MAG Artist's Blog » Events

3rd Annual Fine Arts Festival

Michele Frantz — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:51:45 +0000

Saturday, October 11

10 am to 4 pm

Harris Pavilion, 9201 Center Street, Manassas

The Festival will include demonstrations in various art media; an exhibit and sale by local artists and photographers; musical performances, a children’s art area; door prizes and more. Special guests will include:

Watercolorist Lou Negri uses a traditional medium in a non-traditional way. His work is a graphic illustration of Henry David Thoreau’s observation that, “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.” He will be demonstrating his technique throughout the day.

David Salisbury performs classical, jazz and popular tunes on the marimba and vibraphone. His current program includes music ranging from Leonard Bernstein to Bach.

Michael Francis Haley was a violinist in the George Mason Symphony Orchestra and has also played with various rock bands. He now performs exclusively as a solo violinist.

Carole Bellacera‘s novels have been nominated for Best Romantic Suspense, the Virginia Literary Award, and the Dorothy Parker Award for Excellence in Fiction. She has also been a finalist in the Golden Quill award, the Aspen Gold Award and the Booksellers’ Best Awards.

Local artists Maria Briganti, Michele Frantz, and Rob Burkhard will be demonstrating how they paint in a variety of media.

This is the third year for the Fine Arts Fest, which is sponsored by the Manassas Art Guild. The event is free and open to the general public.

MAG at the Farmer’s Market

Michele Frantz — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:02:25 +0000

Catch MAG this summer at the Manassas Farmer’s Market. Located in the West Street parking lot (across from the train station), we will have an exhibit there on the 4th Saturday of every month. We had a great time at the June market and made a lot of sales. The market is open from 7 am to 1 pm. — mich

Mandala Workshop

Michele Frantz — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:39:03 +0000

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

Choc Full o’ Nuts

Michele Frantz — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:19:30 +0000

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

And the winners are….

Michele Frantz — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 01:09:49 +0000

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

Paint! painting #1-6

Michele Frantz — Sat, 24 May 2008 20:01:42 +0000

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

Back in Manassas and painting!

Rob Burkhard — Tue, 20 May 2008 21:14:19 +0000

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

So Many Paintings, So Little Time

Michele Frantz — Mon, 19 May 2008 10:08:11 +0000

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

First Day of Paint! Manassas!

Michele Frantz — Sun, 11 May 2008 04:45:23 +0000

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

Another day Painting in Old Town Manassas

Rob Burkhard — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:48:26 +0000

It rained today. I started off with Selina, from the Manassas Art Guild, in Clifton Virginia and I fully intended to finish my Old Clifton General Store painting. Did I mention that it rained today? No sooner did I get my french easel set up and it started again

As a back up plan we went to Old Town Manassas and painted en plein air under the old train station. I did a very wet-in-wet impressionist painting of Fosters Grille and other stores across the tracks. I will let is dry for a few days then go back into it with an 8B pencil to really bring out some hard lines.

Selina went to work drawing some sketches of the Candy Factory. Both of us are gearing up for the official kick off of Paint! Manassas 2008 on Saturday

Rob Burkhard