Meeting Recap 3/24/12: PORTRAITS with FRED MILLER

One more CPSA DC219 meeting day has passed - and wow, did we pack it full of news, events, and information! Oh, and a little bit of art too. It was a packed-house at The Artist Studio at Hoffman Town Center this past weekend, where CPSA members got an exclusive portrait presentation from renowned local artist, Fred Miller. Bonus: we got to see a couple of our members' work spaces at the Studio!

We began with our usual brief meeting :

Updates from President Jeff:
• We received a very official Thank You note from CPSA National, for our donation to the 8th Annual Explore This! awards funds. (a copy of this letter will be posted in a separate blog post shortly)
• We are reminded that our permanent meeting location is moving to the Heights Cumberland Presbyterian Church starting in May. (location details will be also posted in a separate blog post shortly)
• Will we have a Mailing List of member contact info made available to all local members? Please voice your opinion, either in the comments section of this post, or email President Jeff and give him a piece of your mind!
• For anyone that wasn't able to join us at the meeting, or for anyone that just didn't get enough, The Artist Studio is having an Open House on April 1st, 1-5pm.
• MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS:Our chapter's own, Mike Austin, received a Second Place award form the VA National Medical Center of Albuquerque's Art Show, for one of his lovely colored pencil pieces. Congratulations Mike!

After all the business stuff was out of the way, we took a short break to chat and explore a few of the artist spaces, including our own members' spaces - Ann Jeffries and Barbara Nahler:


Then it was time for Fred Miller to share just a snippet of his vast experience and knowledge of portraiture. Here are a few image collages of the presentation:


I invite to you share any important points or tips, that stood out to you from the presentation in our comments section below!

President's Message: Spring 2012

I am excited for our next meeting at The Artist Studio this Saturday (please see side bar for location & time details)! Mr. Fred Miller is an exceptional portrait artist based right here in Albuquerque. He is a treasured local artist, a past president of the Pastel Society, and has proven his outstanding commitment to the world of art though teaching & workshops!

I believe his true dedication can be seen through his own words: "…I am a full time painter and teacher of portrait painting." His sincere hope is to be considered by his students as one of the teachers who profoundly helped them realize their potential in the field of art. He has studied with a number of outstanding artists, including Jackie Goodyear, Sally Strand, Albert Handel, and Bud Edmondson. And like our own group - they shared, taught, and pushed each other to a higher level.

On his website, I found not only portraits, but impressive landscapes in oil and pastel. I encourage our members to look at Mr. Miller's website before the next meeting.

I cannot wait for this meeting and am looking forward to seeing Fred Miller in action, and all of our talented members as well!

Sincerely Your Prez
Jeff Stephenson
President, CPSA - DC219

Meeting Recap 2/25/12: ZENTANGLES

Another meeting day has come and gone - and oh, what fun we had! It was a full-house at the Bear Canyon Senior Center this past weekend, where CPSA members got together again to share their joy of colored pencils and experiment with a new process, Zentangles!

We began with a brief meeting :

• President Jeff handed out a list of program ideas for upcoming 2012 meetings … AGAIN (he wants your feedback, so keep it coming - email President Jeff).
• There's still time to get your National CPSA entries in - submission deadline is March 31st, 2012.
• Reminder to anyone who hasn't paid their membership dies: YOU'RE PAST DUE! ;)
*Also - we are in the process of updating all email contacts, if you know of a member that's not getting our emails & blog updates - please let us know or have that member send their active email address to Treasurer Les.
• We continued discussing the fact the Bear Canyon Senior Center will have some renovation coming up, and what locations we'll changing to for several upcoming meetings:

*March: The Artist Studio at Hoffman Town Shopping Center
*April: Hispanic Arts Building, NM Farigrounds -- Masterworks exhibit space
*More details to be announced - check back here often for updates.

• The Orchid Society is sponsoring a flower art show at the ABQ Bio-Park this May (no entry fee!). For details contact President Jeff or Secretary Melinda.
• Member, Lin McKay, reminded everyone that the Masterworks Miniature entry deadline is coming up and there's still time to enter! (March 17th, 2012)
• Several members shared completed miniatures and other works in process as part of our "Show&Tell" portion of the meeting.
• MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS:
•Shirley Levy had one of her pieces accepted into the CPSA National Show, Explore This!
•Rex Barron also had one of his pieces accepted in the CPSA National Explore This! show and earned himself CPX Signature Status for his third time being accepted. Additionally, Rex had two pieces accepted into the Masterworks Standard Fine Arts Show, in the Oil&Acrylic category.
•Audrey Minard had two of her pastel pieces accepted into the Masterworks Standard Fine Arts Show - her first time entering her large works!
Congratulations to all!

After a short break, Ann Jeffries gave a lovely presentation on Zentangles and shared several examples. Although Zentangles are traditionally done in black&white or pen&ink, Ann showed us how much fun could be had using colored pencil as a variation to this technique! Then we all got down to the business of fun & experimentation:

MEETING 2/25/12: Reminder

Dear CPSA - DC219 We're back on at Bear Canyon Senior Center this coming weekend, February 25th! In addition to our regular group-news and show&tell sessions, Ann Jeffries will be leading the Zentangles program we teased you with in early January, that had to be postponed due to cleaning at the center. A little reminder of what to expect:

Zentangles is the name given to a popular new linear technique which can be described as "extreme doodling." Zentangles are usually done with black ink but we will make them a little more interesting using our colored pencils. This method creates richly patterned images with just a few simple guidelines. Bring your sharpened pencils, a regular pencil, an eraser, and a few pieces of drawing paper. It will be fun, mistake-proof, and relaxing (after all, its "zen"tangles). If you want to find out more about this technique before the meeting there are many zentangle websites.

See you there!

MEETING 1/28/12: Sketchcrawl Recap

Just wanted to share with all of you that were there, or that may have missed out, some pics from our wonderful on-location meeting this past Saturday at the Rio Grande BIO Park.

Beginning with a brief meeting outside the Mediterranean Conservatory:

• President Jeff handed out a list of program ideas for upcoming 2012 meetings (he wants your feedback, so keep it coming - email Jeff).
• We also talked about the fact the Bear Canyon Senior Center will have some renovation coming up, so we need to be on the lookout for a new regular location for meetings (BCSC Renovation schedule needs to be confirmed).
• Rex mentioned a local art sales opportunity.
• New member Jean Thurow celebrated her first meeting with us by sharing a portfolio of her recent work.

Then members where set loose in the park for a group sketchcrawl:


After about an hour, members gather back together to look at each others work:


We are such a talented group:


And good looking too:

URGENT: MEETING CHANGE

ALAS! The Bear Canyon Senior Center is closed for the cleaning on the date of our upcoming meeting!

So, in an effort to stick to our guns and start the year off right, we're postponing Ann Jeffries' Zentangles presentation and going out for an on-location "sketchcrawl" at the Botanic Garden, part of the ABQ BioPark. There are parts of the gardens that are enclosed and have benches to sit and sketch. This is a great opportunity to draw together.
There is an entrance fee of $7 for adults and $3 for seniors.
The Botanic Garden and Aquarium is located at 2601 Central NW, 87104
We'll be meeting just inside the Botanic Garden entrance at noon, (12pm) January 28th.

What is a sketchcrawl? Sketchcrawling started when artist, Enrico Casarosa, had an idea:

"to record nonstop everything I could around me with my pencil and watercolors. A drawn journal filled with details ranging from the all the coffee I drank to the different buses I took. After a whole day of drawing and walking around the city the name seemed quite fitting: “SketchCrawl” – a drawing marathon. The crawl was more tiring than I imagined but also more fun and exciting than I had thought. Giving yourself this kind of mandate for a full day changes the way you look around you. It makes you stop and see things just a tad longer, just a bit deeper … needless to say I loved it."

Our Sketchcrawl won't be a whole day, but we can try for a solid hour or two in the park to start! Bring your sketchbooks, pencils, and any other portable media and let's fill some pages! At the end of our time, we can meet back up and share our experiences with these "drawing journals".

You may be receiving a call from one of our board members in the next few days, to confirm everyone is notified about this change, and to ask if you are "yes", "no" or "maybe" planning to attend.

President's Message: Winter 2012

Dear CPSA - DC219 Members,

I had a wonderful holiday season and I trust you did too! I am looking forward to our meeting on Saturday, January 28th at the Bear Canyon Senior Center!

Please bring something you've been working on for our "Show & Tell" segment of the meeting - we all love seeing our fellow members' work. Remember the drawing can be completed, in-progress, or works that did not turn out as hoped. We can all learn together from the sharing time.

We have exciting programs set up for the first part of the year. January's meeting is going to involve a drawing exercise called Zentangles. Ann Jefferies will walk us through it. Plus, we will be experimenting with music themes, to see the effects of music-mood on our drawings.

Coming up:
February: Business of the Art World: The ins and outs of entering an art show.
March: TBD - a new Presentation on Miniatures or the esteemed artist, Fred Miller.

In short, I have missed seeing all of you and the wonderful works you create. I'm looking forward to see you all at the January meeting.

Sincerely,
Jeff Stephenson
President, CPSA - DC219