Working Up the 10th Annual National Miniature Exhibition



3 Onions,
Esther Marie Versch

 Now that the show is hung, you would think things would settle down, but that is just the tip of the iceberg for a show like this. Wednesday October 27, Director Fern Christian and Susan Tschantz worked at tagging the artwork by entry number, making sure the entry number matched the artist’s entry information.

Thursday gallery artist Gary Taylor was on hand to welcome and assist our juror, Marshall University professor Don Van Horn, Dean of the Fine Arts College.

Gary also did a bit of proofreading, Susan Tschantz can do many things, but spell is not one of them. And we are all grateful for Gary’s keen eyes!

Saturday, both before and after our figure drawing class (which went great) we started putting up the identification tags. Since the judging was all over except for the shouting, we can now mark whose is who’s with the miniatures.

Year of the Small, Really Small!

3 Small Pieces

This year that presents a special problem. This seems to be the year of the small, really small! Our miniature exhibition has always been restricted more on size than content, but this year we relaxed the limits slightly to reflect the National Society of Miniaturist and the world Federation of Miniature Artists, so really expected a few larger (for miniatures) works. The opposite seems to have happened. While one of our soapstone sculptures comes in right at eight inches, another is the smallest we have ever gotten, at half an inch by 2 inches. We did get a mixed media painting at less than an inch.

So while we have more pieces and more artist than last year, they actually take up less room! We have 3 tiny works of art on a small shelf.

This year we also have more three-dimensional pieces than last year. Some really interesting sculptures and several pots and stoneware pieces have been entered.

Lil Has Gone to London

Lillianne Bowersock

Lillianne Bowersock, one of our more active artists, has gone to London, English to visit her children and grandchildren. They presently live there, and Lillianne has not seen them in several years. Now that she has retired from her teaching job, she is taking the time to visit them.

The gallery will miss her, but all of the members of The Renaissance Gallery are happy that she has this chance to go, and know she will come back to use full of excitement because of her journey.

Lillianne came into the gallery all excited, and a little ashamed, She is deserting us just when the 10Th Annual National Miniature show is opening!

Oh well, we will solder on without her this year, but next year, Lil!

In a whirl, she had to get things organized, packed, etc. As she has several health issues to deal with, it did take some doing, but Lil is nothing if not resourceful!

So after a lot of rushing around, Lil made her flight.

Lil, being the outgoing, friendly person that she is, got into a conversation with her seat mate, who, as it turns our, keeps a blog.

I could not write a better, more flattering and honest a bio of this outstanding artist if I worked all night. It is something we tend not to write about ourselves, but it does not make it less true.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kari-stoever/720-saturdays-and-a-silve_b_772336.html

God's Fingers

Read this blog entry and see if you don't think Lillianne is an outstanding person, not just an outstanding artist.

We tend to think of people in terms of their art. She is an artist, a watercolorist, etc. or think about individual works. but you cannot forget that artists are people first. And have lives that should outshine their art.

Call for Submissions! 10th Annual National Miniature Exhibition!

After Seurat

Calling all Miniatures!

Entry dates for the 10th Annual National Miniature Exhibition is this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 22, 23 & 24, 2010. Gallery hours are 12:00-4:00 pm. Fri & Sat and 1:00-4:00 pm Sunday. Bring in those miniature paintings, sculptures etcetera, etcetera,

Awards will be announced at a reception at the gallery November 7, 2010. 2-4 pm At the Renaissance Art Gallery. Exhibition will run through December 12, 2010.

Again this year there will be 3 extra awards, chosen by public. Our people’s choice awards allow those attending and participating in the show to be part of the process. In addition, there are several purchase awards to be given out this year also.





Charcoal on Purple



There is still time for artists to enter this show. The Miniature Exhibition is open to all Adult artists in the Tri-State Area. This is a nationally recognized show. Awards are cash and prizes. Submission dates are October 22, 23, and 24, from 12-4 pm Friday and Saturday and 1-4 pm on Sunday. Work should be brought into the Renaissance Art Gallery, 900 8th Street, Suite #20, Huntington, WV.

For more information you can download the prospectus at www.orgsites.com/wv/renaissance or come into the gallery and talk to one of our artists.



The Renaissance Art Gallery

Still life with 5 objects

900 8th Street, Suite #20

Huntington, WV 25701



Gallery (304) 525-3235

Appointments: (304) 453-3187

gallerywv@yahoo.com

www.orgsites.com/wv/renaissance



http://twitter.com/wvgallery

http://renaissancegalleryart.blogspot.com/

Gallery hours are:



Friday & Saturday 12-4 pm, Sunday 1-4 pm

Studio hours Monday 10-Noon, Wednesday 1:00-7:30 pm and Saturday 10-Noon

Size Matters, Working in Miniature



Finch done in Colored Pencil
Artist- S. Tschantz



Size Matters

Art schools tend to emphasize painting large. Large is good. Large is important. Large is impressive. For those of us who are self-taught, the tendency is for sizes we are comfortable and familiar, ea. we tend towards sizes that photos come in, 8x10, 5x7 etc. Or whatever is on sale at the local craft store.

But choosing the size is also a part of composition. So go small!



Small works can be surprisingly intimidating.





Sparrow done in Colored Pencil
Artist- S. Tschantz



How Do I Paint So Small?



Once you try a couple, you find it really isn’t that hard. With the correct tools and lighting it can be very relaxing. After the stress of painting large, there is a certain freedom in going small.

4x6 seems to be the most popular size, both with artists and with collectors. This seems to be small enough to be intriguing, and still allows the viewer to interact with the scene. Another plus-it is a standard size and relatively easy and inexpensive to frame.



Parkland Ink Wash
Artist - S. Tschantz



Making a Mark: The Big Drawing People Book Review

Making a Mark: The Big Drawing People Book Review

THE BIG BOOK OF DRAWING AND PAINTING THE FIGURE




As the instructor for our figure classes at Renaissance Art Gallery, I use this as a reference book. First of all because of the scope of the book, how other cultures depicted the nude, I likes to refer to this book during my classes to show how other artists have handled the same problems that we are tackling from prehistoric times until today. This is only one of the reference books I use. I try to introduce my students to as many Figure drawing books as I can so that they can become more knowledgeable and well-rounded as the course progresses.

This definitive book offers help with Drawing the Nude, and the author describes the representation of the human figure in prehistoric times up to the 20th century. The Nude: The Ideal and the Real is introduced in the next chapter. There has always been a desire to depict the human as a more idealistic form than it actually is. Next ,the author refers to the Canon, the basic proportions of the figure, to the modern idea of artistic anatomy. The Artistic Study of the Nude, where the reader will learn techniques, tips and tricks and will see pictured an artist sketching a live model is addressed next. Next, Choosing the Model, he talks of poses, lighting the model, etc. The Art of the Nude: Composition, an introduction to composing with the figure deals with the backbone of any drawing. Last, the reader will be introduced to Color and the Nude, the Process of Painting the Nude. This rounds out the entire 192 page book.

The Big Book of Drawing and Painting the Figure was published by Watson/Guptill Publications in 1995. You can probably purchase this book at Borders or on Amazon.com.

~Bruce Bowersock

The Artists of the Renaissance Art Gallery give this book 5 Stars.