July 31, 2009

Missouri! Where the watercolors flow!
MISSOURI WATERCOLOR SOCIETY ONLINE NEWS
July 31, 2009  Birthstone: Ruby; Flower: Larkspur 
3:52 a.m. CST

"Study a motif closely and then close your eyes. What you see with your eyes closed is the concept -- shorn of all unnecessary parts. Drawing is more portable, faster, intimate way to study. Lean to paint with a pencil."
-- Frank Webb, AWS, from his book, Webb on Watercolor.

1. LAST DAY TO ENTER THE MEMBERS' INVITATIONAL 2009. Get to the Post Office before 4 p.m. If you cannot print the prospectus off the MoWS Web site, print (clearly) the information on a piece of paper and send it along with your $20 entry fee to:
Missouri Watercolor Society
George Tutt
1406 Kenwood Drive
Fulton, MO 65251-1317

Remember, you can't make it happen if all you do is sit at home and watch your kitchen faucet drip. Send your entry today and YOU ARE MAKING IT HAPPEN!

2. Even in this very tough economy, our corporate sponsors have sent outstanding gifts for this exhibition. PLEASE, before you shop for art supplies check the "Corporate Honor Roll" on the MoWS Web site and try to support these fine folks. They not only support our organization, but they are a part of our exhibitions. ...

3. Columbia Art League will have the some fine food and drink for the opening of the Members' Invitational on September 13 plus we have those great door prizes. Once again we will be giving some lucky member one fine French Easel made by American Journey. In addition to the many cash and corporate awards, we will be giving out some 16 door prizes. So, get a carpool together, because you can't win unless you are in the CAL Gallery on September 13.

4. Every organization is experiencing various problems in this economy. MoWS has lost 42 members for basically money reasons. Many exhibitions and the workshops are also taking a hard hit. One well-known national exhibition only had 82 artists sent entries and they are pleading with artists to take the judge's workshop. And those great art sales have nationally gone the way of the do-do bird. Reports I have received from around the U.S.A. -- mostly from festivals -- say that sales are slow but if you would like a chance to sell your paintings, price them from $100 to $350. And half-sheet watercolor painting are selling better than full sheet.

5. One of the many things I learned while serving with the Army Security Agency is that if you want to be successful, surround yourself with other successful people. Laura King is such a person. She is a national publication award winner. With only two issues posted online, I have been contacted by a publication organization asking if we would place our new online magazine, Watercolor Studio, up for one of their prestigious national awards. Not bad for just two issues!
Here are the stats from Europe and Asia about two hours after Laura posted the new online magazine, Watercolor Studio. Remember, there is a BIG difference in time here and the old earth is spinning:
EUROPE
France - 72
Netherlands - 3
Romania - 3
Germany - 17
United Kingdom - 4
Czech Republic - 3
ASIA
China - 125
Russia - 10
India - 9
Japan - 3
Thailand - 3
United Arab Emirates - 3

6. Sidebar: This is just fun foolishness. Here is one for all the men.
His wife's grave side service was just barely finished, when there was a massive clap of thunder, followed by a tremendous bolt of lighting, accompanied by even more thunder rumbling in the distance. The little old man looked at the paster and calmly said, "Well, she's there."

Have a great week!
May God always keep you on His palette.
Papa

July 24,2009

Missouri! Where the watercolors flow!
MISSOURI WATERCOLOR SOCIETY ONLINE NEWS
July 24, 2009  Birthstone: Ruby; Flower: Larkspur 
3:50 a.m. CST

"The process of learning to paint is similar to learning how to play a musical instrument in that both require patience as well as frequent and consistent practice. Also, building confidence and developing dexterity in either pursuit takes time and commitment. Gradually your mind, eye, and hand will begin to work in unison, but it won't happen overnight."
-- Janet Walsh, AWS, from her book, Watercolor Made Easy.

1. LAST NOTICE: The current Members' Invitational needs your support. The Members' Invitational Entry Deadline is 7 days away and counting down. This is a state-fair type show, with no competitive judging for entries. The only judging is for awards. If you are a current MoWS member with dues paid, and you can hand deliver your painting to the Columbia Art League, you are in! If you plan on showing in the MI, we must have your entry information in the MoWS office with your entry fee of $20:  July 31 is the last postmark we will accept. You can download the prospectus from the MoWs Web site: www.mowsart.com

2. The NEW summer issue of our online magazine, Watercolor Studio, is up for viewing. 
This is a great issue, with inspiring and informative articles from Bill James, Miles Batt and Cheng Khee-Chee. It is also a feast for the eyes, with lots of wonderful paintings, all in gorgeous living COLOR! Go to the home page on the MoWS Web site www.mowsart.com and hit the link to the magazine, found under the slide show. It should download a PDF file of the summer issue to your computer. Here is the direct link:  http://www.mowsart.com/WatercolorStudio.html
 
 
A few folks have old versions of Adobe which, last time, said the MoWS PDF was flawed! Not so. You have an old Adobe Acrobat reader. Follow these directions from Laura:
The ‘Bad Cmap encoding error' is seen in earlier versions of Adobe Acrobat reader. The document you are trying to view uses some features which are only supported in more recent versions. To fix the problem, you can download and install the more recent version of Abode Acrobat reader (9.1) from their Web site. This is a FREE download: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html
Once you download and install this program, you should have no problems reading the PDF file that you have downloaded. You will NOT need to re-download the PDF documents.
3. Relief from the Heat! Both the IRS and the state of Missouri have accepted our filings as a not-for-profit for this past year. Because of various "business" advantages we receive, our year goes from July 1 to June 30. While we have until September to file with the IRS, we try to complete our filing within the month of July. We also complete our registration with the state of Missouri as a not-for-profit corporation in July. 
In addition, in July we  contact our sponsors for awards for the Members' Invitational, . . .  work out the details with the Memorial for next year's Watercolor Missouri National, . . . we put out four weekly Online News, . . . and we -- Laura mainly! -- publish our online magazine, Watercolor Studio. No wonder all of our crew is so tired at the end of July.

4. Directions to the Columbia Art League for the Members' Invitational Opening:
We will try to post these directions again as we move closer to SHOW TIME in "College Town USA". However, to be safe, please keep these directions to Columbia if you plan to make the opening of the Members' Invitational.  Columbia Art League's Address: 207 S. Ninth Street ( Next to the theater entrance)
Phone: 573-443-2131. The opening reception is Sept. 13 from 1:30-4:00 p.m., with awards presentation at 2:00 p.m.

From the east or St. Louis: Take I-70 until you hit Providence Rd. Up the ramp and turn left. Stay on Providence Rd, until you come to Broadway -- about two or three miles. (Broadway is Columbia's main downtown street.) Turn left on Broadway to Ninth St. Turn right onto Ninth St. You are two blocks from CAL which will be on your right in the third block.

From the west or Kansas City: Take I-70 to Providence RD. Up the ramp and turn right. Stay on Providence Rd, until you come to Broadway -- about two or three miles. (Broadway is Columbia's main downtown street.) Turn left on Broadway to Ninth St. Turn right onto Ninth St. You are two blocks from CAL which will be on your right in the third block.

From the south or Jefferson City: Cross the Jeff City bridge on 54, one mile from bridge you'll hit 63 to Columbia. Stay on 63 to Columbia until you hit Broadway (WW) exit. Up the ramp and turn left. You'll go past Stephens College, to the downtown. Stay on Broadway until you hit Ninth St. Turn left. You are two blocks from CAL which will be on your right in the third block.

From the north or Moberly/Macon: Take 63 to Columbia, Stay on 63 until you hit Broadway (WW) exit. Up the ramp and turn right. You'll go past Stephens College, to the downtown. Stay on Broadway until you hit Ninth St. Turn left. You are two blocks from CAL which will be on your right in the third block.

Have a great week!
May God always keep you on His palette.
Papa

July 17, @009

Missouri! Where the watercolors flow!
MISSOURI WATERCOLOR SOCIETY ONLINE NEWS
July 17, 2009  Birthstone: Ruby; Flower: Larkspur 
3:55 a.m. CST

"... You have to take chances to advance your skills as a painter. Sometimes you have to paint on the edge of disaster, and then wonderful things might happen. But, without risk, in painting as in life, nothing much of value is ever accomplished. Remember: Every good painter I know puts as much work in the trash as he puts in frames."
-- Edward Norton Ward,from his book, First Impressions: Sketching Nature in Watercolor.

1. REPEAT: The Members' Invitational Entry Deadline is 14 days away and counting down. If you plan on showing in the MI, we must have your entry information in the MoWS office with your entry fee of $20:  July 31 is the last postmark we will accept. You can download the prospectus from the MoWs Web site: www.mowsart.com
You must be a member with dues paid to be in this show.

2. ONLINE MAGAZINE: Laura King will be posting our second online Watercolor Studio with all your accomplishments and tips.. The deadline for Art Y'all for this issue is now past. Look for it online July 24. We'll have a link in next week's News.

3. ATTENTION NEW MEMBERS: The Missouri Watercolor Society has two main exhibitions: Watercolor Missouri National and the Members' Invitational. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME SHOW! The National is shown at the National Winston Churchill Memorial in Fulton, Mo. The Members' Invitational is a state-fair type show and is held at the Columbia Art League in Columbia, Mo. MoWS also offers the members the opportunity to show in four quarterly online exhibitions on the MoWS Web site.

4. Watercolor Missouri National will be posted on the MoWS Web site at the end of the first week of August. This will give us time to complete the entries for the Members' Invitational 2009. Here are the dates for Watercolor Missouri National 2010:
Jan. 19:        Entries must be POST- MARKED by this date
Feb. 18:        Notification mailed
Mar. 10-14:  Deadline for shipped works
Mar. 13-16:  Hand delivery - 10 am to 4 pm at WCM  desk
Apr. 11:        Reception and Awards
May 16:        Exhibition closes
May 18-24:  Pick up hand delivered work 10 am to 4 pm 
May 31:        Return shipping date.

4. Here is a hypothetical: If MoWS awarded the Members' Invitational today, it would be possible for MoWS to award $2800 in cash and merchandise. It would look like this:
First Place - $500; Second Place - $400; Third Place - $300; HM - $200; two Jeanie Morris Missouri Awards of $100 each; and Merchandise Awards totaling $1200.  We will also have many great door prizes, including a Joe Miller "French styled" American Journey field easel. (And we haven't received anything yet from 12 of our sponsors.) The reception date is September 13, at Columbia Art League Gallery.

5. Two years ago, we expanded what we'll accept into the Members' Invitational exhibition. 
What you may show:
Watermedia on paper or a paper product
Watercolor canvas
Acrylic on canvas (Gallery wrap is OK)
Watermedia on hard board (Clayboard)
Collage, as long as 80 percent is done with watercolor media on the material
Drawings done in a watermedia; we'll stretch the point and accept ink (markers)
Any work shown in any previous Watercolor Missouri National show
Any work show in any previous Members' Online Exhibition on the MoWS Web site
What you may not show:
Oils
Photos or computer art
Crafts
Work shown in any previous Members' Invitational show

Have a great week!
May God always keep you on His palette.
Papa

July 10, 2009

Missouri! Where the watercolors flow!
MISSOURI WATERCOLOR SOCIETY ONLINE NEWS
July 10, 2009 
3:55 a.m. CST

"... To begin with, concentrate on developing the habit of standing back from your work at regular intervals or whenever you add a new color or complete a value step. If you forget, write yourself a note on top of your board saying 'Stand back! Look!' "
-- Christopher Schink,from his book, Mastering Color and Design in Watercolor.

1. Congratulations to Dr. Rob Havers. Rob is the executive director of the Winston Churchill Memorial and a great friend of MoWS and Watercolor Missouri National. He has been honored by being named Fellow to the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and the Royal Historical Society (RHS). Before coming to Westminster, Rob was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of War Studies at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in the United Kingdom. Rob is just one of the reasons Westminster College ranks 39th of all colleges and universities in the USA by Forbes Magazine. The Missouri Watercolor Society is very proud to be associated with two outstanding institutions: the National Winston Churchill Memorial and Westminster College.

2. REPEAT: The Members' Invitational Entry Deadline is 21 days away and counting down. If you plan on showing in the MI, we must have your entry information in the MoWS office with your entry fee of $20:  July 31 is the last postmark we will accept. You can download the prospectus from the MoWs Web site: www.mowsart.com
You must be a member with dues paid to be in this show.

3. ATTENTION: Diana Moxon, executive director of the Columbia Art League, has sent this request: CAL is designing the invitation/announcement card for our upcoming MI show and needs some .jpgs from our members to select from. She is interested in work that will be shown in this year's exhibition.
Send a .jpg at 300 dpi at around 4" x 5" or 5' x 4" or close.
Email to: artleague@centurytel.net

4. ONLINE MAGAZINE: Laura King will be putting together our second online Watercolor Studio and MUST have your accomplishments and tips no later than July 15. Look for it to be posted online July 24.

5.Sidebar: This has nothing to do with art, just fun. It was sent to me off the Internet. Author is unknown. The following questions and answers were actually collected from SAT tests given in an Arkansas city to 16-year-old students! The year was 2000. I think it is one of the most creative things I've read in a long time. They remind me of my answers. I'm for these kids! Enjoy!

Q: Name the four seasons.
A: Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.
Q: Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink.
A: Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists.
Q: How is dew formed?
A: The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.
Q: What is a planet?
A: A body of earth surrounded by sky.
Q: What are steroids?
A: Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs.
Q: What happens to your body as you age?
A: When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental.
Q: What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty?
A: He says good-bye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery.
Q: Name a major disease associated with cigarettes.
A: Premature death.
Q: How can you delay milk turning sour?
A: Keep it in the cow.
Q: How are the main parts of the body categorized?  (E.g., abdomen.) 
A: The body is consisted into three parts -- the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels, A, E, I, O, and U.
Q: What is the Fibula?
A: A small lie.
Q: What does "varicose" mean?
A: Nearby.
Q: Give the meaning of the term "Caesarian Section."
A: The caesarian section is a district in Rome.
Q: What is a seizure?
A: A Roman emperor.
Q: What is a terminal illness?
A: When you are sick at the airport.
Q: Give an example of a fungus. What is a characteristic feature?
A: Mushrooms. They always grow in damp places and so they look like umbrellas.
Q: What does the word "benign" mean?
A: Benign is what you will be after you be eight.
Q: What is a turbine?
A: Something an Arab wears on his head.
Q: What is a Hindu?
A: It lays eggs.   

Who said creative thinking and writing was dead?

Have a great week!
May God always keep you on His palette.
Papa
    

July 3, 2009

Missouri! Where the watercolors flow!
MISSOURI WATERCOLOR SOCIETY ONLINE NEWS
July 3, 2009 - Happy Independence Day - Fly the Flag!
3:58 a.m. CST

"... This one is so obvious it sounds foolish in print, but it is too often neglected. Paint. Paint often. Successful artists speak far more often of work than of talent. Almost never will you see a profound work of art coming from the brush of a person who paints only occasionally."
-- Lawrence C. Goldsmith,from his book, Watercolor Bold & Free.

1. Congratulations to Signature Member, Mary Lou Corn, NWS, MoWS. She will be honored by the city of St. James, MO by being the Grand Marshall of their parade. Nice to know that in some parts of the ol' state of Missouri,  artists are held in high esteem. 

2. ATTENTION: Diana Moxon, executive director of the Columbia Art League, has sent this request: "I'm getting ready to design the postcard for the watercolor show and wondered if you could include a request in your next e-news for anyone who knows what work they're submitting, and has a high-resolution image to email the image to me for possible inclusion on the postcard. I need 4 images in total, 3 for the front and 1 for the back."
Send a .jpg at 300 dpi at around 4" x 5" or 5' x 4" or close.
Send to: artleague@centurytel.net

3. The Members' Invitational Entry Deadline is 28 Days Away and counting down: It is not like your local show where Mabel always handles everything for everyone, and all you have to do is show up with a painting. Well, you will not be able to just show up at the Columbia Art League with a painting. So if you plan on showing in the MI, we must have your entry information in the MoWS office with your entry fee of $20:  July 31 is the last postmark we will accept. You can download the prospectus from the MoWs Web site: www.mowsart.com

4. A number of members have complained that they couldn't "pull up" the New Online Watercolor Studio. Hmmm. it's suppose to work as a PDF file. You go to the MoWS Web site (www.mowsart.com). Under the slide show is a link to the magazine. Click on it. The magazine is in PDF format, and depending on your browser settings, it will either open automatically for you when you follow the link, or it will download to you desktop where you may open it with Adobe Acrobat or another viewing software.
A few folks have old versions of Adobe which said the MoWS PDF was flawed--not so! You have an old Adobe Acrobat reader. Follow these directions from Laura:
The ‘Bad Cmap encoding error' is seen in earlier versions of Adobe Acrobat reader. The document you are trying to view uses some features which are only supported in more recent versions. To fix the problem, you can download and install the more recent version of Abode Acrobat reader (9.1) from their Web site. This is a FREE download:  http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html
Once you download and install this program, you should have no problems reading the PDF file that you have downloaded. You will NOT need to re-download the PDF documents.
5. The following information is courtesy of national sculptor, Bob Robertson: Ever wonder where all that art stuff you buy comes from? Well, you can now check the barcode. Just remember the first 2 or 3 digits. Here are a few important ones:
00 - 09 ...... USA and Canada
30 - 37 ...... France
40 - 44 ...... Germany
47.............. Taiwan
49 ............. Japan
50 ............. England
690 - 692 .. China

6. A Glance at the Past: In 1999, after Independence Day, a group met in Fulton and discussed the possibility of bring a new organization into being. That organization is now called the Missouri Watercolor Society and is known nationally and internationally. So light a boomer for us this weekend. It's kind of our birthday, too!

Set a sparkler off for me!
Have a great holiday!
May God always keep you on His palette.
Papa