Member Meeting March 2013

Aiken Artist Guild March 2013 Meeting

The speaker for the AAG meeting March 11 will be Jennifer Onofrio Fornes who will discuss the exercise of judging artwork. A Minnesota native, she taught drawing, sculpture, installation, and photography at the University of Minnesota, Morris. Currently she teaches 3-D design and world humanities at Georgia Regents University.

Jennifer has juried shows in Missouri, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Georgia and has worked closely with many national jurors. She will gladly answer any questions members wish to pose during her presentation.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Brown Pavilion, upstairs from the Aiken Center for the Arts, 122 Laurens St., SW Aiken, SC.

Member Meeting February 2013

Danny O'Driscoll was the featured guest speaker at the Aiken Artist Guild monthly meeting 2/11/13. He demonstrated his air brush techniques and how he incorporates his fine art paintings using the air brush as his backgrounds. Danny began his career as an illustrator and graphic artist for both the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia SC and the Houston Zoo in Texas. He continues to paint all wildlife from his farm in Batesburg, SC. Danny's recognition list is quite impressive and includes awards from the North and South Carolina Wildlife Federations as artist of the year, National Wild Turkey Federation and Banquet Print Artist, and featured at the Southern Wildlife Festival of Decatur, Alabama. Danny's realistic style of painting has also been recognized by a feature story and cover for the Artist's Magazine.

November Meeting 2012

The Aiken Artist Guild will hold its next meeting on November 12 when Anne Nielsen will speak.

Originally from Ohio, Anne moved around the country and ultimately settled in the Augusta, Georgia area. Anne began her art career painting backdrops for theater stages. She also worked as a jeweler but after a while decided to go back to her love, painting. She was in 6 national art competitions, including Hilton Head, SC and Florida where she won awards for her work. Anne is a self-taught artist. After teaching art to young people as well as receiving several critiques herself she realized that many of the important basics of art appreciation were not being generally taught to aspiring artists. She decided that she wanted to explain the "whys" when interpreting a painting. She quickly began to understand "why" a picture looks the way it does and as a result, began explaining those "whys" to other artists.

If you have a painting that you wish for Anne to critique, please bring it to the meeting on November 12th. She will spend the evening pointing out one or two areas of each painting. She will also bring some examples of her own work for the audience to practice their own critiquing skills. This will be a fun evening for all.

The meeting will be held at the Brown Pavilion, upstairs from the Aiken Center for the Arts 122 Laurens St. SW, beginning at 7pm. The public is cordially invited to attend.

AAG Member Meeting - October 8

The AAG October 8th meeting was fantastic. Sculptor and artist Marie- Christine Maitre de Tarragon was the guest speaker. With passion and insight she began with a discussion on "what is art". "This is a difficult description-is it to create beauty, express your inner self, show your vulnerability? Should you be a witness or prophet of the environment? The artist must answer the question for themselves." she stated. Marie- Christine went on to speak about the line between craftsman and artist which she believes is "now very thin". She explained her feeling that "art is the soul talking". "It's like wine, taste it now and explain it later." She encouraged everyone to enjoy how art makes you feel before trying to explain and dissect it.

"I will tell you what I feel." she shared. "I give life to a blank canvas or sculpture. I have an ambition to leave a legacy and challenge a viewer to see, not just look. I want to encourage the viewer to stop and wonder why they liked it so much. It is a key to unlock spirituality."
The artist has shared her life with horses and does many equine sculptures. She sculpts the horses without bridles or harnesses to express the freedom of the horse and its historical partnership with human beings. She also sculpts other subject matter and brought samples to the meeting.
Marie-Christine also shared her passion for the family chateaux in Jura, France. The structure which has been dated to before 1385 was built as a fortification with thick walls, a moat, towers, and thick walls. "It was a soldier's house. "she said. It later years the chateaux was changed into a pleasant country home with removal of the towers, moat, drawbridge and other structure used for defense. "Now it is made for pleasure where groups of people may come to paint, ride, relax and have an authentic experience of the French culture. "She explains. There are gardens and plenty of room for plein air painting. When asked about her feelings for keeping the grand home alive she responded, "It is a privilege and a curse. There is much to do to keep alive for the future generations." You can learn more about the Parthey Foundation for the chateau by visiting the web site: www.chateaudeparthey.com. You may also learn more about Marie-Christine by visiting: www.MC-ARTandHORSES.com The artist lives in Campobello, SC as well as spending time in France. Currently she is working reining horses and has a farm in Tryon, NC.