June 6, 2016
Members’ Art Critique Night with Tom Evert


Lee Peters, our president, got the meeting started with a short business meeting.  There were 35 in attendance, including 2 guests and 2 new members. First, Lee offered a tribute to the 72nd anniversary of D-Day. Then, he announced the first Euclid Art Association’s Ice Breaker Award....“those who get the ball rolling when everybody stands back and waits for somebody to start things. And 1st place at the head of the reception line every month is Kirk Ramsey, followed by 2nd place, Tom Herrle. Without them we’d all go home hungry and our hosts will have too much to take home!” Ribbons were awarded to Kirk and Tom.

Sandi Richards swore in EAA’s Officers for the 2016-2017 season.

Lee then introduced Laureen Deveney, who represents the Doubting Thomas Art Gallery in Tremont. She attended our Spring Library Show and was very impressed.  She is interested in 12 artists works to be part of the Walk Across America, Vacation Cleveland exhibit at the Tremont Gallery during the July Republican Convention.

We thank Tom Evert, judge of our Spring Fine Art Show, for critiquing 27 pieces of members’ art. Tom said there are three things he considers.... “what do I see”, “how well is it rendered” and “content”.
 

For the first critique, a watercolor by Sue Herrle, he said it’s “mysteriously haunting”, questioning the yellow color at the horizon, but said it was a “fine watercolor rendering, masterfully handling of the medium, very pleasing”. He went on to question “where is the light” in Pat Snook’s eggplants and “not a lot of contrast” in Marguerite’s orchids watercolor. Evert called Dan Driscoll, Lee Peters and Ellen Howard’s works whimsical and amusing.

Tom thought Diane Marra’s acrylic landscape had a formulaic feeling and missing shadows. Laureen Deveney added that Diane’s work has a whimsical quality that is hard to come by and needs to be explored more. Tom liked the blue background treatment in Suzette’s acrylic Egret painting and was in awe of Wali Neil’s rendering of Billie Holliday. Evert encouraged Maureen to continue sketching and suggested that Betsy’s Tuscan scene may be a bit too glossy. In Kelly’s acrylic painting of lions, he observed that every hair was done by fine lines and the image was ‘flat” and “not on the ground”.  He suggested darker colors elsewhere in the painting.
 

In his consideration of the mixed media work by Joanne Cartor, Tom said, "We are delighted by the visual art elements at work." While for some pieces there was "not enough information" like in Sandy’s snow scene, he made it clear that Stan Klak's "classic and masterful" watercolor, showing "age, texture" had enough information. Laureen Deveney contributed comments, comparing Rozenia Cunningham's use of bold shapes and raw colors to the Fauves. Evert went on to critique the remaining artworks.

The theme for the evening’s refreshments was the American Flag, in honor of Flag Day on June 14. We thank our hosts Bev Krueger and Sue and Tom Herrle for the assortment of healthy and sweet treats. The centerpiece was a homemade flag cake....and not a single piece leftover. Yes! Tom Herrle was the first in line...that’s because Kirk was unable to attend the June meeting!