Denise Lorenz is a Professor of Art teaching Drawing and Design at Montgomery College in Conroe, Texas. Originally a printmaker, Lorenz has spent much time recently developing a series of intimate colored pencil drawings. The drawings were inspired by two peaceful summers spent teaching The Art History of Mexico in Puebla, Mexico. The series offers a sense of time standing still during the cool, slow-moving days in Puebla. It captures the baroque architecture, as well as the ancient artifacts of the region.

Lorenz received her B.A. from Madonna College in Livonia, Michigan and her Master of Fine Arts degree from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. She has won awards for her prints and drawings both nationally and internationally.

Work Examples:

     

 

Joseph Gyurcsak was born in 1962, in New Brunswick New Jersey. At the young age of 12, Joseph had his first art lesson. His God-given talent was evident and his passion for art was in motion. At the age of 16 he was selected to participate in the first adjunct High School Arts Program in New Jersey. Later, a scholarship led him to Parsons School of Design, New York City, New York.  He went on to study at The School of Visual Arts in New York City where he received a BFA in illustration, 1986.

Soon after, he began his career illustrating for advertising agencies, publishing companies and large corporations. In 1991, he decided to pursue fine art. Since 1991 he has exhibited in galleries across the country, from Boston, Mass. to Washington, DC, to San Francisco, CA.

Mr. Gyurcsak has received many awards for his outstanding works and continues to peak the interest of private collectors. Joseph Gyurcsak continues to reach new heights as an artist and master plein-air painter. He was recently selected to exhibit in the Salon 2005 international show in San Antonio, Texas.

A brilliant art educator, Joseph conducts workshops, demonstrations and lectures throughout the US. He is resident artist and technical expert for Utrecht Art Supply, Co. His studio is located in Mercerville New Jersey located just a few miles southwest of Princeton, NJ. where he lives with his wife and 2 children.

You are invited to review Joseph Gyurscak’s fine art paintings at josephgyurcsak.com.

Work Examples:

 "Bedroom Interior"

 "Apple Orchard"

 

For painters who prefer not to hold a palette while working, a taboret allows waist-height access to colors and mediums while leaving an extra hand free. A taboret is a short box, table or chest of drawers which stores supplies when not in use and provides working space next to the easel or drafting board. It should have wheels for moving supplies around the studio.

 

Artists working on large canvases often use a palette on a taboret due to the large amounts of paint they need to mix, which would be difficult to manage on a hand-held palette.

Eldon D. Faries teaches Drawing I and Drawing II at North Harris Montgomery College.   Teaching art is his first love, whether it is with college students, high school students, other teachers, or adults.  As an artist, he prefers watercolor painting and drawing in any media.  He feels at ease working with almost any subject matter.  However, because of time constraints, he often finds himself in his studio or classroom working from sketches, photographs and previous “plein air” experiences. Eldon has had one-man shows at North Harris College Fine Arts Gallery (2002), Schreiner College, Kerrville, Texas (2003) and Brazosport Center for the Arts and Science, Lake Jackson, Texas (2004).  He holds BFA and MFA degrees from The University of Texas at Austin.

Work Examples:

 "Around the Mountain"

 "A Swirl of Leaves"

 "Travis Path Roots"

Manufactured stretcher bars can be used to make frames that are superior to what most average artists can make in-studio. This is because the mitred mortise-and-tenons at the ends of each bar form tight friction joints that accommodate shrinkage or expansion of the cloth, whereas the joinery used in most homemade frames is rigidly fixed by nails, screws or glue. It’s essential not to put glue or nails in the joints of a manufactured stretcher frame, or the flexibility of the stretcher is lost, along with the ability to key out a loose canvas.

Step 1: Using a mallet, tap bars together to form a frame. Check to make sure corners are in square using Fairgate L-Square 24x14in (Item No: 37442). Make sure the lift (the raised edge on the front of the frame) is turned the same direction on all bars.  

Step 2: Cut a piece of canvas several inches larger on each side than your frame. Place cloth face down on a clean surface (drop cloth or paper) and position frame on top with the lift against the back of the canvas, leaving sufficient canvas at each side to wrap around the back of the frame.  

Step 3: Pulling on the bias (diagonally across the weave), stretch canvas tightly enough to remove slack, taking care not to pull too tightly, and staple or tack #2 position. (tack #2 should be just inside the groove cut at the end of the strip, leaving room to fold corners under later.) Pull and tack likewise across to position #3. (Staples or tacks may be driven into the back of the frame if clean, “gallery wrap” sides are desired, but the tradition is to place them on the sides. A superior stretch is achieved using the traditional method.)  

Step 4: Pull straight across from staple or tack #1 and tack position # 4 at center of side B. Pull on the bias from #4 to #5 and 6 on   side A, exactly as between  #1 and #2 and 3. Pull taut at the center of side C and drive staple or tack #7. Pull on the bias to side D and drive #8 and 9. Pull at the center of side D and place #10. Pull on the bias to side C to drive #11 and 12.  

Step 5: Fold corners neatly and tack in place. Pulling the canvas taut each time, place as many staples or tacks in between the first 12 as are necessary to take up remaining slack. After driving all tacks or staples, insert two stretcher keys per corner. Using a small hammer, pound the stretcher keys in to increase tension.  

Pamela Keller has taught at Athens State University in  Athens, AL since 1981.  She is presently a Professor of Art and the Art Department Chair.  Her courses include graphics, photography, art history and painting each semester.

Keller was educated at Indiana University, John Herron School of Art and received her BFA in May 1979. She received her MFA in 1981 from the University of Wisconsin. Keller majored in painting and drawing and holds minors in photography, art history and English.

In addition to freelance graphic creations, Keller presently is concentrating on mixed media work on paper. Her work is in collections that include Eastman Kodak Pharmaceutical Corporation, Third National Bank of Nashville, TN. The Hunter Museum of Art in Chattanooga, TN. the Helen Keller Memorial Hospital in Alabama, Family Mental Health Institute in NY, Les Foundries Magotteaux in Liege, Belgium and the Giles County Tennessee Court House.

Keller's hobbies include tennis, triathlon racing, growing roses and writing. She has been a Utrecht customer since 1976." The oil and acrylic paints from Utrecht are my favorites but I have purchased all sorts of supplies and never been disappointed. I even love just looking through the catalogue to get ideas about my next works of art. My students love the prices and the convenience of shopping online from our school's site on the Utrecht webpage. "

The big differences between painting knives are: flexibility, length and shape of the edge, and width of the blade.

Flexibility: Determines the degree of force transferred to the paint film, and whether the blade glides across the surface or scrapes down through layers  

Length and shape of the edge: Knives with a gradually curved edge are good for scraping off excess material or removing small irregularities from the ground before painting; long, straight, narrow knives are good for mixing large piles of color on the palette. Small, flexible knives are the best for direct painting.  

Width of the blade: Determines the amount of paint the knife can move or carry- a short, broad blade with a flat edge would be good for manipulating stiff paint on the palette, whereas a short, broad knife with a curved edge would allow a large pile of color to be transferred directly to the canvas in thick strokes.  A long, straight knife with some width would be good for covering large areas with one pre-mixed color, as in priming. Long, thin knives are generally better for mixing on the palette than for actually applying paint to the canvas.

I am an artist and teacher of two-dimensional art. My training is primarily in painting and drawing, and these are the areas in which I primarily teach. Having considerable background in figurative work, I often find myself teaching figure drawing and painting.

I believe in visual art's power to connect us in close, uniquely human ways. Great art can affirm our humanity, vulnerability, and resilience. It often challenges us to see in a new way, taking us beyond our selves--seeing through another's eyes. I am drawn particularly to art which conveys a personal vision. As a teacher of young artists, I try to encourage the unique person and artist in each individual. While much of what concerns us in undergraduate settings is often the mechanics of making art, I encourage students to pull ideas from their own lives--cultural background and experiences. Whether it be a personal mark, a unique color sense, a response to shape, structure, or imagery which reflects a person's heritage, I am deeply interested in who these people are as individuals, and I find it most powerful when that is expressed in their work.

My own creative art work is mostly autobiographical. The imagery comes from real-life situations and experiences, but may be combined with forms that are less controlled, less conscious. My work often has a narrative quality to it. There is, sometimes, an element of mystery--a tension between what is known and what is felt. In my recent work I have been dealing more with the domestic arena--both interiors and "exteriors"--and the seemingly magical occurrences that come out of everyday observations and experiences.

Make your own templates for envelopes, and convert sheet paper to stationery!

1. Carefully disassemble and flatten a store-bought envelope of any mailable size.
2. Trace the outline onto card stock.
3. Cut out the template with a sharp craft knife with a #11 blade.
4. Trace the template shape onto any exotic artists' paper, and cut out with your craft knife.
5. Score folds with a bone folder, using the original envelope as a guide.
6. Seal the flaps with an archival glue stick.