MAG Artist’s Blog

On June 22, MAG was pleased to have Sandra Fox come and teach us how to make our very own mandalas. We started by learning a lot of geometry, and finished by making some art. The mandala above is based on a trefoil (3 points), while the ones shown below are all based on “the tree of life.” We also learned how to make five-sided mandalas (very difficult!) and mandalas based on the medicine wheel. Everything begins with a circle! A very fun and informative workshop that gave us all new directions to explore in our art. — michele frantz

Here we are deep in thought (yeah, right) at the MAG Wine & Cheese Party. The evening was fun, weird, complicated, puffy, idiotic and cute. Fun had by all. Many thanks to the hostess! — michele

Two new videos has been posted to the “MAG Videos” web page. One video is the video of Patty Rice and her presentation on “Portraiture”. The video is 1 hour and 42 minutes long, about 250MB.

The second video is of Michele Frantz and her presentation on “Using a Limited Pallete.” The video is 1 hour and 9 minutes long, about 170MB.

Sorry for the delay in posting these.

Please check them both out.

Shane C. Williams
President, Manassas Art Guild.

Paint! Manassas wrapped up today. It was a whopping success! I’ve updated the Paint! page if you want to see some of the work exhibited during this event.

Artist Leonard Justinian was our judge. Here are the winners of this year’s Paint! Manassas:

1st place: Sunny Spot (Manassas Battlefield), acrylic by Michele Frantz

2nd place: Noon Train, acrylic by Michele Frantz.      3rd place: Sudley Manor, watercolor by Laura Lavarnway.
  

Honorable Mentions: (in no particular order:) 1. The Things I Love, by Maria Briganti. 2. Manassas Presbyterian, by Katherine Nace. 3. Prospero’s, by Lorrie Herman. 4. Have a Nice Day, by Laura Lavarnway. 5. Path Less Travelled, by Anita Faurot.

We also gave out a “People’s Choice” award, for which members of the public were asked to vote for their favorite piece. It resulted in a 3-way tie:
1. May, by Michele Frantz 2. Sudley Manor, by Laura Lavarnway 3. Train Station, by Rob Burkhard

posted by Michele Frantz, shows coordinator

Thursday night we had the monthly Manassas Art Guild membership meeting with our very own artist, Michele Frantz, doing a limited palette lesson and demonstration. Michele went over the advantages of using a limited palette (less paint = more $ in your pocket) and the ways she uses a limited palette to achieve consistent colors in her works. Below is a chart showing how to use a six primary color wheel.

Michele’s colors are:

- Cool: Phthalo Blue, Cadmium Yellow Light, Quinacridone Red
- Warm: Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Red Light

As you can see from the picture above Michele also did a very nice demonstration of a still life using an acrylic six primary limited palette. I was not able to stay until the end so I did not get to see the finished painting but Michele got off to a great start.

Rob Burkhard

The above photos are of the reference photo that Michele used and the “finished painting” at the end of the demonstration.

Shane Williams

The morning was beautiful and the it rained with damaging thunderstorms in the afternoon, however, the show went on.  Paint! Manassas 2008 succeeded in drawing 18 local artists to create and display over 50 pieces of fine art which depicted Old Town Manassas and the historic Manassas Civil War Battle Grounds.  Numerous pieces of original artwork where sold to local business owners and citizens at the show.  The remainder are on display at the following Old Town businesses through June 2008:

ArtBeat Gallery
Ashby Jewelry
City Square Cafe
Creative Brush Studio
Fulton Bank
Manassas Museum
Opera House Gourmet
Prospero’s Books
The Things I Love

Click the above picture to visit the gallery of Paint! Manassas 2008 show pictures.

Take a look at the “Paint! Manassas” page if you’d like to see what some of our participating artists have been up to. Several paintings posted so far, hope to see more soon! — michele frantz, show coordinator

I am back from North Carolina and not to be out done by Michele in Paint! Manassas, I am busy painting the town away, so to speak.  Above is a watercolor and graphite sketch of the Manassas Old Presbyterian Church I have been messing with tonight.  I started this as an 11×14 very wet-in-wet painting and then have been attacking it with an 8b pencil.  After it dries completely I might go back at it with a harder H pencil and scratch out some whites.  It might not amount to anything but is was sure fun to put together!

Rob Burkhard

 Not to be outdone (yeah, right) by that pesky Rob, I have now started more paintings for “Paint! Manassas” than I can count. But will I finish any of them in time? The suspense is killing me…. michele frantz
 

May 10, the day of the long-awaited “paint-out” which officially kicked off our 2nd annual “Paint! Manassas.” Alas, the weather did not favor us; damp and windy. As a result, not as many people in town as we hoped. Still, about 2 dozen artists braved the chill and rain to begin their creations, and I managed to inflict about 30 flyers on unsuspecting gogglers. They all seemed happy to receive one.

Our friends from the Northern Virginia Art League (NOVAL) joined us; that’s Lorrie Herman and Mary Moon painting Center Street, above, while below left Lou Negri chats with a group of curious visitors. Meanwhile, below right, I took a stab at painting the walkway between West and Battle…..

     (Click on the little images to see them larger….)

I have my misgivings about this painting, the only thing I’ve conveyed properly so far is how dark and stormy the sky looked while I stood there. (And me just recovering from a cold.) Below left, this little quick study of the Manassas Battlefield is turning out a lot better, and call me crazy, but below right may be — my next subject???? So cute!

Anyway, many thanks to all the intrepid artists who braved the raw weather in order to kick off Paint! Manassas. On to the exhibit on May 31!

– michele frantz, shows coordinator