March 2020 Monthly Meeting – “Getting Your Art Off the Walls” by Mindy Faubion & Gail Cope | Annual High School Art Competition

The Visual Arts Society of Texas (VAST) presented Mindy Faubion and Gail Cope with “Getting Your Art Off the Walls” – things to do with your art besides hanging it on the wall! Additionally, we voted on the High School Art Competition. March’s program was about how to find new ways to use your art work other than exhibitions and hanging it on the walls of homes and galleries. Both Mindy and Gail have lots of experience with alternative art sources to make your art into something special, going beyond the normal exhibition ideas. It was a fun evening of ideas, example and practical knowledge!

Before the meeting, we had our Getting to Know You Activity! Early birds got to participate and have fun with this new activity in which we took the time to get to know each other a little better. This month’s theme was “the strangest art thing you have ever done” (and are willing to share)!

February 2020 Monthly Meeting – Beverly Boren

Please join The Visual Arts Society of Texas (VAST) for a presentation by our guest speaker, Beverly Boren. In this workshop, Beverly will focus on simplification.

“Simplification is the best means of planning and transforming what you see in a painting. My technique for watercolor is an extension of my oil painting. I have never practiced laying down graded washes because I never felt the need for them in my work. I am sure they serve some watercolorists, but you won’t find much of that technique here. We will work fast and loose. There will be daily demonstrations, and plenty of one-on-one personal instruction.” –Beverly

About the Artist:
Bev Boren was born and raised in Texas and now resides in Trophy Club, Texas with her husband Ben. She is a signature member of the Outdoor Painters Society and the Southwestern Watercolor Society. She is also a member of the Oil Painters of America, American Impressionist Society, and American Watercolor Society.

Her work is primarily the result of her need to paint. Inspiration can come at any time and in any place. She is not confined to one subject area. She loves to paint a variety of subject matter as well as working in various mediums. Bev’s paintings are created with things that capture her eye whether it’s a still life, landscape, or capturing a person’s personality. Painting is her way of connecting with the world and the people around her and sharing those experiences along the way.

In her words “Trying to describe or explain my efforts at painting or drawing seems like a futile effort. After all, I want my work to express itself without the necessity of words. My best hope is that my work will stand simply on it’s own, and find a connection with viewers where words fail”.

More Info:
See Beverly’s Facebook Profile
See Beverly’s Website

January 2020 Monthly Meeting – Randall M. Good

Please join The Visual Arts Society of Texas (VAST) for a presentation by our guest speaker, Randall M. Good. He will be presenting his “old masters” style of art which is influenced by the Italian Renaissance and Mannerist period. Good will demonstrate the process of Gold Leafing.

Randall Good uses conte, watercolor, and gold leaf to render subjects from his own personal cosmogony. This cosmogony is recorded in his original literary work entitled The Shael Ovalis.

The elongated bodies of the figures in his paintings echo those found in Mannerism, and the painting style is reminiscent of figurative paintings of the Italian Renaissance. Good’s recent works were exhibited in Cantos from the New Pantheon at UNT on the Square earlier in December.

More Info:
See Randall’s Facebook Profile
See Randall’s Website

November 2019 Monthly Meeting – Sudeep Kumar

Please join The Visual Arts Society of Texas (VAST) for a wonderful presentation by Sudeep Kumar, an award-winning artist living in Frisco Texas. Sudeep will present information on sketching, including a sketching demo followed by a hands-on activity.

He will also share information about Urban Sketchers global community, the Dallas/Fort Worth local chapter and how someone can join these groups.

Art for him is like a meditation, a silent conversation with self. On one hand, his work is either capturing the energy/mood of a place or event and presenting it to the audience to have them connect to the subject more closely as if its an integral part of their life. On the other hand, its a portrait of human emotions underneath our daily struggle for survival or mundane day-to-day activities.

In today’s world of technological advancements, he feels – we as a species are losing touch with our surroundings, our environment, our fellow human beings. The real connection or intimacy is missing. That’s what he tries to present to the audience and have them take a step back from their busy life and explore their surroundings fully. He uses charcoal, ink pen, and watercolor to create artworks and try to use minimum media/material to keep them simple without impacting the message they convey.

For more than a decade he has been drawing, sketching, painting, teaching, exhibiting, learning and inspiring the community. He is also a Faculty of Art of Living foundation, teaching meditation and breathing technique for overall well-being for all individuals.

More Info:
See Sudeep’s Facebook Profile

October 2019 Monthly Meeting – Umut Demirgüç Thurman

Join us for a needle felting demonstration by artist Umut Demirgüç Thurman.

Needle felting is the process of interlocking wool fibers into position with needles which causes the wool to felt. On October 2nd our monthly meeting will present Umut Demirgüç Thurman, Adjunct Faculty at the University of North Texas and Coordinator and Instructor in Enameling and Metals department at the Glass Furnace in Istanbul, Turkey. Umut has her Masters of Fine Arts with honors in Metalsmithing and Jewelry from the University of North Texas and her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Textile and Fashion Design from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul, Turkey. She will be presenting a lecture on needle felting which will include a demonstration of the process. She will also be presenting a short workshop on this process through VAST.

Join us for a demonstration by artist Christie A. Wood – “Historically Significant Stained Glass in Denton, Texas.”

A slide presentation of some of the historically significant stained glass artwork in Denton, Texas. Each of the pieces of stained glass art highlighted in this program are available to the general public for viewing. We will start with artwork from the 1930’s and present commissioned large-scale stained glass art through 2019, including one which will be dedicated on September 15, 2019. Also included in the presentation are examples of the various types of stained glass commissions found in Denton: painted and leaded glass, copper foiled glass, fused glass, and dalle de verre (slab glass). The presentation includes a handout of a map to all the Denton stained glass “treasures” covered in the lecture.

Artist Statement:
As interested in preserving the legacy and techniques of the thousand-year history of stained glass as she is in pushing the glass medium into new areas, Christie Wood designs and constructs stained, painted, mosaic’ed, laminated, and decorative glass artwork based upon observation and imagination. Wood says, “Glass is a medium which lives and interacts with its environment. I find the play of light through the glass; whether that light is natural sunlight, artificial lighting, or modified through various glass techniques, as fascinating and changeable as Texas weather.”

Wood’s passion lies in creating new works of art which blend the desires of her client’s ideas with her own imaginings and technical expertise in a demanding craft. Clients often comment on her ability to capture their thoughts and emotions in the living glass, especially in nature-based compositions and portraits. Christie has 8 CD-ROMs of her original designs for sale, and has taught computer-assisted stained glass design at the Stained Glass Association of America (SGAA) conferences.

A graduate of North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas) in Denton, she studied stained glass in Eagleville, Pennsylvania with Barbara Jack of Inspirations, Inc. In 2010 she received Active Accredited status with the Stained Glass Association of America (SGAA), and in 2015 was awarded Professional status. She also holds a life time membership with the International Guild of Glass Artists (IGGA). In 2012 she was elected to the Stained Glass Association of America’s Board of Directors. In 2015 she rotated off the SGAA Board of Directors position, and is now a Trustee with the SGAA’s Stained Glass School (SGS).

Christie founded her stained glass company, Art Glass Ensembles, in 1995. What started as a wholesale-only business (i.e. creating stained glass suncatchers for resale in retail shops throughout the USA) has evolved. Art Glass Ensembles is now a full-service stained glass studio providing design, construction, installation, repair, and restoration services, and employing 5 part-time assistants. Christie’s artwork may be found throughout the country, as well as with collectors in England, Australia, and New Zealand. She has been featured on HGTV, and participated in a collectors-invitational only art show associated with the Oscars in Hollywood in 2012. Her main work is now commissioned by churches, public art, and private collectors in the North Texas and Austin areas.

Crystal Nelson’s presentation focused on a technique for creating colorful abstract backgrounds using acrylic ink, fluid acrylics and liquid watercolor. Images are then “found” and drawn in the puddles and drips. An opaque layer of white paint is applied to the negative space to help define the image. She will then demonstrate how to add detail and pattern using various pens and ink for a unique, colorful imaginative painting experience.

A teacher and artist, Nelson enjoys experimenting and exploring new techniques and materials. Her love of mark-making and surface design is evident in her bold and graphic mixed media paintings, prints and collage work. Colorful botanicals are currently her image of choice. These flowers and plants reference the familiar but rely heavily on her imagination.

Before returning to school for her BFA in printmaking and painting, she studied graphic design. Her work is still heavily influenced by her love of design. Nelson often begins her work with no clear image in mind. She allows the materials or techniques to guide the outcome.

Her work has recently been included in the following exhibits: 125 Mile Exhibit – Honorable Mention (VAST), True to the Colors (GAVA), Wild and Free – 3rd place (VAL) Fresh Ideas – Honorable Mention (VAL), All the World’s a Stage Artists Enclave.) Her most current work can be seen at A Creative Art Studio and Gallery just off the Denton Square.

Harlan is an artist with over 40 years of experience working in metal and enamel who specializes in making vessels inspired by the human relationship to the wilderness and the natural environment. At the meeting, Harlan will present the historical connection between artists and our National Parks. “The historical connection between artists and our National Parks has existed since their inception. In fact, artists were fundamental in the establishment of many of the parks including the first National Park, Yellowstone, in 1872. For the past fifteen years, I have been traveling to various National Parks and collecting imagery and data, which I then use to create vessels in metal and enamel that reflect my observations of the geography, flora, fauna, and essence of those locations.” During his talk, he will also discuss the Artist-in-Residence programs at the National Parks and what they offer for creative people.

Harlan was a Regents Professor of Art at the University of North Texas where he taught from 1976 to 2017. He is past President of the Enamelist Society, past President of the Society of North American Goldsmiths and a Fellow of the American Crafts Council.

His work has been exhibited internationally and is represented in the permanent collections of the Enamel Arts Foundation in Los Angeles, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institute, the Museum of Art & Design in New York City , the Mint Museum of Art & Craft in Charlotte, NC, the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, Denali National Park Visitor Center in Alaska, the National Gallery of Australia, the Cloisonné Enamelware Fureai Museum in Ama City, Japan and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Harlan lives with his wife Robin in Denton, Texas. He also maintains a studio in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, where he spends the summer months.

Michael works in both watercolor and oil. and his work has received numerous awards and recognition and can be found in private and corporate collections in the US and several foreign countries. Although Michael has been painting most of his life, his work experience spans a wide range of creative endeavors, from art teacher, creative director and businessman in fine art and commercial art. Michael has owned and operated two galleries and Michael holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Art Education and an MA in Visual Communication.

Michael is a signature member of The National Watercolor Society, The Transparent Watercolor Society of America, The Outdoor Painter Society, the Southwestern Watercolor Society and The Society of Watercolor Artists. He is also a member of the American Watercolor Society, the Portrait Society of America and the American Impressionist Society.

Michael says, “I think of my work as impressionistic. I like to represent people or places and allow the painting to evolve from the structure of what is recognizable. The challenge is to balance the care needed to make the representation interesting? and perhaps believable, with the freedom, looseness and painterly quality that makes painting so unique and expressive.”

“I have been influenced by artists such as Charles Reid, Richard Schmid, Burt Silverman, Frank Webb, John Singer Sargent, Ted Nuttall and many others. Even though I have an art degree, most of what I put into practice is self-taught through studying the work of these distinguished artists and much painting.”

Michael will be conducting a 3 day watercolor workshop prior to his presentation at our Wednesday night meeting.  He is an excellent speaker, demonstrator as well as artist.  Meeting starts at 6:45 at the Patterson-Appleton Art Center (PAAC) in Denton, Texas.   

More Info:
Visit https://michaelholter.com

Bio:
Art has come in many shapes and sizes in Carol’s lifetime. After earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Fashion Design with a Minor in Fashion Illustration, she worked several very creative jobs, from District Home Economist, Clothing Designer/Pattern Maker & Illustrator, Floral Designer to full-time artist. She also volunteered in the Destination Imagination program (creative problem solving) for several years to share some of her creative skills with children.

In 1999, Carol expanded her creative career by starting her own business painting murals and faux finishes in hundreds of model and residential homes. Her business grew over the years to include commercial clients like The Slalom Shop, Blue Goose, Aw Shucks, Grapes To Wine, Cowboy Up, Lantana Pediatrics, Grand Homes, Dunhill Homes, Grenadier Homes and many more in the DFW area, and residential clients in Florida, Oklahoma, California, Missouri, Illinois, Arizona and Arkansas.

As Carol’s business has grown, she has become a full-time artist and has experienced many types of paints through painting murals, textured stone, fine art, pet portraits, and glass painting. She also just finished a number of painted illustrations for the first in a series of children’s books “Zaboo The Great”. By using her Divine gifts, she was voted Best of Denton County 5 years, 4 years as Artist and 1 year as Custom Decorative Painter, and Merging Visions in the VAST Program 1 year, paired with Becca Hines.

Tonight, Carol will be talking about her techniques in doing textured/painted stone and brick in your home. Carol will be talking about places in the home that could use extra attention & the possibilities of adding a textured/painted stone or brick to those areas. This stone & brick adds warmth to any area. This would be great for those hosting Thanksgiving or Christmas. She will be demonstrating step by step how she makes stone & brick & then how she paints it to give it a realistic look.

“Art is the vehicle I use to express the images that spring from my dreams and meditation, creating strength and health, which can be drawn upon to bring greater happiness and contentment to our lives.” Junanne Peck

A multifaceted artist, Peck produces works in a range of media from acrylic and watercolor to mixed-media, assemblage and encaustic. Her printmaking techniques include collagraphs, drypoint, polyester plate lithography, etching and monotypes. Drawing is the foundation of her art, it is the vehicle she uses to express many of the ideas that spring from her dreams and meditation. Her sketchbook is always at hand.

Peck is a teaching artist in the DISD and FWISD and also in her studio Black Crow Press in Fort Worth, TX. She was selected as a Texas Originals (TXO) Artist by the Texas Commission on the Arts and is a Texas born practicing artist – painter and printmaker.

More Info:
Email junannepeck@mac.com
Visit http://junannepeck.com

Bio:
Mindy Faubion earned her BFA with a concentration in Watercolor from the University of North Texas. Her paintings have been shown in regional, national, and international exhibitions and are included in corporate and private collections. Many of her pieces have gone on to win awards, most recently she was published in “Splash 19, The Best of Watercolor”, won the Mary G. & John A. Woodard Memorial Award award through the Texas Watercolor Society, the 2017 125-Mile Visual Art Society of Texas, James J. Johnson, Jr. Founders Award, and the Society of Watercolor Artists Juror’s Choice Award in their International juried art exhibition. Watercolor is her first love, but she is prolific in acrylic, pastel, colored pencil, metals, printmaking, and clay.

She loves learning unique techniques and exploring anything new that comes to the art market. Her passion to continue her education and further her understanding of these mediums is an important stimulation for her ongoing creative journey.

Over the past year, she discovered an interest in clay that has grown into an eagerness to thoroughly explore its possibilities as an art medium and after getting her hands on a ball of clay she has not been able to leave it alone. That tactile experience has become a new passion. It wasn’t long before her mind started spinning with innovative ideas, which was the motivation she needed to rediscover all her artistic interests with new excitement. Working with clay perfectly balances tactile experience, creativity, color, and spontaneous design choices.

“I love color, being creative, working with my hands, the challenge of strategically executing an idea, putting paint on paper, and watching a painting, drawing or sculpture come together into a cohesive piece of art.” –Mindy Faubion

More Info: Visit Mindy’s website.

Bio:
I’ve always drawn. Born in SE Texas, intensely shy, drawing was a way to communicate. A BFA and Masters in Interdisciplinary Art was earned late. Working in mixed media, combining a bit of the recognized with some of the imaginative, using abstracted layers, often with figures and strong women. Textures, colors, objects shift from whole to merely sketched outlines, found objects, symbols and words are buried: a multi-layered environment inviting a story. I strongly believe we are all creative, that creativity extends into all of life, enriching each step taken and changing all we experience.

More Info:
Visit Linka’s Facebook Page

Bio:
As an artist, I have always been motivated to create work with the intention of peeling away the outside layers of our human experience, in order to reveal who …we are at our core. The true beauty of art is its capability to stir emotion in the viewer and remind us of all that we have in common. In that respect, I feel it is my duty to create work that inspires personal reflection, which in turn invites the viewer to entertain a new perspective on the world around them.

The series of drawings titled “Creating Visibility for the Invisible” explores the dynamics of homelessness and reveals the paths and circumstances that led to their subjects’ displacement. The drawings reflect upon the homeless individuals’ isolation while examining the common misconceptions to focus on the long-standing chasm between the homeless and their surrounding communities.I talk to each individual for three to four hours in an effort to understand the reasons they became homeless. As references for my drawings, I take between fifteen to twenty photographs. The latitude and longitude of the location where I spoke to them are added to the drawing as a geographical point for the viewer. This is their home.

My work reveals the barriers that have been created by stereotypes and considers the homeless population from a different perspective. In re-evaluating their plight through art, I recognize the homeless and nurture the hope that they will no longer be ignored. Instead, they are seen as people who are doing the best they can to survive. They are people who have a story, if only we would take time to listen.

More Info:
Visit Angelia’s website

Justine Wollaston: Who Am I Kidding? Stuff I’ve learned as a Professional Creative

About Justine Wollaston:
Justine uses a variety of media in her endeavor to creatively connect with people. She is not a big fan of eggplant. Her favorite color is cavern pool blue. She is most famous for her Eve of Pilot Point mural. Her favorite song is “Wild Wild Life” by the Talking Heads. Her first comedy feature is now streaming on Amazon and the most delicious champagne is Ruinart Rose.

For more information, visit Justine’s website.

Members and guests will be able to view the film, Living Art: Jo Williams, Seeing the World with an Artist’s Eye and observe Williams’ demo in watercolor. See the film trailer here.

About Jo Williams:
A native Texan, Jo Williams has been painting professionally for over thirty-five years. She is a versatile painter choosing her subjects from the natural world. Much of her work is inspired by her travels primarily throughout the southwestern United States.

Williams lives in Denton, TX, where she is very active in the arts community. She served for three years as President of the Visual Arts Society of Texas and six years as chair of the City Commission for Public Arts.  She has a degree in art education from the University of North Texas and has spent most of her career teaching privately. She taught week-long workshops the last three summers in Provence, France, for Artistic Gourmet Adventures. She conducts workshops throughout the southwest including Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Mexico. She has also taught continuing education classes for the University of North Texas. In addition to teaching, she gives demonstrations for area art organizations and judge’s regional art exhibits. She also teaches classes at the Patterson-Appleton Arts Center in Denton.

Williams holds signature memberships in Southwestern Watercolor Society since 1991 and the Society of Watercolor Artists. Her work has been exhibited in numerous regional and national juried exhibitions. She has won a number of awards including Best of Show in the Texas Neighbors Art Competition in Irving and the North Texas Area Art League Annual Juried Exhibition (now VAST) in Denton.

She has had several solo exhibitions including an invitational exhibit at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri and an invitational exhibit at the Patterson-Appleton Arts Center in Denton. Her work is included in many private collections and public collections including Raytheon, Ben E. Keith Co., Denton Publishing Company, City of Denton, and the Greater Denton Arts Council.

About The Film:
Documentary short film Living Art: Jo Williams features an award-winning watercolorist and longtime resident of Denton, Texas, who, over the past 40 years, has been an active supporter of the arts in the community and beyond. Besides achieving recognition from her profession as an artist and teacher, Jo Williams has volunteered countless hours, playing a key role in the growth and diversity of the Denton arts scene.

Enjoy this special film and get some insight into Jo’s process through her demo!

This film is the first in a series produced by Curious Dog Creative focusing on practicing artists who enrich their communities by living their art. Funding for Living Art was provided in part by the Greater Denton Arts Council, the Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts through a 2016 Artist Microgrant received by Living Art Director, Susan Carol Davis.

Special features of the film include:

• Watercolor paintings of Jo Williams
• “Texas Longhorns” written and narrated by Karla K. Morton, Texas State Poet Laureate
• Original score featuring Trotline’s Chris Veon and Chuck Voellinger with Jacob Dill on bass and Clare Barns Warren’s classical guitar compositions performed by Polly Maynard

Living Art: Jo Williams a documentary short film, director Susan Carol Davis, producer Linda S. Anderson, director of photography Mateo Aaron Granados, editor Jeremy Taub,  A Curious Dog Creative Production

For more information and artwork by Jo Williams, visit Jo’s website.

In her decades-spanning career, Jane E. Jones has produced a diverse body of work that explores the limits of painting and demonstrates her mastery of the medium. Best known for her abstract and impressionistic watercolors depicting the Colorado landscape, she has also adopted non-objective acrylic painting to abstractly convey the feeling of cities and architecture she has visited during her extensive world travels. Also an instructor, Jane leads workshops in both Dallas, TX and Lake City, CO imparting her expertise on color, design and abstracting nature. The recipient of numerous awards, Jane is also a published author with her essays and paintings included in magazines and art books nationwide. Influenced by artists from Wassily Kandinsky to Georgia O’Keefe, Jane uses the history of painting to inform her works, while continually experimenting with new subject matter and techniques.

Jane has studied with more than 80 professional artists from across the United States and Europe and has been invited as lecturer and juror for more than 80 art organizations. Jane is also a workshop instructor, demonstrator, and does critique programs. Jane has been the owner of Jane E. Jones Art Studio for the past 40 years, teaching all levels of watermedia classes and workshops.

More Info:
Visit Jane’s  website

Kim is a Fort Worth, TX abstract artist whose work is heavily influenced by the tangled forms, interwoven patterns and layers of shapes found in nature. She has exhibited in numerous galleries in the North TX area and has won several awards. Her work is in collections across the US and also in Europe.

Artist Statement:
My work has evolved over the years from realistic watercolors to abstract designs in acrylic and mixed media. The likely catalyst for this change was about with cancer which brought about many “rethinking what’s important” moments. I realized I had been working with processes which were rigid, traditional and a bit tedious for me, but I was afraid to break out of my box. After the cancer scare, I allowed myself the freedom to have fun, try new things, get out of my comfort zone and play with design, color, and materials. I have never looked back.I usually start a piece with no pre-conceived idea of what it will ultimately become, but a sort of “relational connection” develops as the work progresses. Sometimes the relationship is easy and harmonious; sometimes it is full of conflict which must be resolved…just like life. Rather than depict a literal image, I hope to convey the feeling, energy, and essence of the organic forms which inspire me.

Ana M. Lopez is a metalsmith, educator and decorative arts scholar. Her creative work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, receiving a juror’s award from the 2016 Refined exhibition.

Other recent exhibitions include Celebrating Women in Art Education, Taiwan International Metal Crafts Competition and the solo show Metalphors at The Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts Galleries. She is the author of the reference book Metalworking Through History: An Encyclopedia, published by Greenwood Press, as well as numerous other scholarly articles. She served as juror for the 2015 Materials Hard & Soft national craft exhibition and has lectured extensively on her own work including as a presenter at the 2017 Society of North American Goldsmiths conference.

She holds an MFA in Metalsmithing from the Cranbrook Academy of Art and an MA in the History of American Decorative Arts from The Smithsonian Associates and Parsons School of Design. She is currently Associate Professor and Area Coordinator of Metalsmithing & Jewelry at the University of North Texas where she also teaches The History of Craft.

More Info:
Visit anamlopez.com

Jim and Brandy Gilliam run a custom picture frame shop & art gallery store, a family-owned business called Little Elm’s Cadillac Art & Frame. Jim has been selling custom framing pictures, shadow boxes, diplomas, wedding photos, art, photography, and jerseys since 1984. They are very excited to bring a brand new company to Little Elm, TX and they are even more excited to provide a presentation on the business of framing your work.

More Info:
Website cadillacartandframe.com
Facebook /cadillacartandframe