Sunday, August 2, 2009

Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society "Anything Goes" at the Palo Alto Art League

"Dancing the Blues"
11" x 14"
Watercolor and charcoal

One of my art goals this year is to enter two shows. I have actually met my goal. I entered Silicon Valley Open Studios in May and yesterday, I entered three pieces into "Anything Goes" being sponsored by the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society (SCVWS) at the Palo Alto Art League on Ramona Street in Palo Alto. Members were invited to submit pieces done in any media. You will see much watermedia, including acrylics, but you will also enjoy oils, collage, and a wonderful bronze sculpture.

Here is the beautiful flyer featuring art by several of our many accomplished artist. If you live in the area, the show is on through the end of the month. The reception is Friday night and this is my very first art reception for a public show sponsored by others. I am looking forward to a lovely evening. Please feel free to drop by between 6 and 9 p.m. Wine, light refreshments, and terrific art will make the event special, and you might choose a piece to add to your collection. Bob and I hope to see you there.

We could enter one framed piece and two matted, unframed pieces. I framed "Morning Light" previously featured on this blog. I did a bit more tweaking since I posted the piece, but I can't show you the improvements as I failed to photograph the finished piece. The unframed pieces include "Dordogne Sunflower" previously featured on the blog. "Dancing the Blues" shown above is the second piece. This is an image I have done in series as a part of a challenge on Myrna Wacknov's blog. I especially like the use of charcoal line on this one and the energetic background. Myrna has a lovely acrylic on display at the show.

SCVWS is a well-oiled machine and everyone who enters the show volunteers for a task. When I arrived at 11, the place was buzzing with volunteers examining the framed pieces to ensure compliance with show rules, receiving the art, and creating labels for the framed art. I was part of the hanging committee, with experienced hanger Karen Wong providing guidance to several of us. I was impressed with Karen's ability to group unlike art and provide a harmonious and eye-catching experience to the viewer. The two rooms with 48 pieces are very inviting. There are a number of windows and doors, so we put up the SCVWS show panels in places where they would not obstruct the overall view of the show. With two teams of hangers at work, we were done before 3! I learned a lot about how to successfully hang an art show. That's one of the things I love about volunteering in the society. I learn so much and have met many wonderful people.

I will exceed my goals this year as I also plan to enter "Linear Visions," the SCVWS Members Show that will be at the Rose Shenson Community Art Gallery, Triton Museum, in Santa Clara. Expect to see all things related to either using the design element, line (one I love!) or featuring some relationship to line. You can read about "LinearVisions." I am very excited to know that prominent watermedia artist Christopher Schink is the juror for this show and will select the pieces to receive awards. You can see that he really gets "line."

You'll be hearing more about my show experiences. Stay tuned.

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