Meeting Notes from Wednesday, October 21st

Attendence: 22

The Tippecanoe Arts Federation will host 2 free workshops for Individual Artists Grants presented at the Tippecanoe Arts Federation Wells Community Center at 638 North Street, Lafayette, IN. For further info contact Paige Sharp, Director of Regional Services, rsd@tippecanoearts.org, phone #: 765-432-2787

Saturday, September 26th, a fundraiser was held for the sister-in-law of member Dan Harshman's wife(Renee), who is battling breast cancer. Dan, Susan Kline and Keri Ellis donated artworks for the event that raised $2500.
Renee's family was very thankful for the members generosity.

Jill Marconi works with Dan Harshman and came to speak about the Arts and Crafts Festival being held in the Circus Building on November 14th, 9-4 and 15th, noon-4pm. Cost is $50.00 per 10'x10' booth space, plus $5.00 for access to electricity.
Anyone wishing to register for a space to for more info, get in touch with Dan Harshman at: www.harshent@wwdb.org

Brenda Ramseier would again like to invite the public to visit Maconaquah Elementary School to view the tapestries she temporarily has charge of.
The display of Thomas Hart Benton's works ended this past Friday, but from November 16th to the 20th the paintings of Diego Rivera will be exhibited in the school's hallways. Just sign in at the desk and you will be directed to them.

The weather was cold, breezy, and rainy(off and on) for Oktoberfest held on October 3rd, but Linda Butler sold her lovely painting of red tulips. Others displaying their works were Dan Harshman, Rudy Ridenour, Valerie May, Bobbie Jackson, Shane Mohler, and Haley Richardson.
Good going Linda.

Susan Kline gave a report on Cafe art sales and the progress of our 4x4 Christmas project for the nursing homes: less than 40 remain to be acquired and transformed into artworks for gifts.
We have set the date of December 14th for their wrapping and 6 p.m. December 16th for their delivery. Thank you all again for your involvement.

Diane Tracy Lehman gave a talk on her portrait work and exhibited several done in Prismacolor(colored pencils) on the reverse sides of Cason mi-teines paper. Particularly well done was a portrait of her daughter, with well defined shadow contrast and intricate work on the fabric of her blouse.
Many well earned praises came her way.
Well done and thank you, Diane.

Our next meeting is November 18th when our theme works inspired by the word "Sunrise" will be due. We will all be pleased to see what is produced.

Sept. 26th Fundraiser

Saturday, September 26th, a fundraiser was held to raise money for member Dan Harshman's wife's(Renee) sister-in-law who is battling breast cancer. Three of our members, Susan Kline, Keri Ellis, and Dan Harshman donated artworks for the event that raised $2500. Above is a photo of the painting Dan gave to help with the cause.

Renee's family was very appreciative.
Thank you members....

Meeting Notes from Wednesday, September 16th

Attendence: 24

Megan Mirro, from the Ft. Wayne Museum of Art gave a presentation on Joseph Cornell(1903-1972); primarily a collage and box construction artist, displaying memorabilia and found objects.
Well done, Megan.

Numerous of our group of artists showed their works for this month's topic: "Moon". We're pleased that so many of you participated.
The next project theme is "Sunrise" and will be due on November 18th.

We discussed and decided to participate in the Oktoberfest, October 3rd, from 12-7 p.m. It's sponsored by the Miami County Chamber of Commerce and will take place on the Peru Riverwalk.
Two of our members, Dan Harshman and Rudy Ridenour, have their own tents and are willing to share them with other members.
Thank you guys.
The Chamber of Commerce is also loaning us two more tents for the event so we will have a total of 4 tents of artwork displayed.
I will have more info on this in the upcoming days.

Our exhibit for Art in the Courtyard at the Cafe Du Cirque has been postponed.

Our opportunity to exhibit in the National City Bank was agreed upon and will take place after out October 21st meeting.

A report on Co-Op Art Sales and an update on our 4x4 Community Service Project was given by Bonnie Arrick due to Susan being under the weather.
Less than 30 little canvasses remain to be turned into art. Thank you all so much and thank you Bonnie.

Anne Huskey Lockard received an Honorable Mention for her piece called "Liberty Prevails" in the "Americana" show in the Clark Gallery at the Honeywell Center in Wabash.
Brenda Ramseier also had a piece accepted into the show.
Way to go, ladies.

Brenda also reminded us of the display of tapestries at her school where she is the art teacher; Maconaquah Elementary School. The next featured artist will be Thomas Hart Benton from October 19th to the 24th.
She invited the public to sign in at the desk and visit them there.

Thank you all for being a part of Community Artists Co-Op.

Brenda Ramseier

Brenda Ramseier, a Community Artists Co-Op member and Maconaquah Elementary School Art teacher wrote and received a grant to acquire the exhibit of satin panels produced by Teacher's Discovery displaying the artworks of 9 artists. It began with artist


Henri Rousseau, whose work is shown here in this photo. Ending this past Friday was Edgar Degas. Fom October 19th to the 24th the featured artist will be Thomas Hart Benton.
Several works by each artist will be shown in vivid color in the halls of her school. Brenda is using the beatiful panels to teach art history and as an inspiration for classroom and whole school projects.
The public is invited to visit the elementary school in Bunker Hill to view the panels and to visit her classroom. Just be sure to sign in at the desk and someone will show you the way.
It's worth the visit.

Meeting Notes from Wednesday, August 19th

4x4s: Thank you Co-Op members; over half of the 4x4s have been obtained by you already.
This is WONDERFUL of you all; it will give the elderly who receive them some holiday cheer and will enrich you for giving the knowledge of your care. I was touched last year by many of the responses from them....

Co-Op Petty Cash Bank Account: Chris Arrick and I have established a joint bank account at Wells Fargo Bank in the amount of $201.54, with the amount of $19.00 to be deducted for 1 box of checks. A new deposit of $75.00 will be made on Monday, August 24th; bringing our available account total to $257.54

Fall Fest/tent purchase: Chris Arrick is checking into whether or not Fall Fest will be taking place this year. If it is, we DO have enough interest from you members to request the purchase of a tent from the Community Foundation. It was also suggested that any members wishing to participate in any shows outside of Miami County could rent the tent by donating that rent money back to the Community Foundation, thereby adding it to our funds.

Banner Payment: The Northern Indiana Community Foundation was paid $1,030.00 by the Peru Circus City Festival, Inc. on our behalf for 1 banner.

National City Bank Exhibit Opportunity: Thanks to Rudy Ridenour we are in negotiations with National City to exhibit our works throughout their bank. The date for display is yet to be announced. Space to hang works on the walls is limited so most of them will be displayed on easels, both standing and desk top easels; 2 large desks will be available for presentation.
So far we have 13 easels being donated by you members for this project----THANK YOU so much.
I will update the info on this as it becomes available.

Megan Mirro: From the Ft. Wayne Museum of Art will be here in September; date yet to be determined.

Co-Op Art Sales:

Repurposed Art: Susan has asked any of us that would like to to create a work of art from a piece of cardboard and any objects found around town. It was suggested that the cardboard be coated with gesso before painting. She would also like us to keep a record of the objects and where and when they were found.

Abstract Demo: Given by me-Valerie May. I demonstrated the steps to doing an abstract artwork. My chosen subject was my grandfather's clock.
Step 1: was to photograph the clock.
Step 2: was to print those photos on plain paper.
Step 3: I put the photo on my light box and placed clean plain paper over it and traced the images I wanted to use.
Step 4: was to copy those tracings and enlarging some and shrinking others, so that I have 2 or 3 copies of each size.
Step 5: I then cut each one of the "drawings" out, thereby making patterns that I then arrange on my canvas and trace around them, overlapping or placing under as desired.
Step 6: Is to begin painting or doing collage; in this case: painting.
From time to time I will bring this to the Co-Op meetings so that you can see the progress.

Another Art Show to Enter: Arts and Crafts Fair in Warsaw taking place on October 10th. For more info go to http//www.kymca.org/artandcraftshow09.pdf

Next Meeting: September 16th and it's theme night--"Moon".

Art Shows,Sales; Photo Contest, Show

There will be an art show and sale at the Kokomo Art Center from September 1st-25th.
Entry cost is $12 per artwork; deadline is August 21st. Prize money or ribbons will be given. For more info and an entry form send an e-mail to sue@backalleyart.com

For you photographers-a contest; deadline is September 25th. For more info and an entry form go to www.in.gov/isda/2497.htm

For the men: The Clark Gallery in the Honeywell Center is exhibiting photographs of classic and race cars. A reception will be held on August 17th. www.honeywellcenter.org/09Gallery_CarShow.html

Profile 2: Roberta "Bobbie" Jackson

Favorite Color: Red

Favorite Artist: Claude Monet

Favorite Movie: "North by Northwest" directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Favorite Band: Glenn Miller, Big Band Music

Favorite Song: None

Roberta "Bobbie" Jackson is an active 81 year old artist that paints in a realist style; mostly using photos to glean her subjects. However-she does NOT want her works to be too perfect; she DOESN'T want them to look exactly like a photograph.

Bobbie began painting in 1981 after her family was grown by taking an adult education class in oil painting given at Peru High School by Norma Berry, a local artist. She continued taking classes when J.O. Buffington, another local artist, took over teaching adult education classes; starting with oil painting and then switching to watercolor. Watercolor is now her favorite medium.

She was born in St. Louis, but grew up in Chicago where she met her husband of almost 62 years, Bill(now deceased) at a college basketball game. They were married in 1946, moved to Peru in 1948 and raised a family of 4 children; 3 daughters and 1 son. One daughter and her son live in California, one daughter lives in Colorado, and her other daughter, Linda; also a Community Artists Co-Op member, lives here in Peru.

Bobbie worked at American Trust(formerly Peru Federal Savings and Loan) for over 30 years. Her husband worked at the Peru Tribune and was one of our former mayors.

I believe Bobbie may have inherited some of her artistic talent as her mother was also an artist, as is her brother. Bobbie owns several oil paintings done by her mother from the 1913 time period. Her mother; like she herself, waited till her children were grown to return to painting. Roberta says that she felt intimidated by her mother and brother's painting ability, but from the works she has displayed at Cafe Du Cirque she needn't have doubted herself; she is gifted with skill.

Bobbie was just elected to our Community Artists Co-Op board of directors and is also a member of the Art Collection Advisory Board, also of Peru. Her duties there are to ensure the collection of artworks owned by the Peru High School(among them a Picasso) is cleaned, maintained properly, and oversees their display. She says they have one of the best high school collections in the whole country.

I hope in the near future to give you a better view of her works because they are worth seeing.

Thank you Bobbie for being a part of our group.

Meeting Notes from Wednesday, July 22 nd

Each month I will be posting notes of our most recent meeting so that those not able to attend can keep up to date and those that were there can have their memories refreshed.
Here is the first edition of those notes:

July 22nd Meeting Notes: Attendance: 21; this includes 1 new member

Election: We elected 2 new board members-Bobbie Jackson and Diane Lehman. The board now consists of myself(Valerie May), Chris Arrick, Bobbie Jackson and Diane Lehman.
Chris or his mom, Bonnie Arrick, will be permanent board members as long as we are in association with Cafe Du Cirque.
Bobbie and Diane will serve until January of 2011. I will leave the board before that and we will then elect a new member. Each new board member will serve 1 year from that time forward unless circumstances warrant.

Petty Cash: Petty cash will be deposited into a joint bank account established by myself and Chris Arrick. Any money to be spent over the amount of $50.00 will require group approval and both signatures.
This month the amount of $22 was given by our group. Thank you members!

4x4s: All members voted to maintain the commitment to our Community Service Project---the nursing home 4x4 works of art to be given as Christmas gifts to the residents. This year we are hoping to expand our program to include the residents at Hickory Creek and Caring Hands as well as Miller's Merry Manor.
Susan Kline has again volunteered to head our project. We are so grateful, Susan.

Theme Artworks: This month our theme was "Spectral" and numerous works were displayed and discussed. We chose a new theme for September artworks; the new theme being "Moon".

Also Discussed: Dan Harshman, one of our members, will be displaying his artworks in the 4-H building during Hoosier Heritage Days at the Miami County 4-H Fairgrounds from August 14th -16th.
I will do a blog posting on this at that time.

Next Scheduled Meeting: August 19th at 7 p.m. at Cafe Du Cirque.

August Program: I am scheduled to demonstrate the steps from a 3 dementional object to putting it in 2 dementional form onto paper or canvas as an abstract work of art.

Our meetings are open to the public and you will be welcomed to join us at Cafe Du Cirque at 65 N. Miami Street in Peru, IN. Hope to see you there.

Gary Nichols, photographer and Community Artists Co-Op member is acting as a judge in the adult and youth catagories in the Cass County 4-H Fair today.
There are 3 types of photos being judged: Black and White; Color; and Computer Enhancement; this being the first year that classification is being accepted. Sizes range from 5x7 to 16x20 inches; first second and third prizes being given to the winners.
Two weeks ago he was a judge here in the Miami County 4-H Fair; judging among 80 prints in adult amateur and professional photography catagories being offered in the competition. He has also been asked to be a judge in the upcoming Marion County 4-H Fair.
Gary is a published photographer and will be highlighted in one of my upcoming Community Artists Co-Op profiles.
Good going Gary.

Kenton "Rudy" Ridenour at Charley Creek

Rudy Ridenour, digital artist, was a participant at the Charley Creek Arts Fest last weekend in Wabash. Sales were good for him in spite of the low turnout.
The days were beautiful, but Sunday the wind was brisk, causing some difficulties.
Several Community Artists Co-Op members stopped by his tent to wish him well; Gary Nichols, Audrey Diaz, Dan Harshman and his wife, and Shane Mohler.
Rudy will join other artists in a one day show and sale in Brownsburg on Saturday, July 18th.

Works by Anne Huskey-Lockard

Profile 1: Anne Huskey-Lockard

Favorites: Colors: Black and Red

Artist: Freda Kahlo

Movie: "Too Wong Foo"

Bands: The Ramones and The Mis Fits

Song: "Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones

My first profile is of 49 year old Anne Huskey-Lockard, born in Italy while her father was serving in the military; many moves; many schools, mostly parochial. She attended Brooks College in Long Beach, California.

She is primarily a mixed media and fiber artist; which includes many liturgical pieces; fabric accoutrement for her church-The Main Street United Methodist Church here in Peru. These works include altar cloths,banner sets, stoles, matching bible markers and pulpit hangings.

One of her wall hangings; done in memorium to a physician, is displayed in the chapel at Dukes Memorial Hospital, also here in Peru.

In the fine arts field, she has a great deal of talent for oils as well; 2 lovely small paintings of pears hang in Cafe Du Cirque.

She and her husband, Gary(military man); 24 years married, have lived in the Peru area for the past 16 years. The home of her soul; the place she feels most connected to is New Orleans even though she has never lived there. She and her husband would travel there each year at Halloween; her favorite holiday.

It has influenced her art work tremendously with it's architecture which is covered with layers and layers of paint peeling away, often revealing the vibrant colors of previous lives.

With the grime of black silt getting all over everything, imbedding in crevices, juxtaposing the contrast of colors and textures, she transforms the look and feel to her pieces.

She is now working on a series of box canvases 1 and 1/2 inches thick, creating little worlds in the recesses on the reverse sides as well as working on the faces of the canvases.

She roughly layers up to 5 coats of gesso until a pleasing, uneven texture developes. Then she layers paint using a paint and wipe method, usually starting with an intense, bright pink or green as a base coat. She uses Golden Fluid Acrylic paints and Golden Mediums for her work and highly recommends them.

Anne uses cut outs, tissue paper prints, twigs, stones, bleached bones, transparencies,beads, rocks, shells, feathers, leaves; you name it, she uses it. She also utilizes rubber stamps, embossing, and pieces made by stamping black ink into paper clay, letting them dry and then painting them.

Her goal is to create an old weathered look to her works that belies them having a previous life of their own; sometimes joining disparate elements to tell another, perhaps hidden story.

Her works are usually built around a single major theme or idea incorporating religious iconography that includes the sacred heart or cross. Other themes she also draws from are fortune telling and Buddha; elements of belief systems that often relate to her love of New Orleans. She has also done works based on artist Freda Kahlo and the band:The Ramones.

She gathers ephemera she plans to use in the piece at hand, starting with a general idea. But often the works turn out differently than her perceived concept because she lets the elements guide her process, letting them tell her where to place them or whether to use them at all.

She finishes the box canvases by varnishing with up to 3 coats, depending on how absorbent the substraight is.

When complete they have an aura all their own, kind of old looking, many colored, many textured, funky, but with deeper feeling, deeper meaning.... beautiful in an unconventional sense. Very luckily I own one.

Anne has had her works in Artifacts(in Indianapolis) and the Idianapolis Art Center. She has also shown in the Honeywell Center in Wabash; was part of a 3 woman fiber art show there last year and had a piece there in the latest 9 County Art Show. Most recently she had one of her box canvas works exhibited in the Ft. Wayne Museum of Art as part of their Members Show.

Her next venture is to be teaching a fiber art class in the fall in Valparaiso.

Anne is a very talented woman who has dedicated MUCH time and EFFORT into promoting the Community Artists Co-Op, to gain information for shows and opportunities for us. She has taught me much and we thank her, I thank her.

Her desire was to enrich the greater Peru area with the talent and art of it's local residents; to spur them into creativity, to beautify our community and to develop a group of creative people to interact with each other; inspiring, teaching.... To enrich our lives.

She, as well as the other founding members, has given us a path....

In honor of you, Anne....

John Miles, Watercolorist

Last evening the Co-Op was graced by John Miles, one of the founding members, giving a demonstration of his watercolor technique on various surfaces, watercolor canvas, clay board, and watercolor panels. His primary focus for the demo was teaching us his method of painting sky and clouds using brushes to put the paint on and facial tissue to remove unwanted areas.

He ended by painting a foreground with yellow ochre and a green, I believe. He had, previously to joining us, painted a red barn and trees in the distance and used a masking product which he removed to reveal a silo that he proceeded to complete by adding color.

He also displayed other very nicely done paintings of his-a charming image of his grandson, Ayden, playing in the sand on the beach, a work showing a row boat pulled out of the water, surrounded by palm trees, and my favorite of the evening--a vase of flowers.

On the whole I don't care for paintings of flowers, but John does such a lovely job with a loose painterly style that I find them pleasing.

Thank you John!

Rudy at Charley Creek

Good Tuesday to you all,
One of our members, Rudy Ridenour, Cafe Du Cirque artist of the month, will be offering his digital artworks for sale during the Charley Creek Arts Fest held in Wabash's Paradise Historical Park Saturday from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m. and Sunday from noon until 4 p.m. Thirty-five artists are participating this year.
For a schedule of events go to www.charleycreekartsfest.org

The Community Artists Co-Op has been in operation 3 years and counting, with folks of all ages and backgrounds, from Peru and surrounding counties.
We wish to introduce our membership to you through this blog in forthcoming episodes, as well as inform you of art shows in our area and those members involved in or attending them; other art events of interest; and other links that will inform you and take you places that you enjoy and that will inspire you and motivate you to create art.
"Art washes away from the soul the dust of every day life." : A quote by Pablo Picasso

Art in the Courtyard

This past weekend Peru held its' annual Cole Porter Festival.
As part of the celebration the Community Artists' Co-Op held "Art in the Courtyard" with 9 local artists displaying 19 0f their pieces on the terrace of Cafe Du Cirque as diners enjoyed their morning meal in the lovely sun dappled atmosphere.

June Meeting Update!!!

Due to a conflict, our June meeting will be on the 24th, 7 p.m. at Cafe Du Cirque.
Hope to see you all there!

Art and Espresso, from Fort Wayne Museum of Art

Megan Mirro is the outreach specialist from the FWMoA, and frequently comes to visit our group. The last presentation was about Indiana Artists. As usual, the presentation was spectacular and well attended!

The Museum allowed some of their books from their archive to be lent out for the evening, giving the local artists the opportunity to see what the Fort Wayne School of Art had produced years ago. There was exceptional work---it was a great opportunity to learn about some of the local past.

The membership always has a good time at the gatherings! They are fun, pretty informal as well as educational. A chance to catch up with other artist friends and discuss the latest projects.

Our membership is not limited to Miami County, but draws from neighboring counties as well, which is great! Everyone is welcome!

We meet the third Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. @ Cafe Du Cirque, 65 N. Miami St, Peru Indiana.

Come join us!

What are you doing Wednesday the 18th? Well you should be at the LAA reception for the co-op's gallery showing. Here is some info i got in an email from Anne:

Fine art work by the members of the Community Artists Co-op based in Peru, Indiana is now on display in our main gallery through February 26. The group is hosting a public reception on Wednesday, February 18 from 7:00-8:30 pm. Refreshments will be served.
The Community Artists Co-op meets monthly at the Café Du Cirque in Peru. Members of the group are artists of all medias and abilities, who share expertise and network with each other and the community. The LAA is proud to spotlight organizations promoting the education of arts in ways that improve the quality of life in our communities.

Everyone is super excited about the chance to have a gallery showing as a group so please come out and have a good time with us and some refreshments.

p.s. Happy Valentines Day!

update from the last meeting.

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. Winter hibernation has finally set in. haha
Thanks to everyone who submitted Art for the LAA gallery showing. The reception for the co-op is Feb. 18th at 7:00 p.m. Make sure to come out and support not only your local arts but your family and friends as well! There will be refreshments from what i hear. From what i could see people sneaking in to the cafe to get wrapped up the artwork looks amazing.
The theme night was great to at the last meeting. The theme was "dog" and everyone did a great job. The next theme is "Decay" and we will be showing them in March.
Come out to the art gallery or the next meeting and hang out with all of us!

Here is this months question: During WWII the WPA (Works Progress Administration) was started to help form jobs and to come up with new forms of jobs for the American people. Part of what came out of this was America hiring foreign artists to travel to America and teach how to paint and other forms of art. Diego Rivera and Jose Orosco were brought to America as Mexican muralists to teach painting and working on a large scale. Artists were encouraged to take these workshops and were given a monthly amount of money to do their work. Jackson Pollock happened to be one of these artists that learned to work on a larger effecting his artwork later on. So the question i pose is do you think in tough economic times (similar to WWII) would a program like this work for the current situation America is in? Do you think that artists working together in the community bring about jobs and maybe raise the moral of the community?

New year, new art. There is a meeting on Jan. 21st @ 6:30. This is the night that if you have any art that is being submitted to the LAA Gallery Art Show, you should bring it completed and ready to be hanged. I havent heard about anybodys art going into the show. I think everyone is being secretive about what they are making. This is going to be a great gallery showing. If by chance you cant bring your finished peices that night please contact Susan and make arrangements. Hope to see everyone on Jan. 21st!


p.s.s. would people be intersted on here with a monthly question to provoke a conversation? eh?