Happy Holidays Vanguard!

Watercolor on Yupo, 11 x 15, by Susan Roper

I wish to thank all of the Vanguard Artists who contributed to this blog in 2009 and wish that everyone will have a happy and healthy 2010! I look forward to receiving more news about exciting art events from our members and building the best blog ever!

Holiday blessings to all....Susan

Operation Warmheart

I wish to announce some exciting news. I belong to the Sun City Grand Art Club, as well as to one of their sub-groups called Grand Artist Jewelry. Carol Kennedy is another Vanguard member who belongs to this jewelry group. This Grand Artist Jewelry group has taken on a holiday service project to raise money for Operation Warmheart. This is a charity sponsored by the Luke Air Force Base First Sergeants, they raise money to assist deployed military and their families. This includes providing food, emergency shelter, airline tickets for the family of a severely injured airman, and many other worthy services.

As artisan jewelers, we have offered many hand-made pieces for sale today, Friday the 18th, at the Concierge desk at Sun City Grand's Sonoran Plaza. This sale will run from 8:00-4:00 today. The Concierge desk is across from Zuni's, where you will find lovely pieces of hand-wrought jewelry. There will be pieces that will be for sale, with 100% going to this worthy charity and others with percentages of the sales going to Opearation Warmheart.

After today's fund drive with jewelry sales, Carol and I will also be involved in an ArtChix sale at the Sun City Grand Art Club. We will carry over our participation in today's sale benefiting Operation Warmheart where we will each have designated pieces available for sale at our tables at the sale. We will also accept donation to the cause.

I offer credit card convenience at my table, so if you would like to leave a donation it would be appreciated by so many!

Your Blog Administrator, Susan Roper

Arizona Artists Guild Winter Juried Exhibition

Barbara Lang reports that the AAG Winter Juried Exhibition will run from December 12, 2009-January 24, 2010. AAG members who are also Vanguard members and are in this show are Barbara Lang, Norma Cox Miller, Larry Carter and Woodie Mackie. The Juror for this show was George Palovich, who selected 37 paintings from over 200 submitted.

The show will hang at the new AAG building and the reception will be January 15, 2010 from 5:30-8:00 PM.

Arizona Artists Guild
18411 N. 7th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85023

Administrator's note: If I have inadvertently missed any Vanguard members who were accepted into this show, please let me know so they can be included as exhibitors.

Addition to Holiday Party - A Slideshow

I began this slideshow to show some other photos of the party. Some were taken by me, others by Pat Knorr. Click here to view the slideshow. If you have any photos you took of the party that you wish to share in this slideshow, please e-mail them to me: susanroper@cox.net

2009 Vanguard Holiday Dinner

The Vanguard Artists Holiday Dinner was held Friday evening, December 4. I attended and had a grand time. The venue was especially nice and I enjoyed seeing this new facility for the first time. The program was festive, the food wonderful (especially that dessert!) and I feel all had a great time together. I will pass along the following from member, Judy Lawson:

A GREAT BIG THANKS!!!!

I just know I'm missing someone from the list - so, please pass this along!

The get together was just great - good friends, good entertainment & good food!

What a great place the Colonade was for our party - I hope this will be an annual venue!!
Carolyn, I'm sorry about your boo-boo and that you missed most of the party!

Can't wait to see all the pics on the blog!!
Happy Holidays to you all and a Happy New Year!!!!
Mom (Wilma) had a good time, too!!
Judy



One of the tables beginning to fill up as others arrive. The centerpieces were so cute and festive.

Socializing was the key for the first hour of the party, I know there wasn't enough time for me to get around and see everyone as I intended. Note to Bill S....next year more socializing time!

Our Vice President, Pat Knorr, entertaining us with two lovely song renditions. I apologize for the poor quality of this photo, but it was dark where she was performing and I was too far away. Note to self....move closer to the action next year when photographing memories. Note to Bill S...next year a spotlight for Pat!

Newest Paintings

Kristi Herring has added some new paintings to her member slideshow (see sidebar on this page).

A sample of the additions is shown here. Good work, Kristi!

Arizona Plein Air Painters Fall Exhibition

Many of our Vanguard members are also members of Arizona Artists Guild and we would love to have you see our new meeting, workshop, classroom and exhibition space. Enjoy over fifty beautiful landscapes painted in oil, watercolor and pastel currently being presented. Administrator's note: I have seen both the new building and this exhibition. I highly recommend them both! There are just magnificent works on display here.

Arizona Plein Air Painters Fall Exhibition

New AAG Building
18411 N. 7th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85023
Just south of the intersection of Union Hills and 7th Avenue

November 21 until December 6
Open
Sundays: Noon to 4:00 PM
Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays 10 until 5:00 PM

Another Painting Sold!

Congratulations to Ruth Malins for recently selling a painting at the Professional Building Vanguard display. This is becoming a wonderful opportunity to have our work seen and appreciated, so we all should consider taking advantage of this opportunity.

Way to go, Ruth!

Jean Holt

June Brantner reports that Jean Holt has moved into an Assisted Living center in California recently. If you would like to contact Jean, please call June for contact information.

November 6 Meeting

This painting by Mary Lou Harvey is just one of the delightful paintings brought for critique at yesterday's meeting of Vanguard Artists. Eight new members were announced at the meeting, they will be officially introduced at the January meeting.

To view a slideshow of photos taken before and during the meeting, please click here. Thanks go to Bill Seibert for volunteering his services as official Vanguard photographer, it is much appreciated!

Membership dues were accepted at yesterday's meeting, if you did not attend and have not paid your annual dues, please contact Kelly Lamar immediately to be included in the roster.

Welcome to New Members!

We would like to welcome the newest members of Vanguard Artists. The following artists were juried into our group this week: Anne Breza, Val Anderson, Louise Carroll, Mardelle Driscoll, Pauline Mounsey, Karen Walsh, Walt Wieder and Marion Wishnefski.

We are glad you have joined us and look forward to your active participation in club activities!

Joan Widman

Vanguard member, Joan Widman, will have her work on display in various venues this Fall. She invites you to see her work at:

Solo show (includes Women of Faith and Courage series) Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Sun City West, November and December.

Dillon's Restaurant in Sun City Grand

Neu Art Group show at the Sun City Grand Art Club, November

Busy, Busy, Busy

It has been a very busy & wonderful fall season for Judy Lawson!

She won a MERCHANT AWARD for her painting JAZZY NIGHT in the Arizona
Watercolor Association Fall Exhibition at Fountain Hills. The exhibit
runs through Oct 30. Paradise 2 (Squared) is also in this show.

Judy received the JUROR'S CHOICE AWARD (2nd Place) at the NAWS (Northern
Arizona Watercolor Society's Experimental Exhibition juried by Beverly
Roman for "Think Cool".

Her Kula Korn Dancers and From Above-Utah Winter have been juried into
the AZ State Fair. The State Fair Fine Art Exhibit is downstairs in the
Coliseum Oct 16 - Nov 8 (closed Mondays). The closest parking is on the
North Side of the fairgrounds.

Also, Judy, Jane Brown, and Lupe Cavanaugh are featured in the Lobby
Gallery at the Peoria Center for the Performing Arts through the end of
November! This event also includes a raffle fund raiser of a painting.
The winner may select from one of the three pieces exhibited. Raffle Tickets
are only $5.

Of Interest...

Sounds like a good one to attend, if you do attend please report how it was and your impressions can be entered here.

Of Interest.....

Vanguard members are participating in this show, so do attend and enjoy!

Oktoberfest at Sun City Grand !

Saturday, October 10, 2009 will be the annual Oktoberfest celebration at Sun City Grand in Surprise. There will be many arts and crafts displays; the SCG Art Club studios will be open all day and many of the Vanguard members who reside in SCG will be participating. These members include: Ann Stubenrauch, Ann Porter, Arlen Madole, Barbara Lang, Carol Kennedy, Carolyn Aide, Diane Eason, Joan Widman, Kandyce Olson, Karen Mayfield, Kay Verstraete, Madeline Ledzinski, Norma Cox-Miller, Patty Potter, Ron Anderson, Ruth Malins, Sharon King, Steve Plichta, Woodie Mackie and Susan Roper (yup, that is I!). We invite you to join us for a day of art, fun and food.

The celebration is held at the Sonoran Plaza which is on Remington Drive off of Sunrise. Use the Grand Avenue entrance to SCG, continue to Remington and turn right. There will be parking attendants to advise of parking areas available. Parking lots are located both at the north and south sides of the Sonoran Plaza. It starts around 9:00 AM and ends around 3:00 PM. Hope to see you there!

October 2, 2009 Meeting

Another good meeting of the Vanguard Artists was held Friday, October 2. We met in our new meeting venue at Unitarian Universalist Church. Before the meeting the Pastor of this church, Walt Wieder, introduced himself to me and welcomed our group to the church and stated how happy he was that we chose their facility for our meetings. Walt also admitted to being a pastel artist, or at least a pastel artist wannabe. He showed me some of his paintings on his iPod and he is, indeed, a pastel artist!

A good critique session followed the short business meeting, with many paintings thoughtfully reviewed and critiqued by the members.

Mary Schubert took photos during the meeting, thanks Mary, and they can be viewed by clicking here for a slideshow.

Congrats to Kristi

Kristi Herring reports that a painting she had hanging at the Professional Building has sold. So, if you are considering whether to hang paintings at this venue, you might want to consider it a positive sales venue!

Way to go, Kristi...

Busy Margaret Osburn!

Margaret has submitted the following announcements of where she is showing her artwork, etc.
Margaret is also participating in the Sun City Artists Third Annual Art Show on November 13 and 14 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Spiritual Enrichment Center in Peoria.

Margaret also has supplied a link to her homepage so you can see what she has been working on, a new slideshow of her work will soon be added to this blog.

Margaret is showing seven paintings at Le Petite Restaurant at the Bell Recreation Center in Sun City until November 1. She also has artwork at The Spiritual Enrichment Center on Peoria Ave, Peoria and Edward Jones Investments on Thunderbird Ave in Peoria.

To see her homepage and read information about her works, please click here.

Hooray for Judy - Again!

Judy Lawson sent the following announcement for the blog. Congrats Judy, way to go!

I received an Honorable Mention in the Peoria Fine Arts Association Fall Membership Exhibition for my painting "Rose Is" by the judge, Tom Herbert. Very nice! The exhibition is at the Peoria Unified School District Administration Center, 6330 W. Thunderbird Rd. in Glendale and runs through October 7, 2009.

All media is represented in this show! Peoria is not very far away if any of you are interested in joining this group. Our meetings are on the 4th Wednesday of each month. We meet in the Peoria Community Center at 8335 W Jefferson beginning at 7 pm. Our first meeting, September 23, will feature artist/art instructor Darlene Goto as our demo artist. Call me if you are interested in joining, or would like to be my guest- or, just show up!!!!

Judy's Great Summer

Judy Lawson certainly has had a busy and exciting summer! She sent the following to be included in the Vanguard blog. She reports that all of these paintings are featured in her blog and can be seen there. Way to go, Judy!

Jazzy Night was accepted into the Arizona Watercolor Association Fall Exhibition juried by Charles Harrington! Also, Paradise2 (Squared) was selected as an alternate. The Exhibition is at the Fountain Hills Community Center, 13001 N. La Montana Drive, Fountain Hills from October 1 - October 30, 2009. The Awards Reception will be from 6:30 - 8:30 October 16th. Hope you can visit the Exhibition!!!
Jazzy Night was also juried into the Western Federation of Artists exhibition hosted by the San Diego Watercolor Society in May.

Think Cool was accepted to the NAWS show!!! The NAWS "Experimental Watermedia Exhibition 2009 will be at the Sedona Art Center from September 26 -October 17, 2009. The Reception is 5-7 pm Friday October 2nd, awards presented at 6 pm.

Mamas @ MoMA (Acrylic) was selected by the West Valley Art Museum for their exhibit "Celebrating Art of the West Valley IV which will be on view from May 22-Sept 6, 2009. The Museum is located just north of Bell Road at 17420 N. Avenue of the Arts, Surprise AZ (623) 972-0635

Three of my submitted paintings were selected for the Northern Arizona Watercolor Association (NAWS), Sedona, AZ. (Paradise Squared, Sedona Rocks Abstract #3 and On Stage) in May. Paradise Squared won an Award of Excellence in the Fall AAG Show at Fountain Hills.

September, 2009 Meeting

I was unable to attend the September meeting as I was out of town; but I hear from my sources that Pat Knorr and Kristi Herring did a marvelous job of stepping in to take on the President's duties and mine as Secretary in Ann's and my absence.

Pat asked Sharon King and Ruth Malins to be the official photographers for the day and I have compiled their photos into a slideshow, which can be seen here.

Of special interest to me was seeing Ross Snodgrass's photo and how vibrantly healthy he looked. Welcome back Ross, we missed you!

Arizona Art Supply - Grand Re-Opening!

Arizona Art Supply has moved to its new location: 4025 N. 16th Street. Just South of Indian School. It will hold its Grand Re-Opening on Saturday, October 3 beginning at 9:00 AM. This should be an exciting event to attend, take advantage of the Grand Opening specials and see the "new" store!

Norma Cox Miller has sent the following announcement...congratulations, Norma!

Norma was one of the featured artists at Kinion Gallery in Sedona on August 7th for Sedona's 1st Friday Art Walk. Her paintings will continue to be on display

through August and September. Her display will change every two months.

When visiting Sedona don't forget to stop in at Kinion gallery at Pinion Point center between the Wildflower Baking Company and the Sedona Visitor Center.

Two Vanguard Artists At Work

As your Blog Mistress, I have encouraged those of you who left the desert for the summer to contribute your experiences to the blog. I have been remiss in this respect, myself, in that I have not submitted anything about my own summer vacation. My husband and I have spent a month in Chama, NM. In fact, we have over a week left of our month long stop here. It is a beautiful, clean and green part of the planet. Plus, it is cool!

One of the highlights of our stay here was a five-day visit with our great friends, Barbara and Charlie Lang. They stayed at a nearby lodge in Chama and got to enjoy the scenery and photo opportunities that abound here. And, did I mention it is cool here? With Barb and I both being artists, one of the requirements of the visit was a painting session. Since the mosquitoes were busy down by the river, we decided to have a plein aire session under the awning of our motorhome, instead, using photos of the park's hollyhocks and the river that I had taken earlier and printed for our use. We had a great day and enjoyed our time painting together.

Another day, the four of us took a trip down to the Rio Chama for photo opportunities. This included the area of the Ghost Ranch near Abiquiu. This is the area that Georgia O'Keefe painted for so many of her later years. Barb and I can see why! The Rio Chama is surrounded by red rock cliffs and lots of greens...we both identified colors by watercolor paint names!

The Wonders of Europe

The current exhibit at Lord of Life Lutheran Church, The Wonders of Europe, was hung yesterday and will be ongoing until October 30. Three talented Vanguard artists, Arlen Madole, Barbara Lang and Kathleen Nelson, have their work displayed that reflect all things European. Be sure to drop by the church hall during this exciting exhibit, enjoy the rich colors of Europe.

Lord of Life Church - New display going up

Friday, July 31, the former display at Lord of Life Lutheran Church was changed out and the newest display was hung. Stay tuned for photos of this display to appear here, soon.

Congratulations go to....well, Me! This painting sold during the former display, a member of the congregation will be giving it a good home.

I also wish good sales for the current artists displaying. The theme for the current display is of Europe and Barbara Lang, Kathleen Nelson and Arlen Madole are participating in this show. Stop by the church to see their lovely paintings, all reminiscent of wonderful Europe.

Please check out Kristi Herring's newest additions to her painting slideshow on the sidebar to the right. She has been busy this summer! Go Kristi!

As your blog mistress, I have received lots of new entries of paintings from Bill Seibert that went right into his slideshow. Check out his great paintings by clicking on the sidebar on the lower right column sidebar.

He reports he is in rainy Mystic, CT for the summer and is doing well. I bet he is a lot cooler than we are here, though! I cannot think of Mystic, CT without thinking of a young Julia Roberts and pizza! That was a sappy, but memorable movie. Besides, I like sappy movies!

Let's see where everyone is this summer, email me at susanroper@cox.net and let us know how your summer is going......Susan

Our Thoughts and Prayers.....

...go to President Ann Stubenrauch and her family following the passing of her mother, Dorothy Keifer of Sun City. As she goes through the arrangement and grieving period, may she know she carries with her the supportive and good thoughts of the Vanguard membership.

Lord of Life Lutheran Church Display

These four photos are a sample of the newest art display at Lord of Life Church in Sun City West, the artwork of Kathleen Nelson, Kristi Herring and Susan Roper was hung on Friday, May 8. The theme for this show is "Wonders of the West". This show will hang until July 31, 2009.

Do stop by and have a look at this artwork. The hours to see the show are Monday-Friday 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM and then Sunday morning from 8:00 - 12:00.

Calls to Artists

If you are wondering where to enter shows, here is a listing of current opportunities offered at ArtCalendar.com. It might be a good idea for all of us to drop by this site occasionally to see what is going on in the artworld.

Pre-Meeting Visits

At our monthly Vanguard meetings, we have a social half hour prior to the business meeting and it is so enjoyable to catch up with friends and their artistic endeavors. The meeting is followed by the sharing and discussions of many paintings we bring and the critique sessions are very lively and beneficial to all.

Our official Vanguard photographer is Pat Knorr and we thank her for her diligence in taking many photos of our gatherings. Woodie Mackie is our very able critique session leader and his help has been great this year. Thanks to both of you, your hard work is appreciated.

"Dusty Shoes" Tour

Carolyn Aide just advised me that THE COLONNADE is having their "DUSTY SHOES" TOUR for the public on SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2009 from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM.

This will be the location of our December Holiday Dinner, so should be a fun tour to take.

The Colonnade entrance is located just west of the LaSolana Condominiums on Mountain View Blvd.


Ann Stubenrauch
2009 President

Mary Tassell

You are cordially invited to see the art of Mary Tassell at a wine and cheese reception on Friday, May 8, 2009. This will be held at 4:00 PM at El Dorado of Sun City, 10330 West Thunderbird Blvd. The show will be open daily from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM for the next three months.

Please join Mary to celebrate her art!

Latest Happenings

Judy Lawson was awarded an Honorable Mention for her painting "From Above - Midwest" in the AAG Spring Exhibition. This is her award-winning painting. On the right is her acceptance of this award, presented by Craig Frankowski - Exhibitions Chair 08-09.


Three of Judy's paintings were juried into the NAWS Spring Exhibition.

Judy will be showing with Studio VII Artists at Grady Gammage Auditorium on the ASU Campus from June 23 - July 28. Joining Judy in this display will be fellow Studio VII artists Betsy Aguirre, Diane Bykowski, Sheila Eastman, Sue Hunter and two guest artists: Anne Allemann and Muriel Freund.

Congratulations to Norma Miller!

Norma Miller is shown here with her painting titled Untenable at the March 9 artists reception at Skye restaurant. The current show at Skye will continue through June, 2009.

Congratulations to Sharon!

Sharon King won an Honorable Mention award for her Mixed Media painting shown here at the recent Peoria"Celebration of Artists" show.

Congratulations to Vanguard Member Sharon for this worthy award!

Congratulations to Kristi Herring, who won her first painting award at the Sun City West Art Show. She received an Honorable Mention ribbon in the watermedia division. Atta girl!

Announcement

Vanguard members Judy Visker and Joan Hahn Widman are currently showing for the West Valley Art Council in the Avondale City Hall. The show will be in place until the first week of April.

Sharon King is all smiles.....

at the way her gold leaf, gold chips, and gold painting is looking in this dramatic and exciting abstract. Hope Fort Knox still has some gold in it!

Arlen Madole loves her Italian friar!

Arlen, working from one of her many international travel photos, loves the way this painting of her Assisi, Italy friar is progressing. The stonework, the arch, the street.....well, they are fab!

Susan Roper - hard at work

You can just feel the concentration that is going into this bird as Susan works on the "tail end". Readers will have to go to Susan's blogspot to view the progress from this point. So realistic that you want to throw the pelican a fish!

Susan Roper starting her palette

Susan is just starting to prepare her palette....mixing and matching and stirring. You can just catch a glimpse of the stately pelican whose image will soon be captured in watercolor.

Ron Anderson Progress

Just a short time later in the afternoon, you can see Ron's progress on this beautiful watercolor. Talk about fabulous talent!

Ron Anderson

Ron Anderson working on his family heirloom watercolor.

Impromptu critique session

Madeline Ledzinski, Patty Potter, Ron Anderson (back) and Barb Lang discussing Patty's pastel WIP at the SCG Art Club

Gallery Slideshows Started!

The member gallery slideshows have been started, using the painting photos that I currently have. If you want to show a larger representation of your body of work, please e-mail the files to me for inclusion into your gallery. You can also mail me the photos and I will digitize them for inclusion into the blog.

If you do not see your name on the gallery list, it will be included shortly. I am gaining on it, but the list is long. Tell me what you think so far?

Susan, your blog administrator

This is I, your blog administrator, presenting the blog concept to the members last Friday at the Vanguard Artists monthly meeting. The concept seemed to be well-received, so I will begin putting together some of the special features I promised in my talk. The first of these I will work on will be the slideshow gallery of everyone's work. These gallery albums can be accessed individually and can contain many more photos as members continue to paint and want to post photos.

I am looking forward to working with the members and will try to get this up and running shortly. Stay tuned!

Pondering Paintings

Before the meeting begins, there is time for socializing with old friends and pondering the paintings submitted for critique. We also enjoy the current displays of the museum, what a backdrop for our meetings!

Welcome to the newly-created blog for the Vanguard Artists. The purpose of the blog is to provide information to and about member artists and allow a forum for those interested in our art.

This photo was taken at a recent meeting and critique session. Our President, Ann, is being ably assisted by Woodie in setting up a painting for critique. We learn a great deal from having our paintings critiqued and it keeps us humble!