Art Critique at Barefoot Spa

Posted on by Thor

Mark your calendar, the next Artist Critique is going to be Monday, October 22, 2018 at 6 PM – 9:30 PM at the Barefoot Spa (801 Virginia Dr, Orlando, Florida 32803). This is an event for artists and art appreciators. Everyone is welcome and it is free!  Artists talk about their latest art and help each other grow as artists.
You do not have to share art
at the critique to attend and participate in the conversation.

All
kinds of art is welcome. There have been oil painters, paper makers, glass
artists, found object sculptors, video artists, composers, watercolor
painters, ceramicists, artists who draw and collage, jewelry artists,
print makers, etc. All experience levels are welcome. We have included
artists who have never shown and artists who are nationally recognized
competition winners. All artists and types of art are welcome.


Parker Sketch has been hosting this event monthly for over 8
years. This is a grass roots learning, development, and support event.
Artists and art appreciators gather and discuss art as peers. If you
like local art, you should attend.

Monthly Artist Critique at Barefoot Spa

Posted on by Thor

Once a month, Parker Sketch hosts an informal, supportive and constructive discussion group about art at the Barefoot Spa (801 Virginia Dr, Orlando, Florida).  I try to got these sessions as often as I can, since I learn something every time I go.  This is a group of artists and art appreciators gathering to help each other grow as artists!  It is a limited space event. The work of about 12 artists is shared  and discussed. Once the capacity for participants is reached, you can be put on a standby list and you can participate without showing art.
The opportunity to show art is first-come-first served. Attendees do not have to show art to participate. You don’t have to be an artist to participate. If you are interested in art and want to meet other people who also enjoy art, you will feel right at home.

At the critique, artists share then newer art, art that is relevant to what they are doing now. If more than one piece is shared, it is usually part of a series.
All kinds of art is shown, there have been oil painters, paper makers, glass artists, found object sculptors, video artists, watercolor painters, ceramicists, artists who draw and collage, jewelry artists, print makers, etc. It also doesn’t matter how much experience you have. There have been artists who have never shown and artists who are nationally recognized competition winners. The point is to get people from many different styles, backgrounds, and experience levels together to talk about every one’s work. The discussions have included pricing, finding materials, technique, framing, exhibition opportunities, and, yes, traditional critique. Each artist’s work is shared  individually.

In May, Calvin Dunkle was showing several of his fantasy art themed paintings. His work seems inspired by the paintings of Frank Frazetta. Constructive comments about the compositions and colors seemed like they should help Calvin push the pieces to completion. I didn’t show work, but the conversations wrestle with issues I confront in my our sketches daily. I learn from other artists mistakes. Now that I am teaching digital painting to student at Elite Animation, I have started schooling myself. Everyday I execute a digital painting based on paintings of my favorite arts. This week my masters have been John Singer Sargent, Toulouse Lautrec, and Giambattista Tiepolo. After spending several hours studying the paintings, I go out to sketch on location and I hope that some of their mastery will seep back into my own work. Taking chances and growing is a long slow marathon. None of this work will ever be seen. But I learn from the best.

On Saturday November 14th,  from 3pm to 8pm,  Parker Sketch is having a holiday art sale party and open studio at 1029 Delnova Lane Orlando FL. There will be appetizers, drinks, and art. He only runs this
clearance sale once a year. After this sale, all pricing returns to his normal retail.
Art from 2015 20% Off
Art from 2014 40% Off
Art from 2013 60% Off
Art from 2012 and earlier 80% off
All prints are available for 50% off

This week my work was venomously attacked by an art troll on Facebook and I’ve come l realize that some local artists resent what I do when I report on the Orlando arts scene. Although my work is undervalued, often stolen by local businesses and arts organizations, and unappreciated by some, I will keep doing what I do, ignoring the haters and celebrating creative artists who change Orlando daily by supporting and encouraging each other. That is what the monthly artist critiques offer and I’m thankful that Parker takes on the task of pulling it all together. Mark your Calendar. The next artist critique will like be on December 3, 2015 at the Barefoot Spa starting at 6pm.

Art Crtique Group

Posted on by Thor

Parker Sketch organizes a monthly Art Critique Group and I always find the lively conversations enlightening. The January critique was held at the The Barefoot Spa (801 Virginia Dr., Orlando). This is a group of artists talking as peers.The discussions have included pricing, finding materials, technique, framing, exhibition opportunities, and, yes, traditional critique. We are trying to mix different artists and get them talking about art! We will be looking at every one’s art individually, and talk about it for about 10 minutes. I know it is short, but the idea is not only to get other people to talk about your art, but to spend the evening talking about every one’s art!

Jean Claude was the first artist to show his work. Using spray paint and an xacto, he works on Plexiglass. Several pieces would change color if illuminated from behind. He works outside a gallery down in Kissimmee. His work was bold and flat. Vanessa Lisa showed some delicate pencil renderings. Mark Larsen, a photographer, had returned to his craft in the last three years. His photos featured clouds and abstract watery imagery. Artista Lulu had traveled all the way from Tampa to come to the art critique. She showed a cartoonish image of a ballet dancer standing on a tiny world. Tiffany Dae showed some of her gorgeous surreal work. She is moving to Miami where she is bound to find the arts scene to be incredibly vibrant.

The artist I chose to sketch, was Phillis Taylor Harris. She had just finished filling one of the Sketchbook Project sketchbooks. The Sketchbook Project sells artists tiny sketchbooks which the artists can fill and return to go into the sketchbook library in Brooklyn NY. Phillis’s sketchbook was filled with angry abstractions that were done as she went through a divorce. It turned out that her husband was abusive and a sexual predator. He worked as a psychologist, so women seeking his help would get unexpected treatment. The family home was isolated which allowed him to trap his victims. Phillis’s sketchbook is intended to help victims of abuse to recover and heal. Several people in the room pointed out that Phillis should look into publishing the book with part of the royalties going to an abuse victim recovery center or shelter. I advised her to not submit the sketchbook to the Brooklyn library because they would then claim ownership to the copyright.  I agree that her book could be helpful for a person recovering from abuse. I hope she can find a publisher.

Art Critique

Posted on by Thor

Parker Sketch has organized a monthly critique group. I haven’t really gotten feedback on my work since I was in college. That is longer than I care to admit. The last session was held at the Barefoot Spa. I decided to bring a five foot panel that I had just started. All together 19 artists were slated to show their work. Seated in front of me was a woman named Loraine Del Wood. Her name was just Loraine Wood but someone told her, “Your name is so boring.” From then on she included her middle name for an exotic touch. When she discovered that I worked for Disney Feature Animation in the past, she told me about her animation background. She had worked as an inker and painter at Columbia screen Gems in the early years. Hand drawn animation was transferred to a clear acetate cell and then the character was painted on the back of the cell. She had worked on many animated characters. The one that stuck in my mind was Tubby the Tuba.

She loved animation and talked to different animators to learn their craft. She was told “Women don’t do animation.” Her husband worked on live action films so she left animation and assisted him on such films as Some Life it Hot, The Pink Panther and West Side Story. Her art fell to the wayside and she took a 40 year break from 1964 to 2004. She showed a series of paintings she did of women wearing black wide brimmed hats.

Painter Richard Colvin showed 2 paintings. One was of John Ashcroft standing in front of a statue which was partly draped. Ashcroft later insisted the statue be properly draped. He stopped doing this sort of political art since he felt he was preaching to the choir. In one year he experienced the grief of 11 deaths of family and friends. He started doing more traditional landscapes. He experienced a mad rush of creativity, doing 30 paintings in two months.

Marla E. Artist showed a large plaster base relief which was going to be used to cover a flat screen TV. The image was divided in two so it could be separated to display the TV. She wanted to sign up on Facebook as Marla E but it didn’t allow initials for a last name. Her occupation as artist was tagged on to her name. Facebook is the new Ellis Island, forcing name changes as people immigrate to the digital realm.