Thursday, September 13, 2012

More Artists Join the fun! "ART & AUTOS" Artists painting up a storm at Ironstone Foundation Concours d'Elegance, Sat. Sept. 22.








      

Lorna Hunt

Though Lorna has drawn and painted for most of her life, it wasn’t until the last 15 years that she has been able to dedicate her time to fine art.  
She enjoys the flow and spontaneity of watercolor, and also the rich, juicy qualities of oil paint. Oil paints are well suited to Plein Air painting, and that combines well with her love of the outdoors.
Lorna feels privileged to have studied with many area artists and to have participated in workshops given by local and nationally known artists.
She emigrated from Argentina to Pleasant Hill, Ca. in the early 60s, raised a family in Livermore, Ca., grew almonds in Ripon, Ca. and retired to Sonora where she can indulge in her artistic endeavors.

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 Sunny Sorensen, sunny.sorensen@yahoo.com 
Sondra Sorensen
N
ative Californian, Sondra (Sunny) Sorensen graduated with honors with a BA in Studio Art from University of California, Davis in 1979. There she studied oil painting under acclaimed California artists Wayne Thiebaud and Roland Peterson; and ceramic sculpture under the late Robert Arneson. She entered competitions for a year after graduation, won a couple prizes, did odd jobs, and eventually took off for Scotland where she lived for two years.
Returning to California, she had to get a real job.  “I had the outlook of an artist—even as a kid I loved to draw—but not the discipline to make it a career move.  At the same time, I was too impatient to teach art¸ but I loved the educational scene, and would have happily become a professional student had someone offered to foot the bill.” Finally she landed a job in a high end private high school and went on to wear multiple hats of  the Tin Cupper, Glad-hander, Organizer, Magazine Editor, Writer, and Designer. To relax, she led Sierra Club backpack trips in the Sierra for ten of those years. Teaching, she thinks, would have been less stressful.
When the millennium rolled over, Sunny retired from the multiple-caps job, with hand and arm injuries due to excessive computer work, waited four years for the injuries to subside, and then turned to pastels, planning to take up art where she left off. “I thought I wanted to paint the Sierra and deserts I had schlepped through over the years. Only there was a problem.  As a delinquent Bay Area Figurative studio artist who at one time leaned toward pop art, I was unprepared to paint landscapes, especially on location. A monumental learning curve loomed before me and all I had to get around it was an untrustworthy bicycle. So I looked up the pastel artists who painted the way I thought I wanted to.” For three years she took workshops from Richard McKinley, Richard McDaniel, Kim Lordier, Gil Dellinger, and Marc Hanson.
In 2008, Sorensen again became interested in figurative work, and although she continues to do landscapes in both pastels and oils, she is leaning more strongly to the live figure. She quickly learned that painting from a photo can be a curse that it doesn’t take the place of what you really see. “One of the reasons,” she says, “is that each individual sees the same scene or subject differently with two eyes. When you paint from a photo, you end up painting what the camera sees with its one eye. If I use a photo, it’s generally as a loose reference from which I depart after the first margarita.” 
Sorensen, who divides her time between Mexico and Hathaway Pines, has been accepted into several competitions, won a few awards, including first place in Ironstone’s spring competition in 2009, accepted commissions, taught a few plein air workshops and runs a summer eight-week  life drawing class at Town Hall Arts in Copperopolis.   Recently she has started up a summertime plein air group, Calaveras Outdoor Painting Society (C.O.P.S.), which has been written up in The Union Democrat (Sept 21, 2012).Anyone with plein air painting experience who lives in Calaveras County is welcome.
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Anthony Pooler
 Anthony Pooler,   acp42@sbcglobal.net
Anthony Pooler is a local artist, currently residing in Modesto. He works primarily in watercolor and acrylics. His art education started at an early age, as his great grandfather, mother, and uncle were all artists. He is also an avid fly-fisher and fly-tier. This occasionally leads to conflicts about whether to fish the stream or to paint it.

His formal art education includes instruction at UC Berkeley, with additional classes at Cal State Hayward. Images include plein air work as well as paintings created from photos from his extensive travels. Of special interest as subjects, are landscapes, and vintage and classic automobiles. He is a member of the Central California Art Association and the Valley Suncatchers. His work can be viewed on the website of fineartamerica.com, and frequently at the Mistlin Gallery and other local venues.

Commissions are welcome.


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Cheryl Bloomfield
  Cheryl Bloomfield;   bloom1010@att.net


My love of art began at a young age when teachers would ask me to paint backdrops for school theater and portraits of fellow students. This led to a senior high art award after four years of art classes given by a devoted and creative teacher.

While raising our children, I used my hands to construct orthodontic appliances for six offices in the Bay Area, and oil painted as a “break” from our busy family schedule.   As our children matured, I dove into painting wall murals as a business known as “Have Brush—Will Travel” in homes all over San Joaquin County, California.
I have read and studied art books and artists, but taking plein air workshops by Kathleen Dunphy has inspired me to take off in my creative aspirations. There is so much to learn and an abundance of materials to learn from, that  I can’t soak it in fast enough. I will forever be studying art to learn to convey my message.  I want to show people, who can’t or don’t travel, the beautiful treasures of scenery on the back roads of America, and just how special this country is.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Saturday Night Laughs Out Loud!

Get set! Saturday Jeff Foxworthy steps to the plate at Ironstone Vineyards with a night of laughter and comedy. Jeff is entertaining the family so bring the kids and have fun!  General Admission "sit on the lawn" tickets still available. Here at Ironstone, they open the ticket booth at 2:00 PM, day of the concert so you can purchase on your way to the entrance gate.  

See you Saturday! 

You can check out some of Jeff's jokes here ...  http://www.jefffoxworthy.com/

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Make my day!

Just had a wonderful treat from Cruisers! What is it about ice cream that can turn your day around? I'm not sure, but it worked today! Thank you Thank you Thank you Cruisers!

http://www.cruisersicecream.com/blog.html