May 2019 DemonstrationPhotography for Artists with MVAL member John Taggart, who is currently doing watercolor art. He retired as a photographer doing many types of photography—from weddings, portraits to advertising and commercial photography. During the last 26 year of his career he did photography for Los Angeles Police Department. (Who is OJ Simpson?) John's watercolor art is not trying to paint the realistic world. It has been his desire to paint a feeling or use the real to create new visions or recreate elements to a painterly design. “If I want to paint a scene that looks like the scene—I would take a photograph.” Photography for Artists will start with how to photograph/document your artwork with the tools that you may have. Often we are asked to make photographs of our paintings for submissions or just our own records. Sometimes there are shortcomings and procedures will be discussed as to how to make a good representation of your original art. Another feature of the presentation will be using a “photographers eye” which is really an artist eye. A camera or smartphone can be used as a tool to establish and develop compositions in your paintings. An artist can use photographs to visualize the world and make new visions for your art. Time permitted, copyright will be touched on and use of digital tools to help with your visual journey. Keep painting. April 2019 DemonstrationMVAL member John Byram is a local architect and artist who has been painting in transparent watercolor for over twenty-five years. John teaches watercolor classes through the Glendale Lifelong Learning Program, and conducts the occasional workshop. John seeks the energy in his subjects, using a balance of deliberate and loose brush strokes to push the balance in a painting between representation and chaos, often blending colors directly on the paper. Frequently using black and white reference photos, he selects a color temperature dominance for a painting, developing a range of values, over entirely local color, with his chosen palette. John’s work has appeared in the Annual Arroyo Arts Discovery Tour, the Mohave County Museum, the Southwest Museum and the Acorn Gallery in Los Angeles. He studied under noted aquarellists Fealing Lin, Robert J. Uecker, and Robert S. Oliver. He is also a member of the Mount Washington Plein Air Painters. February 2019 DemonstrationRisë Parberry: After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree with Painting Emphasis from the University of Idaho, I also earned a secondary teaching certificate from Boise State University. For 25 years, my husband, Gary, and I operated our grain farm along the Washington/Idaho border where we raised our family. Meanwhile, I taught oil and watercolor painting through the Washington State Community College Continuing Education Program and the Corbin Art Center for Spokane City Parks and Recreation as well as for various other entities and art societies. I continued to burn the midnight oil, painting and entering juried exhibitions. We relocated to San Diego, California, a treasure trove of visual inspiration and artistic cooperation. Along the way, I have been fortunate to benefit greatly from my affiliations with a number of watercolor societies, serving as President of the Spokane Watercolor Society, Workshop Director for the Idaho Watercolor Society, and, finally, President, First Vice President and Past President Advisor of the San Diego Watercolor Society. Through these all volunteer non-profit organizations, I met many wonderful instructors who mentored me and shared the methods and techniques to achieve my artistic goals. I have earned Signature Memberships through repeated juried selection for International Exhibitions in the San Diego Watercolor Society, the Northwest Watercolor Society, and the Idaho Watercolor Society. I am also a juried member of Watercolor West and have been included in the American Watercolor Society Exhibition |