Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays from

Arts Northeast

 

May the magic and the wonder of the holiday season

stay with you throughout the coming year

 

Brenda, Dora, Joan, and Michelle

http://www.artsnortheastnl.com/

Christmas Art Sale this Sunday, December 1st

Join us on Sunday, December 1st at the Courtyard Marriott on Duckworth Street from 11am until 5pm for our Christmas Art Show.

Original artwork, art reproductions and limited edition art cards will be available. Affordable prices to fit any budget.

Special prices for one day ONLY.

Free Admission and all purchases are TAX FREE!

Enter to win prizes!!!

VISA and MasterCard Accepted.

See you there!

ART SALE Sunday December 1st, 2013 11am-5pm

Looking for that perfect Christmas gift? Why not give the gift of ART???

On December 1, 2013, the visual artists of Arts Northeast will exhibit new pieces of original art, art reproductions and art cards in a Christmas exhibition and sale.  The Christmas Art Sale is open for one day from 11:00am to 5:00pm at the Courtyard Marriott, 131 Duckworth Street in St. John’s. Admission is free and all sales are Tax Free.

The collection for this exhibition consists of a wide variety of subjects, mediums, and sizes of original art; and will also include art reproductions and art cards. This provides a perfect opportunity to invest in a small piece of art as the beginning to a collection or to add to an existing collection of original art.

 

Arts Northeast is a collaborative group of visual artists living on the Northeast coast of the Avalon Peninsula, and was created to provide inspiration, opportunities for learning, and support to its members. Dora Cooper, Joan Roberts, Michelle Whitten LaCour, and founder Brenda Rowe are the exhibiting members of Arts Northeast.

The artists look forward to interacting with new buyers and connecting with existing collectors. The work has appeal to a wide range of art enthusiasts and investing in artwork in this setting is easy, enabling the public to explore a variety of fine art in one location which is priced to suit all budgets.   

The public is invited to join the artists during the day to discuss art and find that perfect gift for everyone on their shopping list.

Arts Northeast Update

We are having a meeting of Arts Northeast this evening....should be able to post more details about our Exhibition and Sale in the next few days.

And our Summer painting challenge is trees....stay tuned to see what tree-inspired artwork we have created!

If you have any questions about Arts Northeast, or the individual members of the group, you can contact us at artsnortheast@gmail.com.

To learn more about the members of Arts Northeast, please visit their pages on our website. You can also link to their personal websites from their Arts Northeast Page.

The members of Arts Northeast are:

Brenda Rowe
Dora Cooper
Joan Roberts
Michelle Whitten LaCour

Click on the member above to be taken to their Arts Northeast page!

June Painting Challenge - Doors

June's monthly challenge for our group was picked by Brenda. She has always found colourful and whimsical doors fascinating and wanted to see everyone's view on doors. Check out what we have all come up with for this challenge below.

"The Blue Door"
Michelle Whitten LaCour

"What's in There?"

Joan Roberts

 

"304 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM"

Brenda Rowe

Wine and Cheese 16" x 20" Acrylic on Gallery Canvas by Brenda Rowe

"Wine and Cheese"

16" x 20"

Acrylic on Gallery Canvas

Brenda Rowe

Two A Day
6" x 8"
Pen on Watercolour Paper
Joan Roberts

Green Mammoths
5" x 7"
Acrylic on Stretch Canvas
Jeanette Jobson

Want to know more about this painting?  Read Green Mammoths on Jeanette's blog.

Mojito Anyone?
9" x 12"
Pastel
Dora Cooper

Lemon Limes
6" x 8"
Encaustic on cradled birch panel
Michelle Whitten LaCour

MAY art challenge

here is a sneak peek of my favorite food!

Palette Knife Paintings

Recently, Arts Northeast members gathered to explore palette knife painting. A Palette Knife is a thin blade of varying flexibility set in a handle and used for mixing colours or applying them to a canvas. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are when used for applying paint to a canvas, it usually results in a more impressionistic painting.

Here is a sampling of our efforts! Hope you enjoy.

"Friendly Visitor"

Joan Roberts

"One Shed"

Dora Cooper

"Red Boat"

Jeanette Jobson

 

"Dory"
Brenda Rowe

 

MAY Art Challenge

Paint or draw your favorite food or drink. This can range from a simple
sketch to a finished painting, however far you want to take it.

Completion date by May 30th
Challenge pieces should be posted to the blog.

Happy Easter!!!

Easter means many things to many people. It is not surprising that when Arts Northeast decided to do an Easter challenge with no other instructions than create something that symbolizes Easter, we have five very different pieces of artwork and symbols.

Easter doesn't just symbolize what we have each chosen to produce, it can encompass much more and means more than one thing to each person.

We hope you have a happy Easter spent with friends and family. And we thank you for taking the time to see what Easter can symbolize to us. We would love to hear your thoughts on what Easter symbolizes to you.

"He is Risen"

Monotype

Michelle Whitten LaCour

"Easter Bonnet"

Watercolour

Joan Roberts 

 

"Spring Crocus"

Watercolour

Dora Cooper

 

"Easter Chick"

Acrylic

Jeanette Jobson

"Easter Basket"

Digital Media

Brenda Rowe

Hearts

Its Valentine's Day and that means hearts, flowers, chocolate and lots of red.  At the last minute I threw out a challenge to other artists on Arts Northeast to come up with a heart for Valentine's Day.  As there wasn't much time, people had other obligations, but a heart or two made it here in time.

I hope your day was filled with love and all things good.

 Heartfelt

Jeanette Jobson 

 Bleeding Hearts

Dora Cooper

 2 hearts

Michelle Whitten LaCour

I Heart Colour

Brenda Rowe

 

Shades of Love
Brenda Rowe

Creating abstract art

 Crop from 1892

Arts Northeast is exploring a wide range of ideas and techniques in 2013 with printmaking under our belt and in January a session in palette knife painting.  February is abstract art and I thought I'd add my thoughts for members and anyone else interested in getting started in that area.

I'll preface my thoughts with the statement that I am not an abstract painter, but I enjoy being able to push representational art over the edge into impressionism and further still into abstract. Each move creates a looser interpretation of an idea of subject, but the underlying concept remains the same.  The piece above is crop of a small study, 8" x 8" of a piece named 1892, which was inspired by the Great Fire of 1892 in St. John's NL.

The technique of creating abstract art is no different than in creating any other type of art. Abstraction creates the essences of a subject rather than working in detail. Here are some ideas that help me when starting an abstract piece.

1.  You need a concept or a subject.
Everything in art begins with an idea. From that idea, more thought flows.  While most people do not think of abstract art has having a 'thing' as its basis, it usually does.  How it morphs into the final shape is a combination of factors and leaves a lot to the viewer to pull information from and make their own story around it.

2.  You need to decide on your tools
What colours are you going to use?  A limited range of colours?  A broader range?  Contrasts?  Low or high key? 

Are you going to add other mediums?  Paste?  Wax?  Embedded objects?

3.  Do your research
Even with a concept or subject, research becomes an essential tool to guide and provide ideas for direction.   Looking at abstract art from a wide range of artists is useful and provides a lot of information that can help put you on a path to your own piece.

Do an internet search for abstract art or I've found Pinterest or Etsy very useful in giving me hundreds of images and ideas.  Taking a idea from here and a colour combination from there, they form into something that is uniquely mine.

You can also work out ideas in digital image editors such as Photoshop, changing shape and colour. If you don't have photoshop, there are a number of free photo editing programs available that let you work on similar techniques.

4.  Start small
Studies are often seen as a waste of time but they are quite the opposite.  A small study completed prior to a large piece lets you work out your ideas without investing large amounts of time and materials.  It allows you to find the right palette and textures and work out techniques on a small scale.

5.  Exercise your abstract muscle
Browse the internet, magazines, gallery, art sites for abstract art and choose three favourite pieces.  Carefully think about why they appeal to you.  Is it the colour, shape, texture, emotion? 

a.  Choose a small size panel/paper, whatever you use no larger than 8 x 10 and recreate one of the favourites that you have chosen. 

b.  Choose another small support and now create an abstract piece based on your own thoughts and ideas.  Experiment, play with colours and textures.  Notice how the chroma of colours changes the look and feel of a piece. 

Let's see what the group produces at our next session on February 10th!