Our Artists of the Year and a year-end art critique

For our December meeting, members shared their latest work and asked for suggestions on areas they found challenging or weren't completely happy with. It was a great discussion and friendly critique session - we all learned a lot!

We also announced our Artists of the Year - the members who had the most votes for their work in our monthly mini art shows throughout the year - congratulations!

1^st place – Carol Husslein

2^nd  place – Cathy McNutt

3^rd place – Betty McBride

Mount Diablo by Julie Litz – watercolor plein air

She started with a light pencil sketch, then did pen and ink to lightly define the outlines, then painted over that. This is a view from Rossmoor.

Grapes and Vines by Lou Ann Styles – watercolor

She saw this picture in an old art book at a bookstore. She used a salt technique for texture at the bottom.

Good Fortune and Joy by Carol Husslein – watercolor 

She’s always taken photos of the red lanterns in Chinatown, they symbolize the title. From a sketch, she masked the lanterns with liquid frisket compound to make it easier to paint the background.

Michigan Avenue by Bobbe Anderson- acrylic

This is the bronze (yes, it's really that green!) lion statue in front of the Art Institute in Chicago that she painted from a photo - she grew up in Chicago and took a few classes at AI, so this painting has sentimental value.

Chris – by Mary Frances Crabtree - pencil study sketch for gouache 

This is her grandson resting after a hike at Tuolumne Prairie.

Recordimos a Los Muertos by Betty McBride – collage

This means "remembering the dead." She assembled broken pieces of Mexican pottery with tissue paper and decoupage.