Post 540: PWAS Meeting with Guest Valerie Larson Feb 24

PWAS Meeting with Guest Valerie Larson Feb 24

The Prince William Art Society (PWAS) art group meets on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Road, Woodbridge, VA and the public is welcome to attend. Meetings, which begin at 7:30pm, often include a guest speaker giving a presentation of various sorts and art topics followed by a short break and then the business portion of the meeting. The meeting for February is on the 24th, so mark your calendars!

 

"Breathing Room" by Valerie Larson

Guest Speaker Valerie Larson

Valerie Larson is a Manassas artist specializing in watercolor paintings and pen-and-ink drawings. She loves both mediums for their immediacy and freshness. Favorite watercolor subjects include local landmarks, historic buildings, animals, and nature. She tries to capture the beauty around her, and quality of light and how it reveals three-dimensionality is always a key element in her work.

 

"Manassas Love" by Valerie Larson

Valerie's painting time is devoted largely to commissioned watercolor portraits of pets and meaningful places (wedding venues, favorite vacation spots, etc.). She'll be sharing examples of her work, her commission process, and how she helps customers develop their ideal portrait. Valerie will also share her approach to marketing and social-media posts.

 

"Tower of Yum" by Valerie Larson

 

"Eva" by Valerie Larson

 

"Papa and Farah" by Valerie Larson

See also: Learning from the Masters, Learning from Life: Valerie Larson, Artist

We hope you can join us for the PWAS monthly meeting at Tall Oaks Community Center at 7:30pm on Monday Feb. 24th.

Interested in (Re-)Joining PWAS?

The Prince William Art Society has been in existence since 1971. Our members have benefited from the experiences, friendships and encouragement over the years! See this post which includes a list of benefits and what we do.

On the PWAS Website is the easiest and quickest method, so please go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership 

if you would like to include a Showcase page with an about you and your artwork, see Showcase 

If you want to learn more about PWAS, see About Us and for an indepth PWAS History, see our PWAS Artistry Spin Blog About PWAS A History

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Authors: Valerie Larson, Larry Burch

 

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

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Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment (below)! ...Remember, comments are monitored so they will not show up immediately.

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Post 533: A PWAS Meeting with Guest Speaker Robert Dew

A PWAS Meeting with Guest Speaker Robert Dew

The Prince William Art Society (PWAS) met on Monday, January 27, 2025 at 7:30pm at the Tall Oaks Community Center in Woodbridge for our monthly meeting. Our wonderful guest speaker was a fellow member, Robert Dew who gave a great presentation on Plein Air Painting.

Plein Air Painting with Robert Dew

Robert's presentation on how he prepares to go out and paint out-of-doors was a well-received one! He described how he set up for oil painting and for watercolor painting and emphasized that you really do not need to spend a lot on supplies - especially if you are a beginner or if you are unsure if you will enjoy the experience of taking your art process outside.

Robert spoke of various experiences in different locations and painting while on vacation, then showed the artwork created when doing so. He gave a lot of great tips and suggestions including having a much smaller painting pack while traveling and the importance of taking plenty of pictures for several quite reasonable reasons: (1) the light changes every second making the process of painting quickly and loosely rather mandatory; and (2) when traveling with a nonartist friend, partner, or spouse, they may not be too keen on spending too much time in one spot! So a quick sketch or rough outline for a subject goes into one of his art journals.

The Q&A section of Robert's presentation had a lot of great questions including his painting surfaces, papers, and how he picks interesting angles and 'views' for his subject matter. And absolutely, he loves a beautiful sunny day for painting!

 

In a recent blog post, I asked Robert how he stored all of his artwork. If you follow Robert on Facebook, he is posting new artwork ALL the time - rather amazing but as he has said, he tries to paint something every day. In the colder weather, he may be indoors more often but when Plein Air Painting, he will often get several pieces started - and will occasionally complete them at home. See these links:

Art Tips From Various Sources

PWAS Meeting Guest Speaker Robert Dew Jan 27, 2025

Bluebells and the Plein Air Posse

Interested in Plein Air Painting? Often it is best to learn by just getting out there and doing it. 

See suggestions for what you might need while Plein Air Painting but as stated above by Robert, don't invest a lot of money into the supplies unless this is definitely an art creation avenue you want to explore. Plein Air Painting Equipment and Supplies

In 2024, the Prince William Art Society started their PWAS Plein Air Posse (PPAP) group and Robert Dew and David Dillon are the leaders of this group of artists. They would be happy to extend the invitation to go out and paint to any PWAS members that would like to give it a try. Just contact them to see when and where works for everyone.

Contact Robert Dew rddew@live.com and David Dillion anarty1@comcast.net

As a matter of fact, the PPAP will be out painting at the Sunday, March 30, 2025 Bluebell Festival at Merrimac Farm located at 15020 Deepwood Lane, Nokesville, VA where PWAS will also have a table set up with artwork from our members for sale. You are very welcome to join the group of painters. Contact Robert and David if you are interested in painting there.

A big thank you to Robert Dew for this great presentation! 

PWAS Business

After Robert Dew's Plein Air Painting presentation, the PWAS members broke for snacks and beverages, mingling with the visitors and fellow members, followed by the business portion for the group. The members learned about where we are, what's going on, what art events are coming up, and so much more.

Did you enjoy Robert's presentation as much as I did? Leave a comment below.

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

Photography/Video Credits: Donna Liguria

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Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment (below)! ...Remember, comments are monitored so they will not show up immediately.

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Post 529: PWAS Meeting Guest Speaker Robert Dew

PWAS Meeting Guest Speaker Robert Dew Jan 27, 2025

The Prince William Art Society (PWAS) meets every month on the 4th Monday of the month at 7:30pm at the Tall Oaks Community Center located at 12298 Cotton Mill Road, Woodbridge, VA. Besides covering art group business in the later part of the meeting, we'll open this meeting with our special guest speaker and fellow artist member, Robert Dew.

Plein Air Painting with Robert Dew

On January 27th the Prince William Art Society will offer a program on plein air painting by member artist Robert Dew, an active member of the PWAS plein air group Plein Air Posse. Mr. Dew will cover doing both quick watercolor sketches and more detailed oil studies en plein air and take questions from members. 

Meetings are free and open to the public, who are cordially invited to attend. Programs begin at 7:30 pm on the fourth Monday of each month at Tall Oaks Community Center, 12298 Cotton Mill Drive, Woodbridge, VA 22191. 

More information on the Prince William Art Society can be found on the web site:  https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/

What is Plein Air Painting?

From Wikipedia: En plein air (pronounced [ɑ̃ plɛ.n‿ɛʁ]; French for 'outdoors'), or plein-air painting, is the act of painting outdoors.

Read more on the Plein Air Posse and Painting:

https://artistryspin.blogspot.com/2024/05/post-463-plein-air-painting-equipment.html

https://artistryspin.blogspot.com/2024/03/post-447-pwas-plein-air-posse.html

 

Tall Oaks Community Center off Old Bridge Road, on the corner of Hedges Run and Cotton Mill Road.

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

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Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment! pinterest-site-verification=3ad32cc9cfeae507ba5a382d62fcee17

Post 512: PWAS Meeting Guest Speaker M. Jane Johnson

PWAS Meeting Guest Speaker M. Jane Johnson

Monday, October 28, 2024. The monthly Prince William Art Society meeting takes place every month (except in December) on the 4th Monday of the month at 7:30pm at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Road in Woodbridge, VA. Our guest speaker at this meeting was local artist M. Jane Johnson.

Creating Beauty from Chaos

Ms. Johnson gave a presentation on how she creates her artwork and gave many tips on her process including Golden painting products and ideas for their use like using an Isolation Coat. The membership had many questions and enjoyed her program.

See https://artistryspin.blogspot.com/2024/10/post-507-creating-beauty-from-chaos.html

 

Ms Johnson has an art space at the Lorton Workhouse - we should visit her there!! 

Other PWAS blog posts from the Monday, October 28, 2024 PWAS Meeting:

Mark Murphy's Photos from DC

Lime Challenge Revealed

Miss a meeting and you miss a lot!

The Next PWAS Meeting

The Prince William Art Society will meet again Monday, November 25 at 7:30 pm at Tall Oaks. Emily Hawes has some exciting ideas for our next program and we look forward to that. The meetings are free to the public to attend, so come on by - especially if you are an artist and want to learn more about art, art events, art shows and more in and around Prince William County.

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

Photography/Video Credits: Donna Liguria

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Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment! pinterest-site-verification=3ad32cc9cfeae507ba5a382d62fcee17

Post 507: Creating Beauty from Chaos Upcoming PWAS Meeting

Creating Beauty from Chaos Upcoming PWAS Meeting

Come on by the next Prince William Art Society's (PWAS) next meeting on Monday, October 28th at 7:30pm at the Tall Oaks Community Center in Woodbridge and enjoy our guest artist, M. Jane Johnson. Also on the agenda is our Lime Challenge and what our art group has been up to. And we have a new PWAS member art show call for art.

 

MJJ Written in Code

Creating Beauty from Chaos

The Prince William Art Society will meet October 28th at the Tall Oaks Community Center, 12298 Cotton Mill Drive, Woodbridge VA at 7:30 pm. The meeting will begin with a program by M. Jane Johnson who will share her work and how she creates one of her paintings. Meetings are free and open to the public, who are cordially invited to attend.

 

MJJ In a Swirl

M. Jane Johnson uses a process-driven technique when she is creating her work.  She has learned to let the painting tell its story and carry her along on the path to completion.  As she works, she will photograph the work and use the value study to help guide her in the next phase of the painting.  She mixes various acrylic gels to create textures to play opposite collage she has added, so each piece is an intricate weaving of color, pattern, texture, and it's own history. As it moves closer to completion, she will start honing down the chaotic process.

 

MJJ Floral 2

Ms. Johnson has a BFA in Fine Arts with a focus on drawing and painting. She studied art in Italy and took many classes at the Art League School in Alexandria, VA, and her work is in international, corporate, and private collections.  Twelve of her paintings are in the Heart Clinic at Children’s National Medical Center.  She has had successful solo shows at the Art League Gallery in Alexandria, at the Arts Club of Washington in DC, at Artist & Makers in Rockville, and at the Workhouse Arts Center, as well as having participated in group shows and art fairs.  Ms. Johnson teaches at the Workhouse Arts Center and the McLean Project for the Arts. 

 

MJJ Floral 1

PWAS Lime Challenge

In September, PWAS sent out a Lime Challenge artwork challenge based on this solo lime sitting on a table while we were taking part in the Arts Alive Art Show in Manassas. So at this PWAS meeting, all members are requested to bring in their Limes! I know some of you created artworks based upon your green vision. See Lime Challenge. So be sure and bring in your lime artwork and let's pick our favorite.

PWAS Montclair Library Art Show

A call for art from the PWAS members was just sent out for the Nov-Dec art show at the Montclair Library, so check your emails!!

Location: 5049 Waterway Dr, Montclair, VA 22025

Art Submission Dates: Tuesday, October 22 until Sunday, October 27, 2024 11pm DEADLINE.

Art Drop Off Dates: Monday, October 28 at the Tall Oaks Meeting at 7:30pm to a PWAS Board Member (12298 Cotton Mill Drive, Woodbridge, VA); OR bring to the Montclair Library on Saturday, November 2 between 10-11am.

Montclair Library Art Show Dates: Saturday, November 2 through end of December (Actual Closing Date TBD)

 

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Author: Emily Hawes

 

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

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Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment! pinterest-site-verification=3ad32cc9cfeae507ba5a382d62fcee17

Post 501: Guest Speaker Patty Gulledge at the PWAS Meeting

Guest Speaker Patty Gulledge at the PWAS Meeting

On the 4th Monday of the month at 7:30pm, the local artists around the Lake Ridge, Woodbridge, Manassas, Haymarket, Occoquan and Dumfries areas (and beyond) meet at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Drive, Woodbridge. The meeting is the Prince William Art Society also known as PWAS.

Prince William Art Society Meeting on Sept. 23, 2024

What do a bunch of artists do at an art meeting? Well, every art group is different, absolutely. For the PWAS artists, a typical meeting often begins with a guest speaker, who is often well known in our area, that shares their area of artistic expertise. This month's speaker was Patty Gulledge, a popular and very talented pastelist in Northern Virginia.

Patty gave a very informative presentation full of tips and how to's on using pastels, the types of pastels, and samples of pastels. She had examples of her awesome pastel works and showed the papers and surfaces and how she framed the pastel works. It was quite the interesting view into working with this art media. 

Thank you, Patty!

After the guest speaker does their presentation to the PWAS members, there is typically a break where nibbles and a beverage is provided and the artists and guests (yes, the public is welcome to attend - so interested artists should come and check the art group out!) take a few moments to look at the guest's art and socialize a bit. 

Then the business part of the meeting is called to order and reports are given, upcoming classes are updated, upcoming events are noted, Q&A occurs, and the meeting is finalized. 

Occasionally there is a totally different program offered and if you look back in these blog posts you may find some examples of that. Like "Show and Tell", "Join a Committee!", "PWC Library and Art" was a cool one, and so much more. Come by a meeting sometime and get to know your local PWC art group and learn more.

https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Follow the PWAS Artistry Spin Blog and leave a Comment below!

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

Photography/Video Credits: Donna Liguria

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Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!