September 8, 2012, Michaele Harrington

Another critique by Michaele Harrington...

September 2012, Unitarian Church, Rockville

Taking in artwork...

At the reception...

June 9, 2012, Robert Witt

Window display approach to art

Robert Witt, one of our new members, showed us his creative approach to art and design he used in his long career as an expert window display artist for many major department stores.  He brought us many examples of his innovative and inexpensive techniques he used in window display fabrication.  Robert also showed us his imaginative manipulation of his photography.  He demonstrated with his examples of duplication of a photo image, then creating a mirror image on his printer.

Robert’s presentation was greatly appreciated by the membership. He passed his samples of easy to make window display glassware and his photography through the audience for us to get a hands-on examination. The audience showed their appreciation with many 'oohs', 'ahs' and applause, when seeing how he created his art and craft pieces.

Robert’s first job was with Peck & Peck as their Area Display Director with nine stores in the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area. While at Peck & Peck, photos of his work were used by a national service to show other Trimmers ideas for displays.

He moved to Baltimore, Maryland and headed the display department for Oppenheim Collins, a women’s specialty chain. His last employment of 17 years, for a total of 32 years, was with Lane Bryant stores. His area covered from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Birmingham, Alabama. 

May 19, 2012, Susan Cole

General Meeting at Davis Library, 6400 Democracy Blvd, Bethesda, MD, at 2:00. Susan Cole presented the program. 

She brought in samples of her work and discussed the process and history of collage and decoupage. Click http://web.me.com/soledesign

Susan Cole lives and works in Washington, D.C. She began her career as a graphic artist working at a newspaper, advertising agency, and as a freelance designer. Over the years she has produced and sold her own decorative art in D.C. and in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

Susan uses familiar imagery and colors that conjure up a history of men and women, personal and universal. What we are taught, what we believe, and what we expect. Rules we keep and rules we break. Universal truths and lies. As children, our views are shaped by play with dolls, games, and toys. As adults we remember. Roll the dice. Get lucky and you win. Break the rules and go directly to jail.

Statement...

For years I have collected a variety of treasures--natural and manufactured, vintage and new, found or given as a gift. I saved them because they are interesting, funny, beautiful, original, or hold special meaning.

In my studio I have saved lace, paper, books, magazines, napkins, feathers, shells, bottle caps, paper images, thread, ribbon, baubles, beads, toys, art supplies, craft supplies, jewelry, game pieces, postcards, cards, fabric, notions, ceramic pieces, paintings, drawings, clothing, boxes, wood--and that’s just the beginning!

In the interest of the environment (especially mine), I challenge myself to use these objects to create original, one-of-a-kind pieces. I intend to turn these found and saved objects into something beautiful, wearable, and /or useful. My goal is to produce one piece per week.

April 2012, Joe Giacalone

General Meeting at Davis Library, 6400 Democracy Blvd, Bethesda, MD, at 2:00. 
Dianne Bugash had to cancel, so we had our own Joseph M. Giacalone discussing...

What is the common thread through graphic design, advertising art, photography and sculpture - into fine art?

 

Fifty-four years experience as a technical, graphic, and award winning advertising artist, he is now a fine artist. Joe was the founder and president of Renaissance Communications, Inc., a full service advertising agency serving commercial and government clients in the Washington, D.C. area.

Joe’s presentation started with examples of poster illustration and photography produced by his agency. One of the posters included Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was the Chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Other examples were award winning design and original art illustrations.

Joe brought his own paintings to show his evolution from realism art to abstract painting.

 

 

The June speaker was introduced.

March 17, 2012, Rona Eisner

RONA EISNER

 

On Saturday, March 17, 2012, over 25 members and guests attended Rona's presentation, marveling at the diversity of her artwork. This prize-winning artist involved Senior Artists Alliance members in a discussion of her artistic creations. It was an interesting and enlightening afternoon!

 
Photographer, painter, creative silversmith, digital artist. Rona Eisner is an artist who fits into many categories, but cannot be categorized. Her paintings and photography have been in juried shows in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and her work is in many private and corporate collections.

View her work on the art file of the Washington Project for the Arts: http://artfile.wpadc.org .

Her bio...
Rona Eisner

Painter, Photographer and Creative Silversmith

7612 Rossdhu Ct., Chevy Chase, MD 20815

phone: (301) 652-3821 fax: (301) 652-3822

email: reisner11@starpower.net

Artist’s Short Bio March 2012

Following a traditional liberal arts education (Smith College 1960), I earned a doctorate in psychology in 1967. My education did not include any art training. For 35 years, as a clinical psychologist, I did long-term intensive psychotherapy. I retired from that career in 2001 in order to move into a new phase of life and pursue my passion for making art of many forms, taking classes in various media, e.g. painting, photography, collage, and silverworking. I now devote full time to artistic endeavors.

          In the last two years, I have been spending much of my creative energy in the Silverworks Studio at Glen Echo, studying with Blair Anderson and working in the open studio. I find that working in metal, whether silver or copper, allows me freedom of expression, calls on problem solving skills, and is just plain fun! My piece “A River Runs Through It” won a Purple Hammer Award for excellence in design at the July, 2011 show “The Fifth Element” at the Popcorn Gallery at Glen Echo. I was one of 5 silver artists chosen to be included in the Faculty Art Show at the Popcorn Gallery for March, 2012. I have continued to take workshops in both painting and photography and to produce work in these media as well.

My work in both photography and painting has been in many juried shows in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.  In the last three years, my photography has been commissioned by Soho Myriad for display in hotels in Atlanta, Georgia; I had a soloInvitational Show at the Levine School of Music, January 2009 – June 2009;

Equinox Restaurant, Washington, DC, has several photographs on display, Dec. 2008-; my series of digital collages “Riffs on the Theme of Creation” was in the Smith College Class of 1960 Alumnae House Gallery Show, May 2010 (2 of the images were purchased for the presidential mansion) and at Glenview Gallery, June 2010; and I was Artist of the Month, Georgetown University Hospital Art Gallery, May 2010. Sandy Spring Museum in Sandy Spring, Maryland selected myself, Sheila Meyer and Christy Stebbins to show our photographs at the museum for April and May 2011 in a show called “Fragile Moments, Fragile Times”. My photographs and paintings are in a number of private and corporate collections.

 Several of my photographs have won prizes: Brookside Gardens (Wheaton, MD) Annual Art & Photography Show FIRST PRIZE in PHOTOGRAPHY for photograph  “Pink  Dogwood” (Oct, 2000); Capitol Arts Network, National Juried Show “I’m Ready For My Close-up”, Bethesda,  MD, FIRST PLACE PRIZE for Photograph “Magic Puff#4” (July, 2005); North American Nature Photography Association, Expressions 2008, “Magic Puff #4  Included as one of the top 100 images juried from the Showcase Competition; Expressions Competition 2009, 2 of my images were in the top 20 per cent and one was published in the NANPA Currents Magazine in 2011.

My work can be seen on the art file of the Washington Project for the Arts: http://artfile.wpadc.org.

March 2012, Potomac Library Exhibit

February 11, 2012, Constance Chabrieres

Twenty-five+ members and guests joined us to hear Constance Chabrieres speak about her paper-mache creations and her work designing furniture, clothing and jewelry. The meeting, on February 11, 2012, began at 2 p.m. at Davis Library, 6400 Democracy Boulevard in Bethesda.

Discover Constance Chabrieres and her paper-mache sculptures at SAA’s February meeting.  Chabrieres is a French sculptor whose works are included in public and private collections in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. She is a self-taught mixed-media artist. Her work is figurative and highly expressionist.

http://www.chabrieres.net/ 

Thanks to Linda Orenstein for the meeting writeup below:

The February 11, 2012 SAA meeting began with a brief information session conducted by Joe Giacalone and Barry Perlis. All members should visit the new website to see planned SAA meetings and exhibits, writeups and photos of our meetings, links to members' websites, .... Click here.

Giacalone announced there will be an SAA logo competition with a cash award for the chosen design. No further details were mentioned.

If you have never done any work with paper-mache you will want to when you see Constance Chabrieres’ presentation of her work. Chabrieres is a child psychologist who worked in post-conflict countries where few supplies besides paper were available.  At one point she took a class in Paris on paper-mache and became thoroughly involved  in fashioning sculptures. Chabrieres works with several galleries in France and had a Bethesda show in December, 2011. She fabricates lamps, furniture, hats and jewelry as well as figures.

Chabrieres formerly worked with cancer patients and currently works with children and the handicapped, instructing them in the art of paper-mache.   She likes to recycle items from her home and makes her own wheat glue which is healthier.  Chabrieres has her work done in bronze if a client requests it. She says ”There are no limits to the use of paper”.