Next meeting is Wednesday August 8, 2012 7:00 p.m.

Clovis Veteran’s Memorial Building, 804 4th Street, Clovis CA

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Storefront Art Gallery 1

President’s Message 2

Guest Columnist

Characteristics of Clay 2

Pick of the Month 3

Web-Site News 3

Officers & Committees 4

Membership Application 4

Clovis Art Guild

OFFICERS Presidents Pro

Tem

Gail Daley

Gene Butler

Vice President

Toni Magyar

Secretary

Barbara Hamel

Treasurer

Alice Sutton

august

2012 The Oldest and Best art Association in the Valley

THIS MONTH’S DEMONSTATOR WILL

BE MARK LEE HOWARD

NEXT EXCHANGE FOR OUR STOREFRONT GALLERY

WILL BE WEDNESDAY SEPT 5, 2012 @ 5:00 P.M.

Mark Lee Howard, known as “the man behind the pen”, was born on Dec 23, 1951 in Oakland, CA. As the son of a navy officer whose family moved frequently, Howard had the opportunity to observe wildlife in many varied habitats and to develop a life-long love of nature. He first began creating art in 1963 at the age of 13. While living in Olathe, KS, he experimented with pencil, pen and ink. His artistic abilities flourished and in 1969 he won 1st place in the National Scholastic Awards (Graphic Art Edition). This accomplishment fueled Howard’s drive to become an art-

ist.

After his graduation from Arlington Heights High School in IL, Howard entered the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, CA. Desiring further study; he then at-tended Fresno State University in Fresno, CA. A self-taught artist, Howard con-tinued to paint and found that he was most attracted to artists who “Provoke a passion and beauty of life for others through their images.” He is particularly in-spired and influenced by the work of Salvador Dali, Carl Brenders, John Seery-

Lester, Daniel Smith and Simon Combes.

Howard has been an artist for 36 years, during which time he has participated in various exhibitions and has received various awards for his work. Since 1999 Howard has acquired international recognition as a wildlife artist, particularly

after he was featured in “Wildlife Art” Magazine (Jan/Feb 1999 issue).

Howard’s most important aspect of art is to creatively express his love and con-cern for wildlife in hopes of drawing attention to the importance of preserving nature’s beauty and balance. As an advocate for preservation of threatened and endangered species, Howard explains, “I’ve dedicated my artistic talents to that field. My photo-realism renderings remind viewers of the natural beauty we are so close to destroying forever.” He continues, “I find myself deeply drawn into each new subject, almost as though I actually become a part of the animal.” To-day, Howard lives in Fresno, CA with his pet cats, raccoons, iguana and snakes.

www.clovisartguild.com

Page 2 Clovis Art Guild President’s

Message We have had two really interesting and fun demonstrations in July and August. I realize the heat has kept many of us indoors, but we really do miss all of you at our general meet-ings. I also hope some you plan to take ad-vantage of the Art Hop Trolley this month. Our Art Hop Trolley’s first stop is At the Art By Hand Water Tower Gallery & Gift Shop 2444 Fresno Street, where you can park and ride! Cost is $1.00 (pay only once!) The short line stops every 15 minutes, stays around downtown and there is music. The extended line goes out to the Tower District with storytelling.

Our Veteran’s fall show is coming faster than we realize. This year we want to do some-thing special. If you have photos of yourself or a close family member in uniform, we would like to make a copy of it for the display we plan on putting up during the show. The photos will be shown on one of the stand-ards with the Message “Clovis Art Guild Vet-erans”. We also plan to ask the community at large if they have photos they would like to share that could be used as reference material for the art honoring our veterans and serving military. Please feel free to share this request with your friends and fam-ily. Photos can be e-mailed to Clo-visArtGuild@att.net or mailed to our post Office box CLOVIS ART GUILD PO BOX 1594CLOVIS, CA 93613. JUST MARK THEM “REFERENCE MATERIAL”.

Gene Butler & Gail Daley

Our hearts go out to Jeanne Naito, our refreshment chairman this month; her hus-band has had a stroke. He is recovering, but she may need help performing as our refreshment chairman, so please reach out to her if you feel you can be of assistance.

So often our Sunshine chairman seems to be dealing with sad things, so we decided to add something positive to the mix: the Art Guild would like to congratulate you on your birthday. No, we don’t need to know how old you are unless you want to share! But we would like to wish you a happy birthday. You can send this information to either Gail or Alice.

Characteristics Of Clay Facts About Clay That You Need To Know If You

Plan To Work With It By Ethel Jamfrey

CLAY A long chain of 3 molecules chemically bonded together;

A12O3+2SiO2+2H20. A hydrated alumina silicate (“Kaolin”).

May be wet and squishy, dry as bone, “leather hard” or anywhere between depending on the addition of “Physical Water”. It can al-ways be softened with water and return to a “plastic state”

“Plastic” means easily shaped or changed in form.

Clay becomes “Permanent” when it is “Fixed” or heated to tem-peratures from 900o Fahrenheit or higher.

“Bisque” is clay that has been fired once.

Firing causes the “Chemical Water” to be released from the bond and the new formula becomes A12O3+2SiO2 (an alumina silicate).

Fired clay will not soften or dissolve in water.

Clay is Found: In nature in beds of lakes and streams, or in ancient lakes and streams, in layers of other soils.

Clay is formed from decomposing granite.

“Color” is always what color it is when fired i.e. it may look gray when it’s wet and plastic, but when it’s fired, it will usually look dif-ferent.

Color in clay comes from metallic or mineral impurities that oxidize during firing. They also determine the firing temperatures of differ-ent clays.

“Grog” is the gritty stuff on ground-up fired clay or sand added to clay mix to give it strength/body and make it less likely to trap air pockets that would explode during firing.

Shrinkage occurs at different rates in different types of clay. All clay shrinks as it dries and is fired. Shrinkage varies from 10—15%.

TYPES OF CLAY Earthenware is usually red, cream-colored or quite dark. It is high

in iron and other impurities, it is “Low Fire” (1740o to 2130o Fahren-heit). It does not hold water unless glazed.

Stoneware is fired at a higher temperature (2300o Fahrenheit) and becomes very hard and vitreous and can hold water even without a glaze.

Porcelain is the highest fired ware; it becomes translucent when fired to 2300o – 2670o Fahrenheit, it is vitreous and has a “ring” sound when tapped. It is also called China.

SURFACE ENRICHMENT Surface Enrichment refers to Carving, scraping,

SUNSHINE

Next Page

Pick of the Month is the Guild’s way of supporting our members ef-forts. We need at least 7 paintings to award 3 places, so please participate! We’d like to see what you’ve been working on! Don’t forget to bring your art

to the meeting! We would love to see your work. Classwork is acceptable too.

P ICK OF THE MONTH

Page 3 August 2012

Characteristics Of Clay (continued) Facts About Clay That You Need To Know If You Plan To Work With It

By Ethel Jamfrey

1st Place Barbara Hamel 2nd Place Ma Ly 3rd Place David Dalgety

WEB-SITE NEWS

Our new website is still under construction, but

you can go and look at it: www.clovisartguild.com

rubbing/compressing, engobe (an application of colored clays to the surface before firing), an applica-tion of clay forms.

It also refers to Staining with acrylic or water color or oils after bisque firing and glazing.

Glaze is a surface treatment of a glass, melted on a clay body. This is usually done with metallic ox-ides that give color in addition to other chemicals that will give other effects.

Thank you Ethel for providing this month’s informative article on clay. As I told you last month, the newsletter would like to feature an article (or series of articles) concerning art from our members each month. Please feel free to share your knowledge with the group.

OFFICERS & COMMITTEES

PRESIDENT PRO TEM GAIL DALEY 960-2428

PRESIDENT PRO TEM GENE BUTLER 275-4304

VICE PRESIDENT TONI MAGYAR 299-0690

SECRETARY BARBARA HAMEL 289-0984

TREASURER ALICE SUTTON 787-2386

PROGRAM CHAIR JULIANNE SMITH 323-8496

PUBLICITY GLYNMARY BATEMAN

MEMBERSHIP ALICE SUTTON 787-2386

PICK OF THE MONTH JACKIE MCCOY/MARY ANN FERSTL 787-2451

NEWSLETTER GAIL DALEY 960-2428

REFRESHMENT JEANNE NAITO 255-2146

BARGAIN TABLE SHIRLEY LINDGREN 255-0826

GREETER JOHN ROBERTS 322-6186

SUNSHINE HILDA VANDERGRIFF 322-6557

CO-CHAIR SHARON GARCIA 294-9626

STUDENT PROGRAM GENE BUTLER 275-4304

STOREFRONT ART GALLERY GAIL DALEY 960-2428

WEB SITE MANAGER MA LY

M e m b e r s h i p a p p l i c a t i o n

If you wish to submit an item for the newsletter, please do so by the 25th of the month. Items should be sent to Gail Daley at:

ClovisArtGuild@att.net Or mailed to:

5688 E Sussex Way Fresno, CA 93727

BOARD MEETINGS ARE THE 2ND

WEDNESDAY OF EACH MONTH BEFORE

THE GENERAL MEETING, AT 5:30 P.M. IN

THE VETERAN’S MEMORIAL BUILDING,

804 4TH STREET, CLOVIS CA. MEMBERS

ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND.

Name __________________________________________________________

Address ________________________________________________________

___________________________________CA _________________

Phone ____________ _____________________________

E-Mail _______________________________________@__________________________________________

MAIL THIS APPLICA-

TION WITH $30.00 TO

CLOVIS ART GUILD

PO BOX 1594

CLOVIS, CA 93613

To:

Clovis Art Guild

PO Box 1594

Clovis, CA 93613