2015 Artisans Road Trip Artists in Area Shows and Hoilday Weekend Events!

This week and weekend is bringing area holiday art exhibits and sales that several 2015 Artisan Road Trip artists will be participating in!  Yes, lots of choices and loads of fun!

 

Each year the artists of this area get together for a Holiday Sale, and this year is no different - except - this year there are two events on the same weekend!

The first Holiday sale that you'll find A.R.T artists participating in is at Barb McGee's Gallery on Main Street in Peterson, Iowa and at Beth Cathcart's Rocking M Pottery, NW of Linn Grove, Iowa.  Barb and Beth will be holding their Holiday sale for several artists this year! 2015 Artisans Road Trip artists at both Holiday Open Houses will include (among others) Tim Anderson, Beth Cathcart, Bruce Morrison, Barb McGee, Diane Noll and Marisa Sidles.  These Holiday Open Houses will be held on Saturday December 5 from 9:00AM to 5P.M. and Sunday from Noon to 3PM.

Take some time and check out the artists and entertainment at the McGee Gallery and Rocking M Pottery Holiday Open House!

 

Another Holiday sale and exhibit that 2015 A.R.T. artists are participating in is a new gallery in Lake Park, Iowa! "December at Systolic Studio" will be an Art and Fine Antique sale and is being held in the former Methodist Church building in Lake Park. This new gallery (Systolic Studio) will have a host of top quality artists and artwork and antiques over a 3 day event! 2015 Artisans Road Trip artists at "December at Systolic Studio" will include (among others) Danielle Clouse-Gast, Hank Hall, Tim Arand-McIlrath, Bruce Morrison, David Strom, Paula Streeter and Holly Zinn.

The event is inside the west entrance and up the stairway to the left, and this exhibit and sale opens on Friday, December 4 from 3-8PM, again on Saturday December 5 from 10AM-6PM, and Sunday December 6 from 11AM-3PM; be sure and take it in - you'll be in for a real treat!

 

Where else can you find 2015 A.R.T. artists this week and through the weekend!?  Try Arts on Grand in Spencer, Iowa for their "Christmas in the Gallery"!  The exhibit and the Arts on Grand Gallery Shop features several Artisans Road Trip artists and you can get anything from cards to original works!  For an extra treat - attend the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party at Arts on Grand this Thursday night from 5:30-7:30PM!  Its free!  Enjoy the appetizers, games and fun!  The exhibit "Christmas in the Gallery" runs from December 1 through January 2, 2016.

There's a lot to enjoy and see - don't miss them!  Enjoy the season!

2013 Artisans Road Trip Artist Barb McGee

"Resurrection!!!"

watercolor - ©Barb McGee

Every artist has their methods of working and dealing with the creative process each day.  Here we visit 2013 A.R.T. artist Barb McGee dealing with the daunting process of "revisiting" a painting she had set aside at some point in time - and come out with positive results!

"I was digging through a pile of old painting the other day and stumbled upon this one.  I call this pile my bone pile, you know when a painting just didn’t make me happy when I was done with it that is where it goes.  Well, for some reason I pulled this one out of the pile.  I took it to my painting table and tweaked on it for about two hours.  Most artists know what it means to tweak.  It means to go in and enhance some areas and maybe soften some others.  I this case I went in and deepened the color in the throat of the lily and deepened the blue gray shadows on the petals.  After I had finished the flowers I went to the background and totally reworked it.  Because the painting is watercolor I was rather surprised at how easy it was to move the dark green around.  I lifted some of the paint to form leaves and I blotted some of the areas so that it created a dappled look.  Now I have named the painting 'Resurrection!!!' because it was indeed resurrected from the bone pile. "

Thank you for visiting the artists of the 2013 Artisans Road Trip!  Time is beginning to draw near - its only 5 weeks before the A.R.T. weekend!  Be sure and put us in your autumn trip and weekend plans - the 10th Anniversary of the Artisans Road Trip! 

2011 Artisans Road Trip Artist - Barb McGee

This Artisans Road Trip spot light is on artist Barb McGee!  Barb works from her studio and gallery in Peterson, Iowa.  Barb is going to give us a little insight into her selective process in working with a painting.

"For me starting a new painting means finding the perfect photograph or in some cases many photo's.  For my current painting it was a matter of reduction.  At my opening reception at A Piece Of Work in Spirit Lake I stated that I wanted to paint a white shirt.  Now I am not at all sure why a cowboy would want to wear a white shirt but some of them really do.

Last year my husband Don and I went to a ranch in South Dakota for a branding.  I took over a thousand pictures.  I knew I had at least one guy in a white shirt so I started looking to figure out which photo had the most potential.

These are the best ones I had to pick from.  They are very involved photos that are going to make very involved paintings.  My idea of an ideal painting is simple and in your face.  I like to crop and simplify so it was an easy choice for me.  The next step is to examine my choice and see if I can make it better.  I went through several croppings until I found the one I liked best.

Good

Better

Better, but still too much noise under the horses head

Ah Ha, now that is what I wanted :-)  I have my white shirt & ropes and saddle and even a hat, what more could I want????  It doesn't seem to bother me that my cowboy has no head, what do you think of the headless horseman?  Maybe it has something to do with living on Sleepy Hollow Road :-)"

 Watercolor Painting ©Barb McGee

And here is Barb's finished painting!

Stop by again for more interesting artists from the 2011 Artisans Road Trip!