AND POEMS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE.    .

REQUIREMENTS:

Artwork can be in any medium, including painting, drawing, photography or sculpture.  Artwork will be displayed at the Ohio River Valley Artist Guild in Old Washington for a special  exhibit on October 26^th at 6pm-9pm.  There will be a public reception where prizes will be announced for all categories.

PRIZES:

MANY prizes are available in both YOUTH and ADULT categories  with 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd place winners and honorable mentions,  including (but not limited to):

• of individual tales and poems
• by medium (pencil, acrylic, clay, fabric, etc.)
• by age groups (YOUTH ONLY)
• by amateur/professional artists(ADULTS ONLY)
• most original
• best of show

DEADLINE:

All entries must be delivered to the guild or museum NO LATER THAN October 19 with this application filled out.   2 dimensional artwork must be ready to hang (in a frame with a wire).

ARTIST NAME:_____________
ARTWORK TITLE:___________
MEDIUM:_________________­
TALE OR POEM USED FOR ILLUSTRATION
________________________________
CIRCLE ONE:     ADULT/YOUTH
YOUTH, enter Age _________
ADULTS, circle one AMATEUR/PROFESSIONAL

SUBMIT ENTIRES TO:

OHIO RIVER VALLEY ARTIST GUILD
504 Duke Of York Street
Old Washington, KY

Or

KENTUCKY GATEWAY MUSEUM CENTER
215 Sutton Street
Maysville, KY

More information available:

http://www.orvag.org

Sorry I’m late with a few reminders.

We are meeting today, June 1^st for the final meeting before art camp at 5pm the guild building. If you have not already volunteered to help, it’s not too late, this is going to be a lot of fun, and the more artists that participate, the richer experience we will be able to give the children. Come to the meeting!

Tomorrow, The Maysville Cultural Arts District Association is having an accessibility lecture/breakfast/workshop on June 2^nd at 8am at the Museum Center. As visual artists, we have been well represented at these meetings…there are a lot of exciting plans for the arts downtown, and I think we should continue to be a part of these plans…try to make it.

The Cynthiana Arts Council is having an art walk July 24, and 25^th. There is more information available at their website:

http://www.cynthianaartscouncil.org/ArtWalk.html

If anyone is interested…it might be a good show. They have a nice website. Maybe the guild would be interested in setting up as a group to promote our region/activities.

Happy Hour For Humanity is having an auction to benefit the UK children’s hospital. Artists can chose to spit the auction proceeds 50%-50% with the hospital or donate all proceeds to the hospital. This could be a good opportunity to get your artwork in front of a new audience…and make a little money. The time frame is short, but if you want to participate, contact:

Nathan Zamarron

859.255.2951

nzamarron@lexarts.org

Jacob Werline has opened a new antique store/gallery downtown on second street next to the Downtown Market Deli. He has offered space to any guild members. It looks like a good opportunity for our local artists to have their work represented in downtown Maysville. I would like to see him succeed with local artists, and I am going to take him some work today. Potters, he has shelves.

Here is his contact information:

606.301.3210

jacobwerline@yahoo.com

Finally, KET came to the museum center and filmed Marjorie’s exhibit for their program, “Kentucky Life”. They are planning to visit her home and do an interview. Doug Hendrickson has graciously given us the use of one of his windows on second street, where we have put a nice display of Marjorie’s work. It makes me smile everytime I walk by…it’s great what a difference art can make to our neighborhood. Now that Marjorie’s exhibit is down, we need to change our website’s homepage. If someone can give me an article with photos, I will put it up!

I am not very sharp in the morning, but here is my recap of today’s meeting at the library:

Robert McBride gave a presentation about the transformation of Bellows Falls, VT. After the closing of its mills, the economically challenged New England town considered becoming a dump for nuclear waste. After moving to Bellows Falls, Mr. McBride (an artist) became an active member of his community, using art to make a difference in his neighborhood.

Robert described many of the things he and his community did to transform their neighborhood by bringing the arts into their district. You can read more about what they did at their website: http://www.ramp-vt.org

The basic message I took from his presentation was that creative thinkers make a difference in their community. Creative planners attract creativity…whiny planners attract whiners to their community.

After Robert’s presentation, we were introduced to Suzanne Gray, the executive staff advisor for the Kentucky Arts Council. Suzanne explained how we were chosen for the grant. After the meeting, a few of the artists had the opportunity to ask Suzanne if it would be feasible to use a portion of the grant to bring our local art guild downtown as part of a “study”. She said that it was possible. At this stage of the process, we are supposed to come up with a few ideas that would work as part of a long term and sustainable program.

I believe the “study” is in line with the vision of the Cultural Arts District, and I hope it “makes the cut” when the ideas are decided by the board. We are supposed to take our ideas to Claudia, who will represent us (the visual artists) at the board meetings. Mike Thomas, the council’s leader, will represent the decisions of the board. Mike Thomas said we are also welcome to approach him directly.

The turnout at the 8am presentation was outstanding! A very diverse group, representing different parts of our community was in attendance. I am proud to say the visual arts were well represented, with at least 10 of us at the meeting!

After the meeting, we were invited to join Mr. McBride and Mrs. Gray for a tour of the city’s cultural arts district. I have never seen the Russell Theatre or Cox building…both amazing structures with great potential. I would like to share a few ideas of how the visual artists can help and participate in the restoration of these great buildings…later (perhaps on our blog)

Like I said at the beginning of this post, I was not very alert during the meeting, so any additional comments+corrections would be a great help for those who missed the meeting.

On a similar note:

While touring the buildings, Doug Hendrickson approached me about offering the artists a window space to display artwork. During his presentation, Mr. McBride suggested that artwork in an unused window brings a creative energy to a neighborhood (and gets the attention of arts minded visitors). We should take advantage of this opportunity ASAP.

Mr. Hendrickson also mentioned that we (ORVAG) have been awarded $4000 from the Hayswood Foundation. To receive the money, we need to come up with the matching funds. I do not know much about this, but think we should discuss it at our next board meeting.

Finally,
The city is getting ready to print their calendar of events for July-December. If we want to take advantage of the free publicity, we need to provide them with dates for our upcoming events:
auction?, fall art walk?, winter art sale? I was given the impression that there is not much time to let them know.

Yesterday, I went to the ‘meeting of the art minds’ in Winchester.  Eastern Kentucky’s artists, guilds and galleries are trying to network and market as a group.  They meet 4 times a year.  The next meeting will be in August, in Flemingsburg.

One project they are working on is a map of our area’s galleries and art studios. If you are interested in having your gallery or studio on the map …  Email your address, phone number, email and website to:  forfrosty@qx.net

They are also trying to organize a email newsletter of art events.  Send any event information to: goofateer@aol.com also ask to be on their mailing list.

Also, there is a quarterly published magazine of Kentucky festivals and events.  May 1st is the deadline for the summer edition.  Email announcements to: info@backhomeinky.com

Please share this message to anyone you think wil be interested.

Thanks

ken

Hi everyone,

Thought you might enjoy this article that Carol shared with me.  She was an art smart speaker a couple of years ago.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Museum Copying (Not Forging) More News from the Starving Artist Apr 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In this issue – Copying (Not Forging) Museum Masterpieces – Acrylic vs. Oil Painting – Earth Day Art Exhibit at Mason City Hall – Sotheby’s in Lebanon April 17-18 Dear Sue, Spring is here; hooray! Along with an update on upcoming events you might be interested in, here’s a story about what outdoor artists sometimes do in bad weather; we copy the masterpieces that hang in museums! To discover the differences between forgery and sanctioned copying like this, read on.

Copying (Not Forging) Museum Masterpieces ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First of all, an artist must register with the museum before copying one of its works. I’ll never forget what a thrill it was to see the Louvre’s record book containing the signatures of Renoir, Degas, and other artists I’ve admired who copied paintings there. It’s very common to see artists copying pictures in European museums and it’s allowed here in the states as well. I believe the practice is universal because it is such a valuable learning experience.What differentiates this kind of educational copying from forging is that, in addition to registering, artists must paint in a different size than the original and agree never to represent a copy as anything but a reproduction. In addition to changing the size, I like to copy oil paintings using a different medium: acrylics. That’s what I originally intended when I decided to copy one of my favorite paintings in the Cincinnati Art Museum: “Midnight Mass,” by Edward Timothy Hurley. You’re seeing my first day’s work in acrylics here. To see some of my other recent paintings

Acrylic vs. Oil Painting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hurley, who was a decorator for Mt. Adams’ famous Rookwood Pottery, originally painted this winter night scene featuring Immaculata (Church of the Steps) almost 100 years ago. The original is a large oil painting, about 3 by 4 feet. Its muted colors are striking and quite different from the brightly colored acrylics I usually paint. So it’s been a challenge to copy, especially trying to capture it on a much smaller (10 x 14 inch) canvas. Acrylics dry fast, which allowed me to make changes the same day I started.But if you look at the original (shown here), my acrylic copy didn’t come close to achieving its color subtlety. So I began covering up the acrylics with oil paint(you can do this on canvas, but not acrylics over oils) , hoping to get closer to the spirit of the original. Now each time I lay down a glaze of oil paint, it takes weeks before it dries and I can paint on it some more: a real exercise in patience! It’s not finished yet but when I visited the museum last week, my copy did look like it was getting closer. (Take a look at it below and tell me what you think.) If you like “Midnight Mass,” see the original in the Cincinnati Art Museum. The traveling Surrealist and Data exhibit there runs until mid-May and is worth a trip; very thought-provoking and you can see how the ideas have influenced artists working today. See my work in progress at Final Fridays and Second Look Saturdays

Earth Day Art Exhibit at Mason City Hall ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here’s how my copy of “Midnight Mass” looks today. As I watched people walking up the newly-dedicated steps of Immaculata Church on Good Friday, I realized this scene on Mt. Adams looks a lot like it did in 1913. But one thing is different. Back then, our city’s site on the river and its industrial pollution, primarily from the burning of soft coal, created the smoggy atmospheric conditions depicted in Hurley’s original. The enveloping haze of Cincinnati blanketed the city in quietude and elicited the poetic sentiments I hope to reproduce.Even so, I’m happy we are celebrating Earth Day this month and grateful that the winter air on Mt. Adams doesn’t look as dirty now as it did then! Speaking of Earth Day, the Mason Area Arts Council and the Parks and Recreation Department are sponsoring a month-long art exhibition in its honor. Entitled “Values of Green,” this show is open to the public at the Municipal Center, 6000 Mason Montgomery Rd., until April 25. A number of the paintings I’ve done outdoors (en plein air) in good weather are on display there. More about Mason’s Earth Day art exhibit

Sotheby’s in Lebanon April 17-18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ever seen this oil painting in the Dayton Art Institute: William Ritschel’s “Monterey Coast?” It’s another one of my favorites and you saw my copy of it, a work in progress in acrylics, at the top of this email. A trip to Monterey prevents me from attending a wonderful seminar being sponsored by the Warren County Historical Society in Lebanon, Ohio this weekend. The program will be repeated on Friday April 17 and Saturday April 18 and I heartily recommend it.The day begins at 10 am with keynote speaker Elizabeth Beaman, Vice President of American Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture at Sotheby’s. After her talk on trends in collecting, participants will enjoy a gourmet lunch at the newly refurbished Golden Lamb, Ohio’s oldest inn dating back to 1803 and visited by twelve US Presidents, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain and Harriett Beecher Stowe. After lunch, Wiebold Studios will discuss caring for paintings and restoring damaged works of art. I’m honored and proud to have my work exhibited with artists John Ruthven, Jeff Gandert, Christopher Brian, Bruce Alan Neville, Sylvia Thompson Outland, and Will Corson in conjunction with this program and regret not being able to attend in person. If you’ve never visited the Warren County History Center, just two doors down from the Golden Lamb, doing so is a real treat! From Indian relics dating back to 10,000 BC through a Village Green like a miniature Greenfield Village, you’ll see Ohio history come alive in this very accessible, right-sized museum. The building, once known as Harmon Hall, used to be the community’s “rec center,” complete with gymnasium, and the adjacent post office contains a great new WPA-style mural featuring the town’s link to aviation history. Our artwork will be on display through the end of April and I’m always up for a visit to Lebanon if you’d like to meet me there; it reminds me of my hometown, Findlay, and I love it. Meanwhile, look for me at Second Look Saturday at the Pendleton Art Center in downtown Cincinnati on April 25, at the Wyoming (Ohio) Outdoor Art Fair on Sunday, May 17 and at Final Friday on May 30. I hope you enjoy the springtime and I sincerely thank you for your interest, encouragement and support of my artistic pursuits! To register for the seminar or get more information, click here

Carol Abbott, Acrylic and Oil Paintings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ email: cabbott@cinci.rr.com phone: 513-252-5685 web: http://www.cincinnatihomeportrait.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am so excited about the two upcoming shows,  Millersburg on April 25th and “Tromp and Trolley” on May 8th.  I can’t wait to see everyone there and all the art so many have been working on.  Thanks Ken for all the photo’s, publicity and hard work. 

Dana