Post 147: PWAS at Clearbrook Center of the Arts LAST Weekend

PWAS at Clearbrook Center of the Arts LAST Weekend - Come by and see the ART

After three years as the Artists in Residence at Clearbrook Center of the Arts, the Prince William Art Society will be leaving Clearbrook at Tackett's Mill. So come by and see the artwork while you can this Saturday and Sunday, April 30 and May 1 before we are gone!

Art Group in Prince William County

The Prince William Art Society (PWAS), now in its 50th year as a non-profit art group, are grateful to have had the use of the gallery for those years. We were able to show off our artwork to a LOT of awesome people there.

 

Look for us on Saturday, May 7 at the Tall Oaks Spring Art Show from 10am to 5pm. On the corner of Hedges Run and Cotton Mill Drive in Lakeridge.

AND Come by and visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts - Wednesday - Sunday too!

Also, PWAS will be showing their art at the ARTfactory during their May show!9419 Battle Street, Manassas, VA 20110

https://www.virginiaartfactory.org/

 

The PWAS Artist Reception https://www.virginiaartfactory.org/events/artist-reception-pwas/

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Local Art: Visit us at Clearbrook Center of the Arts at 2230 B Tackett’s Mill Drive, Lake Ridge, VA 22192 on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4
AND at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5
Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

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Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com & her Blog at https://donnascavepainting.blogspot.com/.

Post 146: Composition 7. Use of Subject Focus Filling the Frame

Composition: Focus of the Subject and Filling the Frame

This is Part 7 of my series on Composition

Another composition trick or tip is to bring your subject into the foreground with the full focus on really zeroing or zooming in on the subject so the he/she/it fills the frame in a purposeful way. It could mean that some cropping happens to take out unnecessary background "noise", perhaps too much extra sky above or the street/water below, and/or buildings on the sides. 

Bring your subject closer by filling the frame tighter to focus on that subject. Here is a photo I took of the Belmont Bay Marina, Occoquan, VA in 2020 to try to give you an example although the "subject" is debatable...

I cut out my shadow and a lot of the big blue sky, really tightened up the photo.

Maybe looking at the images of the gazebo at Belmont Bay is a better example.

 

The original picture

 

 

The original picture zoomed in but still a lot of sky, tree, foreground.

 

The original picture zoomed in more - now the focus is really on the gazebo and a good part of the 'nonsense' is cropped out. Get the picture? (pun intended)

 

Try zooming in on your design to fill the frame, or canvas with your next composition.

By the way, this is the painting I did of the Belmont Bay Marina at Occoquan, Virginia that day, although it was more about the Marina than a focus in on something. You can see the gazebo to the right in the distance.

 

"Belmont Bay Marina, Occoquan, Virginia" by Donna Liguria, Acrylic 16x20

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This is part of a series of blog posts on the guidelines, or rules of composition. Look for all of them in the Search this Blog feature at the top right by searching for the word "composition". I hope you enjoy the posts!

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Local Art: Visit us at Clearbrook Center of the Arts at Tackett's Mill in Lake Ridge, VA on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4 – it’s free to see the artwork! Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

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Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com & her Blog at https://donnascavepainting.blogspot.com/.

Post 145: PWAS Members at the Galleries in Woodbridge, Virginia

PWAS Members at the Galleries in Woodbridge, Virginia

The Art Topic this go around for the PWAS artist members was 'a picture of you with your artwork' and we have the following artists with the art selfies! We had such a good response with the pictures, I have 2 blog posts.

PWAS Members at the Galleries 1

Prince William County Artists at Two Galleries in NoVa

Prince William Art Society displays art in 2 locations - Clearbrook Center of the Arts and Stonebridge Open Space Arts. Here are a few of the artists with various types of artwork on display.

Ken Meardon

Photoart at Stonebridge Open Space Art with several of his artwork pieces. Ken will be the guest speaker at out PWAS Meeting tomorrow, Monday, April 25, 2022 at 7:30 at the Tall Oaks Community Center here in Lakeridge.

Michelle Baker

At Open Space Art Gallery at Stonebridge with 2 of her watercolor pieces.

Maria Briganti 

Maria, the PWAS Secretary, is with one of her paintings at Stonebridge Open Space Arts.

Stephanie McGee

 Stephanie with her People's Choice Third Place Winning for April 2022 art show "Coloring the County" at Stonebridge. The quilling piece is called "The Owl and the Pussycat", is approximately 21x21 and is a 3-D collage and paper filigree.

Kerry Molina 

Artist, Writer, Instructor at work

Yellow Brick Road Studio 

https://linktr.ee/KerryMolina

 

Urmila Kumari

Urmila showing one of her paintings currently at Stonebridge Open Space Arts 

Thank you PWAS members, lots of photos! Look for the next "Art Topic" email!

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Local Art: Visit us at Clearbrook Center of the Arts at 2230 B Tackett’s Mill Drive, Lake Ridge, VA 22192 on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4
AND at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5
Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

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Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com & her Blog at https://donnascavepainting.blogspot.com/.

Post 144: PWAS Members at the Galleries in Woodbridge, Virginia

PWAS Members at the Galleries in Woodbridge, Virginia

The Art Topic this go around for the PWAS artist members was 'a picture of you with your artwork' and we have the following artists with the art selfies!

Prince William County Artists at Two Galleries in NoVa

Prince William Art Society displays art in 2 locations - Clearbrook Center of the Arts and Stonebridge Open Space Arts. Here are a few of the artists with various types of artwork on display.

 

 

Otis Stanley with 2 of his paintings at Open Space Arts April 2022 Show - "Rappahannock River Oystermen" and "Market Street Vendors". Both are in acrylic and are both 20x16.

 

 

Brenda Vann with one of her paintings at Open Space Arts April 2022 Show. The painting is called "Unexpected in Florida".

 

 

Urmila Kumari with her painting at Open Space Arts at the April 2022 Show (the painting sold!)

 

 

Stephanie McGee and one of her quilling art pieces, in the OSA April 2022 Show - Update on 4/20/22 this piece won 2nd place in the OSA People's Choice Award!

 

 

Tamao Nakayama with her artwork called "Sea Ice" 36x48

 

Kelly Haneklau is in front of a mural she has recently finished at Tackett's Mill in Lake Ridge, "Love Conquering Hate" acrylic on building (this portion is 8.5' x 9')

 

 

Donna Liguria with 2 of her paintings, "Mountain Path" Acrylic 12x24 and "Blue Glass Vase" Acrylic 9x12 at Clearbrook Center of the Arts March-April Show 2022. "Mountain Path" tied for second place at the Nov-Dec Stonebridge Open Space Arts Show in 2021 

 

Also see the PWAS Members at the Galleries 2

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Local Art: Visit us at Clearbrook Center of the Arts at 2230 B Tackett’s Mill Drive, Lake Ridge, VA 22192 on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4
AND at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5
Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

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Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com & her Blog at https://donnascavepainting.blogspot.com/.

Post 143: And the Winners Are...People's Choice at Stonebridge Open Space Arts

And the Winners Are...People's Choice at Stonebridge Open Space Arts

The 'Coloring the County' art show is currently running between April 2 and May 1 at Open Space Arts at the Stonebridge shopping area in Woodbridge, VA. Have you been by the gallery to see the artwork by local Prince William County artists yet? If YES! - we wanted to let you know who the winners are of the People's Choice Awards that you voted on.

If NO, well, this show will be up until Sunday, May 1 so come by and see the show and the WINNERS!

An art gallery at Stonebridge? Yes! Open Space Arts was first opened in November and December 2021 for about 3 weekends with art from the area non-profit artist group called the Prince William Art Society (PWAS). The space is sponsored by JBG Smith and PWCAC - the Prince William County Arts Council. AND they have let the space be used by local PWC artists and art groups, with PWAS managing the gallery. By the way, PWAS also manages an art gallery over at Clearbrook Center of the Arts at Tackett's Mill, so we are some BUSY artists!

Oh, I guess I should tell you the People's Choice Winners, shouldn't I?

People's Choice Awards for Coloring the County

During the art shows at Open Space Arts, we actually ask the visitors to vote on their favorite piece of artwork, not their favorite artist. The votes are counted by name of artwork voted on, not artist. We have had entries with only the name of the artist, but those are thrown out because each artist has more than one piece. The voting is for individual piece of art. The artist’s name actually isn’t needed at all. We had a LOT of votes and we currently have 20 artists displaying art in quite a few different mediums

But there has to be a first place winner, so...Drum roll please...

1st Place

Bettie Sperty

Bees on Pink Flower

Acrylic with Silver Metallic Leaf on Canvas

36x36

2nd Place

Stephanie McGee

Octopus Fan

Approx. 20"x28"

3-D collage and paper filigree

3rd Place

Stephanie McGee

The Owl and the Pussycat

Approx. 21"x21"

3-D collage and paper filigree

 

It is a beautiful space for artwork. Everyone that visits is A M A Z E D. They LOVE it. If you are an artist in Prince William County OR an art group based in PWC, you are welcome to get involved in this space. Contact PWAS or come by the gallery and talk to the artists to find out more! It is an opportunity that should not be missed.

Enjoy and SUPPORT the Arts in Prince William County!

 

The next art show will begin Wednesday, May 4 and run through Sunday, May 29 - the call for art for that show just ended, April 20.

*Please note that the gallery will be closing about 3 in the afternoon and for the evening of Thursday, April 21 for a private event.

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Local Art: Visit us at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5 – it’s free to see the artwork! Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

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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, Donna's Etsy site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.

Photography/Video Credits: 

Donna Liguria

Post 142: Composition 6. The Use of Repeated Elements, Patterns

Composition: The Use of Repeated Elements, Patterns

Part 6 of my series on Composition

We humans just love looking at and for patterns and repetitions wherever we can find them. Compositions can be made quite powerful using color, shapes, lighting, and other options with repeated elements. When composing your art, you may only need to shift to the left or right, up or down to change the perspective of the pattern but in photography especially, look for variations in your angle to capture the patterns and repetitions.

There is a symmetry in repetition that is very powerful when captured correctly. Repetitions can occur naturally or be man-made. It is said that man-made repetitions are easier to spot than the ones made by nature. Sometimes you need to zoom in to see the patterns, but often, they are there.

The human eye sees these patterns and repetitions and tries to process them. To group them, to count them - it's what we do. We like order.

 

Photo by Chris Curry on Unsplash

Types of Repetitive Patterns:

• Color Repetition
• Shapes
• Opposing Patterns
• Abstract Patterns 
• Organic Patterns
  

A few notes on repetition and pattern:

• Element repetition creates a pattern.
  
• Repetition patterns cannot exist without at least three repetitions - more is better, odd numbers are best.
  
• Try zooming in on the repetition and fill the frame (or canvas)
• Or try to break the pattern, with either some extra space, or an unexpected pop of color 
• Architectural images lend themselves easily to patterns.

Here is a good article on Patterns and Repetition in Composition for more info on this subject. On this subject. On this subject.

 

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This is part of a series of blog posts on the guidelines, or rules of composition. Look for all of them in the Search this Blog feature at the top right by searching for the word "composition". I hope you enjoy the posts!

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Local Art: Visit us at Clearbrook Center of the Arts at Tackett's Mill in Lake Ridge, VA on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4 – it’s free to see the artwork! Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

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Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com & her Blog at https://donnascavepainting.blogspot.com/.

 

Post 141: PWAS Meeting and Guest Artist Ken Meardon

April 25 PWAS Meeting and Guest Artist Ken Meardon

The Prince William Art Society, a non-profit art group, has been in the local Northern Virginia art scene for over 50 years. We would love for you to come by one of our meetings at the Tall Oaks Community Center in Lakeridge and see what we have going on! April 25 - 7:30pm (the fourth Monday of the month)

 

Ken Meardon

Title: An Unexpected Photoart Journey

The Prince William Art Society will meet at 7:30 pm at the Tall Oaks Community Center, 12298 Cotton Mill Dr., Lake Ridge, VA. All meetings are free and open to the public. Following a business meeting, Ken Meardon, a member of the Prince William Art Society, will share his unexpected journey into the realm of photoart and how it has evolved since he began making small multi-level photoart in 2004. With his original digital photos, he uses various computer programs to create a wide range of photoart images and styles. The discussion will cover such areas as the process for creating multi-level photoart, the computer programs and the filters used to create certain effects, and the media used for the final product.

Art by Ken Meardon:

 

"Coral"

 

"Madonna Lily"

 

"Mushroom Town"

 

"Vietnam Women's Memorial"

 

"Youghiogheny River"

 See you at the meeting!

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Local Art: Visit us at Clearbrook Center of the Arts at 2230 B Tackett’s Mill Drive, Lake Ridge, VA 22192 on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4
AND at Stonebridge Open Space Arts at 15000 Potomac Town Center, Woodbridge, VA - Open Wed to Sat 12-7 and Sun 12-5
Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment!

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Author: Emily Hawes

An artist member of PWAS

 

Author: Donna Liguria
An artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at https://DonnaLiguriaArt.com & her Blog at https://donnascavepainting.blogspot.com/.

Photography/Video Credits:
Ken Meardon