Kimberly Karl

From the President’s Paintbrush

Spring, it’s one of my favorite times of the year.  Everything is budding or blooming!  Each day when I check my online friends, pictures of flowers in bloom, birds stopping off for a snack at the feeders and children and grandchildren graduating proliferate post after post.  Why do I feel like I walk around with a silly smile on my face?  It becomes easy to explain.  I treasure each day and I hope you do too!

As artists, I think we are hyper-sensitive to beauty. How lucky are we?  At our March meeting, I was filled with a gratitude for the art teachers that had high school students enter the yearly art contest.  What a gift you are giving to our youth.  Their talent was a beautiful testament to your time and effort.

As a young person, I was never afforded the opportunity, or I didn’t recognize there even was an opportunity for me to participate in art.  Had it not been for a close friend nudging me to get busy on my bucket list, I may never have picked up a paint brush and dobbed that first bit of water on that luxurious paper!  Painting has given me a new sense of peace.  I will always be grateful for that first drop of paint spilling and spreading that provides me a sense of wonder.  I love to hang out with you as I know you share my excitement.  I see it in your work!

As you read this we will be on our way to the last VAST meeting of this year.  What a perfect time to create, create, create.  Pay close attention to each section of this newsletter and watch the website for information regarding the new date for the Members’ Show and what’s going on around town.  There’s lots of news in the ART world!

And watch for the date and place for the inaugural VAST Brown Bag Lunch get-together that will be held in June.  This will be a special time to hang out and get to know each other better.  I am asking you to bring something small in a bag so each person can “pick a prize” and go home with an original piece of art from a new friend!  Ideas might include:  a tiny jewelry saucer, a tiny framed photograph, a quilted coaster, a painting or let your imagination run wild.  Watch closely for more details!!!

I will miss you at the May meeting as I will be seeking out new subjects and visiting galleries in California with my talented daughter.  I am leaving your meeting in exceptional hands, our program chair, Carolyn Johnson.  Please enjoy the meeting, make a new friend, and as I always say, Take good care of you…..and keep creating!   See you at the member’s show in August.