Photography by John Mitchell and some upcoming events

The photo of my granddaughter is to catch her unawares. To get a natural look.
The other photos are an attempt to frame the natural world and give it a concentration you don't get in everyday observation. The photos are opposite, in a way. I'm trying to show a human in nature and to emphasize the natural for the human viewer.

All photos were taken with a 35mm Canon AE-1 using a 70mm lens.

Upcoming Events of interest 

Thursday, April 24, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Petals2Paint

Opening Reception, East Colony Fine Art, 55 South Commercial Street, Manchester

www.eastcolony.com  

Free admission and parking

Saturday, April 26, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm, NHIA student annual “art attack”.

Student and alumni art sale at the Brady-Sullivan Plaza courtyard, 1000 Elm Street, Manchester

Acoustic performances during the day. Free admission.

www.nhia.edu

Saturday, April 26, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, Alton

Home, Recreation & Food Festival at Prospect Mountain High School, Alton, NH

Our members Linda Feinberg (artist) and Joe Smiga (author) will be at tables 16 & 17.

Free admission and parking

Photo of last year's NHIA student art sale used with permission:

Acrylic and watercolor classes with Anthony Williams at Hobby Lobby (S. Willow Street, Manchester) on Wednesdays (Watercolor) 10:00 am - 12:00 pm and Fridays (Acrylics), 5:00 - 7:00 pm. 

New projects, interesting exhibits, useful blog links

We have been contacted by Alderman Pat Long (downtown Manchester alderman) to paint the “Spare Change” parking meters.  There are 6 meters to be painted.  All stickers will be removed and the meters will have a white primer.

The meters will need a square that is 3” X 3” for a label that says: 

Can You Spare Some Change

Thank You!

100% of the Proceeds to Benefit

New Horizons of New Hampshire

The Friends of Art Manchester name along with the artist name can go anywhere the artist wants. Since this is public art, the images would need to be appropriate for all ages (sorry, no nudes).

The meters weigh about 45 pounds each.  According to artist Anthony Williams, they would need oil based spray paint (Rustoleum). Mr. Long is willing to pay for the paint, or you could use your own paint. We are in the process of determining where and when the painting will take place. We have three artists definitely signed up for painting, two possible artists and would be happy to have one more, although one artist is willing to paint two meters.

 

Contact Linda Feinberg, Treasurer, if you are interested in painting a meter.

Exhibits:

Going to Boston? Boston Sculptors Gallery exhibits on the Christian Science Plaza. This exhibit runs through October 31^st, 200 Mass Ave.

Sculpture by Donna Dodson shown on left.

http://www.donnadodsonartist.blogspot.com/

http://www.convergenceexhibit.blogspot.com/

Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein also exhibit periodically in New Hampshire.

How about Hollis, NH? That’s a lot closer.

Windows, a showing of paintings by Ruth Weiner Harris. Reception is Sunday, June 23, from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, but the paintings will be up to view until July 15^th during library hours. This is in the Hollis Library.

Painting on right is by Ruth Weiner Harris.

In Manchester the annual student art exhibit is up at New Hampshire Institute of Art in three of their buildings.  The graduating students have their work up at 148 Concord Street, but you will need to hurry. The exhibit finishes June 19^th.  You can park in their lot, or the Hartnett Lot (meters, or free parking after 5:30 p.m.) and you can walk to all three buildings. There is art in a variety of media. It is very inspiring to see what art students are creating.

Periodically, we will post information that is of interest to artists and art collectors.

Do you know how to hang a painting?  This article gives you details.

http://www.reddotblog.com/wordpress/index.php/how-to-hang-a-painting-a-free-guide-from-xanadu-gallery/

Red Dot Blog is a good resource for articles on art marketing as well as practical information for artists. This week’s post is by a guest and is about successfully marketing your art through art festivals.  http://www.reddotblog.com/wordpress/

Business blog by Barney Davey with good information for artists and marketing:

http://artprintissues.com/

Finally, we are open to new members. There is an application at the link in the right column (under Friends of Art Links). We will be setting up a Paypal account this week, but you can also print and mail in your application with a check.

A Beautiful Winter Morning by Colleen O'Connor

A Beautiful Winter Morning was done with watered down acrylics on watercolor paper after Linda Feinberg shared her Stephen Quiller video with me (Acrylics the Watercolor Way: Stephen Quiller Paints a Landscape) and we used the technique with the students in my program (21st Century Community Learning Center at Henry J. McLaughlin, Jr. Middle School). (See photo in first blog post on this site to see what the students accomplished.)

I worked from a photo I took one morning when I went out ice fishing with "the boys" at Pillsbury State Park in Washington, NH. 

The second is of a few cards I whipped up this week. Not sure if they look that great... I like to use scraps from other projects, so even when the papers are the same, every card is different. 

The third photo is of some of my hand painted Easter eggs. Every year I blow the insides out and paint a unique egg for everyone in my family. None of the designs are planned, it's just what I feel like painting at the time. Although delicate, they can be completed rather quickly and I love the variety of my designs. 

Colleen is a teacher in Manchester with the 21st Century Community Learning Center at Henry J. McLaughlin, Jr. Middle School.  She is also looking for a full time art teacher position in the fall.

To contact Colleen O'Connor: cmoconnor9@yahoo.com

Anthony Williams

Anthony Williams has been an artist in New Hampshire for many years, and has painted murals all over Manchester and one in Nashua at the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter. In Manchester, he's worked with inner city youth through a program called Eagle Eyes, graffiti artists painting negative graffiti to change their mindset and do some murals together in approved spaces to show that they can do work for positive reasons. The hope is to curtail vandalism while giving young people a constructive way to express themselves.

He has placed 20+ 'movable' murals in public areas in the city. He painted and oversaw the development of several murals covering the walls in an area of town referred to as Cat Alley  among many other projects. 

He recently finished the Mural on the Homestead Restaurant's Silo in Merrimack. 

Anthony is both a commercial painter and also a fine artist working in both watercolors and acrylics. He is the inspiration for bringing together artists and those interested in art to form “Friends of Art Manchester”.  We hope to have more art downtown and involve more children with art.

Friends of Art is currently partnering with LibertyHarbor Academy and Anthony for a fall project (possibly two). Anthony will be working with the students on creating a mural for their cafeteria space.

Contact: Anthony Williams [amwpaints26@yahoo.com]

Note: To make the photos larger so that you can see them better, just click on them!

To see some of the articles written about Anthony, go to these links:

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssfSnnYfVFk

http://eagleeyes1.org/services

http://eagleeyes1.org/page_2

http://www.newhampshire.com/article/20121124/NEWHAMPSHIRE01/121129501/-1/NEWHAMPSHIRE07

http://www.hippopress.com/read-article/art-is-drawn-in-manchesterand8217s-cat-alley

Welcome

Welcome to the new blog for Friends of Art Manchester.  We are a new organization in Manchester, New Hampshire.  We completed our first project in January of this year working with the students at the Henry J. McLaughlin Middle School and the 21st Century Learning Center. Intown Manchester graciously donated their display case for the artwork created by the students.

We are founding this organization to link artists within the community with the goal of educating children and promoting art in the Manchester area.  We would like to make art more visible in our city.  We have already contacted artists who are willing to work with children to make murals and we have commitment for space on Elm Street for the fall.  While many artists are willing to donate their time, there are always costs associated with art projects for materials and space.

In May of this year, we hope to put up posters in the windows of Liberty Harbor Academy on Elm Street.  Four of our artists have agreed to provide some interesting art. The Academy has interior wall space for both murals and exhibits and we will be working with them in the fall.

If you would like more information, please feel free to contact me at lhfeinberg@myfairpoint.net.  If you would like to join the group, our next meeting will be on Wednesday evening May 15th at 7:00 p.m.  I would like to invite other artists to submit appropriate blog posts.  I will try to post weekly and will need to review your post to make sure it is relevant to our purpose.  Since we have the goal of working with children, all art submitted will have to be age appropriate (I apologize to my artist friends in advance who like to do more figurative art, sorry.)