November 14, 2015

Another Saturday with no video! Today the camera wouldn't even start up, so we're pretty sure something is wrong. We'll investigate further, but meanwhile we'll have to settle for still photos again.

We began the day by taking down our exhibit in the McKeon Center. It certainly came down faster than it took to install! If you made it over to see the exhibit, thank you! If not, we'll keep you updated about future shows.

On to the art—starting with a wonderfully witty seasonal painting by Vivian. She began this last year and is adding finishing touches this year. Entitled Freedom from Want, it features her cat and some of the most delectable looking Thanksgiving food we've seen in quite some time. Our mouths are watering as we look at the luscious turkey and pie... and it seems the cat feels the same way!

Abla is using her fabled #0000 brush to great effect. Zoom in and look at this tree trunk. The colors, the texture.... just lovely!

Sara is painting trees too, but hers are in New York's Central Park. Appropriately enough, as this chorus line of dancing trees looks like they took lessons from the Rockettes. We love that Sara is channeling her inner Seurat in the frame, too.

Who doesn't love trees? Alan uses a tree trunk and leaves to frame a lake cottage. The beautiful texture and colors guide us right to the focal point.

The cottage painting above is on paper, but below, Alan switches to his newest favorite, Yupo. And no wonder, when you see the effects he can achieve on this tricky surface. The delicate flowers stand out in contrast to the deep background. Love the fern, too!

More Yupo for Alan. This time, he's created a lovely pond background and has started to reverse out a field of water lilies. Watch out, Monet!

Bill returns to his floral still life. This time, he's strengthened the vertical elements of the composition and added volume to the plant.  We especially like the window and the way the plant leans toward the light.

 Another floral! Here Madeleine is memorializing a bouquet she received, skillfully adding a candlestick and pottery to the composition. She's perfectly captured the metal and we applaud her use of yellows in the background.

Madeleine has also finished her painting of Bill and his friend, Donkey. This just makes us smile—for so many reasons—the warm sunlight, the textures, the shadows, the gestures and the sweet relationship. Don't you agree?

Elaine is in people painting mode, too. And like Alan and Greeta, she's memorializing the last days of summer at the lake in this scene of paddle boat racers.

Mohammed taps into all of our major themes today—portraits, flowers, textures and unusual surfaces. He's added a floral background to his portrait of a woman framed in an textured arch. And he's returned to another favorite technique, sponge painting. Despite the slick surface of the foamcore, he is certainly making it work.

Ken's painting of a view through a stained glass window (Alan's creation, to be precise) to the street beyond is coming along beautifully. Even the tree across the street looks like a stained glass window! We love this Ten Cat series.

We end with Greeta's take of summer on the lake. And what's even more exciting than the painting of the kids fishing is the fact that she's painting this in a book of "cottage" paintings.  That's right! It's a spiral bound book with paintings that have a common theme. They are all of her cottage or done at her cottage. What a wonderful idea! So we've added a small sampling below, ending with a tribute to summer.

This painting is a bit fuzzy, but be assured that the real painting is exquisite. It's a very watercolor-y painting of a cottage...

... as is this.

A  floating platform on the lake is perfect for kids to fish from.

These flowers look like something Van Gogh would have done if he visited the cottage.

Isn't this casual arrangement of flowers in a rusty watering can just the essence of lake living?

And we end with heirloom tomatoes on a country tablecloth. (Again, the painting is much better than the photo.)

Upcoming events and important announcements

Finally, as we mentioned, our exhibit is over, as is Ken's opening reception. But it's not too late to see his paintings at the Ten Cat (through mid-December) or to hear Steve and the DePaul Community Chorus next weekend. Mark your calendars!
 

The Ten Cat Ten Cat Show.  Ken will be having a show at Ten Cat Tavern. Drop by to see the art...and maybe play some pool.

      Where:
      Ten Cat Tavern

      3931 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL

     When:
     October 26–December 7, 2015
     

DePaul Community Chorus Concert.

Come hear Steve in the November concert, Darkness & Light: Nordic and Mediterranean Perspectives. 150 voices strong, eight part harmony—it's beautiful and it's free!

      Where:
      DePaul Concert Hall
      800 West Belden, Chicago

     
     When:
     Sunday, November 22, 2015 at 3pm


 

November 7, 2015

Sorry, there is no video today. We're not sure what's happening, but there was nothing on the camera. Maybe next week!

That doesn't mean, however, that there is nothing to see. We have all kinds of wonderful art.... not to mention a special surprise guest and a new theme. We begin with our special guest artist. David is a former student who dropped by to see our exhibition and stayed to deliver a lovely birthday portrait to fellow artist Susan.

Continuing the tribute to fellow artists, Ken's latest painting in his Ten Cat series is a painting of one of Alan's stained glass windows. By the way, you can see Ken and Alan and the stained glass window at the opening reception for Ken's show this afternoon at 3.

Back to Susan who finishes her background by drawing grout lines in an homage to Ken and his Ten Cat paintings. She's also inspired by Ken's upcoming mosaic classes.

Enough of self-referencing admiration! We seem to paint in themes anyway, and we love our flowers. Here, Bill does a still life featuring a house plant on a table. He's planning to revisit this painting but we hope he doesn't lose the lively brushstrokes featured here.

Alan's painting flowers too, but his are carved out of pools of color on Yupo. Look closely at the subtle background trees and the colors of the foreground flowers.

Another flower.... this time an orchid. Unlike watercolor paper, these flowers are created last in the painting process, by removing color from the Yupo surface.

Here's Alan's finished his eclipse painting. Who would have guessed a dark moon in a dark sky could be so deep and colorful?

Using a very limited palette, Tony achieves striking depth in his painting of a Greek monastery on a cliff. You really get a sense of place. 

Greeta has returned from a trip to Washington DC and was inspired to paint this view of Smithsonian buildings behind the autumn foliage. Welcome back, Greeta—we especially love the dome and the trees!

Madeleine's painting, Bill and His Ass, is coming along wonderfully. Can't you just see the sunlight on the figures and background? And the donkey's fur actually looks soft and furry. (Again, in the interest of technical accuracy, this should be really be called Bill and An Ass as the donkey isn't really his.... but the artist gets to name her own painting).

Elaine is also painting people. In this case, family members in a pedal boat race. This is a view from the winning boat—which is why we can't see Elaine and her partner, just the second and third place (losing) teams.

Mohammed experimented with foamcore and found it tricky to paint on. So he added another experiment to the mix, mixing gum arabic with the paint on the arch. It seems to be just what he needed, adding richness and texture to the wood.

More people paintings as Vivian finishes her conceptual, abstract, based on shingles. We are intrigued by the expressive face and the carefully modeled bones and shadows.

 

Abla re-sketched her skeleton in this allegorical painting about the meaning of life. We are really into concept paintings lately!

We didn't get a photo of Rosemary, our newest student, and her color wheel. Disappointing, I know. But she did bring some watercolors she completed prior to our class—landscapes, florals and still life paintings. Enjoy!

Finally, check out these events, some of which are closing soon. Don't miss out!

Upcoming events and important announcements

The Ten Cat Ten Cat Show.  Ken will be having a show at Ten Cat Tavern. Come to the opening reception at (where else?) Ten Cat on Saturday, November 7.

      Where:
      Ten Cat Tavern

      3931 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL

     When:
     Exhibition: October 26–December 7, 2015
     Reception: November 7, 2015, 3pm

Expressions in Watercolor
There's only one week to see our exhibition, Expressions in Watercolor. We're closing next Saturday. Drop by the McKeon Building and visit all the glass cases.

When:  October 8–November 15, 2015,
             9am–5pm, Monday–Friday
             9am–3pm, Saturday

Where: Truman College McKeon Student Services Building
             (behind the main building)
             1145 W. Wilson Avenue

DePaul Community Chorus Concert.

Come hear Steve in the November concert, Darkness & Light: Nordic and Mediterranean Perspectives. 150 voices strong, eight part harmony—it's beautiful and it's free!

      Where:
      DePaul Concert Hall
      800 West Belden, Chicago

     
     When:
     Sunday, November 22, 2015 at 3pm

October 31, 2015

Happy Halloween! In the spirit of trick-or-treat, we submit our video above. You may think the ghoulish green light is deliberately done for the holiday, but it's really just normal rainy-day solarium lighting. On the other hand, the paintings themselves are our treat to you (okay, that may be stretching it, but the paintings are really good!).

We do have some themes going, as you'll see, even though Halloween isn't one of them. One more thing—we have to warn you that all of the paintings look better in real life due to the strange color cast in the room today. We're hoping to get back to normal next week.

We begin with a seasonally mysterious painting by Alan (welcome back!). It's painted on Yupo and Alan has managed a depth of color and a richness that's hard to achieve with this surface. We think Alan's found his best paper!

Here, Alan begins to paint an eclipse. Yes, this is on Yupo and yes, it's beautifully colorful. This is also, interestingly enough, the first of our "ray of light" paintings. You'll see it emerge from the shadows soon.

Tony also paints a ray of light emerging from the clouds. This is seen from his balcony in Greece. Notice the distinctive cypress trees?

Always on trend, Tony's second painting leads off our second theme—sacred spaces. Here's a beautifully detailed monastery atop a cliff in Meteora, Greece.

Elaine is also painting sacred spaces, but hers is a church much closer to the ground. It's an interior view of St. Gregory Church in Chicago, looking through soaring stone arches towards a beautiful shrine at the back of the church.

Sara keeps up the theme, but this temple is a redwood forest. We follow the richly textured and colored trunks as they soar towards a beautifully blue sky.

Susan hits two themes in a single painting! Here we see a shaft of light coming through a stained glass window at St. Gregory Church. Her viewpoint is almost exactly opposite Elaine's; we're looking toward the intricately carved pulpit at the front of the church.

If that weren't enough, Susan found three floral still life paintings from last summer. Each of them lacked a background, so she fearlessly added them today. Here she adds a brightly colored, almost psychedelic, background.

Here she chooses a bamboo forest...

 

...and here is an unfinished plaid. We're looking forward to seeing how this comes out.

Finally, we revisit a painting she just retrieved from a show at Blick Art Supply store downtown. The theme was 12"x12" and Susan added a Hawaiian wedding ceremony in the background of this painting of flowergirls.

 

Mohammed, like Alan, is experimenting with some unusual supports. And, like Alan, he's having tremendous success. This is leftover mat board from our giant framing session and he's painted a remarkably sophisticated portrait. The flat color of her skin and dress are enhanced by the contrast with the richly detailed texture of the background.

Next in the series, Mohammed sketches a woman on a sheet of foamcore. It's only a rough beginning, but we think this will be wonderful. The Muslim woman's face will be the focus of the painting and the surface is even smoother than the mat board above. We're excited to see how this comes out.

Bill's working on a scene that has intrigued him for quite some time. Interestingly, he's touched on several of our themes, with a woman contemplating ancient ruins. Although it's technically lovely, Bill thinks he may revisit this to better illustrate his concept. We can't wait!

Vivian is also painting conceptually, something she excels at. This thought-provoking piece features a limited palette and is a self-portrait from two different viewpoints. Most intriguing!

Madeleine moves the foliage behind some wonderfully 3D stonework. We love the shadows and the mossy green glow on the top of the railing.

With a bit of time to spare, Madeleine began to sketch her next painting. This is Bill with his donkey. Well, not technically his donkey, just a donkey he befriended in Turkey. Like all the sketches today, this is one we're anxious to see develop.

Marva continues her state park series, hitting all the themes of the day. We hope to get a better photo next week so you can see the amazing color of the background, the trees' detail and the mist rising over the water. And, of course, who doesn't love the moose?

Ken has moved to his actual painting from the study last week. This is the corner of a brick building—rather an ordinary subject. Yet the colors, the perspective and the composition take this to a whole new place. Oh, this is the Ten Cat building, by the way. To see it in person, drop by next week for Ken's opening reception. Or drop by anytime in the next month to see his art.

Yes, you see right! These are our beginner plaids. We welcome Rosemary who comes with an existing palette. We see that she's already accomplished at drybrush and look forward to seeing more.

Finally, we end as we began... with a seasonal touch that's much more. Abla sketches a skeleton in the lower corner of her page, but the final painting isn't about skeletons or Halloween. It's a conceptual painting, an allegory about the meaning of life. Seriously! Come back to see more.

Finally, some things you don't want to miss:

Upcoming events and important announcements

Expressions in Watercolor
There's still time to see our exhibition, Expressions in Watercolor, from now until mid-November. Drop by the McKeon Building and visit all the glass cases.

When:  October 8–November 15, 2015,
             9am–5pm, Monday–Friday
             9am–3pm, Saturday

Where: Truman College McKeon Student Services Building
             (behind the main building)
             1145 W. Wilson Avenue

DePaul Community Chorus Concert.

Come hear Steve in the November concert, Darkness & Light: Nordic and Mediterranean Perspectives. 150 voices strong, eight part harmony—it's beautiful and it's free!

      Where:
      DePaul Concert Hall
      800 West Belden, Chicago

     
     When:
     Sunday, November 22, 2015 at 3pm

The Ten Cat Ten Cat Show.  Ken will be having a show at Ten Cat Tavern. Come to the opening reception at (where else?) Ten Cat on Saturday, November 7.

      Where:
      Ten Cat Tavern

      3931 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL

     When:
     Exhibition: October 26–December 7, 2015
     Reception: November 7, 2015, 3pm