Call to artists

Thanks to our President, Stephanie Bogalis, we have a new logo. Great job! We have also received our state charity registration and our listing.

Our exhibit at City Hall is going forward for the months of May and June.  We have seven artists confirmed and would like to have three more. The cost to our organization is $300 for the two months, so if we have 10 artists, the cost would be $30 each.

The deadline to confirm and pay is Monday, April  28th.  Please contact our treasurer, Linda Feinberg, lhfeinberg@myfairpoint.net or 603-645-6762 if you would like to be included. The space is in City Hall and Carolina Chauvette (who is a member and also on the city art commission) will be in charge of coordinating the exhibit.

If you are not a member yet, you will need to pay the $5.00 membership fee as well.  Also, the art or photography must be suitable for family viewing.

The theme for the mural at 720 Union Street will be "Nature in the City". We hope to have the power washing and priming of the wall done within the next month. Donations of cash or materials will be gratefully accepted for this project.

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. 

Using colored paper

Sometimes, we need to get back to basics, and what better way than using colored (medium tone) paper and black and white pencils?

From a simple still life to more complex colorful drawings, using colorful paper helps you think outside the box or may encourage you to try a range of colors you may tend to steer away from after you've begun your sketch with black and white.

Start with a simple sketch of a basic still life arrangement, then expand upon it with more complexity as you become more comfortable.  Experiment with colored pencils, pens, and pastels . . . use various blending tools (cotton swabs, cotton balls, rolled paper stumps, etc.) as the oils from your fingertips may affect the pencil/pastel you use.  Once you're comfortable with pencils/pastels/crayons, delve into paint and use the same principles for blending.

Remember to enhance your darkest shadows and highlight the brightest areas for good contrast, and then work in the mid tones to bring it all together. Enjoy!

Blog post by Stephanie Bogalis, President.


Still Life (with Pheasant) ©1993 Rod Holt

Spring

Spring is coming and so are our projects. The primer and top coat have been purchased for the wall at 720 Union Street.  Our chief muralist AnthonyWilliams would like some help.  Please contact him if you are able to help. 

Anthony, Stephanie B. and Deb. F are on the committee to decide a theme for the wall.  If you have any ideas, please contact one of them.

Crocus photo by Linda H. Feinberg



Just a reminder that when you join Friends of Art Manchester you are entitled to a blog posting which is a few photos and a few paragraphs about yourself and your art/photography/writing.  The posts generally stay up one week or two.

No one sent in anything this week, so I’ve picked two of my old untitled spring poems from my poetry book, “red poppies and green clover”.

Dressed in lavender and pink

     spring arrives

like the long‑awaited bridesmaids

     slowly marching down the aisle

stately in demeanor

     anxiously awaiting

          the show to begin.

©Linda H. Feinberg

Seeds sliding into grooves

The feel of warm, soft earth

Sunlight bringing color and freckles

Children in shorts

     bare legs dusted with dirt

Baseball gloves, lacrosse sticks

Dogs running wild

     rolling over and over

     trampling violets

          digging for chipmunks

Crickets chirping at dusk

          Spring

©Linda H. Feinberg

Spring Projects

Can you picture this wall with a mural? We can. This is a building on the west side that will have a mural with a salmon on it.  Anthony Williams and John Mitchell will be meeting with the city next week to discuss further plans for this mural.  This is a project being run by Eagle Eyes (link: http://www.eagleeyes1.org/), but will be coordinated with Friends of Art Manchester.  More information will be available in a future post.

We have received a donation from the owner of the building at 720 Union Street and will be designing a mural to be painted by our artists.  The actual cleanup of the wall will be started at the end of April or beginning of May.  We will be doing some fundraising at that time and already have some pledges.  Our members are working on the design and a theme for the wall which will be sectioned off so that artists can work on a section at a time (Similar to the wall on Mechanic Street by the YMCA).

Plein Air Painting:  We have a group that will meet in the spring and decide on a location in Manchester.  Most are novices and have not done this before, so you might want to consider joining us.  We will have a few seasoned painters to guide us as well.  We’ll post a date and place for our initial meeting (which will be an organizational one) once the weather improves.

Next Eagle Eyes meeting to discuss spring projects will be held next Wednesday, March 26^th, 7:00 p.m. at the Valley Street police station. All welcome.

Next FOA meeting is Wednesday, April 23^rd. Contact our Treasurer if you would like more information. lhfeinberg@myfairpoint.net

If you are interested in some projects outside of Manchester, the Nashua Area Artists Association posts calls for artists on its site: http://www.nashuaareaartistsassoc.org/?page_id=1124

Libraries and Spring Projects

Three of our members have works displayed at the Derry (NH) Public Library for the month of March. The exhibit is free and open to the public during library hours.

Rabbi Y'Shia by Linda Feinberg
acrylic, 8" X 10"

Mount Washington by Deb Funk, Watercolor

Red Leaves by John Mitchell
Photograph

Two landscape paintings by Linda Feinberg

Good news for spring projects:

We have a commitment (and a donation) for a mural on a building on Union Street.  The mural area of the wall is 30’ long  X 3’ high. We are accepting donations for this project at this time.  Anthony Williams will be in charge of the design and supervision of the painters.  We will be starting the design work this month and hope to do the cleaning up and priming of the wall in the spring.  The actual painting of the mural will probably be done in the late spring or early summer.  We have several artists who will be painting as well as two charter schools and their students who will be helping out.  Please consider making a donation with Paypal or by check to cover the costs of supplies for this project. Thank you.

Our winter project for Families in Transition has been completed and all the paintings were delivered to them for their men’s residence.  They will be having a reception for us when they have completed some interior work in the residence and have our paintings on the walls.

Men's Residence, Rest of the Paintings for FIT

Our second project for Families in Transition is finished.  These paintings will be going into their men’s residence soon. Thank you to the artists of Friends of Art Manchester for painting for this project. Great job!

Yins Yang by Paul Davidson

Acrylic, 16” X 20”

Pony Ride

by Carolina Chauvette

Acrylic, 16" X 20"

(For the clueless, this blogger

 included,this is a Mustang.)