MFAH wants your old brushes!

Leila Christoffel's husband, Joe is a docent at MFAH, and he is involved in creating "Discovery Carts" that lay out materials for visitors to see "up close" what artists use in their work. They have solicited clay, stained glass, metals, and of course, brushes. Joe's assignment is brushes only.

Joe is asking for used brushes to make the Painting Cart more authentic than new brushes would be. Please bring your donations to the Art League meeting on Thursday or contact Tony (tony@sculptours.com) if you have brushes to donate but will not be attending the meeting on Thursday.

NOTICE: Thursday night's Art League meeting is a POT LUCK dinner! Dessert and beverages will be supplied by WAL.

Enjoy the “Woodlands Art Affair” on June 12th

The Woodlands Art League and VillaSport Athletic Club are proud to present the very first “Woodlands Art Affair” on June 12th at the VillaSport Athletic Club. Over 30 different artists will offer diverse artistic expressions for sale to the public from 10am until 5pm throughout the club facility on 4141 Technology Forest Drive off Research Forest. The event, titled “Woodlands Art Affair” was initiated by VillaSport as another opportunity for the club to show its community support as well as its desire to promote local art endeavors. Woodlands Art League is organizing the event and 10% of all sales will be donated to the Interfaith Backpack program. Contact Kim at kabbati@aol.com to sign up to volunteer for this event.

WAL Street Journal - June 2010 Edition

The latest WAL street is complete and available for viewing at http://www.woodlandsartleague.org/files/News_0610.pdf
This issue reminds everyone about the Volunteer Appreciation Night to honor all those who helped with the Woodlands Waterway Art Festival. It will be help at the South County Community Center on Lake Robbins Road on June 24th, starting at 6:30pm. Everyone is invited to celebrate the success of the festival, Woodlands Art League clock 580 volunteer hours for that weekend!
Also, don't forget the first "Woodlands Art Affair" to be held at VillaSport Athletic Club & Spa this Saturday, June 12th from 10am until 5pm. Over 30 different local area artists will be displaying their talents for sale to the general public. It's open to the public free of charge so invite everyone you know. Volunteers are still being sought for this event. Ten percent of all sales from this event will go to support the Backpack program held each year by Interfaith. If you can offer a few hours of your time to help make this event a success for everyone involved, please contact Kim at kabbati@aol.com. Remember, Woodlands Art League is a "volunteer" organization.

MFAH holding photo contest for true fans

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is enlisting shutterbugs to submit photos of friends, family members or strangers enjoying the museum.
The winning image in the MFAH's Wish You Were Here … photography contest — selected by Peter C. Marzio, the museum's director — will be featured in an ad campaign of the same name.
The victorious photographer gets $500, a one-year museum membership and a $25 MFAH shop gift card.
Up to four runners-up will receive $150 each, one-year museum memberships and advertising placements of their photos, which can be taken at the MFAH's Audrey Jones Beck Building, Caroline Wiess Law Building, Cullen Sculpture Garden, Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens, Rienzi or the Glassell School of Art.
Contestants can enter by visiting the MFAH's social media group pages and adding up to three photos by 11:59 p.m. July 6. Marzio's selections will be posted on the MFAH's website and Flickr and Facebook group pages July 13.
Other museums have tapped visitors' talents for marketing purposes. Last year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York sponsored a similar photo contest and ad campaign called It's Time We Met, in which two winners and five runners-up were chosen from 999 submissions.
For a list of rules and access to the MFAH's Flickr and Facebook pages, visit dev.mfah.org/photocontest.
By DOUGLAS BRITT Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle
June 7, 2010, 5:25PM

WAL General Meeting - May 27th

Just a friendly reminder about this week's Woodlands Art League General Meeting with our special guest, Veranne Graham. The meeting begins at 6:30pm and will take place at the Community Center on Lake Robbins Drive (next to the South County Library). Past participants of Ms. Graham's workshops are encouraged to bring their "workshop paintings" to the meeting for all to see.

IMPORTANT - as Alice is diligently trying to ensure that all videos are transferred to DVD and Fred is cataloging each version for a comprehensive guide to all of the resources available to our members, it is vital that all videos that are currently checked out be brought to the meeting on Thursday. If you are not planning to come to the meeting, please email Alice Widmier at alicewidmier@yahoo.com (or tel. 281 362 0108) so arrangements can be made to return them.

Art League hosts ‘Object d’Art’ this weekend Woodlands Villager News Houston Community Newspapers Online - News Around Town

Our show made The Villager!!!!

Thank yous should be said to Terri who worked very hard to make this show a successful one.

See you all tomorrow!

Art League hosts ‘Object d’Art’ this weekend Woodlands Villager News Houston Community Newspapers Online - News Around Town

Press coverage for LSAG and Anne Walker

Woodlands oil painter dominates convention

Dalhart Windberg gets a closer look at a sculpture as judge Keiko Yasuoka looks on during the judging portion of Saturday's Lone Star Art Guild show at the Lone Star Convention Center in Conroe.

By Matt Stephens

Updated: 05.15.10

Anne Walker believes her talent as an oil painter was a gift from God. She marks all of her paintings with a cross and writes “To God be to glory” on the back of each one.

“He put this crazy love in my heart, and it’s what I want to do,” Walker said.

The 54-year-old resident of The Woodlands was awarded “Best of Show,” “Mayor’s Choice,” first and second place oil painting and an honorable mention for four of her works presented Saturday at the Lone Star Art Guild’s 49th Annual Convention at the Lone Star Convention Center in Conroe.

“I’m very overwhelmed,” she said. “There’s so much beautiful work here.”

The LSAG is an organization of 21 art leagues and approximately 2,000 member artists within a 200-mile radius of Houston. The event presented 730 pieces of artwork from 376 Southeast Texas artists in categories of various painting mediums, three-dimensional mediums, drawing and photography.

“We are always excited to see our artists enjoying the process of showing and selling their artwork at our annual convention,” said Theresa Thornhill, second vice president of the guild. “This show represents the best of the best from our member leagues.”

Thornhill said there were no specific criteria for the three judges who awarded artwork, but they had to agree on “Best of Show” and some of the other awards.

“They talked back and forth and argued, but eventually they all agreed,” she said.

Two of the three judges for the event, artists Larry Dyke and Keiko Yasuoka, said Walker’s work was so successful at the convention because of how technically sound it was. Yasuoka, an accomplished painter and calligraphy artist from Japan, said Walker’s work also manages to tell a story despite its simple components.

“When you can see a painting that tells a story, that’s the most important thing,” Yasuoka said “If you can see a story in a still life, then it’s very successful.”

Walker’s still life of a bowl of fruit titled “Classical Fruit” won the overall “Best of Show.”

Dyke, a well-known landscape painter, said that even though judging art is completely subjective, he praised Walker’s technique as being “above reproach.”

Three more of her works won awards, including a painting of her golden retriever, which received a second-place ribbon, and a portrait of her 23-year-old daughter Sarah, which received a first-place ribbon, as well as the “Mayor’s Choice” award.

“My daughter is so incredibly gorgeous on the outside, but also gorgeous on the inside,” Walker said. “She’s got the prettiest heart you’ve ever seen.”

Although she has only been painting for 12 years, a number that surprised many fellow artists who complimented her work, Walker has been interested in art for much longer. A Conroe High School graduate in 1973, she attended The University of Texas, where she studied art history and excelled at drawing.

Walker said she doesn’t have a great story about her sudden desire to start painting in 1998. She just knew she wanted to try.

“I just wanted to paint,” Walker said. “I went to my local art store and asked, ‘What do I need to paint?”

It didn’t take long for her to get noticed. In 1999, her work was published in an art magazine and noticed by Sen. Hillary Clinton. Walker was named one of America’s top 200 craftsmen and a folk painting she made of the White House was placed in the Blue Room.

“It’s probably still sitting around in the basement there somewhere,” Walker said.

Matt Stephens can be reached at mstephens@hcnonline.com.