Post 391: What Are the PWAS Members Working on Now?

What Are the PWAS Members Working on Now?

The Prince William Art Society (PWAS) is a group of artists and art lovers located in Prince William County, Woodbridge, Virginia. The group has been meeting and creating art for over 50 years. While this blog has only been in operation for a couple of years, we have a lot of artists that we like to show off occasionally and share what they do and think about art.

On Our Easels, Laptops, Tablets, and Work Tables

For this blog post, I asked the PWAS members what they are currently working on along with 2 other questions/opinions.

1. What are you currently working on?

2. What art tip is the BEST thing, best advice ever given to you as an artist?

AND/OR

3. What is your opinion on an art education?

Let's see what the responders say....and click on the picture to see a larger image.

PWAS Artist: Leora LaGraffe

Here are two recent (this past week) works of mine in soft pastel on UArt pastel paper. Both are 12x9 inch 

The best advice I’ve received from other artists is to never get discouraged from comparing your own work to other art. Just keep trying to be the best you that you can be, and if you must compare, compare your own work to work you did years ago. There is a good chance you will see improvement in your work over the years, and this will help you remain encouraged and hopeful about your work.

Thank you for this opportunity to share, and for all you do. - Leora LaGraffe

PWAS Artist: Jeffrey Holman

“Art Appreciation”. I was at the OSA desk one evening and saw this young girl playing games on her mom’s phone while surrounded by art. I was struck and amused by her focus on the little screen, ignoring all the creativity around her. We ALL need to LOOK at the world around us more often.

Art Education…a complicated topic. Having a ‘teacher’ is important, whether it’s in school, workshops or teaching yourself. For some people going through a structured curriculum is very important (or essential): Being shown/told which way to go, these are the rules, ‘how it’s done’, ‘how it should/must look’. I think too many artists get trapped in standard approaches and their teacher’s ‘style’. Some are better off self-taught, sometimes called “Un-taught”; exploring things on their own without rules, traditions and preconceptions. Being your own teacher can help you see and do things in a different way…not a bad thing. Classes and mentors can save lots of time, perhaps years, getting to a ‘professional level’, but we run the risk of our work looking too mainstream or standard.

In the end we are all, more-or-less, self-guided in our journey through artistic expression. We make choices, whether it be college, workshops or the trial and error of being ‘un-taught’ (my personal choice). There are myriad directions to choose, and we can change course, or not, whenever inspiration prods us. Probably the most difficult part of art education is knowing how to recognize when, or if, to chart a unique individual course deeper into art that only you can explore and experience so you can create YOUR art, not reflections of someone else’s.

PWAS Artist: Sheri Herrick

I'm almost finished with this painting of Raglan Castle in Wales.  One of my  ancestors married Sir William Thomas who did the major building of the Castle in central Wales in the early 15th century. Fortunately, a distant cousin did all the hard work of  finding our origins in Brecon, Wales and the history of my 10X great-grandfather who came to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in the early 1600's.

PWAS Artist: Zee Berrios

1. Currently working on: (attached) It is 48" X 48" acrylic on canvas. It will be titled "Grateful Company". It is based on a photograph by Irwin Penn in the 60's. 

2. Best art advice ever given was by the late Artist/professor Félix Bonilla. He said that the potential for a masterpiece was a creation of "something that was never done before, universally understood and that would teach something"; also that the best pieces of art will always include a "dominant, a subdominant and a subordinate"...

   3. Art education is a wonderful opportunity to progress and go beyond the normal, nevertheless, there are extraordinary, wonderful and amazing artists that have never had an Art Education.

PWAS Artist: Otis Stanley

16x20 Acrylic Working on black stretched canvas.

Best art tip given to me was "free your mind and your art will follow".

PWAS Artist: Donna Liguria

Painting miniatures almost feel like a painting frenzy. The 3x4 mini canvases that I show come with a mini easel and are quick works in acrylic and markers, that I hope are enjoyed by all that see them. This week I have so far done 24 of them. Yep, 24. And started another painting called "The Marshes of Harkers Island, North Carolina" 16x20 Acrylic on canvas. Maybe it could have an AKA as "Morning Glory".

I am a mostly self-taught artist but I can certainly see the value in an art education...but is it needed? An absolute must? No, I don't believe so. If you have a creative soul and the desire to learn, see the absolute need to practice, I think an artist can do wonderfully well.

As I am the writer of a LOT of my weekly art tips, I can just point you to the entire series and you can find them listed on this page: https://artistryspin.blogspot.com/p/art.html

It will be wonderful to see the finished artwork once these artists are done, won't it?

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Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA and Artistry Spin Blog Admin, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, her Donna's Etsy site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.

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Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 52-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia.
Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

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