Visual Art League of Lewisville

John Chen is our Art Talk Speaker on Sept 5 in the VAL Gallery at 7:00 p.m.

Artist, lecturer, collector and connoisseur of Oriental painting, John Chen will be the guest speaker/demonstrator at the September general meeting, in anticipation of his exhibit “Z: Zen and the Art of Paintings”, opening Saturday, September 9. “Artists and philosophers have long been faced with the problem of what is expressed in a work of art (or, put in another way, what is created in a work of art).” John the Artist as Collector will explore issues on Zen philosophy, Zen and Contemporary Western Art, and connoisseurship in Zen brush works.

John’s artistic endeavors include acceptance into the “Critic’s Choice” – a juried exhibition at the Dallas Visual Art Center in 2000 and 2001, and selection of his painting “Uttermost Speed” for the “Visions International Competition 2002” at the Art Center in Waco. He was one of six local artists invited to do a demonstration on Art Train USA in Grapevine, in 2003. He was asked to conduct a calligraphy demonstration as part of the “Late Nights at the Dallas Museum of Art” program in January of 2005. He has taught at SMU, in the Informal Courses for Adults program — “Oriental Painting: The Zen Experience” since 1999. John has truly ascertained himself as a bridge between east and west, but he is also trying to blur the line of division between Eastern and Western arts and into a new horizon. Don’t miss this month’s meeting and a unique exhibit Sept. 9 through 23.

Artist’s Statement

For me as an artist, painting must not be excessively organized or constricted with formal design elements and the emphasis must on the creative process. Some call it seeing with the mind’s eye. The visualization comes to me as I communicate with my subconscious and innermost emotions as I transpose these thoughts and feelings to physical reality with color and shapes on paper. Art speaks through my soul or heart and uses my eyes and mind only as instruments of communication. My vision is to go beyond the mere surface of human experience. My thoughts seek to find images that fit a particular set of data/information or solve a specific problem. During the painting process my creativity involves finding patterns and ordering random, disparate elements. Thus, Life itself is creative and painting is just a process. I visually represent the image with my rapid free brush gesture and color-splashing technique. Often, the representations are juxtapositioned amongst many styles and the two cultures, which I possessed-it is a fusion of my Oriental heritage and western education along with my American way of life.

March 7, 2006

12:28 am

Nel Dorn Byrd, AWS will be conducting a watercolor demonstration on March 7 at 7:00 pm in the VAL Gallery.

A native Texan and a resident of Plano, Texas, Nel Dorn Byrd began drawing as a child, first painted with oils, and for the past thirty five years has painted with the medium of watercolor. She studied art at Midland Institute of Fine Arts, Richland College, The University of Texas at Dallas, and with many outstanding watercolor instructors. She has painted in Switzerland along the trails where Sargent painted and she’s enjoyed numerous painting workshops in Greece, Italy, France and Mexico.

She has attained signature membership in several watercolor societies including: the American Watercolor Society, Rocky Mountain National, Texas Watercolor Society, Western Federation, and the Southwestern Watercolor Society. Nel has won major awards in juried exhibitions throughout the United States including the Quaintance Award from Rocky Mountain National, the Alan Chiara Memorial Award from the American Watercolor Society, Best of Show from Western Federation, and the Beverly Green Memorial Collection Purchase Award from the National Watercolor Society. And her paintings have been accepted in more than 150 juried competitions. Her work has been included in numerous publications and books, and most recently an article on her interior paintings was published in Watercolor, the summer issue, 2003.

Artist Statement

I find the medium of watercolor to be an exciting and challenging way to paint; it responds well to my personal style and I enjoy the quick, expressive interpretation it allows. The pursuit of watercolor continues to be a life-long growth process and I feel fortunate to be involved. There is constant inspiration from nature, a wonderful camaraderie with fellow artists, and the sheer joy of painting.

March 6, 2006

1:11 am

Doris Cain, Photographer Art Talk, April 4th

Doris began her professional career in 1980 as an assistant producer of television commercials in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area where her career grew over the next 17 years. By 1985 she was a full time producer of major film, video, and television shows and owner/operator of three companies: The Edit Suite, a full service video editing and 3-D graphic facility; Tele-Visions Corporation, a video production studio, location facility and service company; and Dynamite Films, a high end film production company.

Some of her more distinguished jobs included producing the Dallas Cowboys coaches and owners shows, producing the number one hit music video “Ice Ice Baby”, producing films for Disney’s Epcot theme park and countless award winning commercials, corporate videos, and documentaries for fortune 500 companies including Kodak, Motorola, Apple Computer, Sun Microsystems, Adobe, Sony, IBM, and Frito Lay.
She was producing a piece for Kodak in the mid 90’s and the film called for still photographs. After hiring and rejecting the work of several professional photographers Kodak expressed their disappointment so Doris showed them some of her pictures and that began a long time relationship with Kodak. Today when you visit Kodak Imagination pavilion at Epcot you’ll see her work proudly on display. Doris’s photographic work has since shown up in countless productions, brochures, video covers etc.
She began shooting still photographs as a hobby in the mid 80s. At first her passion was shooting 3-D and she quickly mastered the artistry of shooting in the 3-D environment but the limited viewing opportunities left her with very few options to display her work so she transitioned to a 35mm camera.

After recently moving back to Texas from San Francisco, Doris decided to end her producing career and focus on her passion, photography. Doris jumped in with both feet. She’s currently a member of NAPP, National Association of Photoshop Professionals, and CLAG, Canyon Lake Art Guild. She is also an active member of Professional Photographers Association, Texas Professional Photographers Association and her local San Antonio Professional Photographers Guild. She’s accomplished her professional photographers certification requirements and working on earning credits on her Masters of Photography Certification. She’s great at shooting all types of photography, but she loves shooting children and families in their natural environments. She loves shooting with a photojournalistic style where she can capture the real character of her subjects. She utilizes her previous video production skills and creates “Day in the Life” slide shows.

Doris also has a passion for art photography. She has an extensive background with black and white photography and printing. Ten years ago she changed her format to digital and hasn’t looked back. She continues to study digital darkroom techniques using Photoshop to give her images a unique look. She is constantly stretching her abilities and trying new things. Her latest endeavor is infrared art photography and her pictures are already drawing great reviews. Doris will show you some of these images and share some of her secrets that can take a good photograph and make it great. Feel free to bring your digital camera, she will show you some camera tricks to improve your images.

VAL would like to thank our demonstrator from last month, Dave Maxwell

Dave spent his early years in Illinois and Fort Worth, graduating from Arlington Heights High School in 1952. Upon graduation he attended TCU for two years, and worked as a Cabinet Maker for a period of time after that. He then completed a degree in Industrial Arts from North Texas State in 1958.

He was employed by a Major Oil Company as a draftsman for ten years, then for the next 25 he held various assignments in their Purchasing Department, living in various West Texas and New Mexico locations. After living in Houston for many years, he retired in 1993.Travel became a primary activity until his wife, Mary, decided that it was time to slow the pace a bit. She and an artist friend convinced him to take some free watercolor lessons, which he reluctantly agreed to. He soon became fascinated by its challenge, and began a serious study in 1999 through professional lessons and various workshops sponsored by the Watercolor Art Society-Houston. During that time, he began entering local shows, and had a satisfying degree of success in winning ribbons and various awards. He and Mary moved to Fort Worth in 2002.

A life-long love of automobiles provides the subject matter for many of his paintings. His teacher in Houston, Gerry Finch, recommended that he follow his automotive love for subject matter, even though she is a painter of still lifes and florals. He loves developing mechanical shapes and reflected surfaces on paper, through employing smooth flowing washes contrasted with the crisp line work that reflections require. About the time he moved to Fort Worth he began having success in National Shows, and gained Signature Membership in the Watercolor Art Society-Houston in 2004. Additionally he began study with Mary Kay Krell, and has attended various area workshops sponsored by the Southwestern Watercolor Society and the Society of Watercolor Artists.

During 2005, his efforts were recognized through the attainment of Signature Membership status in the Southwestern Watercolor Society as well as the Society of Watercolor Artists in Fort Worth. One of his works was accepted in the recent VAST Member Show, and he has a painting included in the VAST 2006 Calendar. Additionally in 2006 he has had paintings jurored in to the Spring Shows of the Visual Art Society of Texas, the Houston International, the Society of Watercolor Artists International, and the Artists Showplace Jurored Exhibition in Dallas.