JMG Artblog

Chinese Watercolor: Jeff Green

Mitzi Lai's chinese watercolor students were invited to exhibit some of their work at an upcoming art show in Akron, OH. I had planned to complete and send in several paintings for the show but some unfortunate circumstances will prevent my participation. I am studying Chinese Painting for Beginners/Drawing Sea Fish & Tropical Fish by Lin Hu-Kuei (a book I purchased from OAS). My plan was to incorporate the tropical fish studies into 5 or so new paintings for the exhibit. Below you can see the beginnings of the tropical fish paintings and one of a parrott. I highly recommend taking a workshop or class from Mitzi Lai and purchasing chinese watercolor supplies from Oriental Art Supply. They both are first class!

School of Fish
Chinese Watercolor
Jeff Green

Parrot
Chinese Watercolor
Jeff Green

Fish
Chinese Watercolor
Jeff Green

Daniel Smith: Easy Steps to Painless Acrylics by Dianna Shyne

Ordering Drinks
Dianna Shyne
Acrylics on Canvas

Daniel Smith Art Supplies has just published an excellent acrylic painting overview by Dianna Shyne. She discusses her challenges as she moved from painting with oil to painting with acrylics. The advice she gives concerning the fast drying time of acrylics and how to prolong it is worth the read. Check her article out here. You can also read more about Ms. Shyne's work at her website www.gotzshyne.com.

Robert St. Pierre: Wood Pottery

I spent the past weekend with my Dad enjoying the mountains around Hayesville, NC.  We had decided to go visit my Aunt and Uncle at their place on Lake Chatuge for some serious R&R. It was fantastic in every respect (except for the thrashing my Uncle gave me on the golf course).

One of the highlights of the trip was going to see the workshop of Robert St. Pierre. Before this trip I had never heard the term of wood pottery nor had any idea of what wood pottery was. My Aunt and Uncle told me that we were in for a treat and could not wait to show us the unusual and beautiful art created by Mr. St. Pierre.

The wood pottery is created using only saws and sanders. No lathes are used in his work. Various woods are used each with its own unique look and feel. Mr. St. Pierre prides himself on finding and using the uniqueness of the raw material and designs each piece to reflect the personality of the wood.

I highly recommend visiting his studio if you are in the area.  Click here  and here to see some of the other artists in the area.

Robert St. Pierre (left) and my dad at the St. Pierre Wood Pottery gallery.

Bucks County (PA) Artists

I have recently moved to Philadelphia, PA and have been enjoying the various museums and galleries in the area. One of my favorites, the James Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, PA, has created an online database of past and present artists that have lived and worked in Bucks County. It currently has 285 artists included in the database with 1361 pages of information and 1012 images. Each of the artists included has biographical information and images of their work (where appropriate) as part of the database. Be sure and check out Mapping The Journey of Bucks County Artists for a fabulous interactive tour.

Woodmere Art Museum: Philadelphia, PA

I had a chance to drop by the Woodmere Art Museum today. It is free to the public with a suggested donation of $5 and open Tuesday-Sunday each week. The musuem is located in a quaint area of Philadelphia called Chestnut Hill. The highlight of the visit was seeing the 200+ pieces of art being exhibited by the members of  the Woodmere Art Museum. There were a great variety of painted pieces with the quality of the artwork being suprisingly good. In addition to the Members Exhibit, I also learned that there are many art classes being taught at the museum for the art enthusiast. All in all my time was well spent at the Woodmere Art Museum and I recommend a visit if you are in the area.

Two New Art Blogs

Two new art blogs of interest that came to my attention recently are Partington Art and Fine Words Butter No Parsnips. Click on their names to check out the blog.

About Painting and Pears...

Row of Pears II
Oil on Canvas
24"x12"
Marie-Louise McHugh

Swiss born Marie-Louise McHugh's art blog, About Painting and Pears..., gives the viewer an entertaining look at her artwork. She writes "This blog is my present outlet for the "Pear Journal" that I started many years ago. It consists of a drawing a day of pears that I use as metaphors for my moods and daily adventures."  Each day she posts a drawing or painting of a pear from a unique angle that tells a story. For example the August 7th posting titled "Summer Night Music (Katydid)" is a timely and unique as I can hear the summer music outside my window as I write this. Ms. McHugh also has a website, Marie-Louise McHugh Paintings, that showcases all of her different artwork, biography, schedule and paintings for sale.

Mitzi Lai: Chinese Watercolor Classes Fall 2005

Mitzi Lai , Chinese Watercolor Master Painter, just published her painting class and workshop schedule for the Fall 2005. Here are the dates:

Cleveland Art Museum Classes:
Tuesdays, 1:00pm - 3:30pm
September 6, 13, 20, and October 4
Click here for info. Also check out the Cleveland Museum of Art site here.

Mitzi Lai Full Day Workshops:
Saturdays, 9:30am - 4:00pm
September 17, October 8 and November 12
Click here for more info.

Website Design for Artists

Josse Ford, artist and blogger, informed me that she and her husband, Daniel, have successfully launched a web site design service that caters to artists called Beautiful Artists Websites. Ms. Ford writes " Our websites are designed to showcase your work beautifully. We put the attention on your art, not the website!".  Click here to check out their work.