To champion art as essential to life and give our community
a creative voice
From the President’s Desk
The days are getting shorter as we head closer toward the winter solstice. Covid-19 cases are on the rise and San Luis Obispo County has fallen back to the state’s Purple Tier in the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, accompanied by a curfew between the hours of 10pm to 5am effecting all non essential businesses. Many of you may be wondering what that means for Art Center Morro Bay. As a result, days of operation have fallen back to five days per week, open 12-4pm, Thursday through Monday, closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
We remain focused on finding creative ways to stay engaged in art. Nothing we do as a gallery is more essential than the way we engage with each other and our customers. I would like to thank all of you who volunteer and for your continued perseverance and dedication! Every exhibit is unique as it takes many helping hands to install, people to market, docents who interact with our customers and treasury to ensure artists are promptly paid, for art sales.
There are many other duties that go far beyond these obvious activities.
Your MBAA Board of Directors are continuously working behind the scenes and it’s time to elect your 2021 board.
Janet Hillson has been the MBAA Board Secretary for 4 years. Janet is responsible for legal documents which include board minutes and financial documents. Janet produces and edits the MBAA monthly newsletter. She works hard in other areas to include Art in the Park, volunteering as a docent, organizing the future Plein Air Festival, fund raising and preparation of grants. Her latest endeavor won Art Center a building grant of $8,000. This grant will be used to replace the old florescent tube lights in the activity room, with a new lighting system designed to imitate daylight in the absence of windows. This project is currently underway. Art instructors and students will benefit from this updated, adjustable lighting system for years to come!
Bob Azevedo, Treasurer, has been dedicated to MBAA for 5 years! Bob’s attention to detail and financial advice is helping MBAA get through this unprecedented time. A recent annual audit of his book keeping has gone very well. Looking forward, we welcome Kimberly Hempel, who is in the process of learning treasury details from Bob. We know she has a great teacher!
This month we bid farewell to Michael Costa. Michael attends Cuesta College and is the owner of a new gallery located in Los Osos. Michael has done a good job for us at MBAA and we wish him continued success! Please welcome Joy Chambers who has picked up the baton as the Interim Docent Director.
Shannon K. Larson, Children’s Education Director has currently been doing her civic duty during the current U. S. elections. Due to Covid, Children’s classes are postponed. Shannon is also responsible for selecting students for art scholarships. This year, MBAA is proud to be offering (4) scholarships to Morro Bay High School in addition to the Rena Doud Art Scholarship fund.
Gail Martin, Adult Education Director has done a wonderful job organizing field trips, workshops and art demonstrations. Although most classes and workshops are postponed due to the pandemic we look forward to those activities resuming in the near future. Gail designed current ads and the Plein Air Festival website. She looks forward to helping MBAA launch this event in the future. The Adult Education Director position is currently open to nominations. Please let us know if you'd like to throw your hat into the ring!
Barbara Sitar, Gallery Director works hard to organize interesting exhibits, plein air activities and manages the Square Art Wall wall. Barbara has rearranged the gallery exhibits, helping to give each one a fresh look. Her wings in front of the gallery continue to attract visitors and locals alike as they stop to take photos of themselves. Look for her "From the Gallery" updates in the newsletters and E-Blasts.
Also exiting, is Community Outreach Director Sue Palmer. Sue has been a liaison between artists and businesses in an effort to provide additional venues for artists to exhibit and sell their artwork. She has been a wonderful help during Art in the Park too. We hope Sue will have more time for her own art!
Additional positions open are: Vice President and Marketing Director.
Please watch for www.votebuddy for your secure email ballot. Nominations and voting for your MBAA Board of Directors is your right as a member and very much encouraged.
The need for volunteers is great! MBAA is a board run, membership supported organization, completely run by volunteers. Without you, helping in some small way, we could cease to exist. If you’re interested in one of these prestigious board positions and would like an outline of duties, please let myself or any board member know. Board positions do not require a financial obligation. Attendance of monthly board meetings and general computer skills are required and training is provided.
We are also in great need of volunteers in other areas. You'll find more information about those duties further in the newsletter and in upcoming E-Blasts! Please let myself or any board member know if you may be able to help in some smaller way as well. Many of these duties may be accomplished from the safety of your home. Your help is what makes this organization thrive.
From the entire MBAA Board of Directors and myself, we wish you all Happy Holidays, and wishes for a bright New Year.
Patricia Newton
Joan Martin Fee is a craft designer, television personality, author, magazine editor, voiceover specialist and currently owns Creative Me Time, a business from where she teaches a multitude of craft art classes.
It all started one Saturday morning in 1990 as Joan took a few minutes to unwind from her full-time job in the aerospace industry, full-time college classes and having just moved into a new home.
While flipping through television channels, she came across a nationally televised craft show. Little did she know how these moments might be life changing! After submitting a craft idea, the show’s producer contacted Joan, who agreed to demonstrate a televised craft project.
That was 25 years ago. Her journey includes working for the largest manufacturers in the industry to the present where she continues her love of art and helping others along their creative journey.
Joan also served on the MBAA Board of Directors as Docent Director. During her tenor, she revised the entire docent director manual and implemented updated procedures. Her revisions are the guidelines docents use today!
We are grateful for Joan’s generous gift of time and her significant contributions to MBAA.
Joan currently offers a variety of online art classes enjoyed from the comfort and safety of your home at www.creativemetime.com
Flower Power is a slogan emblematic from the counterculture of the 1960’s. During the Summer of Love, flowers became powerful symbols of peace, a concept plucked from Buddhist art.
More than merely decorative, floral imagery has helped convey ideas from the refined to the revolutionary for thousands of years. Flowers in contemporary art are connected to particular cultural legacies but are also open to new interpretations, moored to the past yet provoking questions about our future.
This exhibit will demonstrate the flexibility of floral images to convey both timely and timeless themes. The flowers offer decorative appeal, symbolic and healing values, as well as ways of thinking about a wide range of topics—the natural environment in which we live, the communities we build, and the commodities we buy.
This exhibition will embrace the diversity of florals through 2 dimensional interpretations from scientific illustration, abstract, photorealism to large free style creations in oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, photography, digital media and mixed media. In addition, 3 dimensional art will include ceramic, glass, wood and floral sculptures. The ART OF IKEBANA will feature work of botanical artists, green professionals, flower growers and floral designers.
THE ROLE OF THE VASE featuring vases. Artists may submit up to three vases.
THE ART OF IKEBANA will feature work of botanical artists, green professionals, flower growers and floral designers. One complete arrangement incorporating living flowers or plants will be accepted per artist. Live flowers and plants will be used, Floral arrangements need to last and be replaced by the artist when they wilt.
This exhibition will embrace the diversity of florals through 2 dimensional interpretations, from scientific illustration, abstract, photorealism to large free style creations in oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, photography, digital media and mixed media. In addition, 3 dimensional artwork will include ceramic, glass, wood and floral.
Artists are invited to submit up to (3) 2D or wall hung artworks in all media, up to (3) 3D artworks to include vases, jewelry and (1) Ikebana style live floral.
TAKE-IN JANUARY 5, 2021, 10am – 2pm
VICE PRESIDENT
The Vice President position is varied and generally oversee's MBAA’s Art in the Park booth (3x annually) to include setup/takedown, art take-in, scheduling docents for the booth with the use of signupgenius and assist with the Holiday/Installation Dinner Party. Due to Covid, these programs are not active at this time. However, if you are interested in assisting or becoming the next President, now is the perfect time to get training! Contact any board member or Patricia Newton, artbypatricianewton@gmail.com or (805) 423-1100.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH DIRECTOR
The Community Outreach Director manages the Art in Business Program. This program allows artists to exhibit and sell artwork in seven locations outside of the gallery. Artists rotate artwork to a new location approximately every 3 to 4 months, guided by a rotation schedule completed and emailed by the the Community Outreach Director. This position requires light management skills and monthly attendance of board meetings. Most of this work is done from the convenience of your home and should take approximately 4 - 6 hours per month. If you enjoy management and working with people, this position may be perfect for you! If you would like more information, please contact any board member or Patricia Newton, artbypatricianewton@gmail.com or (805) 423-1100.
MARKETING DIRECTOR
The Marketing Director works with a team of volunteers to ensure all gallery events are advertised. Media sheets, contact information and training is provided. The Marketing Director maintains a budget, manages ads, works with news media and may design ads or ask a volunteer graphic artist to parter with on projects. The Marketing Director is also asked to attend monthly board meetings. This position should take approximately 10 hours or less per month. If you like working creatively from home, this may be a great position for you! For more information, please contact Patricia Newton, artbypatricianewton@gmail.com or (805) 423-1100.
ADULT EDUCATION DIRECTOR
The Adult Education Director attends board meetings, manages the activity room calendar, arranges diversified, monthly art demonstrations and organizes art workshops throughout the year. During the current Covid restrictions most of the work is accomplished from home. Monthly demos have been temporarily postponed and classes are being moved to online formats.
Please welcome Kimberly Hempel to
the Art Center Morro Bay team!
Kimberly was raised in the central valley of Fresno, California. She earned her BA degree in Studio Art from Cal-State University, Fresno. After six years of being a sculptor's apprentice for Margaret Hudson, she was inspired to pursue her dreams of being an artist and a teacher. In 2013 she received her teaching credential to teach art at the secondary level from the Kremen School of Education and Human Development at Cal-State University, Fresno. Kim met and married her husband while finishing her credential and they moved to Los Osos, CA. Kim later earned an MFA in painting from Academy of Art, San Francisco.
Kimberly has some experience with finance through her family business and has offered to assist Bob Azevedo with the MBAA treasury. We know she’ll have a great teacher!
CALL TO ARTISTS
Morro Bay Butcher & Deli is looking for a local artist(s) to paint a new wooden trash enclosure that will be installed in front of the store located on a prominent corner of Main & Harbor Streets.
This project has been approved by the City of Morro Bay. The receptacle enclosure measures approximately 12 foot by 30 inches.
The installation date is TBD.
For more information, please contact:
Jillian Montgomery, Owner, Morro Bay Butcher & Deli
cell: 307-699-3423
911 Main St., Morro Bay, CA 93442
Upcoming Workshops
Painting with Paper
with Lisa Agaran January 29 & 30 10:00 -11:30am
Online via Zoom*
In this workshop you will create an engaging piece of art, using paper as the primary medium. You will learn how to pull together up-cycle paper, vintage ephemera and handmade papers to create a piece that is tactile and artistically beautiful. You’ll develop an eye for paper materials that can potentially create interesting backgrounds, shapes, textures and patterns. You will also gain an understanding of how to apply a sense of composition, color schemes to create cohesiveness and harmony.
Learn the importance of layering materials from large scale to smaller, developing a sense of background and foreground. Most importantly, you will learn how to follow your creative intuition and have fun as your piece organically unfolds. This workshop is appropriate for adults age 18+ and all levels of experience. COST: $45.00 MBAA Members or $50.00 Non-Members
*For those unfamiliar with Zoom or feel a little intimidated by attending a workshop online. Lisa is happy to help guide you thru the process before this workshop begins. For questions about materials or help attending this workshop online, please contact Lisa by email: lisa.agaran@gmail.com
Architecture of Light
with Thomas Schaller
March 19 - 21 9:00 - 4:00
“As an artist, it is light, that is the constant narrative in my work. So when I’m deciding on what it is I wish to paint, I concentrate less on specific objects – places or things – and more on the strength of a strong abstract value composition of darks and lights. A common phrase we often hear is: “Mother Nature is the best teacher” While I agree that real world observation is a crucial skill for the artist, no less so are the lessons to be learned from memory, dreams, and pure invention.” ~ Thomas W. Schaller, AWS, NWS, TWSA.
Mr. Schaller has authored art books, instructional video’s, DVD’s and has been featured in several publications. He is one of the few watercolor artists to be featured in The American Masters Exhibition 2015 at the famed Salmagundi Club in NYC. He received a Graham Foundation Grant and was a two-time recipient of the Hugh Ferris Memorial Prize. In 2017 he was a finalist for the Lynx Prize for Contemporary Art; Trieste. In 2019 he was awarded the Abu Rawash Master Award.
Mr. Schaller is a signature member of many organizations including: American Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society, Northwest Watercolor Society, San Diego Watercolor Society, California Watercolor Association, California Art Club, American Society of Architectural Perspectivists and New York Society of Renderers. He is president emeritus of the American Society of Architectural Illustrators and founding member of the group, North American Watercolor Artists. His work has been included in major exhibitions and collections worldwide.
Hear Tom, in his own voice, talk about how he has evolved as an artist, from his roots growing up on a farm in Ohio, to working as an architectural artist and watercolorist. He also reveals his inspirations, why bridges show up in so many of his works, and how every painting tells a story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I8R_ur9r6M&feature=youtu.be
Welcome Joy Chambers to
the Art Center Morro Bay Team!
I have always loved taking pictures and I love black labs, so it just makes sense that I live here in Morro Bay, and have so many pictures from Toro Creek Dog Beach and Tognazinni’s
Dockside Too. I would walk my black lab, Miss Molly, at least once a day and sometimes
more, especially when the day was beautiful, and the tide was low. While on our walks, as
Molly sniffed around, I watched the ever-changing landscape we were in. Low-tide reflections of huge billowing clouds; pelicans in flight glancing a wave; the Rock with a slight veil of fog; and a regatta of small sailboats on the bay. My walks would not start unless I had Molly’s treats, a poo bag, and my iPhone. Capturing the scene that caught my eye meant having my camera, settings adjusted, and taking the shot. I do love my Nikon, but I took my iPhone when walking Molly, because it was always ready to get the shot. I have been amazed at the quality of the pictures it takes, and my ability to capture a moment. Miss JoC (Josie), now 16 months, came to me in October 2019 following Miss Molly’s passing. JoC’s puppy curiosity and energy took all my attention as we walked the beach. Now that she’s more ‘mature’ we have better walks and I take more pictures. After all, she is the most beautiful American lab ever and I now have a far superior iPhone 12 Pro Max, which is amazing.
I joined the Morro Bay Art Association when I entered the 2018 Through the Lens competition with Kerry Drager as Juror. Two of my 3 pictures were selected for the show. Above, I am standing next to “The Right Perspective” and the second was “Get in Line”. “Get in Line” was purchased by Rich & Diane Buquet. Diane took the pictures of me with my photography that dat. I became a docent shortly after becoming a member and found it to be rewarding. I look forward to my new role as Docent Director. As for me, I have lived on the Central Coast for 29 years with 19 of those years in Morro Bay. I have two grown sons, Tim and Craig Huston, and 5 beautiful grandchildren…oops 4 beautiful grand girls and one very handsome grandboy who all live in Redlands. I retired in 2014 after 42 years working education, and I love living my retirement life here in Morro Bay.
ONLINE CLASSES
Jason Mayr
Still Life Painting
Starts November 9th
Do you enjoy painting? Do you get stuck and are not sure how to take your work to the next level? Are you struggling to finish your work?
Be a part of a supportive and fun group of artists striving to improve their skills and work. Bring more enjoyment, camaraderie and better results to your art.
Join us from the comfort of your own home or anywhere around the world with an internet connection. I will provide clear instruction, encouragement and feedback as we work through a painting project each month.
To produce a good painting you need three things. One, the ability to see the finish before you begin. Two, the ability to execute your intention and three, the ability to recognize fine relationships. The strengthening of each of these abilities is the focus of my program. Learn to get the appropriate visibility, depth and movement in your paintings for finer works of art.
During the first two weeks of the monthly program we will prepare to execute a painting. We use compositional and color studies to work out our problems and visualize the finished painting before we even get started. Then the following two weeks will be spent executing the painting.
This class meets on Zoom six times a month. Allowing plenty of time and opportunity for instruction and feedback both in general as well as specifically for your particular piece. Each session of classes meet 6 times via Zoom
(2 Mondays and 4 Fridays) all at 9am
The cost is $60 a session or $180 for 3 sessions
Next Jason has our Mayr Studio Sketch Club LIVE every Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday evenings starting at 6:55pm for introduction and we get going at 7pm for about 20 minutes.
Sundays Jason has four 5 minute sketches, Tuesdays he works on two 10 minute sketches and then on Thursday he takes one of the sketches further and works on one sketch for 20 minutes. This happens on our Mayr Studio Facebook page and is FREE. https://www.facebook.com/MayrStudio
Sea Glass Hammered Metal Jewelry December 5 10:00am - 11:00pm (KIT PICK-UP TIME)
*Please note, this is an at home class: Craft at your own pace from the comfort and safety of your own home using supplies and a video provided by Creative Me Time.
Learn how to drill holes in sea glass, how to harden, strengthen and texturize metal and basic jewelry skills to create a gorgeous jewelry set.
No experience necessary. Everything is provided for the project including drilled local sea glass, 3 jewelry tools, metal, steel bench block, jewelry hammer and jewelry findings.
COST: $50.00 - $80.00 (Kit and how-to video)
Resin Workshop – Choose Your Project
December 5
10:00 – 11:00 (Kit Pick-up)
*Please note, this is an at home class: Craft at your own pace from the comfort and safety of your own home using supplies and a video provided by Creative Me Time.
Choose from a beach scene in an 11" x 14" frame, two resin necklaces, a memory box, beach inspired cutting or cheese board. Photos of projects and pricing are at www.CreativeMeTime.com
Cost:Various
Everything is provided to complete the project. Preregistration is required at www.CreativeMeTime.com or by calling 805-286-5993.
Kits are to be picked up at Art Center Morro Bay
835 Main Street, Morro Bay
TO OUR VERY GENEROUS DONORS
Your very generous donations to Morro Bay Art Association helps to support the gallery and scholarships for local art students.
The Rena Doud Art Scholarship fund is currently up to $1,970. If you would like to donate to this special scholarship fund in Rena's name, please add Rena's name in the comment box.
We thank each and every donor for your continued support!
