Nature is one thing and painting is quite another – Pablo Picasso 1881 - 1973

GCWS Newsletter, June 2013 page 1

Important Dates

Announcements

Lois Robertson and Judy Aldridge will repeat the Jean Haines mini workshop on Thursday, July 18th, 10:00am - 2:00pm at the church. They will show parts of the DVD and do exercises from the DVD. They will also have Jean Haines books and paintings to review. Bring a sack lunch, painting supplies and several quarter size or smaller sheets of paper. Workshop is free.

The next GCWS meeting is July 11. Christopher Westfall will lead a critique for GCWS members. Please bring 1 or 2 paintings to the meeting that you would like to discuss.

Paintings for the member show at Willowbrush Gallery need to be dropped off at the gallery on Tuesday, July 2nd, between 11:00am and 1:00pm. The gallery is located at 8545 E. 41st St. in Tulsa, OK. The reception for the show is July 11, from 6:30pm until 8:30pm.

So Jean Haines by Judy Aldridge

The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition (OVAC) is conducting a member drive and GCWS member Chris Cameris is assisting with this endeavor. OVAC members receive two email newsletters monthly chocked full of opportunities and listings of classes, an annual Resource Guide that gathers information about exhibition venues in Oklahoma, and a subscription to Art Focus Oklahoma magazine. Members are featured on the registry www.OVACGallery.org, which is visited by curators, galleries, and collectors looking for Oklahoma artists. OVAC is not only a huge supporter of individual artists, sponsoring exhibitions and conducting business seminars, but also an advocate that fights for federal and state funding to support artists and communities. Yearly membership is $40. Please see http://www.ovac-ok.org or Chris Cameris for more information.

GCWS Newsletter, June 2013 page 2

Last week, fellow GCWS member, Lucy Scott and I made a trip to Gilcrease museum to view the show, Yellowstone and the West: The Chromolithographs of Thomas Moran. The show contains chromolithographs, watercolors, etchings and oil paintings by Moran. The chromolithographs were published by L. Prang & Co. in 1876 as a portfolio entitled The Yellowstone National Park, and the Mountain Regions of Portions of Idaho, Nevada, Colorado and Utah and were part of the first color publication about the West.

Louis Prang, a prominent printer, published chromolithographic cards and fine art reproductions in the early 1860s. In addition, he was a pioneer in developing non-toxic art supplies and promoting art education to children. Chromolithography is the process of producing colored images from lithography stones. The process is based on the principle that oil and water do not mix. An image is drawn onto a smooth slab of limestone with oil-based crayons or paints. Water is applied to the stone and soaks into areas not covered by the previously drawn image. The stone is then covered with an oil-based ink that adheres only to the image and when pressed to paper and lifted, the ink is transferred. The complexity of chromolithography lies in the fact that the process produces only one color per stone. Prang’s finest chromolithographs were produced from as many as fifty-six stones, all of which had to be carefully aligned each time a color was added. The luminous effect is similar to multiple layers of ‘glazing’ with transparent watercolor paints.

Between 1874 and 1875, Moran painted twenty-four watercolors from which Prang selected fifteen for his portfolio. Moran relied on his sketches and watercolors from previous trips to the west, as well as the photographs of William Henry Jackson. Moran worked closely with Jackson in the field during a trip in 1871 to survey the western region.

The show has many of Jackson’s photographs and Moran’s sketches and watercolor studies. In addition, some of Moran’s original watercolor paintings are hung next to the matching lithographs. It is amazing to see the craftsmanship of the skilled printing technicians and interesting to see how Moran developed his compositions from multiple sources.

See the Gilcrease Museum’s website for moreinfomation: http://gilcrease.utulsa.edu/

Yellowstone and the West: The Chromolithographs of Thomas MoranGilcrease Museum, June 8 – September 8, 2013

When I paint, I love to listen to music and the type of music depends on the feeling I’m trying to depict in the painting. I love jazz such as Chet Baker, John Coltrane, Miles Davis or Zoe Keating and the music seems to help me focus. When you paint, do you watch tv, listen to music, or prefer silence? What is your favorite type of music or musician to enjoy while you paint? Send me an email and let me know. I’d love to share everyone’s opinion in the next newsletter. BenitaBrewer@gmail.com

French printers printing advertising posters with lithographic stones in the 1890’s. The stone is on the bed of the press while the printed poster is being peeled away.

GCWS Newsletter, June 2013 page 3

Several GCWS members attended the Sue Archer 5-day workshop a few weeks ago. Amongst all the laughter over Broken Arrow’s water main troubles, the hot weather and Sue’s daily t-shirt lessons, she talked about the techniques used in her paintings and her interest in portraying how light falls and defines objects. Sue’s lectures and painting exercises covered multiple topics such as drawing techniques, composition, color theory and painting in a ‘wet’ style. I’ve heard people say that most of us come away from workshops retaining one or two major ideas and concepts. For me, I learned about how transparent paint colors fit into a value chart and how I can create depth in a painting by effectively using the staining powers of certain colors. Another concept involved using warm and cool colors to visually bring objects forward or help them recede. Please email and tell me about your favorite workshop and the concepts that have stuck and affected your painting style. I would love to share them in future newsletters. BenitaBrewer@gmail.com

Sue showing one of her paintings step-by-step. Photo by Benita Brewer

Sue Archer & Margarie Kolker discussing light & shadows on a white object.Photo by Judy Aldridge

The class guessing the meaning behind Sue’s t-shirt of the day. Photo by Judy Aldridge

Sue Archer’s ‘Traveling Pears’ Photo by Judy Aldridge

Sue Archer Workshop