Stan Sperlak demo

What: Demonstration by Stan Sperlak, PSA
When: Thursday, Dec. 1, 6:30-8:30 PM
Where: Cultural Center at Ponte Vedra Beach

Those who are signed up for the Stan Sperlak workshop have a treat coming up this weekend, but the rest of us can have a taste of it too.

Mark your calendars !

A Demo by International Pastel Artist, Stan Sperlak. Sperlak has favored pastel as his medium because of the primal nature of using one’s hands, the sensual experience of touch, and the serendipitous marks that are caused by the unusual shapes of the sticks. Over the years, Stan has most often worked on smaller pieces “plein air” or on location from life, but now has begun to experiment with very large works from these studies in the studio.

If you've never had the opportunity to see Stan at work, I can guarantee that this will be a treat!

Cost for FCPS members and their spouses is $10
Workshop students are free, $10 for spouses
General public, $20

November meeting

It was a wonderful Saturday morning to get together with our fellow pastelists, and to hear President Cindy Pierson talk about things that have been going on, and things upcoming (stay tuned to this blog for some exciting details).

We had 27 in attendance today, members and guests. After sharing news and hearing about upcoming events we took and break and then came back to see our own Kevin Arthur do a portrait demo for us.

Our founder and former President, Lyn Asselta, was Kevin's guest model, nicely color coordinated with the fabric backdrop.

Kevin worked steadily but was very open to questions from the audience as he worked. Lyn was a great model, held very steady until Kevin gave her breaks. Kevin worked on Strathmore paper using his NuPastels.

After break one.

After break two.

At the end of our allotted time.

Afterwards everyone was eager to come up and get a close-up.

Those of us who stayed for the board meeting afterwards also had an additional treat of seeing the Blue Angels getting ready to kick off the big Sea and Sky air show.

Coming up:
1) Demo and Workshop with Stan Sperlak.
2) Annual holiday pot luck brunch, with a live model to paint from
3) January 5th anniversary meeting! Cake, tips and treasures, and a very special painting exchange.

More details to follow, check the blog and check your email!

November Meeting and demo

What:   FCPS meeting
Where: Cultural Center at Ponte Vedra Beach
When:  Saturday, November 5, 10 AM to 12 noon

What a month it has been since our last plein air event! It was only a week after our wonderful paint-out that Hurricane Matthew came roaring through, right over the area where we painted among other areas, There was lots of flooding and storm surge. Sadly, some of our members suffered damage from the storm.

A month has gone by though, and we hope folks are getting cleaned up, and that they are ready to be involved with other options in their lives, as we have a wonderful program this month. There was a lot of damage at Ponte Vedra Beach but our Cultural Center is fine and we will be meeting there on Saturday.

Our presenter is new member Kevin Arthur. Kevin is a wonderful portrait artist and teacher, and taught a well-received workshop on pastel portraiture this past summer at UNF.  You won't want to miss this demo.

I look forward to seeing a great turn-out on Saturday!

Plein Air Butler

We had perfect weather and a great turn-out this morning for the first plein air of the fall season at Frank Butler Park West.  There were about 13-14 members who turned up to paint, new folks and old, and even a guest who painted a lovely oil.

We got to see our FCPS mascot, Maggie, though were saddened to learn that her owner, Steve, has moved many hours away from us now. However Steve will now be able to really concentrate on his art and we wish him lots of luck with that!

It was great to see folks and get to hear some stories about summer adventures.

It was a clear sunny day. The sun was a bit warm, but a light breeze, low humidity, and no bugs all made  for a good morning. There were enough sand spurs that we had to watch our footing though! Some folks braved sunny locations but many folks found shady spots to paint from.

As we usually do we broke in late morning, and shared lunch and snacks, and a show-and-tell. Here are some examples of the morning in various states of completion.

And don't forget our exciting demo with Kevin Arthur at our upcoming November meeting!

Plein Air - Frank Butler West

What:   First fall plein air
Where: Frank Butler County Park West
When:  Saturday, Oct. 1, 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM

It's time again for plein air to start. Summer doesn't seem to want to let go but Saturday forecast right now shows a high of 80 degrees and a mixture of sun and clouds, so if the forecast holds that's not too bad.

Our venue is Frank Butler County Park West on the bank of the Matanzas River. It's easy to find. Just take St, Johns County route 206 out to A1A, head north, and the park will be on your left.

There are plenty of views and spots to set up along the river itself, or smaller streams leading into the river. Plenty of water and open sky.

The park also has a boat ramp. If the weather is as predicted there are likely to be plenty of boaters there also, so please be mindful of that when you park, and when you choose your plein air setups.

There are also small ponds, often with birds and wildlife, along the roadway leading into the park itself. Also, of course, restrooms, as well as covered picnic pavilions.

So come with your pastels, hats, sunscreen, bug spray, water, and don't forget to pack a lunch so we can all eat together and have a show and tell for those so inclined.

And don't forget to put out next general meeting, November 5th, on your calendar. Our own Kevin Arthur, an excellent portrait artist, will be doing a demo for us. More details to follow.

It was a busy summer

It was fun to kick off a new season with FCPS - our first general meeting with our new President, Cindy Pierson. We all look forward to working with Cindy in the coming year.

Members all brought in works from their summer vacation. It was a wonderful variety of subjects and styles, with some members trying out different subjects from their usual, and doing a wonderful job with them!

We had about 25 members in attendance which is a great turnout. We had a brief business meeting and got to hear about possible workshops and events for the coming year. We still hope to hold a fall Member Show if we can find a venue.

Our FCPS book and DVD library was on display as well - only $2 for a two-month rental! Several members took advantage of this and rented items.

After the business meeting Cindy went around the room displaying the various works members had brought in.

Some folks had already begun removing their works from the easels before I got around to taking photographs so I'm sorry  for those folks whose work is not pictured here, but here is a sample of all the works done over the summer so you can see the variety.