May 15, :30-8:45 PM Richardson Public Library. Nel Dorn Byrd Watercolor Demo Artist. Volume 51 Issue 7

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1 This Project is funded in part by the City of Richardson through the Richardson Arts Commission Volume 51 Issue 7 May 15, :30-8:45 PM Richardson Public Library Nel Dorn Byrd Watercolor Demo Artist Nel Dorn Byrd is a watercolor painter and has exhibited her work in national and international shows throughout the US. She studied art at Midland Institute of Fine Arts, Richland College, and the University of Texas at Dallas. She has studied at home and abroad with many watercolor instructors. She is an elected member of the American Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society and has attained signature membership in several other societies: Rocky Mountain National, Texas Watercolor, Southwestern Watercolor, and other organizations. 1

2 APRIL DEMONSTRATION Frank Sowells, Jr. Acrylic Frank Sowells Jr. was our April demo artist. Frank always knew he wanted to be an artist and won his first art award at the age of 5. He went on to the Art Institute of Dallas and also studied at Texas Tech, He worked as a court illustrator for several years, mainly in Waco and the Houston area. He treasures his drawing of Kay Bailey Hutchison among others. It was really good training for his life as an artist he says. Frank has been inspired by diverse fine artists like Alix Beaujour, Charles Bibbs and Arthello Beck. He works in many mediums and styles, oil being his favorite. His cubism demo was done in acrylic so it could dry more quickly. He began drawing cubes on a board, connect-ing lines in interesting ways and rearranging the cubes before adding the main figure. Frank says to have fun creating the lines and cubes. Enjoy the process. He prefers to work on a black surface (canvas or board) but felt a white surface was better for the demo since more paint is needed to cover the black. He states that with a black surface the image can be much more dramatic. He colored in several areas starting with red. As he added colors to different areas, he began to add shading, creating depth and drama. He balances light colors against darks and darks to light. Several of his cubism pieces have surprises in them, like two faces when only one seems evident. He likes to have fun with the art and let the viewer have fun too. Visit his webpage artviewcreations.com. Visit Page 5 for more of his work. 2

3 GETTING TO KNOW YOU Personal Art History of RCAS Members Gail Greenoe Outdoor Painters Society, Oil Painters of America American Impressionistic Society American Women Artists An extremely talented artist friend lamented that she painted instead of volunteering her time for a worthy cause. I sold a painting off the street and the buyer remarks it makes me happy and, in today s world, who can t use a little happiness? Painting is a gift, and any enjoyment my art might bring is a motivation, not like volunteering. Painting isn t hard; you just have to put in the correct value, the correct shape in the correct place, at the correct time. Experiencing Nancy Boren s portrait workshop in 2016 was a turning point in my work, and I am excited about the direction my work has taken. I am currently taking portrait lessons from Melinda Morrison and will take a plein air workshop with Nyle Gordon in April Artist webinars demonstrations and resource books include Phil Starke, George Strickland, Richard Schmid, Lori Putman, Joshua Been, Bob Rome and Robert Liberace. Portrait painting is also part of my schedule. Plein air oil painting has the strongest appeal, but I also enjoy studio work, and I am excited to begin a new themed still life series. Casimir Rutkowski, a Long Island landscape artist and Art Director of my hometown of Fort Smith, Arkansas Art Center, was the greatest influence of my oil painting and drawing. Cas introduced my mother, who was an artist and mentor, and me to outdoor landscape impressionism when I was 16. His main emphasis was capturing images with light and shape, and I will always be thankful for the two years of private lessons with him, but I know he was disappointed when viewing my abstracts which I so proudly showed him after beginning my Commercial Art degree. I also have a degree in Art Education, but in 1976 no art positions were available, so I chose to get my Master s Degree and teach Special Education. Studio watercolor, pastel and drawing were the secondary focus at that time. Copying the beauty of God s creation, sunlight and shadow on a forgotten barn or a studio still life are welcome challenges using value, shape and composition. Personal goals include accurately representing the subject, reproducing the moment in time and pulling the viewer back into the painting. My artistic philosophy cannot be separated from my life beliefs because they are one and the same. Praise the LORD! who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, Who keeps faith forever, The LORD sets prisoners free. Psalm 146 April 2014 began a new commitment to full time panting. I joined the Outdoor Painting Society and in September began to take the rust off with an excellent workshop with Bob Rohm near Santa Fe, New Mexico, followed by another fabulous workshop by Rusty Jones at Dena Remnoh s ranch near Marble Falls, Texas. National Oil and Acrylic Painters' Society 3

4 PLEASE WELCOME RCAS' Richardson Library Liaison Hello, Brian Gibson My name is Brian Gibson and I'm the new RCAS/Richardson Public Library Liaison. I m very happy to meet you all! I've been involved with the Arts for a good while now. I graduated from Robert Gordon s University in Aberdeen, Scotland with a BA(Hons) in Painting & Printmaking. During my third year at Gray s, I won the Royal Scottish Academy Award, and the Maclean- Watters Medal for Painting at the RSA s Student Show in This is a competition held for all students in their third year across all the major Scottish Art Schools. After graduating in 1990, I worked at Hospitalfield House in Arbroath, Scotland, (hospitalfield.org.uk) as the stand-in for the director, while he took a sabbatical. I met a visiting Arts Professor while working there, and he suggested I apply for a Masters of Fine Art position at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. I politely declined. I was fed up with art schools by then, and wanted to try something new, so in 1991, I became the Assistant Arts Officer for Highland Regional Council in Inverness, Scotland. It was hell. After a year of looking at everyone s art but my own, I thought If I don t go to America now, it ll never happen, so I swapped the rain of Scotland for the humidity of Southern Illinois. I got my MFA in Painting & Printmaking in 1997, but in the meantime, I had taught myself some of the major computer programs used for making web pages (the internet was in its infancy back then). I had become accidentally useful. I was asked to teach some computer graphics classes at the University and became the Director of School of Art & Design Computer Labs, and Lecturer of Computer Graphics until The title was grander than the job. My wife is a translator (English/Spanish/ English), and we moved to the North Texas area so that she could be closer to her work and clients. Unfortunately, that coincided with the Credit Crunch, and we lost our shirts and savings. What to do? Get back to work, that s what! I was an arts instructor at a private school for kids for a while, and I did freelance graphic design whenever it came along. In 2013, I saw an advert for a part-time librarian position here in Richardson. I applied and got the job. I became full-time in July of last year. At the start of this year I became Library Liaison to you guys. My career path till now has been a bumper-car ride, but at least I've made it this far. It s nice to meet y all. I ll try to be as good as Ludmila was. Brian Gibson Librarian I Richardson Public Library 4

5 Art Demonstrations & Show Schedule ATNS MEETING DEMONSTRATIONS General Meeting and Art Demonstrations are 6:30p.m. 8:45 p.m. Third Tuesday of the month, September through May Basement Meeting Room, Richardson Public Library ARTIST DATE MEDIUM Nel Dorn Byrd May 15 Watercolor RCAS ART SHOWS DATE LOCATION CHAIRS Apr 30 - May 29 Regional Show at Eisemann Mickey Archer -XO\ $XJ 6XPPHU 6KRZ DQG 6DOH Helen Bailey Changing every 6 weeks Huffhines Recreation Center Mickey Archer Changing every 6 weeks Heights Recreation Center Juli Lewis More Frank Sowells, Jr. Artwork JURIED ART EXHIBIT & SALE The 52nd. Annual Regional Juried Art Exhibition and Sale is coming soon. Take-in for the show is Monday, April 30th. from 4:00 to 7:00PM at the Eisemann Center, 2351 Performance Drive, Richardson, Texas. Shipped art needs to be sent to Craters and Freighters the week before. The exhibit opens on Wednesday, May 2nd. with the awards ceremony and reception set for Sunday, May 13th. from 7:00 to 9:00PM. Out of 248 entries by 114 artists, 82 paintings were selected by E. Melinda Morrison, our juror. Melinda will make her final selections for awards after the show is hung and also plans to attend the awards reception to meet everyone. Invite your friends and plan to come to another wonderful exhibition. Paul Utay s band Jazz, After All will entertain us and a fantastic selection of light refreshments hosted by Aspen Catering will make the awards reception event complete on May 13th. 5

6 APRIL PAINTING OF THE MONTH WINNERS First Place, Juli Lewis, "Vanitois, Nothing Lasts Forever", Oil Second Place, Ron Stephens, Cooly Collected", Mixed Media n Canvas Third Place, Ted Houston, Getting Ready, Watercolor Thanks to Asel Art Supply and Artists' Showplace for their Continued Support Please Support our Sponsors Thanks to Asel Art and Artists Showplace for their continued support 6

7 Message From The President Jones McConnell The up-coming May meeting will be our last before the summer break, so please make an effort to attend on Tuesday May 15 th to watch Nel Dorn Byrd do a great watercolor demo. At the April meeting we voted an approval on the slate of officers for next year; including Mickey Archer as President, Debbie Langham as VP, Karen Harris as Secretary, and Lari Howard as Treasurer. A big thanks to these members for their willingness to take on the Officers positions for the year. As out-going President I would also like to thank all the officers and Committee Chairs for the wonderful job they have done individually and as teams during the past two years. The Shows and meetings have gone smoothly and we ve enjoyed supporting the visual arts for Richardson. RCAS depends on volunteers, so we ll be looking for those members who ve not had a chance to help the organization yet, to step up next year! It's a great way to really meet other member artists. Jonesy Richardson Civic Art Society P.O. Box Richardson, TX Nel Dorn Byrd May 15th Watercolor 7