February 2008 GCWS Meeting

Artist and this month's Speaker Curtis Heuser's client sketches ---
Minutes of Meeting Wednesday, February 6, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. at the Cincinnati Art Club, 1021 Parkside Place in Mt. Adams.

President: Sandy Maudlin Treasurer: Carol Rekow Program Chair: Joan Miley Facilities Manager: Kay Worz
Membership Chair: Mary Jane Noe Recording Secretary: R.H. (Rhonda) Carpenter

NOTE: Winter Weather Closings!!!
In the event of inclement weather, the GCWS will be closed and the closing announced on WLW radio (700 on your AM dial) or WLW-TV. Please check both or call someone if you are unsure.

Administration Reports

Bonnie Rupe filled in for Sandy Maudlin (President), who was ill. Bonnie announced that we have a blog for the GCWS and it can be found at http://gcws.blogspot.com/. Sandy Maudlin created the blog and you can contact Sandy about adding information about new paintings, shows, awards, and anything else related to art and GCWS.

Bonnie also said a Happy Birthday to Us for the GCWS turning 6 year’s old! She then displayed our new logo, created by Bill Duebber. Thanks go to Robert Nowicki for his initial work with Bill, and to Bonnie for the very successful finish. We paid for full rights to the logo, which can be used on the scholarship award form, the minutes, the blog, and even future items for sale.

Carol Rekow (Treasurer) gave her report, indicating that our current balance is $6,991.15 and asked that membership dues of $45 should be mailed to her by March 1st. After income and expenses were determined for 2007, we finished the year with $1,259.24.

Mary Jane Noe (Membership) acknowledged Joan Abdon, a guest who came with Mary Moore. Joan learned watercolor from Don Dennis, and has been teaching watercolor for four years. She is also the president of the Southeast Indiana Art Guild.

Evergreen Spring Show

Deb Ward is coordinating the spring show at Evergreen Retirement Community. She asked everyone to pick up an information sheet from the back table. She will mail out those sheets that did not get picked up. The show runs from May 4 – June 15, and the registration form will be distributed closer to the show date. Deb passed around a sign-up sheet for those willing to be on any of the committees (hanging, sitting, refreshments). She also mentioned that Evergreen staff has suggested pricing your paintings from $35-$500 (Evergreen said the majority of paintings sold last year were in the $100-$150 range). Claw hooks on the back of the paintings are not acceptable. Please have wire hangers for all of your paintings.

Bonnie read a statement from Sandy Maudlin on what constitutes “watercolor.” Based on the accepted mediums of the American Watercolor Society and National Watercolor Society, any water soluble paint is, technically, watercolor. This includes watercolor, acrylic, casein, gouache, inks, and watercolor with collage, if the watercolor is the predominant characteristic. Surfaces acceptable are paper, yupo and canvas. We will accept no oil paintings for any of the shows.

We will need a few large pieces for the living room and dining room. Instructors can bring their students to tour the facility while our show is up, if arrangements are made with Sharon Cranston at 513-948-2308.

Rhonda Carpenter will be creating the postcards for the show,. She took photos of paintings brought today for that purpose. Anyone who still wants to include work in the selection process should email a photo of the painting to rhondac2@fuse.net. The paintings will be chosen by the Evergreen committee, and the postcards must be ready by April 1st so time is short.

Scholarship

Bonnie Rupe is working on the scholarship award and asked that anyone with suggestions for high schools to contact or students to interview contact her. She will gather student portfolios. Les Miley suggested that we look at students who are more in need of the $500 scholarship, rather than just the best artist of the bunch who may not need the money to help them in school.

Art Shows and Other Art News

The Taft Museum will be showing watercolor works of masters from the 18th century through 1945, including Homer, Sargent, Pendergrast, and Hopper. The collection is on loan from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum of Art from February 22 – May 11. The fee is $8 per person, $6 for seniors, but there is no fee on Wednesdays. The museum is open 11-5 daily except for Mondays

Sandy Maudlin is coordinating a show for her students at Sharon Woods from February 16 – 24 (reception Sunday, February 17 from 1:00 – 4:00). Sandy has over 40 students, and there will be over 100 paintings in the show.

Jane Hittinger has gotten involved with a group that is donating art supplies to a village in Guatemala and asked that we bring in some gently used or new supplies for the kids in the village who would greatly appreciate anything. She will collect them and take care of shipping them to Guatemala if we would bring in items at the March meeting.

Penny Dinsmore at the Cincinnati Nature Center has asked for anyone interested in showing their work there to contact her. The Nature Center is in Milford, OH. The number can be found in the phone book.

Internationally known watercolor instructor, Don Andrews, is coming to Dayton, OH March 24-28. This workshop will be about “Interpreting the Figure in Watercolor” and there are still several spots open. Please contact Leonard Williams at brokenantlerstudio@earthlink.net or 513-897-5222 for further information about registration.

The Cincinnati Art Club is sponsoring the Evendale, OH show, and entries are due March 4. Contact Martha Carmody of the Cincinnati Art Club, if you are interested. There is no commission taken, you can enter photos rather than slides, and the judge for the show is Carin Hebenstreit, a well-known portrait and figurative painter who teaches through the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

The GCWS will have a fall show at the Sharon Center from September 20-28. Kay Worz will be in charge of this. More discussion will come later in the year.

Deb Ward is teaching a watercolor class at Dunham Recreation Center on Tuesdays, March 4 – April 8. The fee for the class is $48. Please contact Deb at mslucky2@yahoo.com, for more information.

Marilyn Bishop is teaching a watercolor class at the Mt. Washington Recreation Center on Tuesdays, March 25 – April 29. The fee for the class is $48. Class size is limited to 12 people. There is an additional fee that goes to the Senior Center but $48 will hold your spot in the class. Contact Marilyn at 513-528-2088 for more information.

Upcoming Meetings and Guest Artist/Speakers

In March, we have rescheduled the DVD showing of Tom Lynch’s watercolor style. The DVD will be shown in place of any other program that day and Marilyn Bishop will facilitate the showing and answer any questions. She has also agreed to stay after the program for a painting session in the Tom Lynch style and further explanation of his style of painting. Bring your paints and paper!

New President and Facilities Manager

As a reminder, our new President, Shirley Knollman and Facilities Manager, Susan Grogan, will take their positions in March for two years. We extend our thanks Sandy Maudlin (past President), and Kay Worz (past Facilities Manager) for their past service to the GCWS.

Critique Session

Joyce Friedeman led the critique session.

Joan Ammerman shared her painting of a beach. The beach and grasses were painted in a muted palette with greys instead of browns and it was quite lovely and unique.

Howard Krauss shared 2 of his paintings: a shrimp shack and boat in Myrtle Beach, which needed just a bit of adjustment to the building perspective; and a beautiful winter scene in a muted palette that needed nothing but a signature to complete it.

Guest Speaker/Artist and Demo

Joan Miley introduced our guest speaker, Curtis Heuser. Curt is a local decorative painter and author who takes “faux finishing” and other decorative painting techniques to another level! He has a studio in Newport, KY (The Galleries Together, a co-op on the corner of 7th and Park Streets), as well as an historical home in Newport (734 Park Avenue) that has become his showplace.
Curt graduated with an art degree from Northern Kentucky University in 1985 and got into painting murals by accident while working in a photography shop. Overhearing a woman ask if the owner knew of anyone who could paint a mural in her home, Curt volunteered his talents and has been working ever since. He uses basic latex house paint on a satin finish base coat to create his imaginative and creative works of art on the walls of many of the homes in the Tri-State and throughout the U.S. Using brushes, rags, fingers, rollers, and “whatever works,” Curt has created Italian-themed dining rooms, playful children’s nurseries full of whimsical animals and trees, and even a few aquariums on walls to keep a relocated Florida native from being so homesick.

A mural can take anywhere from one week to three months, depending on the size and detail involved, and Curt works on his murals like they are watercolor, using lots of water to keep everything flowing and blending. He sometimes does a scale rendering on tracing paper and then transfers the rendering with carbon paper, but most of the time he likes to work free hand, giving himself the freedom to add or subtract small elements. A pretty little bird is often found in his murals and has become a much-asked-for “signature” element in his work.

Curt often does a mock-up of the site in watercolor to show the client before the work begins. His artistic background in watercolors, acrylics, printmaking and even ceramics shows in the way he details items, bringing them to life in a true trompe l’oil fashion in the homes.

While Curt shared slides of his many works ranging from his first paintings to the work he has done in his own home, he talked about the process of mural painting, how it’s done, how he learned, and how he has now reached a point where he’d like to teach others. He will demonstrate many of his techniques on Saturday, March 15 from 10:00 am – noon at Suder’s Art Store. The cost is $20 and you should call Suder’s at 513-241-0800 to register for this very informative talk and demo.

Curt’s book, Your Home: A Living Canvas, followed him as he created his masterpiece – his own home in Newport, KY. It took him 1 ½ years to renovate the 3-story historic home located at 734 Park Avenue. It then took another 9 months to apply the paint finishes and murals throughout the home while having photos taken for the book. It was an exhausting labor of love, and he offers tours of the home regularly. If you are interested in touring the home, please contact Curt at 859-491-1121 or cheuser1@fuse.net to make arrangements. Group tours are limited to 20 guests and private tours are already scheduled for Saturday, February 23 and Sunday, February 24 at 1:00, 3:00 and 5:00 pm daily.

If you want a sneak peek of the home and more information about Curt Heuser, visit:
http://www.myspace.com/yourhomealivingcanvas or http://www.livingmurals.com/

Your Home: A Living Canvas is currently No. 1 on Amazon in its category and No. 3 in all categories! Curt had books at the meeting that were signed and several were scooped up after being poured over. I think many of the members went home with new ideas about their living space!

The talk was informative and the slides were inspiring. This was not your mother’s faux finish painting style at all. We thoroughly enjoyed Curt’s presentation – his very first – and we came away with a great appreciation of this art form.

Respectfully submitted by Rhonda Carpenter.