Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Who Made the Blog Today? Drina Fried





Born in Buffalo, NY, where her father ran a successful jewelry display manufacturing business until he was 85, Drina moved west and spent much time as a California artist before settling in Las Vegas in the spring of 2008. Her mother was a self-taught artist and writer as well. Drina was one of four children and the only granddaughter of Taylor Caldwell, an author in the late 1930s-1980s who turned out 33 best-selling novels.

In September of 2008, shortly after her arrival, Drina's fabric collage won "Best of Show" at her first Henderson showing. Her work was also recently shown at the Liberace Museum and much of it currently hangs in collections in the San Joaquin Valley, the Los Angeles area, and back east in Buffalo.

Drina's collage process is unique and involves layering chosen fabrics to form the under-picture. Then various embellishments are added to emphasize shading and contrast, including paint, embroidery, and other media. Often her visions are cityscapes, florals, or interiors with windows leading out to landscapes. She uses the process of looking, perceiving from a digital image, and interpreting into a varied fabric "canvas." Permanent heat-set glue makes each piece as strong and durable as oil or acrylic paintings on canvas. So vivid and enticing is her work that she often displays pieces behind glass to protect them from the wandering hands of viewers attracted to the texture.

View more work and learn more about HAA member Drina Fried at her site: www.artbydrina.com

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Artists Unite





Above: HAA members talk shop over comfort food. Here: HAA Board Members Charme Curtin and Nicky Watts proudly display one of three new Henderson Art Association t-shirt designs.

On Sunday, March 23rd, HAA Board Member and artist Sharon Menary was again kind enough to open the doors of her home and studio to host back-to-back HAA meetings. Turnout was great and there was hardly enough time to cover all of the things on the agenda, especially since the living room was filling up and we didn't want the food to get cold. Shirts were unveiled and plans for a big year were discussed. New board members were announced and new faces were present among a wealth of old ones. Here is the most current list of 2009 Henderson Art Association Board Members. A list of members will follow and several members (old and new) will soon be featured and welcomed here as well. Check back often.

President: Deborah Mays
First Vice President: Nicky Watts
Second Vice President: Norm Rosenfeld
Treasurer: Shirley Jeane
Secretary: Vina Curtis
Gallery Director: Andrew Maioli
Events Coordinator: Sharon Menary
Creative Director: Dana Satterwhite
Artists-at-Large: Charme Curtin + Roberto Rico

Thanks again, Sharon.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Mark Your Calendars.



Back-to-back Board and General Meetings of the Henderson Art Association will take place on Sunday, March 22nd at Sharon Menary's studio. The HAA Board Meeting will begin at 1:00 pm and last one hour. The General Meeting will immediately follow and run from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. At both of these meetings, changes over the past year and those in the foreseeable future will be discussed. New board positions will be confirmed and announced. Roles, duties, and expectations will be outlined and clearly defined. In the words of newly-elected Board President Deborah Mays, "The General Meeting will be more in the spirit of a party in recognition of our members and an opportunity to meet the new Board members."

So, current members in good standing, past members looking to get back in good standing, and future members who have never had any standing at all, we welcome you. Guests of members are welcome as well.

For directions and additional details, contact Sharon Menary (sharonmenary@yahoo.com) If you are interested in membership or becoming part of the art community, visit the membership page of the HAA website, artistsinhenderson.com/membership or email us here: ArtistsInHenderson@yahoo.com

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Who Made the Blog Today? Aileen Dike




Aileen Dike was born in New Zealand and grew up there as well. Although the southwest desert is a direct contrast to the forested mountains and green pasturelands of her homeland, she loves to paint the colorful southwest. Her paintings will take you on a scenic journey of the Mohave Desert with interludes of the animal and bird life one can observe there. Aileen is mostly self-taught but has taken advantage of learning through short workshops with a number of renown artists. She has shown and won awards with the Nevada Watercolor Society, Boulder City Art Guild, and Henderson Art Association and also accepted into the Western Federation of Watercolor Artists show in Park City, Utah. Aileen's work may be viewed in the Boulder City Artists Guild Gallery in Boulder City, NV and City Lights Artists Co-op Gallery in Henderson, NV.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Who Made the Blog Today? Charme Curtin






Charme Curtin has been fortunate to be surrounded by artists all her life. Her mother was a professional oil and watercolor artist and her father designed jewelry when they were not working as real estate brokers. Because of this, other professional artists were always visiting her family's home, coaching Charme on a broad knowledge of different mediums. She now specializes in watercolors.

She attended classes with the Laguna Art Colony in Laguna Beach, CA; Memphis College in Memphis, TN; and Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ. She has taken watercolor classes from Julian Bloom, Jim Burns, Gerald Spencer, and Jan Schaeffer. She recently studied oils with Tamara Geddes and Lois Payne.

Her beautiful artwork has received numerous awards in various competitions and has been published in the National Watercolor Catalog. Charme has been affiliated with the Cypress Art League, Orange County fine Arts League, and served as past board member of the National Watercolor Society. She is currently on the Henderson Art Association Board, the Nevada Watercolor Society Board, and a member of the Boulder City Art Guild.

Her most recent show "Art: The Song in Your Heart" is currently on display at the Henderson Multigenerational Center Gallery (located at 250 S. Green Valley Parkway). Read more about the inspiration behind that show at this link to an earlier post: Creative Henderson: HAA Artist Charme Curtin's Exhibit Makes LV Sun

See more of her Charme's work at her website: My Work - Work by Charme'