Tuesday at Creightons - Feb 24

It was a small group today, but plenty of art to share.  Joanie did not join us, so no great notes were taken.
This will be brief.

29 - Aim for pure Abstraction
This was an interesting experiment. Most were able to accomplish a complete abstract and still, our minds kept seeing something tangible emerging from the shapes and shadows of the piece.

I find definitions to be blurred between "abstract", "abstract expression", "abstracted representation" and all the other labels put on art (even "impressionistic") that is not photorealistic. I actually see it is all an abstraction.

There were two works on Yupo. Because of its boundary issues with watercolor, it is a great medium for leaving detail and realism behind and letting the paint lead the way.

Next week - 49 - Introduce Sparkle with Salt

Told you it would be brief, Shirley

Tuesday at Creightons - Feb 17

Hi, TACers!
There wasn’t much distance between the 10 of us gathered around the table to look at eliminating distance.  Several of us mentioned that this one was a struggle.


46 - Eliminate Distance
PAM started us off with three pieces, a leaf pattern in greens, next, an old door with a lock.  Both were successful in eliminating distance.  The third was swirls of color with her new fan brush and we couldn’t quit decide about the depth.  When held farther away it vibrated!  We all were reminded that it is a good idea to step away from your work once in awhile.
SHIRLEY is playing with “Zentangles” and created a piece with bright colors and lots of pattern.  Some of the larger pattern pieces gave an overlapping effect which she tried to reduce with the pattern.
JOANIE did a simple abstraction of a cyclamen with pinks and greens.
LEE made a valentine painting for her husband with pale colors in paint and watercolor pencil.  It had nice movement and was “romantic”.
SUE had gone wild with powerful colors and a starburst/anemone.  It stimulated a discussion that had us all laughing.  One of those “you should have been there” moments!
JANIE tried and tried but just couldn’t make it happen.
MARJORIE used her new paints and ink in an interesting abstract.  She felt it was flat and boring and there were lots of ideas of how to “wake it up”.  One was to put ore texture in the large whit spaces and another was to write a story in the white space.
An idea was to look at older paintings and identify depth or lack of it.

Round two was a “catch up” and sharing round.
AVELINA made a striking landscape of sun on the water at Princeton by the Sea with high contrast, preserved whites and white crayon.
SUE did another seascape using her new Sennelier ink.  The skyline of SF was intriguing-ly done.
JANIE had a delicate painting of valentine hearts and she used a wax resist around the hearts to nice effect.
PEG shared two really nice figure pieces where she used scraping.  It was subtle and worked well in the hair.
JOANIE shared her handmade book of work from Fall.
There was an interesting discussion about how we try to make sense of art with what we know of the world.  The next assignment will challenge us with this!

Next week is 29 - Aim for pure Abstraction
Soon, Joanie

Feb 20

Pat  and Gail are going to take part in this show:

UESF-Retired Division
Arts and Crafts Sale
Sunday, March 22, 10 am to 4 pm
Sharon Art Studio, Golden Gate Park
Admission Is Free

Admire the variety of art and crafts created by retired teachers.

Shop early for original gifts.

Enjoy a Sunday in the park.

Bring family and friends.

Items for sale will include silk scarves, knitted items, cards, photographs, ceramics, jewelry, prints, purses, wallets, watercolors, bookmarks, woodwork, stuffed animals and more. (Cash or check only, please.)

Tuesday at Creightons - Feb 10

Hi, this is not Joanie. And I did not take notes on Scratching and Scraping. Everyone shared their work and insights and experience with commitment and bravery, as usual. The time ended on a somewhat philosophical note when we discussed the concepts of "copying" and "synthesizing".

There is some excellent work being done by this group and I thought I would take the time to share the Tuesday experiment with everyone who has not tried it out.

This is how I see Tuesday mornings at the coffee shop:

- We created this group to support and energize a desire to keep painting. It does this very well and so much more. Although not easy to reach by bus, a coffee shop with easy parking seemed a good place to meet. The proprietors are great, even though we take over about half of their shop every time we meet.

- Schedules, vacations, health, family and other issues can really challenge our time and energy. There are about six to eight consistently dedicated artists who show up every week and a whole bunch more that flow into and out of the group. Sometimes there is applause when a long-lost friend shows up.

- We span a wide range of experience, both the painting and life kind, different levels of confidence, and all sorts of technical and academic knowledge. The thing that really impresses me is how generous the group is with encouragement and knowledge. I cannot remember a discouraging word (and the skies are not cloudy all day) and the willingness to share a technique or product or book or whatever is needed, is boundless.

- There is so much information that is exchanged during our brief time together that it is hard to keep to one topic. We tried a little history lesson and some field trips and it was all successful and appreciated. It's a group that wants to learn and stretch and work at the craft.

- It's just a great group of people. Because we all have watercolors in common, there is a strong foundation to this community. I do enjoy the challenge of the weekly painting and I thoroughly look forward to spending time with the fun, smart, dedicated bunch that show up and go for it.

That's it. Enough effusive praise. If you want to try it, we work from a book called Watercolor Bold & Free by Lawrence Goldsmith.

Tuesdays at 10 am until 11:30 or 12

Creighton's Bakery & Cafe
Diamond Heights Shopping Center
5214 Diamond Heights Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94131

Next week: #46 - Eliminate Distance, pgs 121 & 123.

Hi, TACers!
Sorry I missed you all this week!  Checkups scheduled awhile ago.  Will be back nest week.
:o((  Joanie

Tuesday at Creightons - Feb 03

Hi, TACers!
There were ten of us this morning with cups of warm things and yummy bits to eat.  Everyone brought work!

13 - Reveal White Paper
- Mary started us off with bright and delightful fingerpainting, a project which she shared with her 3 year old granddaughter. They were bright, swirly, beastie and fun!
- Shirley is translating Japanese kimono fabrics into watercolors for her watercolor class and she shared one with kite-like figures of butterflies, koi and other fantastical creatures. She is using Holbein Iridori colors and a color palette that is different for her.
- Sue used grass paper glued onto a backing for an earthy toned abstract with a Wide flat brush.  There were large swipes of color and lots of texture. It was very energetic and had an aboriginal feel and it worked in any direction.  She also shared two more boat paintings.
- Heather painted her pain after a fall into a lovely soft floral form with blues, lavenders and pinks.  Soft and watery.
- Pam brought four pieces.  A scene with a building and trees with a bright highlight on the roof, a two part water study using just one color and the white of the paper that looked cold, a diptych of Denali Mountain that had a woodblock-ish look and a seascape with rain just coming in over the ocean and ready to drench us any minute!
- Marjorie added to her “fortune cookie” series by painting tree leaves with her fingers over a background of india ink trees.  There was a black crow hiding in the leaves.
- Janie had a pale and delicate rose-like flower in pinks with a soft green background.  She also put a color guide on the edge of her paper.  It was an intimate piece that was more interesting up close.
- Carole did a calla lily in blues, greens and greys on a narrow piece of paper.  It was fresh and fast and had good value range.
- Joanie did oak trees with one brush and made the trunks with the handle end of the brush and used Sennelier ink to simulate spring mustard fields.
- Peg is back and she shared two paintings from her life class that were influenced by previous experiments.  Both were figures with lush color, great skin tones and cool hair!

Next week - 51 - Introduce Scraping and Scratching

Hope to see you Tuesday
Joanie and Shirley