Critique

Tomorrow night we meet at Barlow Community Center for a critique session by Jack Jack Mulhollen. These are always valuable exercises.
There is a website where you can upload your work for critique by other artists from around the world. And critique others work.

Visit
http://www.wetcanvas.com/
creating a log in is easy...once tere go to the Open Critique Forum
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=28

Art Society Membership

I came across an article in an artist's marketing newsletter titled "Ten Reasons for the Emerging Artist to Join a Local Art Group" written by an emerging artist in Toronto. I'm reposting it here since I think it speaks to the value of groups like Hudson Society of Artists.

Ten Reasons for the Emerging Artist to Join a Local Art Group

by Moshe Mikanovsky

This article is by Moshe Mikanovsky, Regular contributing writer for FineArtViews. You should submit an article and share your views as a guest author by clicking here.

In the past year, I have joined two local artists groups. Both are located in the city where I live, Toronto, and both have small membership fee and no jury process to join in. The first (the Israeli Artists Group of Toronto) is specific to my background and culture and the second (the Artists’ Network, Riverdale, Toronto) is more geared towards helping member artists in the marketing of their art.

I have seen many benefits for myself, and for the other members of these groups, in joining and becoming members. Many of the advantages require the member’s participation and being a social-animal. In my case – schmoozing, not being shy about introducing myself, telling the other members what I do, take an interest in what they do, try to help, and more. To me it really works and it will continue working and growing.

So, I wanted to summarize and share with you 10 of the reasons why you should join a local art group. Here I am trying to talk to artists like me – either emerging, or “straggling”. Although I hate the word “straggling”, I am sure you all know what I mean. We try hard, we try our best, but we still need that day job to keep going. So, with these benefits, and many other things we do, one day we will make it and not be straggling any longer!

OK, here we go, the 10 reasons to join a local art group for the emerging and straggling artist:

1. Socialize – get out of your lonely studio. I have heard it a lot from other members how being an artist can be a lonely thing, being “stuck” in the studio for many hours, not working in an office environment with other people and water-fountain small talk opportunities. The local groups will usually have socializing meetings where you can meet other artists and just get out there.

2. Learn – see what other people are doing and learn from them. The variety of artists and experiences can really make for an excellent place to learn from other artists – talk with them about the way they tackle the business side of being an artist, find who is giving workshops and attend them, or in many cases, come to a group meeting where one of the artists is presenting their art and techniques.

3. Share your knowledge – teach other people from your knowledge. If you can learn from others, than there must be something you can teach from your experience. What about art making techniques, marketing ideas, utilizing technology or art shows experience?

4. Network – meet people who know other people, in order to enlarge your network. Networking cannot be underestimated. Getting to the right people, such as gallery owners, curators, collectors or licensors, can be done through a network of friends with similar goals. And although it might seem that the other artists are your competition, the truth is that many are more than willing to share and connect you to the right people.

5. Opportunities – One of the end results of growing networking is the opportunities that emerge from many unexpected places. There are many opportunities to be taken, you just have to identify them and make yourself ready for them to call you. You can find new opportunities for business, commissions, art shows, exposure and much more.

6. Participate in art shows – many of the local art groups organize group shows and, in some cases, they are not juried. This is an excellent way to start exposing yourself and your art and to start building your resume. The juried art shows are even more important, as their quality is often much higher. Getting to know where the art shows are, what their requirements are and who might participate in them are all integral parts of the local group activities.

7. Volunteer – give your time and efforts for the benefit of you and others. You will gain respect of your fellow artists and they will be willing to help you in return.

8. Practice – with the many activities that happen throughout the year at the group and volunteering opportunities, you will have the valuable opportunity to practice. Participate in arranging shows, see what happens behind the scenes and learn what is involved. This will give you a great practice that you will need for your own business development.

9. Expose yourself – let people know you. There is no better way to sell your art than to be known. And you have to start somewhere. Your local art group can be one such place, where you expose who you are, what drives you, make friends and become known in the local area and community. That will also give you the sand-box playground to practice exposing yourself to the rest of the world, like your clients.

10. Write about it – write your experiences in your blog. It will be a great topic to write about and local searches will rate high in SEO (Search Engine Optimization). When you meet other artists, write about them, discuss the group’s events, art shows and other promotions - you will get better local results for searches. The search engines do look for localization relevancy and being part of and writing about a local group is a wonderful way to do just that.

I hope this list helps you make a decision and join a local art group. You might already belong to a group, or more than one, and nodded in agreement while reading this list. Or you might not have any particular group in your area that fit-the-bill, so maybe start one…

Do you have more reasons that I didn’t mention to join a local art group? Do you have a story to share with us on how joining a local art group helped your career?

Cheers

Moshe

----------------------------------------------
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Marilyn Hughey Phillis

I try to begin a painting with as few restrictions as possible and let intuition be my guide, as I respond to what is developing on the painting surface.
(Marilyn Hughey Phillis)

This is the demo in progress from last night HSA meeting. We watched as Marilyn applied the acrylics and used different techniques to texturize, shape and control the paint.

The relationships of shape, texture, and color all contribute to the creative action that gradually becomes the expressive concept.
(Marilyn Hughey Phillis)

With this series of paintings Marilyn shows us the anatomy of an abstract. She explaind how each stage was painted and how she built up the colors and forms. In the final panel she used white Gouache to form the negative spaces.




Her book "Watermedia Techniques for Releasing the Creative Spirit" is available on Amazon.

Global Art

From our friend Dale in Australia:

You're welcome to be part of the Portrait of the Artist exhibition in December. Details on the Virtual Tart site

The first entries for the 13th International Collage Exhibition/Exchange have arrived. Deadline mid-March 2011. Details on the outofsight.co.nz site

The Arts Map. It's free to be on it, and it's a really good resource. Have a look, at www.theartsmap.com Jonathan Talbot has done a really good job of putting this up.

Art Activities

Interested in a day of painting in Zoar, Ohio?
Contact Jim Pryor at skymaster130@hotmail.com

____________

Stewart's Caring Place, a non-profit cancer support center. They sponsor the Holiday Boutique which has become a local fall tradition. This year they will hold the event at Fairlawn Community Center, 3486 S. Smith Road. The Community Center has plenty of parking, is easy to access and will provide better visibility. All artists will receive an 8' table and chairs. They will hold set up on Friday afternoon from 3-5 and Saturday morning from 8-10. Snacks and beverages will, as always, be included.Deadline is October 3, 2010. If you'd like more information about Stewart's Caring Place, you can go to www.StewartsCaringPlace.org

Art Opportunities

52 Weeks 52 Works - Now accepting 2011 Submissions
52 Weeks 52 Works is AGC's annual desk calendar showcasing 52 different works of art corresponding to the 52 calendar weeks. The calendar has served as a stage for the creative community of Northeast Ohio for the past 8 years. The calendar seeks to demonstrate the power of expressing ideas effectively through print and the myriad of collaborative opportunities available with Northeast Ohio's creative community. Previous collections have ranged from sculpture to painting, photography to ceramics.

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Submission:

When is the submission deadline?
The deadline for submission is October 1, 2010. Please forward this information if you know of other artists who may be interested.

Is there a fee to participate?
There are no exchange of monies – we don’t pay you and you don’t pay us.

How often will my artwork be used?
If selected, your artwork will appear in the 2011 Calendar. We do not use the your artwork for any other promotional purposes (aside from the calendar).

Will you return my submitted materials?
Any hard copy items supplied (slides, prints, or original artwork) will be returned to you when the calendar is complete. Any digital submission or CDs will be destroyed after publication.

Will I receive a copy of the calendar?
Each participating artist will receive 2 copies of the calendar. These calendars will be shipped via UPS to the address you supply on your submission form.

What is the preferred method of submission?
Digital submissions of at least 300 dpi at 5 x 7 inches burned to a CD and mailed to us along with your completed submission form or uploaded to our FTP site is the preferred format for submission. Our FTP site can be accessed via our Website. Please enter your information in the white box at the right. In the Subject Box please enter 52 Weeks, in the Message Box please enter your full name and the title of your piece.

May I submit more than one image?
You are welcome to submit multiple images, but we do ask that each image is accompanied by it’s own submission form.

Can I purchase additional copies of the calendar?
Upon completion 2500 calendars will be distributed to local Companies and Non Profit Organizations throughout Northeast Ohio. Every artist who submits will receive 1 calendar and every selected artist will receive 2 calendars. You may contact AGC in January to inquire if additional calendars will be available.

For more information please contact Candice Champion at CandiceChampion@agcinc.org.


Best Regards,
Candice

Candice C. Champion
Vice President
Academy Graphic Communication
1000 Brookpark Rd
Cleveland, OH 44109
CandiceChampion@agcinc.org
216-661-2550 phone
216-496-6511 cell
216-661-8899 fax