Artista Vista at Nonnah's Part 2

Painting by Ingrid Carson

This is continued from an earlier post discussing an evening of art at Nonnah's.

The wall across from from the entry; showed delicate yet detailed water scenes, which were very nicely rendered. Yet, I noticed something was different about them. Marcie Murray, explained to me these were watercolors on Fredrix watercolor canvases. For more info on these canvases click on the link. Her paintings were very peaceful and relaxing.

From across the room I spotted Donna Reid talking with Ingrid Carson. Ingrid had a variety of works ranging from her traditional oil paintings of landscapes to abstracts and collage paintings. I actually brought her luck; as she sold one of her abstracts while I spoke with her.

The abstract above is Ingrid's. You Go Girl!!

Maggie; the owner of Nonnah's walked through and was ready to return the rooms to a restaurant; with wine, desserts & dining. Then I spotted Jan Livingston; fashionable as always; I should have taken a picture. Her artwork was featuring brightly colored acrylic canvases. Some were abstract while others were impressionistic. They were all modern and brightly colored. I searched the web to see if I could find any of these; with no luck.

The Show at Noonah's will continue through the next two weeks. Stop in; take a look; there is enough variety here; so anyone should be able to find something they would love.
Have a great time...Artsails1
http://www.jeanbourque.com/
Noonah's on Gervais in the Vista of Columbia, SC

Photography Tips by Jerry Bridgers

I once did a "How to Photograph your paintings" set on Flickr. I took it back off about a year ago. Because of our presentation by Jay Gross, I returned the Sets to flickr as a reinforcement to his presentation. These photos are in a collection of 3 sets. One set deals with camera and light set up, one with correcting distortion and a third on color balance. I included three photos on quick color shifts for photos that don't quite match the painting. If you are interested, the collection is located at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bridgeimages/collections/72157600062718642/

A group of photographs that I retouched are located at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bridgeimages/sets/72157600086667825/ I tried to include photographs that show examples of various type of retouching from "fixing" to "photo collage"
I also put a retouching example at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bridgeimages/sets/72157600095279229/ This Set has eight photos that show the changes as they were made when I removed a sign from a photograph.

Best wishes

Jerry BridgersColumbia, SC
Paintings and Graphics located at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/bridgeimages/collections/

Thank you Jerry for sending this!

Jeanee at www.jeanbourque.com

Artista Vista at Nonnah's Part 1

April 26, 2007 was the annual Artista Vista. In the past Jean Bourque and Betty Cooper were artists on display at Nonnah's and had spent many years at Nonnah's for these events. We decided to go and see what our friends were painting these days. Entering the front door we encountered a large painting sitting on the sidewalk; in the doorway. We both recognized it and looked in side and there was Edie talking to people about her art. The walls were ablaze with brilliant colors; on acrylic canvases of all sizes.

I spotted Michel McNinch talking to prospective clients as well. She saw me too and waved. Michel had a wall filled with beautiful paintings depicted the marsh, landscapes and beachfront. These may have been inspired by her summers in St. John's Island, SC. I really admire her large oil paintings on canvas with their winding paths of water and other patrons of Nonnah's chatted to me about how much they liked her art.

I looked in the front room where I had shown my art in the past and saw it was filled with a variety of art by Jennie Branham. I can tell you Jennie is a very talented woman. She has been working in realism and abstracts, doing both equally well. She paints in everything from watercolor to oils and portraits to collage. One gets the sense that, Jennie can paint anything and everything, very well.

Bonnie Goldberg had her wall full of colorful paintings of women. I have been a long time fan of her art work and really enjoyed seeing her newest art. Her large unframed works on canvas; depict women that look interesting and artistic. They are shown here on Nonnah's web page for the gallery. Bonnie has her own painting style which is what makes her work so wonderfully, fresh and original.

Artista Vista as talked about in the State Newspaper at this link...
To be Continued....

Ingrid Carson Painting

Another Green Pear

Put your Art on the Web

"The Artist's Magazine" Art Competition

Op Art Tree by Jean Bourque

www.jeanbourque.com

Enter your artwork in the 24th Annual Art Competition sponsored by The Artist's Magazine.

More than $25,000 in cash prizes will be awarded, and Top Award Winners will be featured in the December 2007 issue of The Artist's Magazine! Plus, 13 finalists will be featured in The Artist's Magazine's 2008Calendar! The entry deadline is May 1, 2007. Don't wait... Enter Today! There are 5 categories for you to compete and win in: Portrait & Figure, Still Life, Landscape, Experimental and Animal Art. Plus, there's a Special Student/Beginner Division for new artists.For details and an entry form visit: http://www.artistsmagazine.com/specialoffers.asp?ADL07sts

Fall N2 Art 2007 Design Competition

Lucky Star

by Jean Bourque

Oil Painting on Canvas

www.jeanbourque.com

Fall N2 Art 2007 Design Competition

The Artist Roundtable (ART) in Columbia, South Carolina is pleased to present the 2007 Fall N2 Art Poster Design Competition. Artists are invited to submit their designs for the 2007 poster. The winning image will be reproduced on Fall N2 Art invitations, posters and publicity materials.

Fall N2 Art is a juried art festival held in Columbia, South Carolina September 21-23, 2007. The event is sponsored by the Artists Roundtable in conjunction with the Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties and is open to artists 18 years of age and older.

Art Contest Entry Specifications Printable PDF Form

Entries due no later than: Thursday, May 31, 2007 5 p.m.

Requirements:

1.All media is acceptable; winning art to be reproduced in 4-color process.

2.Finished poster size is 18 x 24 (vertical). Art submitted should be scalable to fit these parameters. Do not submit text with your design.

3.Art should be submitted in electronic format on a CD or DVD (at 300 dpi for printing) along with a hard copy of your image printed in color on an 11 x 8.5 sheet of paper with the orientation in vertical format.

4.Entry fee $15 for submittal for up to 2 images. Please make checks payable to Artists Roundtable.

5.Mail images to:

Fall N2 Art 2007 Design Competition
3821 Edinburgh Road
Columbia, SC 29204

Awards:
The jury is looking for one dynamic image to represent the Fall N2 Art Festival as both a poster and invitation. Winner will receive a $100 cash award.
The Winner will be notified by telephone and announced on the website the week of June 15, 2007. If you have any questions please email the festival committee at: http://www.artistsroundtable.com/contact.html

Entry Form
PLEASE COMPLETE AND ATTACH WITH YOUR PACKET.

I certify that this is my original work and give permission for this work to be reproduced for purposes of publicizing the Fall N2 Art Show Competition. If selected as a winner, this entry becomes the property of the Fall N2 Art Show, which will retain possession and all legal rights to the artwork selected, including all reproduction and photographic rights for Fall N2Art publicity.
Signature is required.

Signature__________________________________
Name_____________________________________ (Please Print)
Address____________________City_______________State________Zip____
Phone____________________ Email_________________________________

The Bus Stop Gallery Show

Jan from Bus Stop gallery emailed me this postcard which features some great looking art

The artists that painted the top is Lynn Parrott of Hilton Head;

The interesting building painting is by Sharon Dowell of Charlotte

The Sculpture is by Edwin Gordon of Columbia

The Bus Stop Gallery is on Millwood in Columbia, SC

Photography

Jerry Bridgers has his art on flickr.com and I checked it out. He had this beautiful photograph of a butterfly and I asked if I could show it here. For some reason this photograph of a peaceful butterfly in bright colors just really captured me. Thanks Jerry

Jean

www.jeanbourque.com

Art by Gail Cunnigham

These are new photos Gail Cunningham sent to show the world.

Remember a few posts back; maybe even as far back as last month;

I mentioned the art of Gail Cunningham and Ingrid Carson and posted

their websites. Here are photos of Gail's fine polymer clay art.

Enjoy...

Jean Bourque

www.jeanbourque.com

Art by Suzanne Amodio SOAL Member

I love her use of bright colors and the flow in her work. Suzanne Amodio has a colorful style all her own. I hope you will enjoy these unique works of art; as much as I do.

Thanks for looking;

Jean Bourque

www.jeanbourque.com

Cityline; Julie Cooper Art

Cityline: Imagine the View

This is the view at night

This magnificent view can be yours. Artist and Seven Oaks Art League Member Julie Cooper is working on her largest piece of art yet! Cityline is 5 stories high; with 20 condos and offers a great view of the city. As an artist; I would love to be on the top floor painting in the night sky overlooking the Vista. Wouldn't you love the view?

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For further details contact Julie Cooper

via email at

jcooper48@sc.rr.com

Alicia Leeke at Seven Oaks Art League

On Thursday evening April 19, 2007 the members of Seven Oaks Art League were introduced to the wonderful silk scarf and tie work of Alicia Leeke. She did a slide show which included her acrylic paintings and her silk work. Locally; Alicia is probably best known for her impressionistic Paris Street and Cafe Scenes. She intentionally distorts the perspective and uses lots of black lines for a unique look that is strictly Alicia's. You may see her art at www.alicialeeke.com

She demonstrated how she goes from a blank white silk on a stretcher to a unique one of a kind wearable scarf. She passed around the various tools and the silk blanks used in silk painting and told the league about the various chemicals used to paint silk scarves. She demonstrated the use of resist and discussed painting in a batik style. We all watched in amazement as she told us how even a mistake could be incorporated into the design and actually be a happy experience. One of the members asked how she decides what colors to use and Alicia told us she refers to color sites on the web so that she knows what colors will be selling this year. She was later asked where she gets the blanks and she said you could get them at http://www.dharmatrading.com/ and other websites as well.

We all had a great time and learned a lot watching Alicia paint.
Thanks Alicia;
Jean Bourque
www.jeanbourque.com

Painting with Other Artists; such fun!

While painting with Julie Cooper; I completed a 24 x 30 inch; museum quality abstract work on canvas; that I had been working on since the start of the new year. It can best be described as a highly layered painting with the top layer image as a figure overlooking a mountain landscape and rising into an opening sky. Several transparent layers beneath is a grouping of what could suggest a network of people (or flowers) depending on your point of view. I like the idea of Networking and that is what the blog is all about is networking. Sharing with our global community; the art and artists that come into my life. I will put this painting on the site soon.

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Tuesday I painted with Betty Cooper at her place. She explored abstraction based on an inspiration from my blog! How cool is that! She provided house painter tools for both us and I did a really cool underwater style painting which I had started a month ago and couldn't quite get the underwater effect. I have it now and it is showing at Genco Pools on Jamil Rd in the St. Andrews area of Columbia, SC along with 4 other wonderful paintings. After I hung them; I received so many compliments and several people asked me about buying them too. I am really happy about showing my art there and the response it is getting.

Marketing Tip: Don't be afraid to think outside the box;

you can show and sell art many places.

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Wednesday evening; I painted with Betsy and Maria. I actually forgot to bring a canvas with me . Can you believe it? No one had a spare, so I grabbed the large cardboard; I lined my trunk with and brought that into the studio and painted in acrylics on cardboard. I cut it up as it was pretty big. Since cardboard is not acid free; it was more like an exercise in primary colors. To my amazement and Maria and Betsy's too; it came out really good. Tuesday I will paint there again so I left the cardboard painting. My plan: I can paint it on a thick canvas; knowing it will work; I just have to make it larger.

Painting Tip: If you feel like painting and don't have a canvas; you can always find something that you can paint on. Try it. It was very freeing. If you don't have brushes; you can use all kinds of things to make marks. Let your imagination run wild.

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I saw many artists this week and received artwork from several as well. This week I will post artwork from The ABC group! I will tell you about the wonderful presentation we had at the SOAL meeting with Alicia Leeke and about our upcoming juried art show.

Thanks for stopping by;

Jean

http://www.jeanbourque.com/

The Tea Cup Art has been Posted Now

I mentioned a while back that I had pictures of about half of the tea cups from the Silent Auction for the Wild Women's Tea Party of 2005. I know that sounds like ancient history; but very few people actually saw these works of art before they were all sold and gone. So...I decided why let the pictures go to waste in my computer...PUBLISH them. So I have published them on my website at http://www.jeanbourque.com/ Go to the link on the right side labeled Tea Cup Art.

Barbie Mathis Wins Another Award on "Double Decker"

DOUBLE DECKER; WINS AGAIN!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS BARBIE MATHIS

Yes; folks this is a painting; not a photograph! Barbie Mathis is a member of Seven Oaks Art League and TAG. She has created this watercolor painting with a strong focal point showing intense color while keeping the values and proportions balanced and included realistic shadowing.

Some of you may know; she won an award at the TAG show. Just this past week she also won an award at a show in Anderson SC for this painting named "Double Decker". With art work this beautiful; there is no question why; Barbie Mathis is an award winning artist. Don't you just love it?

To see more art by Barbie Mathis go to her website at www.barbiemathis.com

Taking the Fear out of Digital Photography Meeting

HELLO...

Monday evening; I went to The Trenholm Artists Guild's meeting www.trenholmartistsguild.org which was with the SC Watermedia Society; their web site is at: http://www.fineartsemporium.com/scws/SCWS.htm

This is a meeting; I do not normally attend; but I went because they were having Jay Gross speak about "Taking the Fear out of Digital Photography" for artists. I actually may be more afraid now; then I was before. Ignorance truly is bliss. Anyway; I got a big surprise when I saw Guy Lipscomb. He turned 90 this week and he is truly an amazing artist. Here is a picture from the meeting with Jay Gross (standing) talking to him (Guy is sitting) I believe the photographer that shot their picture was Jerry Bridgers. Correct me if I am wrong. http://www.flickr.com/people/bridgeimages/

Jay gave us all a hand out which is on the Trenholm Art Guild website; if you would like a copy of it and more great photos as well. I am trying to decide what camera would work best for my needs as an artist but also as someone that doesn't like to read manuals. I go to the trial and error school of thought. So I am looking for simplicity; yet quality. I also would like something that has the capacity to do videos as you can see I have gotten into www.youtube.com and would love to film and post individual artists at work.

Neither Jay Gross or Guy Lipscomb have an art website under their individual names; although both of them are all over the internet. So I will leave that for you to google up; if you want more info on either of them.

I have received several artists work to post for my website at

www.jeanbourque.com

and they will be posted on Sunday April 15, 2007.

Please stop in and look at their work and don't forget to book mark this space and read it every week so you know what's happening in the art world in this part of the world.

As any artist that knows me knows;

it's time for me to go painting; now. So; I'll catch up with you again soon!

Some Art Websites you should see

Just wanted to share the art work of two art friends...Ingrid Carson and Gail Cunningham. Both women are members of the Seven Oaks Art League and have won many awards on their art work. This is a painting by Ingrid Carson. The story follows...

I have painted with Ingrid many times over the past ten years. We have had a lot of fun together painting. I remember one time we were way up in the mountains in NC at her winter retreat and I had never seen Ingrid paint anything but reality based items. Much to my surprise she painted the painting to the left in abstract art and she did such a great job; I was really blown away. So much so that I never did finish my paintings that weekend. I have since finished them but they are very different then they were when I left the mountain house. Ingrid and I enjoy each others art so much; we each own art by the other.

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If you want to learn to paint from a patient teacher; call Ingrid; she is a wonderful art teacher. She teaches classes in oil paintings and has a studio at her home. Information for contacting Ingrid is on her website and her artwork is there for you to view. Check out Ingrid's art on my website where she is my first featured artist at http://www.jeanbourque.com and you can check her art out on her website at

http://home.mindspring.com/~ingrid.k.carson

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Gail Cunningham works in many different mediums. In Columbia, SC at least among the women; Gail is probably best known for her jewelry in polymer clay. I wish I had a picture to upload; but I don't. She has some on her website. Besides jewelry; Gail has done many paintings and collages. Like me; Gail is a past President of the SOAL. Gail; is another artist that I own some of her work. Although I do not have a painting by Gail Cunningham; I do have two beautiful pins in polymer clay and I love them both. Her pins look like miniature paintings and they tend to be abstract art into themselves. They are not crafty looking; they are very fine art pieces. You have to see them to know what I mean. Even though I work in many mediums and do assemblage; I would have no idea how to make these fine artworks of jewelry!

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Here is Gail's website check it out: http://www.bayharbordesigns.com/

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In case; this is the first time you have read my blog and you are wondering; who I am; you can read about me and see some of my art at my website at http://www.jeanbourque.com/

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One final note... I am looking forward to adding more web videos and making some myself soon. Maybe you can star in one of the art videos! So my friends and artful dodgers... watch this blog...it will get more interesting...I promise you that!!!

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Until next time ... keep on painting... I have 4 in process right now...can't wait to finish them...and show them to you; but we must wait...

Momma said all good things are worth waiting for...

Artsails1

www.jeanbourque.com

Art Boxes click to see art making videos

I just came across these videos on Youtube and all of them are so neat. I had to post them on this blog! The first two are showing you the work of two abstract artists; while the other two show works in progress. As the artists are painting and manipulating their work; they talk with you and let you in on the thought process. One of the four works a lot like I do. So to me; it was amazing to see someone on video painting like I do; since I have never seen anyone in real life ...do it my experimental way. LOL! If you love art; like I love art I am sure you will enjoy these youtube videos. They are really pretty amazing! Enjoy; enjoy...