Thursday, April 26, 2012

SAA Exhibit at the Ward World Art Festival

This weekend!

4/27 - 4/29


The Society of Animal Artists will have many of it's members art on exhibit and available for purchase in Ocean City, MD at the Ward World Championship Art Festival.
 

Ward World Championship Art Festival

Roland E. Powell Convention Center

Ocean City, MD


Wildlife artists from across the country are joining the prestigious Ward World Championship and Art Festival to kick off the season in Ocean City, MD. The Society of Animal Artists offers a Member Show and Sale April 27-29, 2012 at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center. With over thirty artists presenting works in a variety of media, including bronze, painting, etching and more, the SAA Member Show and Sale will have something for all visitors who are art and nature enthusiasts.

We hope to see you there!

Dana Lee Thompson
“Hound Lounge”
Oil

Represented SAA artists:


Sue deLearie Adair 
“Skimmers” 
Watercolor and Colored Pencil
Directions to Roland E. Powell Convention Center in Ocean City, MD


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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Koons, da Vinci, & Warhol are just a few!


A notable exhibit that is currently on view at Grand Palais Galeries Nationales (Grand Palace National Gallery) in Paris, France



ANIMAL BEAUTY

March 21 - July 16, 2012

Grand Palais Galeries Nationales

Paris, France

 

The exhibition, organized by the Rmn-Grand Palais, explores the relationships between artists and animals, from Brueghel to Jeff Koons, and includes Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Degas, Giacometti, Matisse and Andy Warhol. Paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs and naturalist sketches… one hundred and sixty masterpieces of western art, from the Renaissance to today, are brought together here.


(rc via dw)

  

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Joining the prestigious Ward Museum!


 SAA and the Ward Museum

Ward World Championship and Art Festival

Roland E. Powell Convention Center

Ocean City, MD

April 27-29, 2012

 "Cold Shoulder"
Graphite pencil

Wildlife artists from across the country are joining the prestigious Ward WorldChampionship and Art Festival to kick off the season in Ocean City, MD. The Society of Animal Artists offers a Member Show and Sale April 27-29, 2012 at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center. With over thirty artists presenting works in a variety of media, including bronze, painting, etching and more, the SAA Member Show and Sale will have something for all visitors who are art and nature enthusiasts.

Terry Miller, graphite artist, Takoma Park MD will be showing his work “Cold Shoulder” during the SAA Member Show and Sale. The piece features penguins that are part of the large contingent of African Penguins that reside at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. Miller explains their appeal, “they simply lend themselves to my medium of graphite with their sharp contrasts of black and white.”
Bryce Pettit, bronze artist from Monticello, Utah is another of the SAA artists showing his work. His sculpture “To and Fro” presents swallows resting on feather tips alone. Their own graceful lines express the beauty of the wildfowl and their movement. These and over 80 other works will be available for purchase during the weekend event.

The SAA Member Show and Sale is part of the 42nd Annual Ward World Championship Wildfowl Carving Competition and Art Festival. More than 1200 bird carvings are entered and on display at the world’s premier wildfowl carving competition. Carvers of all skill levels, from youth carvers to world champions, compete against their peers for top honors. The event features an educational conference, children’s activities, and art exhibitors and vendors. The live Ward World Class Art and Carving Benefit Auction is held on Saturday, April 28 from 3-5pm, featuring chance to bid on fine antiques, contemporary carvings, sculptures, paintings, prints, and publications by well-known artists in a wide variety of styles.

The SAA Member Show and Sale is joining two other new event features at 2012 Ward World Championship: the Delmarva DockDogs, a dock diving and distance jumping canine performances in a huge 40-foot pool, and a demonstration of the ancient art of falconry by SkyHunters in Flight. Your general admission ticket to the event includes these special programs and more. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, Salisbury University or in person during the event at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center.

The Society of Animal Artists is an association of animal and wildlife painters and sculptors. Founded in 1960, the Society is devoted to promoting excellence in the portrayal of the creatures sharing our planet, and to the education of the public through its informative art seminars, lectures and teaching demonstrations. Some of the finest animal artists from the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, Japan, and Australia are represented in the Society's membership. For more information visit www.societyofanimalartists.com.

To learn more about the 42nd Annual Ward World Championship Wildfowl Carving Competition and Art Festival visit www.wardmuseum.org

(rc via Ward)

Catchy Title & Baby Animals!

Looking for baby animals!

"Breakaway (Mallard Duckling)"
Oil on 1/2" prepared maple panel, 16 x 20

Curator/Tour Director, Dr. David J. Wagner, is looking for paintings and sculptures of baby animals for a new exhibition that is currently in the research and development phase. He is also looking for a catchy title. If you have any artwork that you'd like him to consider, or any ideas for a title, your may email jpegs, caption info, and suggestions to him at: davidjwagnerllc@yahoo.com

(rc via dw)

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

America's Parks, Through the Beauty of Art

AMERICA'S PARKS 

Through the Beauty of Art

Produced by David J. Wagner, L.L.C.

COMPETITION AND EXHIBITION

 AMERICA'S PARKS Through the Beauty of Art is an exhibition competition open to all artists, the purpose of which is to recognize and promote excellence in original artworks depicting any North American park (national, state, provincial, county, city) in Canada, Mexico and The United States.  Selections will be made by a professional jury consisting of: M. Stephen Doherty, Editor, PleinAir™ Magazine; Susan T. Fisher, American Society of Botanical Artists Past President and Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Art Institute Director; and Todd Wilkinson, Managing Editor, Wildlife Art Journal.  Awards will include: America's Parks Curator's Choice Award, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Juror's Choice Award, PleinAir™ Magazine Juror's Choice Award, Society of Animal Artist's Wildlife Art Award, Susan Kathleen Black Foundation Floral Art Award, Wildlife Art Journal Juror's Choice Award.  Additional awards are pending.

The 2013 inaugural exhibition of AMERICA'S PARKS Through the Beauty of Art is scheduled as the first of three, with others to follow in 2014 and 2015.  The 2013 inaugural exhibition will premiere in Bolivar, Missouri from March 17 - April 14, 2013 at The Ella Carothers Dunnegan Gallery of Art.  The Dunnegan is a noteworthy museum that has hosted such notable traveling museum exhibitions as Art and the Animal of The Society of Animal Artists, Blossom ~ Art of Flowers sponsored by The Susan K. Black Foundation, Exquisite Miniatures by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist, and Paws and Reflect: Art of Canines, all of which have toured under the auspices of David J. Wagner, L.L.C.  The Dunnegan has also had a tradition of hosting park art exhibits, notably, ARTS FOR THE PARKS.  Coincidentally, David J. Wagner proposed the very first tour of the ARTS FOR THE PARKS exhibition, served as a Juror for that exhibit, managed the ARTS FOR THE PARKS tour for its first five years (1988-93), and served on the Advisory Board of its parent organization, the National Park Art Academy.  AMERICA'S PARKS Through the Beauty of Art is an entirely new initiative, produced by David J. Wagner, L.L.C.

Original artworks depicting subject matter found in any national, state, provincial, county, or city park, or any park of any other such unit in Canada, Mexico, and The United States is eligible. Original, two-dimensional art completed in 2010, '11, or '12 is eligible. Eligible media includes: oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, mixed media, pastel, pencil, pen and ink, tempera, batik, alkyd, scratchboard, and original prints (e.g., lithograph, etching, engraving, serigraph). Ineligible media includes: any media not listed above such as computer enhanced or generated artwork, photography, reproduction prints, sculpture, video. Not including frame or mat, the maximum size for entered artworks is 900 square inches. Calculate by multiplying the horizontal and vertical dimensions.  Example:  A 30” x 30” painting would equal 900 square inches.  Early entry postmark deadline: August 31, 2012.  Standard entry postmark deadline: October 15, 2012.  All entries must be received by October 25, 2012.

To download a Prospectus (Entry Form), visit: http://davidjwagnerllc.com/competitions.html

To receive a Prospectus (Entry Form) via email, email:  americasparksartexhibit@yahoo.com

For further info, contact:
David J. Wagner, Ph.D., Curator/Tour Director David J. Wagner, L.L.C.; AMERICA'S PARKS Competition and Exhibition Office davidjwagnerllc.com; (414) 221-6878
(rc via dw)

  

Friday, April 6, 2012

3 SAA members in new book!

A new book...


"Sketchbook Confidential 2:
Enter the secret worlds of 41 master artists"

North Light Books
edited by Pamela Wissman & Stefanie Laufersweiler


The Society of Animal Artists is honored to have three of it's members represented in this book,

The publication date is sometime in May buy the book is available for pre-order on Amazon.com and on the North Light Books website.

Book Description:

More secrets from the private sketches of 38 master artists

The idea may be derived from anything really--a flash of sunlight, the tilt of a head, a glass on the table...but the sketch is where it all begins, the point where inspiration meets artist. Gloriously free of the need to get it "right," the sketch is where possibilities are explored, compositions are found, and visions come to life.

A brilliant follow-up to the first Sketchbook Confidential, this book grants you access to 38 of art's most creative minds via their sketchbooks. Whether created in studios, subways or the middle of a farmyard, these sketches represent art in its raw form. Up until now, this work has been tucked inside drawers or on studio bookshelves. Now the artists lay it out for all to see, along with intimate musings on the art of sketching and how it helps them commune with a subject, find their path to a finished piece or discover even greater rewards in the journey itself.

(rc)

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Biodiversity in the art of...



HIRAM BLAUVELT ART MUSEUM EXTENDS

BIODIVERSITY IN THE ART OF
CAREL PIETER BREST van KEMPEN




The Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum has extended its display of BIODIVERSITY IN THE ART OF CAREL PIETER BREST van KEMPEN through June 30, 2012.  The exhibit was originally scheduled to close there on March 31, 2012.  Motivating the Blauvelt were several tour groups which will be traveling to the Blauvelt to view the exhibit in April and May.  Of the extension, David J. Wagner said, "The last exhibits I produced that were extended by popular demand and special requests from major venues were The Art of Robert Bateman at the McMichael Canadian Art Museum near Toronto, and Kent Ullberg: A Retrospective at The Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha."  "I am totally ecstatic and so happy for Carel, since the Blauvelt now has not only premiered his body-of-work on the East Coast, but also validated its success with a huge exclamation point!"

            The Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum serves New Jersey and the greater metropolitan area of New York City.  BIODIVERSITY IN THE ART OF CAREL PIETER BREST van KEMPEN was previously displayed at The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, AZ; The Wildlife Experience (museum) in Denver, CO; and The Wildling Art Museum near Santa Barbara, CA.
Carel Pieter Brest van Kempen is a painter of Dutch descent, who explores the rich diversity of the natural world from exceptionally unique perspectives.  The artist’s self-stated goal is to say as much as he can about how organisms live and interact with other organisms and their environments.  Brest van Kempen, who is also interested in prehistoric subject matter, paints from first-hand experience and knowledge.  He has traveled across Africa and Central and South America, and studied both threatened and extinct species and their ecosystems in detail. 

            Since he was a child, Brest van Kempen has always been a student of nature.  He spent his youth exploring untracked back country along the Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains; drawing, studying, and collecting native flora and fauna.  As a boy, Brest van Kempen practiced falconry and bred lizards.  He began drawing wildlife when he was only three years old and created his first painting at the age of twelve.  At the University of Utah, his studies focused on biology, which he hoped to teach, and field work.  By 1988, his interests in art and nature matured to the point where he could pursue a full-time career of painting.  Though Brest van Kempen is among the most highly accomplished technicians in the entire art world, and among the most creative, he is essentially self-taught.  Brest van Kempen paints in a highly realistic manner.  Unique in the world of wildlife art, Brest van Kempen’s approach is reminiscent of the art of Salvador Dali, which has always fascinated him. There is no other wildlife artist who paints like Carel Pieter Brest van Kempen; his approach and style is truly unique.

Carel Pieter Brest van Kempen has exhibited his works throughout the world and earned numerous awards.  He is a member of the prestigious Society of Animal Artists which has awarded him awards on multiple occasions, including their highest honor, the Award of Excellence, in 1994, 1996, 1997, 2004, and 2010. Public collections containing his works include the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, the Springville Art Museum, the Woodson Art Museum, The World Center for Birds of Prey, and Vermont’s Bennington Center for the Arts.

            A book entitled, Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding—The Art of Carel Pieter Brest van Kempen, which was written by the artist, and which includes a Foreword by Belgian painter, Carl Brenders, and an Introduction by Curator, Dr. David J. Wagner, was published by Eagle Mountain Publishing and is available at Eagle Mountain Publishing at (801) 789-4149 or empub@msn.com.
      
BIODIVERSITY IN THE ART OF CAREL PIETER BREST van KEMPEN is produced by David J. Wagner, L.L.C.


(RC Via DW)