Hideaway Bakery, Eugene, OR

It was a chilly overcast day, so we opted to be sketching inside across from the fireplace (the warmth was welcome!).

Here’s Jane’s sketch of the gal totally immersed in her laptop computer, sitting in front of the fire.

   Tricia said she was trying sketching directly with color, not using an ink pen (which is her usual go-to sketch tool), then  going back in to add detail and contrast.  Looks successful to me!

    It’s St. Patrick’s Day!  Even though Ken’s granddaughter Fiona reportedly thought it was an opportunity to pinch everybody willy-nilly, we gladly took one of the stick-on shamrocks Jane brought. Here’s Barbara Sommers sketching cups and shamrocks.

     Erik was working on two small vignettes – how does he get such sharp thin lines? A fortuitous break of a crayon!

Sandy interrupts her sketch of a cookie to respond to a query on her phone from the guy building her pottery table. What you can’t see here is that when she got back to her sketch, the model was gone! Now who could be the culprit…..

Hideaway Bakery, Eugene, OR

     
Heidi and Sandy enjoy sketching in the sun – here’s Sandy’s sketch of Erik, who was sitting across from her.

     As always, Erik is sketching from images saved in his memory bank.

   
Heidi begins her sketch of a hanging basket – lovely details emerge.

     Jan’s fierce attention to detail really pays off!  Ta dah!

It’s always a special treat when our teacher-mentor-friend, Ken O’Connell, is able to join us.

New Day Bakery/World Cafe, Eugene, OR

The number of sketchers who are able to meet together varies widely with our group, but never the amount of interesting things that happen!

Here are two of the “Barbs” – Barb Sommers and Barb Shirk – hard at work.  Barb Shirk was using her Lamy pen for drawing (which comes with water soluble ink), and said that when she sprayed it with water it turned out to be TOO much water! You don’t learn without trying.

A woman named Eunice showed us drawings that she has created from numbers: 1 becomes a cross, 2 a duck, 3 a snowman, 4 an old woman, 5 a boat. She said she sometimes does her drawings for children who come to the bakery for their artistic amusement.

         Jan demonstrates her facility in using the Tombo water soluble ink markers (her secret, she licks the ends of them!)

Wichita Art Museum, Mar. 12 at 6:00 pm

Our own Joby Patterson is giving a Curator’s Talk: Remembering Kansas of the 1930s: Norma Bassett Hall’s Color Block Prints

American artist Norma Bassett Hall (1888-1957) found inspiration in the diverse landscapes that she and her husband, artist Arthur William Hall (American, 1889-1981), encountered in their travels and in the places they lived. Bassett Hall resided for nearly two decades in Kansas, and she was the only female artist among the founders of the Prairie Print Makers, a Wichita-based artists’ association founded in 1930. Between 1923 and 1944, she created more than a dozen captivating Kansas images. In the 1940s, Bassett Hall was part of a wave of artists experimenting in serigraph, or silkscreen, for fine art rather than advertisement.

Dr. Joby Patterson is the guest curator of Chipping the Block, Painting the Silk: The Color Prints of Norma Bassett Hall on view through July 12. She will share her adventures in uncovering the life and work of Bassett Hall and discuss the artist’s techniques and creative vision. A book-signing of Patterson’s 2013 publication, Norma Bassett Hall: Catalogue Raisonné of the Block Prints and Serigraphs will follow. Patterson is an art historian specializing in early 20th century American printmaking and the author of Bertha E. Jaques and the Chicago Society of Etchers, which she began on a Smithsonian Fellowship at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 1990. She taught the history of printmaking at the Universit of Oregon and lives in Eugene.

Galleries open until 6 pm. Free admission. Held in conjunction with “Chipping the Block, Painting the Silk: The Prints of Norma Bassett Hall,” on view from February 21 through July 12, 2015.

The Pump Café, 710 Main St., Springfield, Oregon

We’re always interested in trying a new sketching venue, and when Hugh & Sandy had breakfast at The Pump Café in Springfield, they approached  the owners with the idea of having the sketch group be able to spend some time sketching there some morning.  They said yes, and we were charmed to be in such an interesting warm hearted place. (The food was great, too.)

We were just a small group, but sure enjoyed being there – Tricia, Sandy, & Erik (who couldn’t resist their eggs on pancakes – YUM).

Tricia started by showing us the sketch she completed the last time we were together, noting the demands of sketching fast when your model is apt to move on!

   Here’s the view from the inside The Pump Café looking out to the sheltered outside patio, Trisha’s initial sketch outline on the right.

   Here’s Jane’s sketch done on grey toned paper, and Trisha’s in watercolor on white paper. It’s interesting to see how different artists choose what to include in a sketch, what to exclude.

     Trisha had to turn around to see what had Sandy so intrigued across the room on the wall.

     Oh! What an interesting collection of memorabilia on display! Sandy really had fun sketching this, as you may be able to tell!