University Art - Newsletter

The Community Artist

University Art Newsletter Vol. 3 Issue 4, April 2004

ART ORGANIZATIONS SPOTLIGHT

Spring is here, a time of new growth, and new beginnings and we just happen to have a new art club to feature this month too!

The Arts Association of Willow Glen had its inaugural meeting last month and they are hitting the ground running. They are a non-profit group. They have a website and club logo planned and they are looking forward to having exhibits, competitions, classes and workshops in the Willow Glen area.

Membership is open to anyone 16 yrs or older and to all skill levels as well. The meetings are currently the 3rd Tuesday of every month, 1215 Mildred Avenue Willow Glen, at 7p.m. For more details call Amy Brown at (408) 947-9183, or Helen Lambert at (408) 289-1255.

COMING SOON

Touching Blue
Exhibit of Santa Clara Watercolor Society
4/2/04 - 4/29/04
Willow Glen Coffee Roasting Company
1383 Lincoln Avenue
San Jose

1ST Annual Art Show of the Sunnyvale Art Club
4/12/04 - 5/9/04
1:00 - 5:00 p.m. M-F.
Rose Shenson Community Art Gallery
1505 Warburton Avenue
Santa Clara

Pastels USA 2004
Exhibit of the Pastel Society of the West Coast
2/26/04 - 5/23/04
Triton Museum Of Art
1505 Warburton Ave.
Santa Clara (408)347-3754

Saratoga Rotary Club Art Show
May 2nd
On the grounds of West Valley College
14000 Fruitvale Avenue
Saratoga

Los Gatos Art Association Open Juried Show 2004
3/25/04 - 5/1/04
The Los Gatos Museum of Art
4 Tait Street (at Main Street)
Los Gatos, Ca.
For more details call (408) 354-2646 or try on-line at www.lgaa.org

If you have exhibit info that you want to have posted please e-mail at snjbram@aol.com

TRIVIA AND STUFF JUST FOR FUN

Easter is almost upon us again, and this year's trivia relates to Ukrainian Easter Eggs. One of the folk tales regarding the origin of pysanky goes like this: a particularly harsh winter grounded all the migrating birds of the land in ancient times. The shivering birds were taken in by the people; fed and kept warm throughout the winter. The peasants released the birds again in the spring, each bird happily flying away. After a period of some days had passed, the birds returned to their benefactors, bearing a pysanka for each peasant who had taken them in. According to this legend, this is why the pysanky eggs are decorated in the spring each year.

ASK BRAMSCHANDOZ

Q: How is workable fix different from the other spray fixes you carry?

A: If we are only talking about the charcoal or pencil fixatives, the answer is in the name: workability or better still think of it as re-workability. Once you have sealed off a drawing or pastel painting with Spray Matte or Crystal Clear, you will not be able to go back in and make corrections or touch-ups. Workable fix dries with a thin "coarser" binder film which will continue to accept dry media, while the others dry too slick to rework.

JEFF'S TIPS

The art show season is upon us and many of us are participating in or competing in juried art shows. As you know these are shows where you are evaluated first (juried) just to get in, and then evaluated again at some point in consideration of awards. Jurors look at lots and lots of paintings and sometimes distracting framing elements can work against you, particularly on mats. Here's the tip, keep your matting neutral, (white or off white) with no colored reveals. That little bit of color may become annoying to a juror.

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