News

Alexandra Eyer and Pat Renner works in NWWS Holiday Art Show

Alexandra Eyer and Pat Renner are pleased to announce that they have had paintings accepted into the 2017 Holiday Art Show sponsored by the Northwest Watercolor Society. This exhibition will be at the Schack Art Center in Everett, Washington and features work by signature members of the NWWS from November 16^th to December 31^st.

“Glam” is the title of Alexandra’s painting, mostly finished during our Figure Group’s Thursday studio. Pat’s painting, “Summer Beach,” is a compilation of Myer’s Creek views featuring her three granddaughters. At the end of each visit, her family traditionally ambles along that famous beach enjoying the glorious sea stacks.

Alexandra’s “Carnelian” (29X21″) was also chosen by juror Paul Jackson to appear in the Watercolor Society of Oregon’s 2017 Fall Exhibition at the Mount Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon. The show has been up from Oct. 7 and will end Oct. 26.

Brew & Art Festival raises $5,000 to support arts education in Gold Beach schools

The 2017 Brew and Art Festival was a success thanks to the combined efforts of Curry Arts and Soroptimist International of Gold Beach. The two community groups combined forces as more than 100 volunteers performed, served and displayed original art for beer and art lovers who packed the Event Center on Saturday, Sept. 9.

Curry Arts’ Brew & Art Festival proceeds go directly into the art classrooms of Gold Beach and a portion funds scholarships. The instructional donations are made to a “290 Fund” that is managed by the classroom teacher and used to purchase art supplies. The donations cannot be used to replace school funding that is diverted for other purposes.

More information on the available scholarships can be found here.

Alexandra Eyer wins WSO Award of Distinction

Alexandra Eyer’s painting, “The Artist,” won an Award of Distinction at the Spring 2017 Watercolor Society of Oregon show in Eugene, Oregon.

Her current focus on Alla Prima portraiture continues to evolve through her weekly figure painting group. She has exhibited in national and international exhibitions and is a member of the Hawaii Watercolor Society, a Signature Member of the Northwest Watercolor Society in addition to her active participation in the WSO. She is an active member of Curry Arts, as well.

Alexandra first studied Fine Arts at the California Institute of the Arts and holds Bachelor and Master of Art Education degrees from Prescott College. She studied portraiture with Daniel Greene at his studio in New York and watercolor with Don Andrews.

She has lived in Gold Beach for over thirty years with her husband, Frank Martinez, with whom she has three grown children and two grandchildren. She and Frank now spend part of the year in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Alexandra’s website is www.portraitsbyalexandra.com.

Our artists exhibit at the Curry County Fair

“Artisan Hall” featured the works artists Alexandra Eyer, Mike Dawe, Magda Druzdzel, Shelley MacIntosh, Linda Stevenson and Tammy and Merrick Spaulding .

Harold Walkup Workshop Gold Beach, April 27-30, 2017

By Pat Renner

During the last four days in April, Gold Beach artists had an opportunity to develop their landscape skills under the leadership of watercolor legend Harold Walkup. Watching his demonstrations is an enchanting experience in which one almost forgets to take notes.

Harold is a great teacher who knows how to get students warmed up by challenging them to exchange a non-objective color experiment with their neighbor, who then forgets routine procedures and favorite colors to solve an unusual problem. He begins his demonstration by loosely referring to a sketch, which he shares with his students. Students are free to adhere closely to the sketch or range away in their own imaginations, which is a great technique when a teacher is dealing with beginners, as well as painters with more experience. Harold’s kind and informative teaching style made the afternoon critique session a helpful tool for improving our work, tailored to our individual experience level.

Choosing subject matter that could be anywhere in our area, Walkup sprinkles techniques such as scraping out, adding action lines, using an unusual brush, and casually throwing out hints as how to brighten up a dark painting with new methods such as preparing rough paper with a thin layer of liquid acrylic. He even did a quick demo of rolling waves with a rainy sky, which we have seen many times this last winter. It’s time to observe and practice!

We were also fortunate to view a slide show of Harold’s sojourn in Spain where he, and his wife Judy, made many friends and gave demos to groups of Spanish watercolorists. His paintings from that trip were gorgeous and his gentle humor was greatly appreciated. Finally, Harold Walkup gave us the tools to achieve a finished landscape and the inspiration to paint, while going on to make our own discoveries.