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....