90 Years of Art – Happy Birthday WSA!

The WSA is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year! In honor of this amazing milestone, WSA exhibiting member and art historian (and retired surgeon), Robert Savage has written about its rich history, which is now permanently available to read on the WSA website. Throughout the decades of the WSA’s 90 year history, it is the collective talent of many that have supported the WSA’s mission and cultivated art and creativity in our community. The WSA history can be found on the menu under “About” and then select  “90 Years of Art”. Enjoy!

The WSA would like to recognize Bob Savage for his many, many hours (years) of research and writing to bring this rich history to light. Thank you Bob for your time and contributions!

The WSA would also like to extend its profound thanks and gratitude to Lucy Davis of MarketNext Communications for her editorial and website services which were instrumental in bringing this project to life, including her generous donation of time spent on this project. 

February Artist of the Month – Meet Sally Meding

February Artist of the Month 

Meet Sally Meding

While growing up in Kent, England, just south of London, Sally Meding knew she wanted to be an artist. Her parents however had more practical ideas and persuaded their daughter to get a BS in Biology. Meding went much further and attained a Ph.D in Immunobiology. While studying in Freiburg, Germany she met her husband and they eventually immigrated to the United States. They landed first in the Bay Area of California and welcomed their son into the family. Taking a break from work, the artist and scientist turned to her real passion.

Meding credits many wonderful teachers with whom she has studied over the years: Jane E. Jones, Miles Batt, Nita Leland, Carl Dalio, Betsy Dillard Stroud and Mark Mehaffey. She has always loved watercolor, the medium she chose for its portability, vibrancy and transparency, from the moment she began. She was taught abstraction (design) and later taught herself realism.

After 15 years of learning and painting, this student became the teacher. She describes herself as a colorist first but each piece is defined by design, color, shape or texture as the dominant feature. “I approach art in a scientific manner…abstracts start more spontaneously and I use the elements and principles to achieve unity in each piece.” Using a limited palette also helps her achieve harmony. Meding teaches and respects the rules but explains, “Rules can be broken in art; they are just guidelines.”

As a Signature Member of the New England Watercolor Society, the Rhode Island Watercolor Society and the Southwestern Watercolor Society and an exhibiting member of the WSA, Meding has won numerous awards. She has appeared on HGTV’s “That’s Clever” (2007), has two cover articles in Texas magazines and is published in Nita Leland’s book, “Confident Color” (North Light 2008). Her studio is in Natick, Massachusetts although most of her teaching is now done online.

It is important to Meding that her art sends a message to the viewer. “Each painting must evoke attention from the viewer and then give them different areas of interest to keep them involved and thinking”. Climate change is a recurrent topic in her own work; she uses water droplets and time clocks as symbols of the urgency of this situation.  With her students she aims to bring out each individual’s style; she finds out what they are passionate about and which design elements they prefer. Sally says “She finds teaching extremely rewarding and shares all her skills and tips that she has learned on her creative journey”.

Bless Portrait

You can find her original work and art-cards at Clever hand Gallery in Wellesley, MA.

sallymeding.com

http/:instagram.com/sallymedingabstract

http/:instagram.com/sallymedingart (realism)

January Artist of the Month – Meet Mai Mai Pietrowski

January Artist of the Month 

Meet Mai Mai Pietrowski

 

Mai Mai Pietrowski’s artwork is as joyous as she is. After starting out in social work, then attaining an MBA from Babson, followed by a successful career in the high-tech industry, this business woman wanted a new challenge. In 2014 she decided to take a beginner painting course at the Danforth Art Museum School. She considers herself fortunate to have had Margaret Gerding as a teacher. Pietrowski notes, “I was starting from scratch. I couldn’t paint the way she did but she encouraged me to paint in my own style.” Gerding taught all the elements-line, shape, form, value, color, space, texture to her student who absorbed the basics and then let her intuition take over. “It’s like there’s an artist inside you and you don’t know it.”

Though she originally felt very out of place in the art world it was Pietrowski’s persistence that led to her accomplishment. She learned everything she could and then followed her instinct. “I began to focus on what I loved: colors, shapes and patterns. That’s my go-to.” Composition and color come naturally to Pietrowski who finds most of her inspiration in nature with additions from her dreams, imagination and travel. As a colorist she emphasizes the contrast between bold colors and neutrals. She often begins her paintings en plein air in her favorite locations including Cape Cod/Provincetown, Kennebunkport and Acadia National Park in Maine, Key West and Provence. Her artwork is held in private collections in France, Switzerland and the United States.

As far as using her business sense, Pietrowski realizes that will always be present but that it has not been the priority this time around. She did commit to opening a studio in Framingham very early on in 2015. Four years ago, she was able to get a coveted spot at SOWA where she now works and shows her vibrant creations. In 2015 she began exhibiting in juried shows and by 2017 had been chosen for Prince Street Gallery in NYC. She has had a solo exhibit at the Liberty Hotel and has her work at Cristof’s in Provincetown. She was honored to become a Juried Member of the National Association of Women Artists (NAWA). Pietrowski is also a member of the WSA, Provincetown Art Association, Hopkinton Center for the Arts, The SOWA Artist Guild, Cambridge Art Association and Fort Point Arts.

As for the purpose of her work: “I’m hoping that people will look at a piece and feel hopeful and uplifted.” Pietrowski is naturally drawn to vibrant colors and uses them in unexpected ways and in subjects where many would be more conservative. She is currently working on themed series such as hummingbirds, still life and tropical flowers. She does not lose sight of the fact that her art is a very personal thing. She recalls a quote that speaks to her: “No one knows why we paint, we just do.”

Eventide 12×12

 

 

December Artist of the Month – Meet John Sherffius

December Artist of the Month

Meet John Sherffius

 
Art has always been a big part of who I am, but I never focused on painting until about a decade ago. And, as I soon discovered, whatever artistic skills I learned in the past don’t always translate well to a canvas. 
I was born in Los Angeles, at the tail end of the post-WWII baby boom, and spent the first half of my life in the region. My parents told me they noticed a glimmer of artistic ability early on from my coloring books. According to them, my sense of color and shading was fairly realistic and I could stay within the lines better than most kids my age. Drawing was like a hobby for me throughout my childhood, something fun to do between (or during!) school and homework, sports, TV or spending time with friends. My first formal art classes were in high school, where I took beginning life drawing and graphics courses. Though I generally did well in those classes, I had no clear career path in mind until college, when I began contributing illustrations and political cartoons to UCLA’s campus newspaper. Editorial cartooning was especially fascinating to me because it combined art, history and current events, all subjects I was – and still am – interested in.
 
 
After my college years, I eventually was able to find jobs as an all-purpose newspaper artist, creating maps, infographics, logos, illustrations and editorial cartoons. In time, I was able to pursue editorial cartooning on a full-time basis at papers in California, Missouri and Colorado, and even won a handful of awards for it. And, while my career was progressing, I met my wonderful wife and together we raised 3 amazing kids. It was a memorable period in my life, but after almost 25 years in political cartooning and the newspaper business, I was ready for a change and decided to pursue other types of art. About the same time my family and I moved to Massachusetts in 2012, I began to freelance a variety of graphics and illustrations while also focusing more attention and energy on painting.
 
 
So, despite the constant ‘rookie’ mistakes from this soon-to-be 61-year-old artist, what do I like about painting? Missteps aside, the process of painting itself is very relaxing and almost meditative. And painting teaches you the importance of patience and planning, skills that I am clearly still working on. But, when the stars align and you paint something you’re happy with, it’s extremely rewarding. It’s no secret that the most successful paintings (think of the masterpieces of French Impressionism) have a special ability to visually capture a moment or feeling in time and preserve it. I like the fact that a great painting can speak volumes, or say nothing at all. Its message can be crystal clear, or a fuzzy riddle. It can be strikingly realistic, or unrecognizably abstract. It can be pleasing to the eye, or simply an eyesore. It can be whatever the artist chooses to create, but also whatever the viewer chooses to see.
The members of this society, of course, already know what makes a painting great. And they prove it at every WSA exhibition. They are all extremely talented artists, and I am very honored to be part of this group.

WSA Welcomes New Member Bob Glowacky

The WSA is happy to welcome new member Bob Glowacky. Although Bob describes himself as a self taught painter, he has spent a lifetime observing the craft and taking in his surrounding landscape. The result is paintings that pull the viewer in and capture a sense of place. To see more of Bob’s paintings, visit his WSA artist page.

Welcome to the WSA Bob, we look forward to meeting you and seeing more of your paintings!