NEXT MEETING:
Demo by Rick Mittelstadt - Artistic Journey into Acrylic
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 7pm
Skating Center, 2661 Civic Center Dr, Roseville, MN 55113
Treat yourself to a compelling presentation by award-winning Minnesota artist Rick Mittelstadt who will describe his artistic journey into acrylic abstract landscapes and non-objective design. Rick will show you how artwork in his youth and throughout his life was influential in the acrylic paintings that he creates today. Rick’s presentation will shed light on the three artistic aptitudes that are represented in his work and will give you pause to reflect on your own person artistic journey and aptitudes.
Rick Mittelstadt taught high school art for 38 years, He has an extensive background in art history, materials, concepts, and processes. While working on his college degrees in art education and studio art, he focused on drawing, printmaking, and jewelry making. While teaching high school art, he concentrated on landscape watercolor painting. After retiring, he turned his attention to acrylic painting.
Mittelstadt’s recent creative works have been on display in a solo exhibition at FrameWorks Gallery in St. Paul, a four-person exhibition at the Northfield Arts Guild, and two-person exhibition at the Hallberg Center for the Arts in Wyoming, MN. This past July, Rick’s painting, “Pinball Blues,” took the 4th Place Award in Overall Top 10 and 2nd Place Award in Painting and Other Media in the International Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery “Primary Colors” Art Competition.
“I totally enjoy the magic that takes place during the painting process. As I immerse myself into each creative adventure, I often find myself feeling transported into another dimension as if time no longer exists and my imagination and hands go about materializing a new image with color, line, texture, a sense of movement, balance, expression, and mood.
– Rick Mittelstad.
LAST MEETING:
Demo by Karen Knutson – Contemporary Paintings in Acrylic
THURSDAY, Oct. 24, 7pm
K
aren Knutson began by saying that she learned from “the best marketers ever,” Robert Burridge and Karlyn Holman – ”Start right out with your pitch.”She told us about a video that she recently produced which demonstrates one of her mixed media techniques using watercolor and charcoal powder. She also has a book available, “30 Paintings in 30 Days.”
Karen began demonstrating the process which she calls “Painting in the style of Gustav Klimt.” Using Strathmore Aquarius 2 paper (80 pound) she coats the paper with Liquitex Matte Medium and creates texture with a flexible rubber shaper and stiff brushes. She then squirts water over all to spread the medium. Then, using a heavy bodied yellow acrylic she swirled the paint in a heart-shaped pattern, adding blue dots, lots of blue-green, orange and raw umber scraping them together with a credit card. She “blessed” it with water drops and let the paint dry for about 5 minutes. Karen tries to create pathways of light, lifting color to reveal areas of white. She always keeps in mind the principles – Repetition, Variation, and Dominance
Karen enlarges the drawing of her figures to the actual size of the paper and transfers the image using carbon paper. Then, with rubbing alcohol, she wipes out a light pathway, and negative paints around the figure with a diluted transparent color. The next step is to outline the figures with permanent marker. The final stages involve blocking in black areas, painting over, lifting, spraying with alcohol and water.
Karen lives up to the mantra of one of her favorite artists, Mary Todd Beam, whose book title says it all, “Celebrate Your Creative Self.”
