Meeting Notes, October 13, 2016

At today’s meeting Renita, Joanne T, Mary, Theresa, Loretta U, Loretta L, Annie, Tim, Jeanie, Elo, Judith, Bill, Stephanie, Paula, Ward, Mike, Eunice, Joanne K, Tom, Guinevere (new), and me Celeste

Today’s suggested table topic: unusual size canvases or supports i.e. round, narrow small, big-- painting on unusual surfaces.. what has been your experience?

Celeste: I painted a cat on this circular canvas (as an experiment). Maybe it is because we are culturally accustomed to the squares and rectangles.. I am not fond of the round. I can’t think of any instances where I would want to do this again. I’m also showing a narrow painting that I did at Mt. Tabor and a recent life painting.

Stephanie: I like square format a lot. I like to put them in groups on the wall. I find them to be casual, pleasing and informal. I have done 6 x 12 and 8 x 16 I think those are sizes that are nice. I am working on the daily painting challenge (“Paint October”) and also painting for the big 500 show. I am showing recent paintings.

Mary: I did a very small painting, but it was too wet to bring in today. It is 1x4. I like long and narrow formats and I like square as well. I just like to paint!

Judith: I got a lot of colored paper from Paper Zone when they went out of business. I have been working recently was Aimee Erickson and she has taught us that you can take almost any surface and spray it with shellac to prepare it for oil paint. It is exciting -- the color of the background is something you can use in the painting.

Bill: I inherited 10 canvases that are narrow. For some reason I find found liberating to use this format. I painted this giraffe for my grandchild. I asked the other grandchild what would they might like me to paint for them. The answer was… a sloth! (Laughter)! It is not as easy to make a sloth cutesy like a giraffe (laughter)! I’m also showing this “family outing” painting I did from a photograph.

Jeanie: Recently I have been working on squares because of the big 500 show. My philosophy is always bigger is better-- but it has been good to work in squares.

Tim: I painted on a violin back.. I painted onto a satellite dish. I have painted small and I have painted big. I would recommend if you are going to paint on an oval that you actually have some kind of horizon line, because you can get lost in the oval (laughter)! I am showing a painting I did recently at Chinook landing.

Annie: I painted on a (donated-from-the-library) bookshelf as a gift for one of my coworkers. I worked the design out on a to-scale surface first. I am showing you some of my practice method here. I used the edge of a foam brush to indicate Pine needles.  The motif was moons and owls and things like that and I used a rubber stamp to stamp some letters onto the surface.  I am showing your photographs of the project.

Loretta: I have painted on furniture. I don’t care for canvases that are odd. I like simply rectangular canvases.

Renita: I am showing a recent painting of my husband and grandson. And also an expressive landscape.

Paula: Recently I watched the Aimee Erickson YouTube video about Muslin panels. I made them according to her instruction and I was really pleased with how they came out. I am showing some pastels that I did neighborhood during the paint outs here in the Multnomah neighborhood.

Eunice: When I first started painting I worked in ovals. That is what they were teaching at the time and I did it too, but no more.

Mike: Watercolor color paper comes in big sheets and specific sizes. It's a 3 x 4 format. If you cut them down you could be wasting paper. You know, watercolor paper is expensive (Laughter)! My challenge with different formats is that I have trouble with the panorama. I look at it and can’t quite figure out how to fit it to the sheet.

Tom: I am a traditional kind of guy. I don't paint on the sides of canvases. I have been kind of attracted to an oval frame that I saw at “I've been framed”. I've been circling it and it has been saying to me :“buy me” (laughter)! I just don’t know what I would paint for it, but it has been something I’ve been attracted to. I don’t like narrow canvases because I don’t like a slice of something ---I want to see the whole picture. I am showing a painting from the coast.

Elo: I am showing a plein air painting that I did recently of Baker cabin. I went plein air painting with Nancy Zhang.

Ward: I have a great memory about painting on a surface that is unusual. My mother painted our family van. She painted the whole thing and she named it the Stroud Happy Wagon (laughter)! We didn’t use seatbelts! (Laughter)! I have painted directly on many things. I have painted my darts! I was thinking that maybe we are attracted to squares and rectangles because of TV.

Joanne T: I use Photoshop sometimes to decide what format to use. I like canson oil primed paper -- you can cut it to be whatever size you want to be. I go to garage sales … there are always odd sizes of frames (which works fine with the canson paper). I got this frame that is a 7 x 8. I am glad that I did the Strada challenge even though it was so hard. It helped me to paint faster and made me see compositions more quickly. I have received a scholarship to the Scottsdale Art School.! (Applause)! I’m going to be studying with Tim Horn.

Guenevere: I am new --- my first time here (welcome Guenevere)! I am a realist painter. I like sweets and I made some cupcakes and I painted them.

Joanne K: I picked up an oval frame and canvas some years ago. I have to say this-- I don't like oval! I like Claussens canvas as a surface. I am showing the AIS catalog. There’s a Jeff Watts painting in here that I studied when I saw in person. I like how he combines thick and thin together. I watched the Bryan Mark Taylor webinar yesterday. He recommended working from memory. I am showing two paintings that I did from memory.

Loretta L: I remember in high school that I helped on a big mural – the subject was the Moulin Rouge. I told you all that I was going to do a mural  on my garage, but I decided against it. (Laughter)!I have a idea about painting window frames. I am showing you a recent painting that I did in painting class.

Teresa: I am going to be moving, so all my things are packed and I can’t show you anything. Recently I did a small portrait in just a short while. Painting small can be satisfactory!

Announcements:

Max Ginsburg figure workshop (Feb 2017) OSA

Joanne Kollman Friday drop in class

Ward Stroud drop in class

Other OSA classes:

Thomas Kitts at the Brian Marki

Oleg Ulitskiy Art on the Boulevard

 Portland open studios continues this weekend

 Washington county open studios this weekend
http://www.washcoart.org

Next Meeting: October 20...Depth in painting. What strategies do you use to create "near and far" in painting?  Let's Discuss!
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With a heavy heart we announce the passing of our friend Mark Larsen on October 11. 
Mark-- you will always be....“one of us”

Mark David Larsen 
1946-2016


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