Blog

Plein Air Mailing List for BVAA Members

Summer’s here and the time is right for plein air painting! The challenge is gathering up friends to go with you when the day finally dawns with golden sunshine. That’s why the BVAA is creating a plein air specific mailing list!

To join the list, just send an email to Bob Evans at bob9750@gmail.com – he is the keeper of the list. Let him know which email address you’d like to add to it.

You can of course unsubscribe whenever you wish.

Any time any member of the group is thinking about going on a plein air outing, they simply send an email message out to the group. The whole group will get the alert. Then people can respond back if they’re interested, and an adventure is on the way.

If you have any questions at all, please contact Bob. He’ll let you know the list name and how to use it when he adds you to it.

2018 Premier Image Gallery Open Show

The Premier Image Gallery in Ashland, Massachusetts is having its 2018 Summer Show! This will be a joint show between the Blackstone Valley Art Association and two other local art groups. There will be cash prizes!

Premier Image Gallery
290 Eliot Street
Ashland MA 01721

You can enter up to two pieces at $8 each. Pieces must be properly wired. The drop off dates are:

UPDATE: You can drop off on Monday June 11th as well! Call Don Gordon at 508-881-4730

Thu June 7 10-3
Fri June 8 10-3
Sat June 9 9-noon

If you can’t make it during those times, let us know and we can arrange someone else to coordinate with you to bring them in. You don’t have to fill out any forms with this. Just label the back with the usual artist name / title / medium / price and then the owner Don will fill out a hand-written inventory sheet when you get there.

The BVAA has historically done quite well at these open shows. It’s well worth entering!

The reception is Thursday, June 21st from 5-7pm. Bring a snack to share!

The pickup will be on August 16th and August 17th during the gallery’s normal business hours.

For more about the gallery including contact information visit:

https://premierimagegallery.com/

Call for Art: Show Us Your Notre Dame

Photo by Lisa Shea

This press release came via ArtsWorcester. We’re already losing Our Lady of Mount Carmel, above. Let’s not lose two churches in a row.

Call for Art: Show Us Your Notre Dame
DEADLINE: Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Artists, here is a chance to win a significant cash prize and document our city’s living history! Please lend your talents to the effort to save the former church of Notre Dame des Canadiens downtown, slated for demolition within weeks—or at least, save its soul. An online, non-juried, and immediate exhibition will bear witness to this beautiful landmark building and fuel efforts to save it. Ten prizes of $250 each will be awarded by a group of Worcester’s leading art professionals.

The organizers seek artwork that conveys the beauty of Notre Dame, envisions how it could be repurposed to become the crown jewel of Worcester, and documents what may be its last hours–or the beginning of its new life.

This is urgent: they need your images or video by Wednesday, May 30. Send them your visual art, dance, music, poetry or prose, conceptual or performance art, anything that can be photographed or recorded and submitted electronically for us to upload to the exhibition website.

Bring your camera, your instrument, your sketchbook to Notre Dame this week, and let your art speak truth to power. Notre Dame itself is now fenced and off-limits, so artists must work from public vantage points (sidewalks, Worcester Common, Worcester Public Library).

Artwork must be submitted as a high-resolution jpg or video to savenotredame2018@gmail.com by Wednesday, May 30 at 6pm. Please include your name, youth/student status (if applicable), the medium, title (if there is one), and the day and time you made the piece. We will upload your work into the online exhibition in real time. By submitting images, you give permission for Save Notre Dame Alliance to use them for publicity purposes.

Jim Welu, Juliet Feibel, Luis Fraire, and Honee Hess will award ten cash prizes of $250 each, including youth/student prizes. These prizes are funded by visionary citizens who see Notre Dame as art and believe that art can help save it. The winners will be announced at a public event within a week after the submission deadline passes.

All artists are eligible to participate, regardless of where they live or previous experience. We encourage participation by children and student artists, amateurs and professionals!

Please share this call widely. New England is already watching what we do with Notre Dame. Help us all see this special place through your eyes, and bear witness to this moment in our city.

The Save Notre Dame Alliance thanks ArtsWorcester, the Sprinkler Factory, Worcester Center for Crafts, and WICN for their collaboration and support.

For further information:

https://www.savenotredamealliance.com/
https://www.facebook.com/savenotredamealliance/
https://www.facebook.com/Re-imagined-Notre-Dame-1181755798556522/

For the Birds Art Show Reception


artwork by John Randall

The Blackstone Valley Art Association is sponsoring the “For the Birds” show to celebrate the joy of our feathered friends!

The opening reception will be Friday, June 22nd, 2018 from 5-7.

Invite family and friends – all are welcome!

Where:
BVAA Alternatives Uxbridge Community Gallery
5 South Main Street
Uxbridge, MA

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

BVAA Alternatives Uxbridge Community Art Gallery Information

Full details about this show:

For the Birds Art Show

For the Birds Art Show


artwork by John Randell

The Blackstone Valley Art Association is sponsoring the “For the Birds” show to celebrate the joy of our feathered friends! All members are warmly encouraged to participate.

When:
June 22 to July 21, 2018

Where:
BVAA Alternatives Uxbridge Community Gallery
5 South Main Street
Uxbridge, MA

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

BVAA Alternatives Uxbridge Community Art Gallery Information

Participation is open to all BVAA members. Each current BVAA member may exhibit three works. A portion of all sales goes to support the gallery.

Entering the Show
There is no entry fee for this show. The theme is anything and everything having to do with birds and birding.

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 paintings must be family friendly and 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. The deadline to submit is 3pm on Saturday, June 16th, 2018. Work must be dropped off either on Saturday, June 9th or Saturday, June 16th between 10am and 3pm. All work which is brought in will be hung (as long as it is properly wired and is family-friendly).

Opening Reception
The opening reception will be Friday, June 22nd, 2018 from 5-7. Invite family and friends – all are welcome!

Fireworks!
Uxbridge will be holding their summer fireworks on Saturday July 7th – the gallery will be open! Hopefully we’ll get visitors in to check out our birds while they’re enjoying the celebration!

Pick Up
Saturday, July 21st, 2018, from 10am to 3pm. If you aren’t able to make that, contact us for other arrangements.

Address any questions via our BVAA Contact Information

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

String Art and Open Paint Session – Sat May 26 2018

If you’re interested in painting, drawing, and illustrating, we have the perfect Saturday lined up! It’ll be a great time with laughter, conversation, creativity, and the space to stretch out! It’s an open paint! Plus we’ll experiment with string art! All are welcome, including the public, family, and friends! It’s free!

If the weather is nice out, we’ll also do an Uxbridge sketch walk. We have the maps all ready. We just need some sunshine!

When:
Saturday, May 26, 2018
10am – 3pm

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

This is an open paint session where all styles of art are warmly welcome. Whether you’re 12 or 102, whether you’re a new beginner or a seasoned artist, we would love to have you. It’s completely free to participate in the open paint. You can bring your own paints or we’ll have watercolors to share.

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

BVAA Alternatives Uxbridge Community Art Gallery Information

Feel free to show up for some or all of the day to paint. Some come for just the morning, some for the afternoon, and some for the entire time. There are several options on the same block to grab lunch if you’d like. We also bring in a pizza and those who want slices chip in a few dollars.

Ask with any questions – we’d love to have you join us!

Four Days until Uxbridge Sketch Walk & Art Festival 2018

Only four days left until the First Annual Uxbridge Sketch Walk and Art Festival! It’s all happening on Saturday, May 12, 2018 from 9am to 3pm.

Come on out to sketch, take photos, draw, watercolor, or whatever else you’d like to do! If you’re not an artist, come to see how others do it! Take a look at the delightful Uxbridge-themed art in our art gallery, and enjoy the watercolors as well!

Full details including maps and photos:

Uxbridge Sketch Walk & Art Festival Details

Bob Evans Photoshop Workshop

Talented artist, photographer, and Renaissance man Bob Evans will be your guide to the wonderful world of Photoshop! Over the three weeks you’ll learn a wealth of valuable skills. The classes meet on Sunday mornings from 10am to noon.

Topics to be covered:

• Why edit an image?
• Basic intro to editing-
• Common global adjustments
• Exposure
• Contrast
• Color balance
• Cropping
• Image size/resolution

Moving on to more advanced:

• Layers
• Masking
• Selection
• Cloning
• Move/replace/delete objects
• Local adjustments
• Curves
• Converting to b/w
• Filters

Prerequisites
• Familiar with computers
• Have access to Photoshop or a similar program (GIMP, PS Elements, Pixelmator Pro etc)
• For those who don’t yet have Photoshop, note that the combination of PS/Lightroom/20GB storage is $9.99/month
• Ideally you would have this installed on a laptop that you could bring with them but not essential
• Familiar with basic terminology: exposure, raw files, color balance, contrast, histogram, etc.

Cost:
$30 for all three classes

When:
Sunday, May 13, 2018 10am-noon
Sunday, May 20, 2018 10am-noon
Sunday, June 9, 2018 10am-noon

Where:
BVAA Alternatives 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 Alternatives Uxbridge Community Art Gallery Information

This class is open to the public. It is open to all ages.

Please make sure you register beforehand – spaces are limited

To register, please use the BVAA Registration Form

To learn more about Bob Evans and to view his gallery:

https://bvaa.org/galleries/gallery-bob-evans/

Carol Arnold Oil Painting Class – May 2018

Oil paint has been the medium of choice for a wealth of famous painters. Leonardo da Vinci. Claude Monet. Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Paul Cezanne. There is just something spectacular about the beauty of oil paint which captures the eye and the imagination.

Whether you’re a raw beginner or an experienced painter, this oil painting class will take you to the next level. It’s full of personal hands-on advice and a warm, welcoming atmosphere!

Talented painter Carol Arnold teaches a monthly oil painting class at the BVAA Alternatives Uxbridge Community Gallery! Carol is a member of Richard Schmid and Nancy Guzik’s Putney Painters! All levels of painters are welcomed with open arms. The focus will be on drawing, edges, values and color. These are areas which a beginner can practice and an advanced student can hone to perfection.

Carol makes these classes fun and inspiring, while supporting you to the next level of your growth!

This monthly class meets on the first Thursday of every month from 6-9 pm.

Cost:
The maximum class size will be 10 students, to ensure plenty of hands-on time for each one.
If there are only 1 or 2 students registered for a class, the class will be cancelled.
If there are 3 or 4 students, each student pays $20/hr for the class = $60 total.
If there are 5-10 students, each student pays $15/hr for the class = $45 total.

Invite your friends! Share the news! The more students which attend, the less you pay and the more fun it is to learn from each other.

When:
Thursday, May 3, 2018
6pm – 9pm

Where:
BVAA Alternatives 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 Alternatives Uxbridge Community Art Gallery Information

This class is open to the public. It is open to all ages and to all levels of painting ability.

Please make sure you register beforehand so we know how many to expect. Carol will send you a supply list to get you started.

To register, email: carol@carolarnoldfineart.com

To learn more about Carol Arnold and to view her painting gallery:

https://carolarnoldfineart.com/

 

Open Paint Session – Sat April 28 2018

If you’re interested in painting, drawing, and illustrating, we have the perfect Saturday lined up! It’ll be a great time with laughter, conversation, creativity, and the space to stretch out! It’s an open paint! All are welcome, including the public, family, and friends! It’s free!

When:
Saturday, April 28, 2018
10am – 3pm

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

This is an open paint session where all styles of art are warmly welcome. Whether you’re 12 or 102, whether you’re a new beginner or a seasoned artist, we would love to have you. It’s completely free to participate in the open paint. You can bring your own paints or we’ll have watercolors to share.

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

BVAA Alternatives Uxbridge Community Art Gallery Information

Feel free to show up for some or all of the day to paint. Some come for just the morning, some for the afternoon, and some for the entire time. There are several options on the same block to grab lunch if you’d like. We also bring in a pizza and those who want slices chip in a few dollars.

Ask with any questions – we’d love to have you join us!