November 22, 2014

Today, as Thanksgiving approaches, we are grateful for many things—first and foremost, you, our loyal readers. We're also thankful for each other, the things we've learned and seen and the friends we've made. Today, our photographer is not high on our list, however. You'll notice there is no video and the photos have an eerie green cast. To be fair, we can't blame the photographer for everything—the video camera simply wouldn't turn on and the Truman lights cast the strange green glow over everything. Still, we'll be grateful if everything's back to normal in two weeks when we return.

Meanwhile, there's plenty to see. We begin with a wonderful seasonal painting. Entitled Freedom From Want, Vivian's painting features her cat gazing at the Thanksgiving bounty. We are all salivating just looking at the turkey and the pie—and don't you love the composition and the way the cat is seated like a guest (and dressed in a festive bow to boot)?

Mark also has his mind set on holiday eating. Notice he's returned to the festive pears for a second week in a row? But this week, he's added background and another foodie touch. The black specks on the pear skin aren't painted on—those are genuine poppy seeds. It's multi-media!

And while we're on the subject of food, it's time for the three-way fruit exercise. Seems especially appropriate this week, doesn't it? Here Victoria does a banana very wet....

...very dry...

...and in a combination of techniques. And then she ate the evidence! But rest assured, this is a very accurate portrait of her banana.

Even Susan's centuries old church looks like a wedding cake. It's actually an old ruin, tethered to a support by rope to keep it from falling.

Ken's latest building is decorated like a fancy cake too. This is #15 in a series of 16; we'll be sorry when he reaches the end of this series. But he usually has a show when he finishes a series; we're looking forward to that.
 

And do you remember where we started? With turkey? Madeleine brings us back to that theme with a painting of Turkey (the country). Notice the lovely sparkle on the water, the striated rock formation and the fine foreground grass? There's a real feel for texture here.

Alan's finished his lake painting too, and it's even more beautiful than the screenshot conveys. Look at the texture of the bark, the reflections on the water and the exquisite detail of the birch trees and houses on the opposite shore. Another quintessentially autumnal painting.

Abla continues her Asian-esque painting, adding a blue bird to one of the magnolia branches. Definitely the blue bird of happiness!

Mohammed adds a bluebird too! Along with some flowers and buds. We are loving the way different artists handle similar material.

No blue bird of happiness here. Bill finished painting a flooded Chicago street corner at night. Nonetheless, this is strangely festive and sparkly with city lights and neon signs beautifully reflected in the standing water.

Like many of us, Bill's painting in a series. Here he's taken a sketch from his sketchbook, printed it several times on multi-media paper and added color. In the next four paintings, he manages to get four very different feelings beginning with the same basic sketch.

There's a lot to be said for painting in series, isn't there? Greeta has made progress on two paintings of Graceland cemetery. Ultimately, there will be three paintings, with only size, orientation and location in common. We love the seasonal feeling of the place and are looking forward to seeing the full triptych.

As if that weren't enough, Greeta revisited an old painting (below). She wasn't satisfied with the original background, but this is looking great. Love the expression...and the hat!

Seriously, how can you miss with a little boy in a hat? Elaine makes a similar subject choice as she experiments with new colors below.

And interestingly enough, she also features a hat in the painting (below) where she experiments with Yupo. What's with this strange group obsession with hats?!

You're invited! And remember, tomorrow is a special day for the DePaul Community Chorus (our very own Steve is a member). They are a 150-member chorus and present three free—yes, you read that right—concerts every year. Tomorrow is the first concert of the season. Bring Brass II happens on Sunday, November 23 at 4pm. Besides the large chorus, there is a full brass ensemble, along with organ and percussion. This concert will be held at St. Paul's church at Orchard and Fullerton. And it is absolutely free! Click on the poster to learn more about this concert, the rest of the season and even hear selections from previous concerts.

Finally, we'd like to take this opportunity to remember everything we're grateful for—and you are all high on our list! Thanks for joining our painting circle and for your support.

We'll be off next weekend but we'll be back and looking forward to seeing you on December 6. Happy Thanksgiving!