From the VAA President

Our Spring Has Sprung!

2007-04-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

The VAA is on a spring surge! March program, April youth show, Water Media workshop, upcoming May meeting (annual business and Art Park Kids program), and Spring Show. I won't bore you with the year-almost-over stuff, but the VAA has done a lot in the last 9 months. Hope you can come to the May meeting - we'll have an accounting of our activities.

Cathy Hegman did a very nice workshop this last weekend. She is very skilled and innovative, and the amount of practice that she does really shows. A couple of times her eyes were on her pallet while her hand was still working the piece under construction. This is my fourth workshop (I snuck one in on you in Virginia the last of March) and I have enjoyed them all. I'm the new owner of a sketch pad, some paper, a pallet, and 14 tubes of watercolor pigment (still the borrower of my husband's brushes).

When in Virginia I saw the DC cherry blossoms in full bloom blue sky mode (before they got snowed on) and saw many opportunities for painting. If I never lift another brush, all these workshop will have been worth it if only to increase my ability in observation. Growth - a good thing. Sort of like what happens when spring has sprung!

Yeah for Spring,
Jean

Small World Watercolors

2007-04-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

I just came back from visiting in the DC area and attended a 2-day watercolor workshop with my friend, making this my THIRD workshop to learn some art techniques. Am I on a roll, or what??? It was a good two days, enjoyable and productive, since I didn't even know how to use a pallet when I started. The rewards from being low on the learning curve are indeed great.

The Small World aspect is that the instructor, Jane Andrele Gillette, grew up in my hometown and graduated two years ahead of me in high school in the small town of Algona, Iowa. Though we didn't remember each other, we knew many of the same people and had a great time calling some of them to mind.

As recommended in my drawing workshop, I bought a sketchpad and have started sketching a little. Results are not as horrific as I thought they would be, so more will surely follow.

This non-artist president of the Vicksburg Art Association has definitely expanded horizons this year, even reducing them to home town memories.

Cool.
Jean

Coffee, anyone?

2007-03-17T10:30:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Haven't written for awhile because I have received no feedback that anyone is reading! BUT, just in case... My offer to buy a reader a coffee at Highway 61 still stands.

We had a great program with Dr Dirt and Felder Rushing on Yard Art. They look and sound in person just like they sound on the radio, right down to the laugh. They showed some amazing photos and commented, with the basic message being Do What You Want To Do. There were some hints thrown in on focal points, themes, color and form, etc., but Yard Art is for anyone with even a small flair for being expressive. One I liked was a message for tolerance even if we can't see Why for the Love of... An example was a concrete painted chicken that Felder's grandmother had surrounded by zinnias. When Felder sees that chicken, he remembers her and her garden. Sounds a little like the very small elephant planter that sits on our counter top with it's one broken leg. It lived in the kitchen window and belonged to my Grandpa Jim.

Our audience outnumbered the chairs owned by the VAA. One count was 120 folks, over half had to stand. I'm sorry about that, but it was a very good evening - hope you were there.

Expressively,
Jean

Workshop Two, Too

2007-01-31T12:41:00.000-08:00

Raise your hand if you've ever said "I can't draw!" and notice that mine is up as well. Lisa Grant is going to fix all that this upcoming weekend, thanks to a workshop that Leslie Horton has arranged for the VAA. Saturday and Sunday (yes, stopping before the SB), we will develop some drawing skills. I had fun with the monoprint workshop so assume this will be a good time as well. Hope to see you there!

And the upcoming Art Swap on the 13th should be REALLY interesting. See Daniel's web posting for details. Get your art for exchange, Mardi Gras beads, and a potluck supper dish like an appetizer, and come to the Firehouse about 6.

HEY!!! Who Said we don't know how to have any fun! Not the VAA, by golly.

Cheers,
Jean

A Prince of a Prints collection

2007-01-16T14:39:00.000-08:00

Our current show, the Southern Graphics Council Traveling Print Exhibition, is a really good opportunity to expand your visual art horizons. Prints are a very complex art form because of the variety of techniques available to create them. And remember this is Jean writing - not a print-maker. But if you look at what is at the Firehouse now, you'll see what I mean. This is a really cool collection of art.

We can see a SGC show only once every three years and were happy to pay the fee to have it come to us. Please find time in your schedule to stop by, or call me at 638-0576 if you need another viewing time. I'll be happy to let you in. Set hours are Wednesday the 17th from 4 to 6 pm, and Saturday and Sunday the 20th and 21st from 1 to 5 pm.

Admiringly,
Jean

Good to remember

2007-01-05T08:25:00.000-08:00

Not sure where the month went since I last put up a blog, but I trust readers will have some empathy for how fast time goes over the holidays! Now that we are all writing 200SEVEN on our checks without fail, I ask that we turn our brains to some memories. I lost a good friend on New Year's Day and am (1) still processing that shock and (2) remembering lots of good things about him.

At the same time, I am often reminded about David Leenknecht who died in April of 1997. David was a very good engineer by vocation and a fine photographer by avocation. Several of us are lucky enough to have an image he produced. To help ensure David's memory in Vicksburg art circles, I asked for and received permission from the VAA Board to offer a photography award in David's name, starting with the spring 2007 show. Ed and I will be starting the fund and I will be sending out a request for contributions. We hope to raise enough money to have the interest pay $200 each year.

So here's to John, and David, and Others Of Importance who are now gone in body but still here in memory. Our souls are better for having known them.

Yours,
Jean

Pirates Past

2006-12-03T15:20:00.000-08:00

Sad to say our Pirates are put to rest, after a wonderful night of carousing and buying booty. The party last Friday night to raise funds to maintain the Old Constitution Firehouse was great fun and quite successful. Our major sponsors, Rainbow Casino of Vicksburg and Mad Genius of Jackson, plus other area businesses, plus all the VAA members and supporters, really did it up right. The Pirate theme was fun with a pirate ship built with an elevated pilot house right in the middle of the floor. The dungeon, complete with rough straw bed and shackled skeleton, was added to the Silent Auction (Yes, we'll sell anything that doesn't move too fast) and will find a new home as a greenhouse! Our members are quite creative. This year the party went upstairs as well to the Tortugas, with island flavor and foods and beverages.

The food, always a big hit at the VAA party, was heavy fare complete with suckling pig. It was set out mostly in Mick's Tavern (ummm, the back room) and on authentic barrels and crates in the front room. Great atmosphere!

Many thanks to all who worked to put on the party and all who came and enjoyed. Experiences like this make me very happy I agreed to be president for the year!

Cap'n Jeanne, retired

Avast, Me Mateys!

2006-11-09T06:49:00.000-08:00

The Old Constitution firehouse is excited - the upcoming Christmas Party Benefit on Friday, December 1st, is A Pirate Christmas! The spirits of the horses that pulled the wagons are snorting in anticipation. The memories of the men who lived and worked in the firehouse are collecting to take a look. The neighbors will be marveling at how the pirate ship is brought to life.

Every year the Old Constitution Firehouse gets a benefit for its upkeep. The VAA leases the building from the City and is responsible for maintaining the old girl. Old buildings fairly well eat money, don't ye know? So the Christmas Party began years ago to raise funds to keep 'er going and to give folks a good party. And, mateys, this'll be a good 'un!! There be grub, grog, and treasure all around.

Did ye notice how I started to work a bit of pirate talk and phraseology into the written text? Don't be surprised if ye see yer Board and Committee folks wandering around town muttering little piratey phrases under their breath, slapping their sword hand into the air, etc. It all just be practice and not be harmful to landlubbers.

Arrr!
Cap'n Jeanne

Firehouse Walls

2006-11-01T23:53:00.000-08:00

Our Fall Show is over, the walls of the Firehouse back to plain and ordinary. All that color and talent, fodder for admiration and discussion, a little smile and a little frown, all gone. But it was great while it lasted. Vicksburg and the surrounding communities have some really talented people. Congratulations to our winners for sure, and thanks to all who entered. A BIG thank you to Show Chair Heather Burns-Garcia and her many committee members for the success of the Show. Stupid plain and ordinary walls...
But Wait! This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, the Mississippi Art Education Association is having a show! They are in town for a convention and will hang a show of their work Friday night, ready for viewing as a tour stop for 3 of Arts. Saturday's viewing is 10-5 and Sunday 2-4. Yeah for color and talent, admiration and discussion, smiles, frowns, and all forms of interaction and appreciation of art.
Artist comma newbie,
Jean

Artist Comma Newbie

2006-10-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it. First I participated in the monoprint workshop the weekend of the 14th which was very ably taught by Patt Odom. Second, I took one of my prints and the photo that inspired the print to be matted and framed. Third, and here is the real did it deal, I took them to the Firehouse and produced my $15 check so I am entered in the upcoming Fall Show. I must confess to thoughts of What Have I Done?!?

On the down side, I worry that someone will laugh behind my back. Laughing to my face would be different, of course. On the up side, if I can do a piece that doesn’t embarrass me, and three people whose opinion I value encourage me, then maybe some good will come of it. The idea here is that other newbie or would-be artists will say, “Well, for heaven’s sake, if Jean can do it, so can I!” And bingo, we have more new blood in the shows and organization overall.

At the workshop, the first day was a bit frustrating because my motor skills and knowledge of paint and paper and water were not up to transferring my mental concept to the finished product. Maybe that’s why they say How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice… But on the second day, I picked a different concept and moved to a larger piece of paper (which was Very Large, Very White, and Very Clean when I started) and put paint down and went with it.

About that cup of coffee – see First Post.
Jean

History and Quilts

2006-10-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

The program on the art of quiltmaking was really good, especially for showing how traditional and new can be bridged. My long-standing memory of quilts was in receiving and using a quilt from each of my grandmothers (3 grandmothers) (4 quilts) (1 long story). These quilts were colorful patchwork and contained scraps of fabric that I knew from my mother's sewing and later from mine. The last quilt I got was a single-bed covering after Grandma Hughes visited my dorm room and was miffed to find I couldn't use her double-bed quilt because it would go on the floor and get dirty. (My recollection of the dust bunnies at Birch Hall in Ames, Iowa, that year is that they were as large as jacklalopes and covered with spines like an echidna).

Anyway, the traditional to new bridge part for me began after seeing a Martha Skelton quilt at least 15 years ago at a viewing in Jackson. I had no idea quilts could tell such a story. In more recent years, I have seen the quilts that are still colorful and may tell a story in abstract, or may be non-objective, but are very sophisticated in their design. I love the quilts with splashes of metallic colors that shout BREAK-OUT! If only my grandmothers could have seen the quilts at the Old Constitution Firehouse on October 10th. What a deal that would have been.

Cheers,
Jean

History and Bricks

2006-10-03T13:54:00.000-07:00

Hi All,
I was one of those students in school who paid as little attention as possible to history. I even preferred math, if you can believe it! But last Saturday I found myself on hands and knees digging out old bricks in front of the Firehouse to salvage for Just In Case. The City is going to be working on the empty lot next to the Firehouse and the sidewalk will be replaced with a new one. Some of the sidewalk is concrete but most of it is old brick enhanced by a layer of dirt and some vegetation. How old is the brick? Don't know. If we can get an Oral History of the Firehouse going, we might be able to ferret out that information. In the meantime, I was digging the bricks which didn't take a lot of mental effort, and letting my mind wander and wonder about who had walked here, what they wore, what they were talking about, what they were thinking about, and where they were going. I bet they were not thinking about someone in 2006 digging up the bricks, Just In Case.

And this week's opportunities to work with the VAA - dig more bricks (now there's a surprise), lead an Oral History committee, provide oral history records, contact me and drink a cup of.

See you next Tuesday,
Jean

First Post

2006-09-26T22:18:00.000-07:00

Greetings All,

In the spirit of trying something new every day - make that every week - I'm going to write a blog for the Vicksburg Art Association. This should be interesting...

How will I know anyone is reading? Well, you know the Highway 61 Coffeehouse? And you may or may not know I like coffee? I will buy a cup of coffee for the third person every week who writes or contacts me and can mention one new item on the blog. We can talk about the Art Association, or about dogs, or work or retirement, or whatever, while enjoying a cup.

What on earth does the word "blog" mean, anyway? The web page Whatis.com says a blog is short for weblog. " a personal online journal that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption..." It also says the characcter of the blog reflects the character of the person writing (I should think) so you may get to know me better. If, during that process, you decide there might be other folks in the Art Association worth getting to know better, cool. Come join us at our next meeting on the 10th of October, and/or the workshop on the 14th and 15th, and/or at the Fall Show opening on the 28th.

Ummm, you didn't think there could not be a pitch for membership and participation, now did you?

Cheers, Jean