The Blackstone Valley Art Association is blessed to have talented painter Deb Bottomley. On Tuesday, September 17th, 2024, Deb will do a FREE live demo for us!
This will be helpful to ALL artists, even if you don’t use Deb’s particular paints. Deb’s skill with composition, color, emotion, and more can be applied to any form of art.
Location: BVAA Open Sky Uxbridge Community Gallery 5 South Main Street Uxbridge, MA 01569
This meeting and session is free and open to the public. No experience is necessary. The fun of our workshops is that we all learn 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 members and non-members. Feel free to bring along a friend! We’d love to see you there to learn some new things and explore your creativity!
Note that Verne Thayer was originally going to do our September demo but he became sick. We will definitely have Verne paint for us when he feels better! Thank you Deb for stepping in to do a demo!
We are celebrating our Seventh Annual Uxbridge SketchFest with beauty! We have the amazingly talented artist Brandi van Roo joining us in Uxbridge to present supportive encouragement on how to quick-sketch buildings, landscapes, and bridges. We will walk short distances around the River Bend Farm canal and use the beautiful architecture and landscapes to develop our 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 either with the online form on this site or by emailing info@bvaa.org 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 Brandi, you’ll then have the skills you need to participate in our Seventh Annual Uxbridge SketchFest, which runs from Sunday September 15th through Thursday October 31, 2024!
Our River Bend Farm Sketching workshop will be held on Sunday, September 29th, 2023 from 2-4pm. If it rains, we’ll hold the workshop in the Uxbridge BVAA Community gallery space. We will definitely post here and on social media, and email all RSVPed people, if we have rain concerns.
Initial Meeting Location: River Bend Farm 287 Oak Street Uxbridge MA
The space is fully handicapped / disability accessible with no stairs. It has 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!
The BVAA Uxbridge SketchFest is back for its seventh year! Grab your pads of paper, pencils, and pens, for it’s SketchFest time!
Here’s the plan.
Sometime between September 15th and October 31st 2024, 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 2024. 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!
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.
Dennis Smith Map of Great Sketching Locations
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.
Pamela Siderewicz – Uxbridge Common Building
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.
Laura Sfiat City Sketcher Boston
Here’s Laura’s website which has all sorts of great information and advice:
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!
The Blackstone Valley Art Association is sponsoring our annual members-only Fall Show! This show is open to all active members of the BVAA. Entries can include all forms of artwork on any theme. This show will be judged for cash prizes.
When: Saturday, September 7th to Saturday, October 19th, 2024
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.
Entering the Show The theme is wide open. Any topic can be addressed as long as it is family-friendly. This show does NOT have to be about autumn. It simply happens in the autumn. 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. While AI and other artists can be used to generate starting concepts for BVAA show artwork, all final work submitted must be wholly the personal creation of the individual BVAA member.
Submissions To submit your entries use our BVAA Online Submission Form. The fee to participate is $8/piece or 3 for $20 for members. You can submit up to 3 pieces. As this is a judged show, you cannot enter anything which has been entered into a previous BVAA judged show. The deadline to submit the physical artwork is Saturday, September 7th, 2024 at 3pm EST.
Drop Off of Works Work must be dropped off on Saturday, September 7th between 10am and 3pm. All work which is brought in will be hung, as long as it is properly wired and is family-friendly. We do not ‘pre-select’ art for the show.
Judging The show is judged for cash prizes. Those cash prizes are based on the money paid in to the show for entry fees. Each show is self-supporting in that sense. The shows don’t add money to the BVAA – the money we take in then goes to the prizes and judge. Generally we award first, second, third, and three honorable mentions. This depends on the number of overall entries.
Opening Reception The reception is Friday, September 27th from 5-7pm NOTE THE NEW DATE!!. Please bring a snack or drink to share! Winners are generally announced around 6pm.
Pick Up Saturday, October 19, 2024, from 10am to 3pm. If you aren’t able to make that timeframe, please contact us for other arrangements. We need to have a BVAA person on hand for an art pickup.
Summertime is a busy time for many of our artists, so we keep our summer workshops light and fun.
The workshop will involve Carol Frieswick’s book and card set “The Artist’s Muse – Unlock the Door to Your Creativity”. There are bunches of cards with all sorts of challenges and prompts to get you thinking out of the box with your art. We’ll have watercolors, paper, and brushes on hand. If you have a preferred medium feel free to bring along your own paints, pencils, or camera. We will tackle the creative challenges with whatever we like to work with. Or, heck, if you normally work in one media, try changing over to another to see how it goes!
Our August 2024 monthly meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 20th 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. There is a bathroom.
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 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!
Ask with any questions!
Our meetings are supported in part by grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Here are the winners from our 2024 Carbon Copies Fakes & Forgeries art show! For this show, we did a “people’s choice” voting. Every person could vote for first, second, and third. We took in votes via email, by comments on YouTube, by Facebook, by in-person ballots, and by messenger! We had a lot of people voting. Thank you to all our artists for participating, and thank you to everyone who voted!
To see each image alongside its “inspiration” be sure to see the video:
And now, the winners!
First Place: Stephen Paulson – watercolor inspired by “Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede” (Jacob van Ruisdael, 1670)
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Second Place: Evan Plante – Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated by Bing inspired by “Mona Lisa” (Leonardo da Vinci, about 1503-1506)
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Third Place: Cheri Holland – Digital Art created in Photoshop inspired by “Oriental” (Wassily Kandinsky, 1909)
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Honorable Mention: Katie Williams – acrylic painting inspired by several of Vincent Van Gogh’s sunflower paintings in late 1800s
Here are the winners from our 2024 art show held at the Worcester Center for Crafts! Congratulations, everyone!
Congratulations to Young Farwell for first place in our show at the Worcester Center for Crafts “On The Way Home” oil $800.
Congratulations to Al Weems for second place in our show at the Worcester Center for Crafts with his photo “Progress” $350.
Congratulations to Brandi Van Roo for third place with her watercolor “Whitin Machine Works” at the Worcester Center for Crafts art show!
Congratulations to Pamela Gover for an Honorable Mention for “Fish Dinner” oil $425 in our art show at the Worcester Center for Crafts
Congratulations to James Hunt for an Honorable Mention for “Bernat Mill Entrance Uxbridge 2017” photo on metal $750 in our art show at the Worcester Center for Crafts
Congratulations to Susan Johnson for an Honorable Mention for “Village in the Fog” monoprint $125 in our art show at the Worcester Center for Crafts
Here are the sunflower artwork items being submitted for the 2024 Sunflower art show at the Booklovers’ Gourmet in Douglas, Massachusetts. Each BVAA member can submit up to two art items for the show. Deadline to submit is 11:59pm EST on Sunday July 28th 2024!
We can fit about 18 items in the space. If we get more than 18 items submitted, then ALL items will be featured in our online virtual promotional videos, with prices and sales information.
UPDATE: Deb Horan at Booklovers’ Gourmet thinks she should be able to fit all 24 of our items on the walls. Hurrah!
Note that this online gallery crops the images into a grid – click on an image to see its full shape!
Bing provides a free way to generate AI / Artificial Intelligence artwork on demand. You type in a prompt – a description like “three pink water lilies on a pond in Monet style”. In about thirty seconds, Bing provides you four different image variations on your chosen prompt. Then you can alter your prompt and try again.
In 2024, the BVAA hosted our annual Carbon Copies show which is all about fakes, forgeries, alternative versions of art, and fun explorations. For his submission to this show, Evan Plante submitted what was our first ever AI / Artificial Intelligence submission to an art show. He used the program from Bing (Microsoft). Evan wanted a new version of the classic Mona Lisa, an oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci from around 1517.
So what Evan did was go to the Bing AI Art website:
Evan created a free account with Microsoft. Then he typed in a prompt – a brief description of what he wanted. In 30 seconds, Bing had generated four versions of an image. Evan changed his prompt to better reflect his vision. In another 30 seconds, Bing generated this result (and three others):
As a later test for me, Evan typed in “polar bear flying a kite”. In 30 seconds Bing generated these results:
Here is a video version of the process, to see how this works:
Here is the link to our Carbon Copies show details, to show what our forgeries show is all about.
Many of our artists were intrigued by the AI art submission and wanted to understand how this process worked. I hope this write-up and video help explain the process.
Ask with any questions about Bing / Microsoft AI art or about AI art in general!
Our Eighth Annual BVAA Sunflower Show is the lucky way to enjoy golden beauty! Our Sunflower art show is held at the amazing local bookstore / gift shop / cafe Booklovers’ Gourmet.
Where? The sunflower art show is held at the: Booklovers’ Gourmet 72 E Main Street Webster, MA 01570
About the Show If there ever was a flower which symbolized glorious summertime, the sunflower is the one. Did you know that nearly all of the 70 species of sunflowers are native to North America? They can grow to be up to six feet tall and they even tilt as the sun moves so they always face it!
The Blackstone Valley Art Association is celebrating this sun-shaped delight with a sunflower show throughout the month of August at the Booklovers’ Gourmet in Webster. Come on out to appreciate the artistic visions and explore the shop’s offerings!
Submissions
The JPG email submission deadline for the sunflower show is Sunday, July 28th, 2024. We have limited wall space at the Booklovers’ Gourmet for 18 items sized around 16×20. The art doesn’t have to be exactly that size, but in that general range. Smaller is fine; massive 4′ by 8′ murals will not fit.
What we’ll do is have each member submit two JPGs of artwork via email to info@bvaa.org they’d like to include. If we get too many for the available wall space we’ll do a Facebook vote. All submissions will be in the virtual version of the show.
This show is open to all BVAA members and is FREE to participate in. This is not a judged show – it is primarily a visibility and sales opportunity. We pretty much sell artwork every year we hold this show. Note that Booklovers’ Gourmet is a book and small gift shop. The art that sells tends to be in the $40-$80 range, not the $300-$500 range. That being said, feel free to enter whatever art you’d like that is sunflower-themed. You never know what will catch a visitor’s eye!
Any sales will include a 30% commission taken by the shop. The BVAA takes no commission on this show. Full BVAA terms: BVAA Show Terms and Conditions
Drop-Off The drop-off for the Sunflower Show is Tue July 30th and Wed July 31st between 10am-5pm. Items should be dropped off directly at the Booklovers’ Gourmet shop. If you can’t make either date, contact Lisa Shea and she’ll arrange something. The Booklovers’ Gourmet shop will take care of hanging and labelling the items. Please make sure that the back of EVERY art piece is labelled with your name, the artwork title, its medium, and price. That way Deb knows what labels go with what pieces.
Public Reception Our sunflower show Artist’s Reception is Wednesday August 21st from 5:30 – 7pm. Please plan on attending! Invite family and friends! Share the news!
Pick-Up Pick-up for the show is Saturday August 31st from 12 noon to 5pm.
Theme This show is all about sunflowers! Anything related to sunflowers is fair game. Photography, paintings, drawings, sculptures, mosaics, you name it! Look through the artwork from previous years to see how other artists have tackled this theme.
Here are the submissions we have so far for 2024 –
