Author: Blackstone Valley Art Association

Thank you to everyone who entered our 2023 Blackstone Valley Art Association Fall Art Show! Here are the list of winners from this show. The juror was Jennifer Behymer. The notes are from Jennifer. Thank you to everyone who participated in this show!

First place – Portrait of Lisa Shea – Young Farwell
Portraits are a combination of achieving both a likeness and a sense of personality of the model – which is challenging. This portrait does both of these beautifully as well as achieving good skin tones and sense of form. Nice work!

Second place – Committed – Al Weems
There is so much to love about this piece and for me the title enhances the storytelling aspects of the hands and string. Commitment takes time and does not come without many entanglements and is more valuable for its weathering. The hands locked together and the intertwining string which forms an infinity symbol around one finger are a lovely composition.

Third place – MFA Luncheon – Frank Robertson
The composition and sense of sunlight are what drew me into this painting. Scenes with multiple figures, perspective, and lighting are a challenge in any media. Watercolor is particularly difficult to achieve figurative work in successfully. I admire the artist’s accomplishment in taking on this subject matter.

Honorable Mention 1 – Adrianna’s Lily – Sue Dion
I like how the artist chose a square format to really zone in on the lily. White is difficult to achieve a variation of form in and I like how the petals and colors work together to give the flower form.

Honorable Mention 2 – Umbrellas – Bob Evans
What a fun piece! So many bright colors and shapes tumble through this piece. The blue of the sky as it transitions along with the size of the umbrellas is a visual delight.

Honorable Mention 3 – Coastal Winter – Carol Frieswick
This little landscape drew me in with its warm sky and cool blue snow in the foreground. The ocean in winter has such a range of colors and light, and I liked how the warm and cool palette worked together on this piece.

Juror’s Note – Nightmare Fox – Anayah Goncalves (Libia’s granddaughter)
I love this adorable little creature, Anayah! Great job on your painting and I especially like the wide open eyes and bushy tail. Great job! Keep painting!

Here are the full details about our 2023 Fall Art Show –

2023 Fall Show at the Blackstone Valley Art Association

We are kicking off our Sixth Annual Uxbridge SketchFest with a bang! We have the amazingly talented artist Howie Green coming to Uxbridge to lead a workshop on how to urban sketch. We will walk short distances around the Uxbridge common and use the beautiful architecture and landscapes of Uxbridge center to build our urban sketching skills.

Perfect for all levels of artists. Beginner will get themselves started, and more advanced artists will hone their skills!

This workshop is FREE! Please RSVP so we know how many supplies to prepare. We will provide clipboards to draw on, paper, and pens / pencils. You can of course bring your own if you have supplies you prefer to use.

By getting started with Howie, you’ll then have the skills you need to participate in our Sixth Annual Uxbridge SketchFest, which runs from Sunday September 17th through Tuesday October 31, 2023!

Our Urban Sketching workshop will be held on Sunday, September 17th, 2023 from 1-3pm. If it rains, we’ll hold the workshop in the gallery space.

Initial Meeting Location:
BVAA Open Sky Uxbridge Community Gallery
5 South Main Street
Uxbridge, MA 01569

The space is fully handicapped / disability accessible with no stairs. It is immediately next to a large free parking lot.

This workshop is free and open to the public. No experience is necessary. The fun of our workshops is that we all try new things we’ve never done before.

All are welcome – this workshop is open to BVAA members and non-members. Feel free to bring along a friend! We’d love to see you there to try some new things and explore your creativity!

Here are a few sketches by Howie to see his style!

To learn more about Howie Green and his art, visit:

https://howiegreen.com/index.htm

For all the details about the Sixth Annual Uxbridge SketchFest read:

6th Annual Uxbridge SketchFest – Fall 2023

Ask with any questions!

Our meetings are supported in part by grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

The BVAA Uxbridge SketchFest is back for its sixth year! Grab your pads of paper, pencils, and pens, for it’s SketchFest time!

Here’s the plan.

Sometime between September 17th and October 31st 2023, head out to your favorite locations in Uxbridge. Make sketches of whatever catches your eye. Send them into us at info@bvaa.org. Each person can send us up to three sketches. Please have the last JPGs in to us by midnight on October 31st 2023. Participation is completely FREE!

If you can also send a photo of what you were sketching, or its location, that would be lovely. That way people can tour Uxbridge and see the locations of the artwork.

We will make a virtual gallery of the sketches and also a YouTube virtual presentation! We’ll share all the beautiful artworks for the entire community to enjoy!

All ages and abilities are warmly encouraged to participate. This is open to the public!

We launch our 2023 Uxbridge SketchFest with a fantastic FREE Urban Sketching workshop with the talented artist Howie Green! All are welcome to participate!

Intro to Urban Sketching with Howie Green

Here is Dennis Smith’s great map of wonderful locations in Uxbridge. Click on it to get a larger version along with details about each location. This is a starting point. You can make your sketches anywhere in Uxbridge.

What Is A Sketch?

Just what is a sketch? We’re glad you asked!

For the sake of our SketchFest, a sketch is a quick representation of a scene done with pen or pencil on paper. It can then be colored in with colored pencil or watercolors. Here’s a beautiful example done by Pamela Siderewicz of a lawyers’ office building on Uxbridge Common.

Talented artist Scott Nelson led an urban sketching session on Grafton Common – you get a TON of tips from Scott in this on how to compose and approach sketching in a town setting –

At our 2019 Uxbridge SketchFest we had the amazing Laura Sfiat from the Urban Sketchers Boston group come guide us through sketching. Here is one of Laura’s examples (not of Uxbridge) which provides a few details about how she works.

Here’s Laura’s website which has all sorts of great information and advice:

https://belleartwork.wordpress.com/

Here’s a video of the afternoon session with Laura, which focused more specifically on portrait sketching.

Portrait Sketching by Laura Sfiat using Reilly Method

Here’s a 22-minute YouTube video by Alphonso Dunn that goes step by step through how to create an urban sketch. You can skip the first two minutes – those are an ad for his book :).

To get some inspiration, here are sketches from the 2021 Uxbridge SketchFest:

If you can’t get out to a site in person, here are some photos of locations that our BVAA members have allowed you to use as a basis for a sketch!

Uxbridge SketchFest Source Photo Library

Here’s a flyer for our 2023 Uxbridge SketchFest. Please share this flyer with local websites, libraries, and schools!

Ask with any questions, and we look forward to seeing your beautiful sketches!

The Blackstone Valley Art Association is proud to host the FREE 2023 Diversity Community Art Show! The public is warmly invited to participate! This show is open to all forms of artistic expression. We would love to see watercolors, acrylic paintings, oil paintings, sculptures, pottery, mixed media, drawings, pastels, photography, cyanotypes, and other forms of art.

THERE IS NO THEME. Your art can be about any topic at all! We celebrate the diversity of our artistic community. All levels of artist warmly encouraged to participate!

Up until 2022 we called this art show “Tapestry” to indicate it represented all types of threads from the community coming together. Every time we referred to it as “Tapestry” artists thought it was a fabric arts show and wouldn’t enter. So we have updated its name! It is now “Diversity”! Same show, same theme, just a new name!

When:
October 21nd to November 18th, 2023

Where:
BVAA Open Sky Uxbridge Community Gallery
5 South Main Street
Uxbridge, MA 01569

There is a TON of free parking immediately next to this building. It is fully and easily handicapped accessible.

BVAA Open Sky Uxbridge Community Art Gallery Information

Entering the Show
The theme is wide open. Any topic can be addressed as long as it is family-friendly. Artwork can be any size. That being said, please contact us first if you plan on bringing anything over 20″ x 30″ in size. We need to arrange for space for those separately.

All wall-hanging items must be properly wired for hanging. Our hanging system does not work with saw-tooth or triangle hangers. If you are new to preparing artwork for shows, read our page on How to Mat and Frame a Photo. Please also check out our Show Terms and Conditions

Submissions
To submit your entries use our BVAA Online Submission Form. This show is free to participate in. Each artist may submit up to two items. The deadline to submit is Saturday, October 21st at 3pm EST.

Drop Off of Works
Work must be dropped off on Saturday, October 21st between 10am and 3pm. All work which is brought in will be hung (as long as it is properly wired and is family-friendly). Please ONLY bring your artwork in on Saturday, October 21st. BVAA staff need to be present to sign in the artwork, and we are only there at that day and time.

Reception
We will be having an in-person reception at the Uxbridge gallery on Friday, October 27th from 5-7pm! We would love to see you there.

Pick Up
Pick up is on Saturday, November 18th from 10am to 3pm. If you aren’t able to make that, please contact us for other arrangements.

Address any questions via our BVAA Contact Information

Ask with any questions! We look forward to seeing your entries!

Here is the 2021 Community Art Show to get some ideas!

Here’s the 2018 show video:

Here is a flyer for this show for you!

This is our sixth annual art-poetry show! This page here explains how the show works, for the artists and poets who are interested in participating.

We are holding this show at the Blackstone Public Library in Blackstone MA for the month of April 2024. We are confirmed with our reservation for their gallery space.

The artists are drawn from our Blackstone Valley Art Association. The poets are drawn from the Sutton Writing Group and the Worcester Writers Collaborative.

Anyone interested in participating please let Lisa Shea know by FRIDAY NOVEMBER 17th 2023 of that interest. Let her know if you prefer a partner you can meet in person or if you prefer to work remotely, staying in touch via email. Also, let her know if you prefer an ‘intense’ relationship where you talk a lot about your works, or if you prefer a more ‘casual’ relationship where each person simply receives the other’s offering and then goes from there. All of these options are fine. We want each team to be happy.

Soon after the names are gathered, each artist is paired with a poet. They form a team for the duration of this project.

Sometime before January 31, 2024, the poet provides the artist with a poem. The poem can be custom-written for this project or it can be a favorite the artist already has written. The poem will be hung in the show on a maximum size of 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper so it should be short enough to fit on that paper at a reasonably sized font. With that being said, the poem can otherwise be as short or as long as the poet desires. It can be a short haiku or a long sonnet.

The artist now has until March 15, 2024 to create a work of art that represents that poem. The art can be a literal interpretation. It can convey the emotion of the poem. It can focus on one aspect of the poem. It is up to the artist to choose how to present their interpretation. That pairing of poem-plus-artwork will be hung side by side at the show.

In parallel:

Sometime before January 31, 2024, the artist provides the poet with a piece of art (a JPG photo of it is fine). Again, the artwork can be custom-created for this project or it can be an existing favorite.

The poet now has until March 15, 2024 to write a poem based on that piece of art. The poem does not need to literally describe the artwork. It can convey an emotion. It can create a story based on the scene. It can be whatever the poet wishes. Again, the poem will be hung in the show on a maximum size of 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper so it should be short enough to fit on that paper at a reasonably sized font. With that being said, the poem can otherwise be as short or as long as the poet desires. It can be a short haiku or a long sonnet.

When each poem and artwork is complete (both in the source and response round), please also send a copy to Lisa so she can update the website with the details. For art, let her know the dimensions of the piece when you send the JPG.

We will work on details like the drop-off / pick-up dates in the coming months. The reception date will be Thursday, April 25th, 2024 from 6-8pm.

Here are pairings from some previous years to see how this works:
2017 Art-Poetry Show
2018 Art-Poetry Show
2019 Art-Poetry Show
2020 Art-Poetry Show
2023 Art-Poetry Show

If anybody has any questions or comments, please let Lisa know. Let her know if you’re interested in participating! You can participate just as one half (i.e. just an artist or just a poet) or as both halves (paired with two different people, one a poet, one an artist).

My current roster is:

Artists
Christine Beauchaine
Rich Dresden
Bob Evans
Carole Plante
Judith Potter
Dennis Smith

Poets
Christine Beauchaine
Christopher Capri
Linda Pauline Chatalian
Rich Dresden

Ask with any questions!

Our featured workshop artist for the month of September 2023 will be the talented Shelly Eager, an amazing artist who works with pastels! The workshop will benefit all artists, no matter what medium they normally work with.

Shelly says:

“When painting in our studios, we all tend to get so married to our photo reference. We try to match all of the colors, shapes, and values. But how do we change all of that if we love the photo for its composition, but want to change the time frame, or the weather, or the atmosphere? Shelly will give you some hints about how to go about doing that. She will demonstrate and explain her thoughts as she goes through the process.”

This is a demo-focused workshop. Shelly has a lot of ground to cover! During her presentation she will demonstrate a variety of ideas and techniques for altering an image to have it suit your artistic goals. We will be recording the session to post on YouTube. In the subsequent days you can set yourself up at home to ‘follow along’ and try out her techniques using your chosen medium.

Here are a few samples of the types of images we’ll be working with.

Our September 2023 monthly meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 19th, 2023 from 6:30-9pm.

Location:
BVAA Open Sky Uxbridge Community Gallery
5 South Main Street
Uxbridge, MA 01569

The space is fully handicapped / disability accessible with no stairs. It is immediately next to a large free parking lot.

This meeting and workshop is free and open to the public. No experience is necessary. The fun of our workshops is that we all try new things we’ve never done before.

Our meetings cover BVAA organization business from 6:30-7:00pm and then go into the workshop part of the evening. Feel free to come for whichever half interests you the most. In general, our monthly meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month unless otherwise announced.

All are welcome – this workshop is open to BVAA members and non-members. Feel free to bring along a friend! We’d love to see you there to try some new things and explore your creativity!

To learn more about Shelly Eager and her art, visit:

https://shellyeagerpastels.com/

Ask with any questions!

Our meetings are supported in part by grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

The Small Stones art festival, based in Grafton Massachusetts, is a showcase of the best artists in the region. Each year 500 artists submit work. Only a handful are accepted into the show. A hardcover full-color art book is created each year, featuring those artists.

For the 2023 edition of this hardcover art book, the Blackstone Valley Art Association has been given a few pages to showcase the types of artists our group features.

We are looking for 10 works of art to include in this BVAA section of the art book.

If you’re a current BVAA member, please consider sending us an image to include. The image needs to be 300dpi in resolution and in the 6mb-10mb size range. That will give the image a high enough quality to print at this resolution. Please do not take a tiny image and artificially “make it larger”. That type of artificial enlargement tends to make the image very pixelly as a result. If you have challenges taking a large-sized image of your physical artwork, contact us and we can lend a hand at the Uxbridge gallery.

We’re looking for files in the JPG, TIFF, or EPS format.

Just to clarify, this request is NOT about entering the actual Small Stones art show. The submission period for the Small Stones art show is already past. This is about having your art featured in the 2023 Small Stones hardcover book, as part of our section on the Blackstone Valley Art Association.

Please contact us promptly if you’re interested in being part of this project!

Here’s more about the Small Stones art show –

Small Stones Festival for the Arts

Girls on the Run is an amazing national organization which encourages girls to become more active. A local branch of Girls on the Run is moving and will be opening their new space in Whitinsville, Massachusetts on September 28, 2023. They have offered the Blackstone Valley Art Association space to feature local artists.

We are looking for about 10 works of art in the 11×17 size range or smaller, to sit on a ledge. These will NOT be hung. They will sit on a stone ledge along a hallway. Here are two images of the space we have available to us.

The types of images Girls on the Run are interested in include:

• Girls in sports and having fun
• Local sights and scenes
• Local historical images
• Wildlife

This is not a judged art show and there is no fee to participate. It is about building a fan base in the local community and hopefully also selling art.

If you are a BVAA member and are interested in participating in this art show, please contact us. We’ll arrange a date to have the art dropped off. We are not sure yet how long the art will be up or if this will become a rotating show. If you need to take your art back at some point that’s of course fine – we’ll work out a replacement for your ‘spot’.

Ask with any questions!

Girls on the Run National Website